ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛ [ᴀ ᴛʜʀᴀɴᴅᴜɪʟ x ᴏᴄ]

Chapter 5- Something's wrong

I froze.
"You? Would want to be friends with me?" I asked incredulously. "Why?"
"As I have said before I see something in you, "
"Well, I would be honoured to call you my friend, "
He smiled at me.
"Good. I shall see you here for dinner later Mellon, "
He smirked
"Do I have any choice?"
"Hmm no, " he laughed
"Very well I will see you later Mellon, " I laughed and went to find Laeanna. Who was just outside the door smirking at me again.
"Eves dropping are we?" I asked her.
"Well I couldn't resist with all the cute comments and the flirting, "
"Ok I will accept cute comments but there was no flirting whatsoever, " I said in mock seriousness.
"Whatever you say, " she laughed.
I linked arms with her and walked away from the throne room.
"So. What do you do for fun around here?" I asked her.
"Hmm, not much but I am afraid I have to leave you I have to deal with more of the spiders in our borders, " Laeanna said frowning.
"It's okay I will see you later then, "I replied. We parted ways and I went back in search of the library I had been sat in before hoping that this time I may actually be able to read. Once I finally reached the library I grabbed the same book as before and sat in the same chair. Soon I so absorbed into the story of the book. I kept reading until the sun had set that day.
" Is this all you have been doing today?"
I turned around to see a smirking Thranduil. I crossed my arms and said "No I was training with Laeanna this morning then unless your memory is terrible I had lunch with you, "
"And then after that?" He asked.
"I was reading for the rest of the day. Is that really a problem at least I am doing something all I ever see you do is sit on your throne and eat. That doesn't sound very interesting, " I smirked.
"That's not all I do all day, " he said folding his arms and looking slightly annoyed.
"So what do you do then, "
"I go on walks and train, " he replied
"Okay, so you're not as boring as I thought, " it was a complete lie but I wanted to see how annoyed I could make him.
"I am not boring, " he said in a raised voice.
I burst out laughing.
"Alright calm down I was joking. I happen to find you rather interesting, " I blush slightly after realising what I said and he smirks noticing the redness of my cheeks.
"So why are you here?" I asked
"I simply came here to read and found you here, "
"So you're not following me?"
"No, " he replied and walked over and sat in the chair next to me after getting a book to read. I thought over the conversation I had had earlier with Laeanna about joining the guard.
"So. As you a have allowed me to stay here I feel as though I should at least have a job or something to occupy my time with. As much as I love to read I cannot do it all the time for the rest of my life, "
Thranduil raised an eyebrow at me.
"Let me guess you want to join your friend in the guard, "
"Now how is it that you always seem to know who I'm seeing or what I'm doing. Do you just have someone following me all the time even though you already stopped assigning people to watch me?"
"I may have people check up on you from time to time, "
I rolled my eyes at him. Of course, he still has eyes on me.
"So you don't trust me to behave?" I smirked
"I do but some of my people, on the other hand, do not, " he replied casually.
"Makes sense, " I shrugged
"So about joining the- "
"Yes you may try out for the guard but you will have to prove your worth to not just me, " he interrupted.
"Very well, "
We sat in silence for a while. I glanced over at him and caught him staring at me. He immediately looked down at his book again. I smiled to myself and went back to reading until I finished the book. I got up from my chair and returned the book to its place on the beautifully decorated bookshelves.
I wandered out of the room and strolled down corridor after corridor until I heard a sound of a horn announcing the return of the guards.
But it was strange it sounded far more distant than usual. That's when I realised something must be wrong. I was grateful I still had my daggers on me as I had no time to waste. I rushed towards the front gate dodging and weaving between elves as my heart began to race.
"Araniel!" I heard someone shout. It was no one I recognised so I ignored them. The only people I listened to here were Thranduil and Laeanna.
I pushed past the guard near the gate and ran out the door into the forest. It felt just as sick as it always had. The air was thick and a little disorientating. It was strange how different it felt now. I supposed it was because when I had last been here I had simply been wandering carelessly through but now I needed to find my friend. I lept over the gnarled tree roots and scanned the tree for spiders and members of the guard. The horn sounded loudly once more giving me direction to head in. The trees seem to get closer and closer together trapping me in. But I kept pushing forwards hoping Laeanna would be safe and alive by the time I found her. The branches of the trees behind me began to shake and they closing in on my location. The spiders had found me.
"That's just great," I sighed as I plummeted further into the forest.