They had the forest completely surrounded. The entire perimeter of the forest was covered by warriors trained by the best. Legolas had his bow in hand, a quiver stuffed with arrows on his back. Thranduil had his sword in his hand as they all ran from tree to tree, all the way to the center of the forest where the attackers' camp was set up.
Alaina had her daggers and Aragorn had his long sword. It was going to be a glorious fight, and they all had their jobs. As soon as Legolas and Thranduil had eyes on the camp, Legolas turned to Alaina, "Find Nuntari, and get her out of there."
"I know my job, Love," Alaina reminded, seeing the nervousness in Legolas' face.
Legolas nodded, looking at Thranduil who was getting anxious. But he followed Legolas into the trees, along with any other Elves that had volunteered to fight for Nuntari.
Then the Men were looking at Alaina, she took a deep breath, quickly turning around the tree and stealthily running up to a mercenary and cutting his throat, letting him drop to the ground before moving onto another one.
The Men followed behind her, doing the same to any mercenaries they could. "Ambush!!" A man yelled before Alaina cut his throat.
The entire camp was alerted, turning and picking up their weapons. Alaina ducked underneath a punch thrown at her, grabbing the man's elbow and stabbing him with the knife that was in his hand. Alaina ran through the camp, a man came at her but an arrow from above hit him in the chest.
Legolas was covering her as Alaina searched every single tent, killing men that were just waking up when she would pull a tent cover back. Suddenly she pulled back the cover and saw Nuntari laying on the ground on her stomach. Alaina was quick to run over, Nuntari's face had tear stains on it and she had been knocked out.
Alaina looked around, the fighting outside of the tent still continuing. Without a second thought, Alaina sheathed her daggers and threw Nuntari over her shoulder. As soon as she stepped out of a tent, a man in front of her was shot with an arrow from above.
As soon as Alaina was running out, warriors on her side gathered around her, protecting her from any men who were attempting to reach Nuntari and herself.
"Take her!" Alaina demanded, handing Nuntari to Ilain.
"Why me?!" Ilain asked, carrying Nuntari bridal style.
"Because I can take more men out than you can!" Alaina yelled over the screams and metal clashing that rang throughout the forest.
Ilain only glared at her, gesturing for some men to follow him out of the forest. Legolas jumped down from the tree above them and handed Alaina an extra bow, she instantly turned around and fired at a man coming at them.
"We fall back," Alaina said, firing arrows next to Legolas. "We'll come back with a stronger force, and keep them from leaving the forest."
"You're the queen," Thranduil replied for Legolas, simply being anxious to get back to check on Nuntari.
"We need to cover to get our wounded out of here," Alaina said, also speaking to the numerous warriors surrounding them.
"Got it," Legolas replied, running forward and shooting at mercenaries at close range. Alaina did the same, eventually running out of arrows and taking out her dual blades and slicing through every man she could while warriors dragged the wounded back.
"Fall back!" Alaina yelled, causing all of their army to follow their orders and fall back through the trees, towards the city.
Alaina, Legolas, Aragorn, Gimli, Thranduil and Eomer were the last people to follow their army out of the forest, providing cover for their army to get out of the trees. Alaina let out a yelp of pain as an arrow skimmed passed her waist, Legolas instantly pulled her back and together they ran out.
"I want men surrounding these trees, do not let any one of them leave!" Alaina demanded as she hopped onto her horse, riding back to the gates of the city.
As soon as they got into the castle, Ilain ran up to them, "As soon as we got back, Nuntari woke up and locked herself in her room."
Alaina looked at Legolas for a moment, causing him to pull her aside and whisper lowly, "When I found her, Legolas, she had bruises on her wrists, neck and waist."
Legolas' eyes searched Alaina's for a moment, trying to figure out what she was saying. When it came to him, his eyes couldn't leave Alaina's, his mouth parted slightly, unable to form words. Alaina's hand left his shoulder, "I'm going to try to talk to her.."
Once Alaina made it to Nuntari bedroom, she knocked softly, not wanting to scare her. "Nuntari.."
She didn't respond and Alaina used the key she had for every door in the castle, stepping in carefully to see Nuntari curled up at the end of the bed on the floor, "Leave me alone," she responded, her voice was rasping, seemingly from someone crushing her neck.
"Tari.." Alaina used her nickname as she approached slowly, crouching down next to her, putting her hand on Nuntari's shoulder.
Nuntari instantly backed away, "Don't touch me!"
Alaina was heartbroken and she decided it would be best if she gave Nuntari some space, nodding, "We'll just be outside if you need us.."
As soon as Alaina walked outside, Legolas and Thranduil walked up to her, "How is she?"
Alaina shook her head, "She won't talk to me, she's traumatized.."
Thranduil instantly walked passed her, into Nuntari's bedroom. Alaina barely had time to stop him from entering but instead was pulled into Legolas' arms.
"Please, just leave me alone," Nuntari told Thranduil as he walked in.
But of course, he didn't listen, he bent down in front of her, a couple feet away to stay out of her personal bubble, "Nuntari, you can't do this.."
"You don't understand," Nuntari said quietly, pulling her legs to her chest.
"I am only going to ask you this once so that we can be on the same page, and I can only help you once I know what they did to you.." Thranduil spoke, Nuntari's eyes finally meeting his own, Thranduil spoke carefully but also plainly, "Did they rape you?"
As soon as tears fell from Nuntari's eyes, Thranduil realized the answer was yes. A breath was let out of Thranduil's lungs as he held his hand out to her, causing her to flinch, "You are Nuntari Darksky daughter of Legolas Greenleaf, the prince of Mirkwood, and Alaina Estel, the queen of Arnor.. you are strong, you can withstand anything. Including this."
"I can't, I can't, I can't," Nuntari said over and over again, her emotions causing her to force out words quickly.
"You can, and I will help you," Thranduil nodded, his eyes not leaving hers, "you have the whole kingdom waiting downstairs to know if you are safe or not. You are a princess and it is your duty to this kingdom."
"No, no, I can't," Nuntari said through her tears and whimpers.
"You can," Thranduil said firmly, his hand still outstretched to Nuntari, "You can, and I will talk you through it, I promise. You are safe and nobody can hurt you now."
Nuntari looked at him and took a deep breath, thinking for a very long moment before wiping the tears off her face and reaching for Thranduil's hand. He instantly pulled her into a hug, wrapping his arms around her softly, gently and comfortingly, but it was quick, he felt her shaking and instantly gave her space, stepping back.
Thranduil quickly looked around, suddenly seeing her closet and stepping towards it, stepping inside and finding a nice dress, one he had never seen before. He walked back out and handed it to her, "Get dressed," he said, softly but commanding, "you are the future queen of Arnor, and your kingdom needs to see what is in store for them."
Nuntari nodded, quickly wiping a tear off her face and then stepping before her changing wall. "I'll be just outside," Thranduil informed her before stepping outside.
He was instantly bombarded with questions from Alaina and Legolas, "Well?"
"She's coming downstairs to address the kingdom," Thranduil said, "Don't push her, she'll tell you what happened when she's ready." He spoke elegantly.
Alaina and Legolas both instantly already knew what had happened to her, their worst fears confirmed. Alaina turned to Ilain, "Make sure the nobles are gathered and ready downstairs."
Alaina turned towards Aragorn, but he stopped her, "You want to find out who did this. I'll take care of it."
"Thank you, brother. I apologize for asking for help for my kingdom once again," she said.
Aragorn shook his head and smiled, "It's our kingdom, remember? We're just in charge of separate parts of it."
Alaina nodded, "Of course," she agreed. She turned towards Eomer and Gimli, "Leave us? Just for a moment."
"'f course, milady," Gimli grumbled before pushing Eomer along, simply to annoy him.
"Legolas, would you mind rounding up the men we took prisoner from the forest, be ready to bring them into the throne room so Nuntari can identify the men who harmed her, if they aren't already dead," Alaina said, a dark tone in her voice.
"What do you intend to do with them if they are?" Legolas asked, worried about Alaina's soul now.
Alaina looked towards Thranduil and then back to Legolas, "He can rot in the prisons of Mirkwood, for all I care," she spoke. "The others will be tortured for information of the attack if nobody decides to spill it."
Thranduil almost smiled, "I like that plan," he spoke, almost with humor in his voice.
"I'm on it," Legolas nodded before jogging down the stairs.
"Alaina.." Thranduil spoke slowly, "You respect and trust me, don't you?"
Alaina pressed her lips together for a moment, "Yeah, I would say so."
"And you know I care about Nuntari more than anything, don't you?" Thranduil asked again.
Alaina nodded once more, "Yes, everybody in the realm knows that."
Thranduil smiled lightly, "Then when I tell you I think Nuntari would be better off spending a little bit of time in Mirkwood, you know I'm thinking of her best interests at heart."
Alaina twisted her head at her father-in-law, "Why would you think that?"
"You can deny it if you want, but Nuntari is half-elven. Traumatizing events like this aren't usually survivable by elves. Emotional tolls on elves take form in the physical as well. For example, I'm sure you know that if you died, Legolas would too, strictly from grief," Thranduil explained. "I've seen many elves die because of what Nuntari endured, and I wouldn't be surprised if that part of her is weighing her down right now. She needs to be near her people, near nature, without the weight of a kingdom on top of her. And in Mirkwood, she gets all of that. Maybe just for the time being as you destroy the threat of whoever attacked your kingdom."
Alaina took in his words carefully, he had great points, and Nuntari had wanted to travel out of the kingdom for a very long time. "Ultimately, it's up to her, Thranduil. But yes, you have my blessing. She's an adult, she can handle herself."
Right after Alaina spoke, Nuntari opened her door and stepped out in a red dress with a collar that extended upwards, hiding any bruises on her neck. "Let's get this done, I hate dresses," Nuntari said, instantly reaching for either Alaina or Thranduil's hands.
Alaina took it first, and nodded, "I'm proud of you," she said, before guiding her daughter down the stairs to a room full of the kingdom's nobles and citizens who clapped as they walked down the stairs. She took a seat in the throne after Alaina directed to, standing next to it.
Nuntari sat tall, trying to put on the show that she needed to. Thankfully, her mother did all of the talking. "Criminals tried to harm my daughter tonight, and they did not succeed. Thanks to this kingdom's forces who fought back powerfully," then Legolas came in leading the prisoners from the forest. "These men will get what they deserve."
Thranduil turned his back towards the crowd to face Nuntari as he watched her tense up as one of the men entered. "All you have to do is identify, I'll take care of the rest," Thranduil said.
Nuntari's eyes went to the floor, away from the stare of one of the men, "Third to the left," she spoke as Legolas lined up the prisoners. "He's the one—" she almost choked up but Thranduil turned around harshly, back towards the crowd. Nuntari held it in, getting distracted as Thranduil walked down the steps and brought his fist back and threw it forward at the man third to the left.
Legolas' draw dropped, he had never seen Thranduil punch somebody before. Most of the crowd gasped, and Alaina sighed. Thranduil took out a cloth and wiped the blood from his fist. The man scrawled around on the ground, struggling to get up.
"Get up, you piece of shit," Thranduil said, watching as the man continued to struggle to stand. He gestured to his elven guards from Mirkwood. They escorted the man out of the room, dragging his feet on the ground.
"Take the rest of the men away," Alaina gestured to Ilain, who quickly escorted the rest of the prisoners to the dungeons.
~~~~
"Nuntari," Alaina said to her daughter, stepping inside her room as the sun shined through the window on Nuntari's packed bag. Nuntari smiled as Alaina grabbed her face gently, "I am going to miss you."
"I'll miss you too," Nuntari replied, soon turning back to pack up the bag on her bed, "but this'll be good for me. Thranduil even said I could be in charge of trade! That means I'll be able to travel to places like Erebor, and maybe even Minas Tirith!" She said excitedly.
Alaina felt bad now, feeling as though she's kept Nuntari prisoner in Arnor, not allowing her to venture out. "I'm happy for you," Alaina said. "Y'know, I was traveling around at your age as well, a ranger of the north. Despite what Aragorn says, it was the greatest times of our lives, and I know he misses being able to just leave without any responsibilities."
"Why don't you?" Nuntari asked.
Alaina chuckled, "I'm in charge of a kingdom, Nuntari. I can't just leave to some far off place."
"Right," Nuntari agreed, "That's why I'm hoping to see the world before the responsibility falls on me."
Alaina sat on her bed next to where her daughter packed her bag. "Don't get me wrong, I am very happy here. It's just.. different."
Nuntari nodded, "I understand—"
"You ready?" Thranduil asked, now standing in the doorway.
It wasn't long before Nuntari, Thranduil, their guards and the new prisoner that would spend his time in Mirkwood were getting on their horses ready to leave Tharbad. Nuntari had had the hardest time saying goodbye to her new baby brother, knowing he would grow up seeing her only once a year or so, unless she made the effort to come visit more often.
Legolas held Alaina tight, "She'll be all right," he told her.
Alaina nodded, watching Nuntari laugh at something Thranduil had said, getting excited by his talk of Mirkwood. "I know she will."