Sunlight, Afterglow, Nightsky and Snowfield

Chapter 7 - The Elven Lord

The Woodland Realm was like a dungeon, illuminated by lamps hanging on the ceiling. It made a rather gloomy impression on me. Or maybe it was due to the fact that we didn't come in here as guests. Thorin was brought to the Lord of the Woodlands for a conversation and we were imprisoned in cells.

The elf who pushed me in my cell took my staff away from me.

"Aww, you wouldn't take the walking stick from a poor, poor, little lady, would you?" I asked with a sad voice and looked at the elf with the most pitiful eyes I could muster.

"You look too young to need a walking stick!" The elf simply said and closed the door of the cell behind me.

Darn, I thought. Now I was really lost without my staff.

Then I noticed Kili was brought to the cell opposite me by the red-haired elf maid.

"Aren't you going to search me?" he asked. "I could have anything down my trousers!"

"Or nothing!" The elf simply said and slammed the door shut. When she walked away, Kili looked after her with a smirk. I didn't like this at all.

Then, however, he saw me. "Aurora, how do you feel?", he asked, concerned.

I was so relieved that he cared for me. "Now I feel much better!" I said without thinking and then grabbed my forehead in shame. Why did I have to say this aloud?

Kili watched me with raised eyebrows and then he turned away.

For the next few minutes the air was filled by thuds caused by the dwarves running into the doors of their cells, trying to break out.

"It is no use! This is no orc dungeon! We stay here until the Elven King lets us go. Or we stay here forever!" Balin said.

"Aurora, can't you do something?" Bofur shared the cell next to me.

"And what? Should I politely talk to my door and beg her to open by herself?" I asked in a harsh tone and at the same moment, I felt sorry for this. "You know perfectly well they took my staff, so I can't do anything!"

Then Thorin was back and was put into his cell. His face was red and his eyes burned with rage. Apparently, the conversation with the Elfen Lord didn't turn out very well.

"What did you talk about?" Balin wanted to know immediately. "Did he offer you a deal?"

"Yes, he did. I told him he could go 'ishkh khakfe andu null'!" Thorin's voice echoed through the halls of the Woodland Realm. "Him and all his kin!"

"What's that supposed to mean?" I asked Bofur, who peeked out between the bars of his cell.

He just looked at me and answered: "Trust me, you don't want to know this!"

Balin sighed and closed his eyes. "That's it then. A deal was our only hope!"

"Not our only hope!" Thorin answered.

Thus, we had no other choice than to rest in our cells. I assumed the time proceeded and it became late, since it turned calmer around me. I guessed the dwarves were asleep. The only sound which could be heard was music and singing in a distance.

Kili was playing with the stone in his hand. Suddenly, the red-haired elf appeared and asked him about the stone. Kili made the same joke with her he made with me, but then he revealed the truth about it: He got it from his mother, as a promise that he would come back to her. His mother worried about him, since she thought that Kili was reckless (I silently agreed).

Then the stone slipped out of his hand and the elven maid picked it up. Kili asked her about the music and the singing and the elf explained that they were celebrating the Feast of the Stars. Kili stated that he considered the stars to be cold, and distant, while the elf said they were pure and precious – a memory.