ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛ [ᴀ ᴛʜʀᴀɴᴅᴜɪʟ x ᴏᴄ]

Chapter 12- The note

Life wasn't fun. But it kept the others safe. So I kept going. I tried to do as little harm to the outside world as possible. But it was hard when you were now called a Princess of the dark elves.
Despite my best efforts, I was losing hope. Every time I made myself look in the mirror I saw the darkness of my hair returning inch by inch.
Living here had been better than I had expected but despite my title, I was still not trusted by many.
I kept trying to find a way to end them. To make them become something that wouldn't be a threat to the outside world.
I had found that there seemed to be small factions within the Kingdom of the dark elves. There were alliances between some and rivalries between others. That was my way in. That would be their downfall. My father was then one who united them all. They all respected him and feared him a little also so he managed to keep them in line. Remove my father from the equation and all he would break loose sooner or later if another suitable and agreed upon leader was appointed fast enough.
The other thing that played to my advantage was how quick they all came to anger. Though this was the reason I seemed to almost always have a few fresh bruises it would work in my favour in the end.

Sometime later I had finally.amanged to command the respect of some of these people. Unfortunately, too many people had had to die for that for my liking. They were all dark elves so I wasn't too wretched with guilt. But I still missed so much and I knew I may die missing it.

I stepped out of my room smoothing the black shirt I was wearing. Walking down the dark corridor I hummed quietly to myself trying to find my way through the labyrinth of corridors that I still wasn't used to walking through. Even in Mirkwood I still got lost from time to time but eventually Laeanna, Astra or Thranduil would find me. Usually, at that point, I would be resigned to shouting at walls out of frustration.
I laughed as I recalled the time that Thranduil had caught me mid-rant about how annoying the place was. Instead of announcing his prescience he had decided simply tapping me on the shoulder would be more fun. It was. But only for him.

"Come Araniel. You're going to be late, " one of the higher up snapped as she grabbed my arm dragging me through more corridors and finally into a room with a large dark oak table. There were various groups of candles dotted about the room. The orange flames dancing about casting shadows on the walls.
Everyone else was already there. All the nobles and high ranked guards. Their dark eyes were all settled on me and they followed me as I walked across the room. As I settled down in my seat the large door opened for the final time and my father entered. His hair was pitch black and his eyes were a pit of darkness that not even light could escape.
"I'm glad you could join us, daughter, " he said sitting down in a large chair that stood out completely from the others in the room. He knew he was important and he always liked to show it.
I nodded lightly in his direction.
"I am honoured to be here but I am also curious as to why, "
My father gave a dark chuckle.
"You clearly have my intellect. We are here Araniel because you have finally been here for a year, "
"The worst day of my life," I thought.
"And so we have decided that you can now be trusted amongst us. Or at least as much as we can trust another here, "
The table erupted in laughter and I joined in hoping it didn't sound as fake and insincere as I felt.
"I am glad to hear that, although I think the others still don't like me too much for what happened the last time I was here, "
"It's not as you think. They're jealous more than anything. You did what most of them were too scared to do. It was not secret that our last leader was not the most liked. A lot of us were surprised that someone so low in our ranks had managed to do such a thing, " A noblewoman explained.

I sat a little straighter in my chair after that. This could work to my advantage because the next best thing to respect, which there is a great lacking of here, in this place is fear. If they tested what I could do then it worked in my favour greatly. Although ironically it was not me who had done it.
"It is still not known how he was actually killed. Of course, there has been much speculation over the subject for many years now. How did you do it?" She questioned.
"I have my ways, " I smirked. "And for now they are to remain hidden, "
Some seemed a little disappointed that I would not be sharing that story and others seemed a little amused that I decided to keep my methods to myself.

They told me after that I was now to be part of the council of the dark elves and my father's successor. That way there would be no stirring of tensions between the factions. There were other matters that the council had to discuss thankfully none of them involved Mirkwood and I didn't want to ask for fear of putting it back in the clutches of the enemy.
Unsurprisingly, arguments began to emerge as the heads of the factions were unable to cooperate fully. They seemed to feel compelled to go against everything their rival said.
I noticed my father growing more agitated as the bickering grew into yelling then bashing the table and finally into the brandishing of weapons.
"Enough!" My father boomed.

Silence.

He was clearly feared. Everyone looked to him and after seeing the enraged looked on his face they all carefully took their state again unable to even look him in the eye.
He concluded the meeting and sent everyone scattering quite sharply from the room.
He really wasn't in the best of moods not that any mood he was in wouldn't leave to some sort of violence or even death inflicted upon someone. So I decided the best thing would be to leave him which I did and not being fond of anyone here I headed straight back to my room.

Confusion filled me as I stepped inside and gazed at my bed. A note was placed in the centre. It was short and plain but it filled me with dread.
It read, "We both know who really did the killing,"