runando ~ A Thranduil Story

Conversation

When Norgon flung the cell door open, he was surprised by what he was greeted with. On the floor, there lay an elleth. She was pale, almost sickly in complexion, assumingly from being inside the cell which was far from sunlight for close to two weeks. Her hair was a platinum blonde, a colour that rivaled even the King's. It was long, almost reaching her hips, but from where Norgon stood and where she lay, he couldn't tell as it was sprawled out among the stone floor. She was staring up at the ceiling with her ice blue eyes. This confused the guard, he had been told that she had the most intense orange irises Thranduil had ever seen.

She looked innocent, so innocent that it was as if she could never do a thing wrong

Thranduil was surprisingly lenient with Laineth, he didn't hand any further punishment down to her and was only keeping her imprisoned so the council didn't try and overthrow him. Norgon knew that the King and Laineth were good friends, they'd often found solace in each other, she had no expectations of him and he of her. A year ago, they acted almost as if they were long lost friends, which surprised Laineth as much as it surprised the rest of the court.

"I have been ordered to take you to your quarters," Norgon announced, not sure whether to tag lady on the end or not, deciding to leave the sentence as is.

With a groan and a few concerning cracks of various bones, Laineth rose to her feet, staring Norgon down. This scared him, he felt as if the entire weight of Arda had just been placed on his shoulders. Her eyes were menacing, but he could see so many emotions in them, it was hard to figure out what she was actually feeling, for her face was neutral, her mouth in a straight line, but her eyes said something else.

"Let us go then," She said in a whisper, waiting for her guard to lead her away. In her mind, she was thankful for finally being released. She had been residing in that cell for a month and a half, but it felt like years since the days never seemed to end.

With a slight raise of his eyebrow, Norgon nodded, leading Laineth out of the cell and up the many staircases to escort her to her room. He had been ordered specifically by Thranduil to make sure that she didn't encounter any of his counselors on her way back, especially Ortheron and Lomion. Those two were most upset that she was being allowed almost free roam of the Kingdom despite everyone knowing full well who she is and how dangerous she can be.

So, he took one of the many different routes to get to where they needed to go. Visitors to the realm would always be so struck by how many weaving pathways and all sorts that lead to so many different places. No wonder there were so many guards; They all needed to escort people from place to place to ensure they didn't get lost!

Laineth noticed that they were crossing more bridges than normal and that they weren't going down the corridors she had become accustomed to. This brought out the curiosity in her, this was the first time in months she'd been able to walk through these halls and to freely speak with someone, so she decided to take advantage of it.

"Why are we going this way?" She queried to the back of Norgon's head. He turned to face her slightly, surprised that she had spoken up.

"The King requested that I make sure that you don't come into contact with Lord Ortheron or Lord Lomion, they aren't happy that you are staying here," He replied, keeping it as short and simple as he could. To be truthful, he wasn't even sure if he could be telling Laineth this.

She sighed, "Ah, of course. Thranduil does know that I can defend myself if need be, right? Where is he anyway, I have no doubt he'll want to talk to me later, I want to be prepared."

Norgon hummed, continuing to lead her to her room, "He's in a council meeting at the moment, they're all arguing about how to deal with the orcs that attacked the eastern post two months past."