Tear Me Apart- A Middle Earth Story

The Mad King

"Since when has my council counted for so little? What do you think I'm trying to do?!" Gandalf exclaimed at the elven king as they were back in Thranduil's tent. The two of them had been arguing for the past ten minutes, leaving no room for any of the other two parts to butt in.

"I think you're trying to save your dwarvish friends. And I admire your loyalty to them, but it does not dissuade me from my course. You started this, Mithrandir. You will forgive me if I finish it." Thranduil spoke, and Abbie gasped as he exited the tent.

"Thranduil, wait!" She shouted at his back, and the elf turned around. "Please, let me try to convince him! He's sick. He's not in his senses. You cannot declare a war on him in these circumstances. It's unfair." She argued desperately.

"The dwarf had it coming. I warned him. I warned him about what the gold would do to him. He refused to listen." The elven king stated, not an ounce of empathy in his voice. It was cold, like the wind burning Abbie's cheeks. She suddenly wished she had dressed warmer.

"Please, Thranduil. I beg you. Someone took your love away from you. Please don't take away mine." She begged the blonde elf. She wished she hadn't yelled at him earlier. If she hadn't he might have been more merciful. Thranduil turned away from the tiny she-elf and faced one of his servants.

"Are the archers in position?" He asked the armored elf with an expressionless face. The servant bowed to his king and answered him gallantly.

"Yes my Lord."

"Give the order. If anything moves on that mountain - kill it!" Thranduil commanded, and Abbie's hope shattered to the ground along with a couple of tears. The king turned around and faced her expressionlessly. "The dwarves are out of time." He told her, something lingering behind his blue eyes. But Abbie couldn't make it out, and instead crumpled to the ground. The night sky seemed to close in around her as tears blurred her vision. The Queen of Erebor didn't even bother about her robes getting dirty, all that was on her mind was the war that was approaching. And the fact that she felt utterly powerless. She had come to convince Thranduil that peace was better than war, but she had failed. Now she had only one night left with Thorin until the war, and it would most likely be spent fighting. They were twelve dwarves... Against two armies. There was no way they were going to make it. And Thorin would be too upset with Abbie to listen to a word she would say.

Everything felt completely hopeless. The cold snow burned where the palms of her hands were spread out on the ground. Her eyes got caught on the silver ring on her finger and she sighed. Abbie heard a child's laughter and turned to where the sound came from. To her surprise and amazement, she saw Ellis laughing with her father in one of the ruins not so far away from the little town square where she was sitting. She dried her tears and stood up. The Queen of Erebor walked over to the blacksmith and his daughter with confident steps through the snow. The man turned to her with a look of astonishment as Abbie maniacally started taking of all of her precious jewelry.

"Here. Take it." She picked up the pile of valuable gold and reached out toward the blacksmith. "Take it all, and by yourselves some food with it. I don't need it." She urged the thin man while motioning with her hands.

"I can't accept–" He started. Even while his daughter was starving, the man was honorable. This time Abbie was the one to interrupt him.

"Yes you can. This should've been given to you long ago. Accept it, or else I'll leave it on the ground." She said with a plea. The blacksmith reluctantly held out his hands as Abbie dropped the jewelry into them.

"I don't know how to thank you, my Queen." His rough voice was incredulous, as if he could barely believe what he was looking at. Abbie realized that he had probably never seen that much riches in his life.