Light in the dark

SIX

The next day - according to Haldir, who now was my living calendar - I called out to the first guard I saw that passed my dungeon. He stopped, but wanted to continue walking when he saw there wasn't any grave danger.

"No, wait! I want to speak to King Thranduil!" I yelled.

The guard stopped again, looking at me suspiciously. "Why?" he asked.

"I have... answers for him," I said, hoping my reason would be good enough.

It was, apparently; the guard took out a key and opened the door. He took me by my arm in case I would run off. Really, don't worry, I thought. I have no clue where else I could go.

The guard took me upwards again, to the great halls, and it wasn't until the door was being opened to the same room I had been last time that I recognized it.

"You better have a good reason for disturbing me," Thranduil said while he sat down on the same couch as previous time.

This time however, he didn't tell me to sit down as well, and I didn't want to annoy him or anything as it could blow my chances of explaining everything. I couldn't really get a notion of his emotions in the first place; he was good at hiding them.

"I have answers concerning my... business in your realm, my Lord," I said, "It may however not be the answers you would like to hear, but-"

"Then why bother telling me?" the King interrupted me. Gosh, here we go again.

"Please, listen to what I have to say. I assure you it is nothing but the truth, my King," I said. The King leaned backwards in the pillows on the couch, making himself comfortable with a goblet filled with probably alcohol.

When he didn't say anything anymore, I told the King the same things I had told Haldir. From beginning to end; everything.

Thranduil remained quiet once I was finished, no expression found on his face.

"My King?" I asked softly.

He looked up at me, a small smile around his lips; however, his smile was far from kind. The way he looked at me sent shivers down my spine. I realized I was scared, scared of him, even though he didn't look dangerous.

He rose from the couch, towering above me. "Do you take me for a fool, little one?" he said, a threathening sound obviously present in his voice.

I shook my head, and unconsciously backed away from him.

"Nithilas," the King called out to the guard waiting at the door, not taking notion of me anymore. When he entered, the guard bowed deeply as Thranduil continued. "Secure the borders. No one enters this kingdom, and no one leaves it." The guard left the room again, closing the door behind him.

"You're afraid," I breathed out before I realized what I had said.

His blue eyes landed on me again, blazing with fire. In one step he had closed the distance between us that I just created. "What did you say?"

Swallowing a big lump in my throat, I whispered: "You're afraid. You're afraid what happened in the past will happen again."

He took a step back again, standing up straight and making me feel a lot smaller than I already was. "How would you know what happened in the past?"

I didn't think it would do Haldir any good if I told the King that he had told me. I remained silent, but he didn't notice as he went on.

"It's not about the past. I must know if there aren't coming any more of your kind falling out of the sky, as that is how you claim to have ended up in my kingdom." He started pacing around the room, something that caught me a little off guard. Me being in his kingdom really did have an impact on him as a ruler.

I stood there in the middle of the room, not knowing what to do. He looked like he needed a hug to be honest, but I didn't think I was in the position to give him that.

"My King?" I asked softly, as I reminded myself of something. He looked at me, his face expressionless.

"What is it?" he asked.

"Well... If I'm going to be quite honest, it seems that me being here was some kind of accident... I don't think there will be any more humans falling out of the sky, and I was wondering if... I really needed to stay down there in the dungeon? It's really dark, and the orc is kind of annoying..." my voice trailed off, not knowing if I had now pushed the limit.

"Isn't this exactly what the problem is?" he asked, turning around and staring at the pool of water. "You said you don't know how you came here, or why. What about the possibility that this might happen to more people in your world? I don't want them here in my realm." He paused for a moment. "And about your other issue, I'll arrange a room here."

"A room, my Lord?"

"Like I told my guard; no one is entering or leaving this kingdom. That means you're not leaving Mirkwood either."