Silhouettes

Chapter 7

The two elves and their mother and queen were enjoying a light dinner on a spring evening. It had been months since the troops and the king left for battle against the orcs in Rivendel. Every week messengers from Rivendel would come to Mirkwood and bring the number of fatalities and news of how the war was going. So far the elves were winning, but more orcs kept coming and were slowly outnumbering them.
On this particular spring night, a young elf from Rivendell arrived, looking rather distressed. He came into the kitchens to bring news to the Queen. Sophia and Thranduil were laughing and talking and, much to the dismay of the queen, were throwing small grapes and nuts at each other trying to catch them in their mouths.
All of sudden they heard a glass smash and saw a splash of wine spill, staining the wooden floor. Thranduil and Sophia looked over to see a peace of parchment float down and land in the pool of wine. Sophia rushed over to the queen, who had turned pale and weak and led her to the royal chambers to lie down.
Thranduil walked over to were the note had fallen and looked at the young boy who had delivered it.
"What does it read?"
Thranduil asked.
The boy just shook his head and walked towards the door to leave.
Thranduil bent over and picked up the soaked parchment. On it simply read the words, the king has fallen.
Thranduil came to visit his mother the next morning. She was still asleep but he woke her up quietly.
"Mother? Please wake."
"Oh, Thranduil my dear, dear boy. What is this?"
He placed a tray of fruit salad on her bed and went to open the curtains.
"I prepared some breakfast for you."
"You didn't have to do that dear. But thankyou."
She really was in no mood to eat but to please her son she did.
"I'm sorry about your father, honey. I know you fought, but please know that he did love you, very much, more than you and I could ever know."
"I'm sure he did, mother," Thranduil said fondly. "If only he showed it."
Tears formed in his mother's eyes.
"I'm sorry mother, I didn't mean to upset you."
"No, I know sweetheart. It's going to be hard, for a while. But all things come to pass."
She hugged her son and kissed his forehead.
"Now don't stand around waiting on your old mother. Go have fun, take your mind off things."
Thranduil left the royal chambers and went to go find Sophia. He went to the public rooms to wake her up with his smiling face beaming down at her. News had obviously spread of the death of the king around the kingdom, and along every path he went down he was met by people bowing and throwing beach tree leaves onto the path, symbolising the king.
Thranduil walked into Sophia's room expecting to see her still asleep but what he found was much more unsettling. The window above her bed had been forced open, the curtains ripped. The chair and bedside table had been flipped and all her belongings had been rummaged through and thrown on the ground. The sheets on her bed had been torn and feathers from her pillow blew around the room in the wind from the open window. As he walked around the room he heard a crack from under his feet. He looked down and picked up the upturned photo frame. It was a picture of the two of them laughing and holding handfuls of acorns. Tears dropped onto the cracked glass as he remembered when the picture was drawn. It was one of the days they had been having an acorn war. He remembered how his mother saw them having so much fun and called for the kingdom's artist to capture the moment.
He wiped the tears from his eyes and the sadness he felt inside suddenly turned to fury. After this war began and his father dying, now this. His best friend had been taken away from him.
Thranduil ran through the kingdom to his mother's room, pushing aside anyone who got in the way, he had one thing on his mind, and that was saving Sophia.
"Mother!" he exclaimed as he burst into his mother's room.
"What is it darling? What's happened?"
"They've taken her. They've taken Sophia!"
He said, out of breath.
"What? Who's taken her?"
"The orcs!"
A guard Thranduil had knocked over just so happened to be on his way to find the prince to warn him of this.
"It's true, your majesty. I saw them take her."
The young guard said rushing into the room.
"I have to go after her. She is in danger, no adventures we ever had could have prepared her for this."
"You will do no such thing. I will not have my son risk his life so close after the death of my husband."
"Please mother, let me do this. You sound like father. Can't you trust me?"
"Of course I can, but I don't want to lose you too."
The young guard who was still standing at the door spoke up.
"If it's any help your majesty, I watched as the orcs carried her away. They did not go far before the sun rose. They took shelter in a nearby cave. I assume they will still be there."
"The cave at the Birch Crossing?"
Thranduil asked.
"Yes that's the one."
Before anyone could stop him, Thranduil had run out of the room and into his own. He quickly picked up his daggers, bow and quiver, and ran down the path to the gates.
"Thranduil!"
The queen called after her son but it was too late.
"Leave him, your majesty. I trust that he will return, and I'm quite sure he will have the young elf with him."
The young guard reassured the queen and called for her maid to come and help her back into bed.