ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴛᴏ ᴛʜᴇ ʟɪɢʜᴛ [ᴀ ᴛʜʀᴀɴᴅᴜɪʟ x ᴏᴄ]

Chapter 17 - Revelations

"Now as much as I hate to ruin our moment I -"

My words were cut off with a groan of pain as I put my hand to my side once I felt the warmness of blood under my pale fingertips.

Thranduil looked at me with concern.

“It seems I am unable to keep to our promise about me keeping myself out of danger,” I joked with a weak smile as Thranduil swept me off the floor. 

"No you haven't," he smiled back through his concern.

Thranduil moved me swiftly through the halls of Mirkwood. He set me down in my room and sent someone off for a healer and another for Laeanna and Astra. 

"Meleth nîn you don't need to stay with me. I'll be fine," I said as I settled on the bed trying to ignore the pain in my side. 

"Who did this to you?" He sat beside me and grabbed my hand.

"My Father," 

"It thought you didn't know your father,"

"I didn't but the Lady Galadriel told me that he had taken over as the leader of the dark elves. I'm so sorry for leaving but I couldn't risk them coming here-" 

"I know why you did it. I understand although that did not make it any less hard on any of us when you left. It was unexpected, to say the least,"

"It had to be that way-" a healer came in through the door hurriedly"- if I had tried to tell you all before I left you would have stopped me and I think I would have stopped me.

The healer got to work on my side and Thranduil stayed the entire time until Laeanna and Astra arrived. At the point, he left but was apologising profusely, which I found rather amusing, but said he had some things he needed to attend to in the kingdom which of course I understood. He was still a King after all. 

"Ara, are you ever going to stop getting hurt?" Laeanna teased.

"Honestly I doubt it," I replied with a laugh although it turned swiftly into a groan. 

"You need to rest Araniel," Astra stepped in.

"At least we have one responsible person amongst us," Laeanna joked.

"Yes, well someone has to be when all you two do is nearly get killed," Astra eyed me with her greens eyes -one of which was a few shades darker than the other.

"Hey I've only been in danger once over the past few years unlike a certain someone who is currently lying here injured," Laeanna defended with a smirk and joy in her light purple eyes. 

"So when you were tied up and held captive by a dark elf you were perfectly safe?" I questioned with my eyebrow raised. 

"Of course I was, I intended to get caught so I could find out where you were," 

Astra and I both gave her a look that showed we really didn't believe her.

"Okay so I may have been a tiny bit in danger of being killed by the angry dark elf but at least I didn't infiltrate their ranks to take them down from the inside," She countered.

"I succeeded."

"You got stabbed in the side, Ara,"

"I still succeeded," I crossed my arms over my chest.

Some of my hair fell in front of my face. The hair was all jet black and I frowned.

"It'll return to its true colour with time Araniel trust me," Astra said encouragingly.

"Yeah, we're not letting go running off anymore so you're stuck here." Laeanna sat down on the end of the bed - it had dark red sheets on it now. 

"So I'm trapped here for forever huh?"

"Oh yes definitely," Astra agreed, a smirk gracing her pretty pale face as she swept across the room to sit beside Laeanna.

"Good to know. I guess I'll just have to try and find secret tunnels around Mirkwood. I'm sure there's got to be some somewhere," 

We all laughed and j was so grateful to be back here again. Although they said I couldn't leave I wouldn't plan on it anyway at least if they were not coming with me. 

"I've already tried looking for those. I was doing since I was little," Laeanna said there was a hint of sadness in her tone which made me practically forget about my injury altogether as concern welled in me.

"Why were you looking for secret passages?"

"So I could leave," she answered.

Astra and I shared a confused glance before turning our attention back to Laeanna. 

"Why?" It was Astra who asked.

"I wanted to leave. I've always felt rather trapped here. Unable to make my own choices or future. It's was more when I was younger now being part of the guard and actually having made that decision on my own without my parents has made my time here better. So have you two. You're the first true friends I have ever had in this place," 

"Surely that can't be right Laeanna?" I grabbed her hand.

"Oh no it is and I shall never complain because you're the only friends I will ever need but-"

"But what?" 

"I feel like my future may someday lay outside this Kingdom but my parents would never let me go and I would never want to leave you two behind." There were ghosts of tears in her eyes. I had never known this about her and I felt bad even more so for what I had done. It was almost like taunting her in a way. I had left of my own choice and had been free to explore if I had wanted to yet here she was feeling trapped.

"Laeanna, if you ever feel as if your future isn't here Araniel I will never stop you. We'll be the one sending you on your way and we shall deal with your parents, they do not govern your life, you're an adult,"

Hope made its way into Laeanna and she became the bright elf I knew again.

I agreed completely with what Astra had said but I couldn't help but feel a pit in my stomach at the thought of having my best friend leave my side even if I knew it was best for her.