Light in the dark

EIGHT

The new clothes were brought by a maid, and fit me perfectly. When I was done cleaning myself up by washing off all the dirt from the dungeons, I was ready to go.

Haldir waited for me at the door. When I appeared in the hall, he looked up and down at me in my Elvenclothes.

"Looks good on you," he said.

"Thank you," I smiled, "You don't look bad yourself."

The blonde Elf had replaced his casual attire for a light brown gown with gold stitches.

Together we walked upwards, to the great halls, where we could already hear the music.

It was quite a sight to see so many Elves together in one place. They were all stunning in their party clothing, and wine glasses in their hands.

After a while, Thranduil came walking towards me. I felt fear gripping me, as he was probably going to tell me to go back to my room, or worse: the dungeons. He didn't want me here, between his people.

"Forgive me, my Lord," I quickly said to him, hoping he would at least show some kind of mercy. A smile played on his lips. Had he drunk too much already?

"Actually, I wanted to compliment you on your dress, little one," he said.

Yep, definitely drunk.

"Oh," I said, surprised. "Thank you, my King. The size of this one fits a lot better."

"I'm glad to hear that." He sipped from his drink, leaving an awkward silence between us.

Suddenly, knowing I was taking an immense risk, I asked: "You're not mad at me, my Lord?"

"What makes you think that?" he asked, looking down at me. I felt so small here.

"I'm invading your party time," I said, and tasted some of the wine that Haldir had got me. It tasted sweet and fruity. A lot better than the wine from my hometown, but would I have expected different from the King of Mirkwood?

"I shouldn't be here, right?"

"I told you not to leave this kingdom. As far as I can see, you haven't crossed the borders."

Okay, I'd expected worse.

"Come, let's take a walk," he said, and I followed him away from the crowd to a more quiet place where we sat down on a wooden bench.

"You're enjoying yourself so far?" he asked. I was a little startled by the sudden interest of the King, and couldn't help but think if this was another trap like the first time I was in his room. Was he being all friendly all of a sudden to get information? I had already told him everything I knew, right?

"It's great," I said, "even though it is very different to the parties where I'm from."

"What are they like?"

I couldn't help but laugh. "Oh, my King, you don't want to know. It's definitely not as fancy as it is here."

"I see," he smiled. He actually smiled. The small change in his expression made a whole difference. It was the first time I had seen his smile reach his eyes, and it made him look so much more beautiful. It was like his whole face softened, and his eyes didn't seem so stonecold anymore.

"I've noticed you and Haldir have been spending quite some time together," the King suddenly said, while his eyes scanned through the crowd of Elves and landed on Haldir.

I followed his gaze and looked at the blonde Elf who was talking to a male Elf who was probably Celeborn. "Yeah, he's great," I said softly.

The King looked sideways and downwards at me, one eyebrow slightly raised.

Starting to feel a little uncomfortable because of his stare, I added: "I mean, Haldir is really kind, and he's been a great friend. I don't think a day has passed here when we haven't seen each other." I stopped talking, fearing I had maybe said too much. "Sorry, my Lord, I don't want to bother you with this," I apologized.

Thranduil looked into his glass of wine, that was probably empty judging by the look on his face, and completely ignored my apologies. "Tell me more about where you're from, Roan."

How he always succeeded to surprise me, reamined a mystery to me. Or rather, this Elf remained a complete mystery. I did as I was told, though, as I didn't feel that I had a choice.

"It's actually quite boring to be honest," I said. "Especially if you compare it to Middle-Earth. Nowadays the big cities are one big grey place, overrun by cars and businessmen who are in a hurry on their way to work. Nature is gone for a big part in my world; it's not like here... Sometimes I just want to look up at the sky and see the stars, but because of the pollution, it's really hard to see them through the thick layer of smoke."

A slight horrified expression crept over the Kings face.

"My King? Everything alright?" I asked.

He seemed to snap back to reality from wherever his mind might have wandered off to. "You're not able to see the stars at night?" he asked, now truly horrified.

I shook my head. "We're kind of used to it, though. It's been so long we've actually seen a clear sky that we can't really recall what it looked like."

"That's horrible," he whispered. "When is the last time you have looked at a clear sky?"

I thought for a second. "It wasn't in my hometown. We were on a holiday in Norway and went on a trip to see the Northern Lights."

"The Northern Lights?" he asked, and for the first time, he looked fully interested in what I had to say.

While I explained the Northern Lights to the King, and he kept asking more questions, I got totally caught up in the conversation in a way I thought I would never have. And I think the King did too.