Save Us

Salvation?

Mäetharanel galloped through the forest towards the palace her father and her forefathers had habited in for centuries. The forest and her had been one ever since she remembered being alive. Perhaps her better liking towards Radagast the Brown was due to that, the man loved all animals and creatures of the Nature, much like her.

She nodded towards the guards as her horse trotted inside the gates towards the castle's grounds and into the stables where she gave the young ellon the reins of her trusted friend. The princess watched as the boy fed her horse an apple and smiled, hit her side gently, kissed her muzzle and left.

The tall wooden rooms had been there throughout her whole life, and she could not imagine herself parting from them. The corridors were long and had many destinations, the rooms, the kitchens, the gardens, a weaponry, three libraries, the throne room... and many more places she had lived around but had not ventured inside, or did not care for.

Her room, the stables and the gardens were her main locations in the castle whenever she was not going around their kingdom. The room she meant to go to had several windows in it's path but, mostly, it held decorations, paintings of her family.

Looking outside through one of the windows, she saw children running around, girls and boys played together and laughed, together with their parents that watched much like her, either smiling or palying along with them. Peace radiated from the scenes, as it should always be. It was not shocking when she noticed more women than men accompanying the children, for most of their men had decided to pursue the road of battle.

Together with her dear father, and her sometimes, they defended their kingdom. Mäetharanel resumed her walk, gloomily; oh, what she wouldn't give to have a child... Marriage wasn't something she wanted, but having a child was something very different. She wished for the joy of a babe growing near her breast, of a grown child running around the big castle halls and of a strong adult elf that she could call hers and be proud of. Little Legolas was hers, but he hadn't been born from her. No matter how much she loved the boy, he was Thranduil's and Vilissë's, and she could not be a full time aunt.

Her father had an ongoing war inside himself ever since her sister passed, and his absence made her stay and take care of his tall throne and of the kingdom itself. Long days would pass before their father decided to appear, usually covered in grim and black blood. Ever since his child passed, he had slayed orcs nearly every week, and Mäetharanel could not say against it, for it brought him comfort.

Her eyes looked up and met her sister's. Vilissë would forever stay there, in one of the many paintings they had of her. In there, the queen would not disappear, in the canvas she would still hear her words of worry, of love, of hatred and of pain.

In there, her big sister would still watch her weep, and Mäetharanel would wrap her arms around herself and feel as if the beautiful blonde eleth was the one hugging her and whispering that she was so much stronger than what she believed. In there, Vi was still alive and she would remain like that, but the cruel reality would forever be that her dear sister was no more to hold or to love.

Resuming her path to the throne room, she finally arrived. The guards there bowed as the opened the tall doors and she smiled, walked inside and sat nearby the tall chair that belonged to her Ada. She would not sit there unless it was to receive the council, the throne was her father's, and his alone.

Whenever the princess could not be found, the maids already knew where to look for her and they'd found her there, needing to be covered in her sleep or reading reports and taking care of problems. So, when the door opened and she heard gentle steps, she did not need to turn around to recognize who it had been.

"Princess, it seems the Greenwood has reached out to you", Vendethiel, her personal maid, walked until she was near her.

"Who wrote to me, my dear?", Mäetharanel had her head against the back of the chair, her eyes were closed.