S T A R L I G H T

C H A P T E R 14

C H A P T E R 14 - What is power without someone to share it with?

~Feel my rage~

Thranduil watched on from his balcony as both Tauriel and the white haired woman, wandered the gardens, with the womans beloved horse at her side.

Gazed on as she led it back to the stable, patting its head lovingly before wandering back towards the palace stronghold. The King watched her form, clad in a blue and gold gown, wander around the grass, taking in every flower and tree as if they were the most beautiful things she had ever seen.

His wife used to do that, he thought. She used to do it because she loved it and she loved it because she herself designed those gardens. She had planted those flowers and shrubs, knowing they would survive even in the darkness of the woodland realm.

She made sure the palace had life to it. The moment the elleth was out of his sight, Thranduil felt his hands tighten around the balcony ledge before easing his grip; holding his emotions back for the moment.

How could fate be so cruel?

For thousands of years he craved her return.

Thranduil had turned his entire world upside down to erase every piece of from middle Earth. It may have sounded cruel and wrong, but it was easier than gazing upon anything that reminded him of her. Once he had erased and burnt every trace, however, nothing happened... The King still longed for his wife. He was still angered at the entire Middle Earth and beyond for taking her from him.

If only he had done more, perhaps she would remember him. She would remember the world they had built together and the son she carried and loved so much, painfully for such a small time.

Thranduil's body pivoted, rushing back into his quarters and slamming the doors shut behind him.

His body grew hot in anger. His mind racing at the thought of what had been done to his precious wife. Asteraêa was lost for thousands of years and he could only imagine what had been done to her in all that time.

His body was stiff, a snarl forming on his face as he smacked his arm down, swiping everything off the table and onto the floor.

His wife came to him with no memory.

He threw the large desk over backwards, hearing the wood crack and break as it hit the ground, shattering into pieces.

His wife was shackled in chains.

He unsheathed his sword, heading for the plush chairs beside the fire and striking them again and again.

His wife was scarred and bruised.

A growl escaped his throat at the thought, his eyes beginning to fill with unshed tears of complete misery.

Her ears were disfigured.

As he slashed with his sword and threw and punched everything around him he could only picture her in his thoughts. Picture her being tortured. Being mutilated. Chained.

His wife had no memory of him.

Thranduil collapsed to his knees. The king could not help but pity himself, or rather, his son. His wife had been through so much pain, and yet she still lived and wished for for her son. Legolas had not had her long before she was taken from him. He missed out on a mothers love growing up, Asteraêa's love. Her love would have been all that little leaf needed. It would have done a better job at raising the prince than he had.

His hands curled to a fist once more, his head down and his hair curtaining his face. He had failed both of them.

He failed them the moment he let her onto that battlefield...

"I apologise, I can not begin to tell you how difficult it is to get out of the Kings gaze," Simbelmynë complained, handing the bread, meat and whatever other goodies she had managed to get her hands on through the bars. She handed each dwarf some food, hearing their thanks and moving on to the next.

She moved to Thorin, handing him food through the bars but he grasped her wrist lightly instead.

Her bright, blue eyes looked up in shock, "Thorin-" she began, only for the king under the mountain to cut her off.

"Are you alright?" He questioned seriously, gazing deep into her eyes. Her eyes softened, tongue going dry debating how to answer her company.

"I think I'm above alright, I have been treated like a Queen funny enough," She replied, thinking about how ironic that sentence really was. The elleth could not even begin to explain the conundrum she was stuck in with the Mirkwood king.

"You do look the part," 

"I look quite ridiculous, don't I?"

"You look beautiful," He complimented, taking in her dirt free face, clean and bright hair, and the garments she wore which complimented her body instead of make her look like she lived in trash.

"Thank you Thorin," she thanked him, a small smile gracing her face at his words. She never expected Thorin to be one to speak such pleasantries, "now please, take this, you will need your strength,"

"You have a plan,"

"Tomorrow night is the feast of starlight, everyone will be celebrating and drinking, that is our opportunity," She explained, recounting the information which Tauriel had informed her.

"You think you can escape their gaze?" Thorin wondered aloud, peaking around at what could be seen beyond the bars.

"I can,"

"Here's hoping," Thorin continued, looking up at her with interest, "have you seen Bilbo?"

She shook her head solemnly, "I do hope he is well."

"Simbelmynë?" Tauriel called from the entrance where she stood watch, "we have to go," she advised.

"Till tomorrow." Simbelmynë promised the caged dwarf, reaching her hand through the bars to grasp his for a moment, before the two let go.

"Be careful, Mynë," he wished.

Simbelmynë quickly scuttled past the cells and back to Tauriel, only to be stopped once more by a particularly young dwarf.

"Hey Mynë! What did you do to get that elf-maiden to help you?" Kili asked, his face pressed through the bars in an attempt to see the auburn haired elf better.

Simbelmynë looked at him with a knowing gaze, he was so young and curious.

She smiled, "I didn't do anything; she's different,"

With that said, she continued her leave, rushing back to Tauriel and wandering away from the dungeons before any prying eyes could notice.

"You care so much for them," Tauriel began, "why?"

The blonde sighed, fiddling with her hands, "based on my life experience I suppose you do not often choose who you care for, you just do."

Simbelmynë held her head as it begun to ache, forcing her eyes to blur and her mind take over.

White. Flowers. A veil. Light. Soft. A crown. Love.

"I love you more than anything, more than the stars in the sky, or the days I have and will live..." She heard ring in her ears.

"I never meant to love you, it just happened..."

What?...