The Witch's Destiny || Thranduil

Chapter XXV

"I'll be back later, darling," she whispered to the creature, pressing a kiss to his tiny little face with a small smile. She grabbed her sword, belted it at her hip, and left. She shut the door quietly behind her and took the emptiest route she could, still set on avoiding as many eyes as possible.

She paused when she got to the council room. Maybe she really didn't have to go in. She could pretend to be sick, right? What would be an acceptable issue? Womanly problems?

She pursed her lips. Anything she came up with would warrant someone coming to visit, and she was sure the elves on the other side of the door already knew she was standing there. Without another thought and with very tense shoulders, she took a deep breath and pushed open the door. Not many had entered the room yet. It was just Galadriel, Gandalf, Authanar, and Thranduil.

Her eyes glanced to her usual spot beside Thranduil and the spot beside Gandalf, flitting back and forth between the two. Her eyes went to Thranduil next, who was looking out the window, though he did look at her out the corner of his eye.

He only looked away when she sat next to Gandalf, and even from this far away she could tell he was chewing the inside of his lip. Just as she was about to change her mind, the dwarves walked in and Legolas was behind them, very clearly having just arrived home from his patrol. Clearly, he was more mature than she was, because he took his normal spot beside Authanar.

Though, she supposed he didn't have many good options. Galadriel had already taken the spot beside Legolas, and if he wanted to move one spot down, he would be directly in front of Violet. She knew he wouldn't do that, and he wouldn't sit beside his father either. Thorin, Dwalin, and Balin took up the other seats that would place him far away from the couple.

He chose the only spot he could that would keep him as far as possible from the two.

The air around them felt thick, laden with awkwardness and tension. It reminded Violet of when she had entered the forest for the first time, when her head felt cloudy and she was surprised she was able to apparate correctly.

Nothing dissipated when Elrond and Harry entered, taking their own seats; it only seemed to increase tenfold. Thranduil sighed, facing forward.

"It it my understanding you wish to leave today?" Thranduil asked.

"Yes," Thorin said gruffly, "We have been in this accursed forest for too long already."

To his credit, Thranduil was almost a master at hiding his emotions, save for certain times. This was not one of those times. His steely mask was impenetrable, giving away nothing to the dwarf who was either purposefully trying to provoke the ellon or was that antsy to reclaim his homeland.

Probably a mixture of the two, if she had to wager a guess.

"Very well," he replied, lacing his fingers in front of him on the table, "Do you have enough provisions?"

"We'll be fine."

Balin looked at Thorin, mouth gaped. "Thorin..."

"I said we'll be fine Balin," the dwarf king replied, staring his friend down.

Violet pursed her lips, looking Thorin up and down. It seems any progress that had been made truly did return to square one, and she could already feel the headache coming on. An upset and antsy Thorin, plus a deeply hurt and irritated Thranduil, right along with a deeply hurt Legolas and a very tired and hurt Violet was not going to mix well.

"I will at least write passage for you through Esgaroth. The Master will provide you with a warm bed and food when you arrive. He enjoys our trade partnership too much to not," Thranduil said, pouring himself a glass of wine. He took a long drink from it, sitting it on the table.