runando ~ A Thranduil Story

Revealed

After the feast, Laineth returned to her old habit of shutting herself away in her rooms. She felt it, she swore she did. Her fea and his connected. It was the teeniest little spark, but it was enough to send Laineth into overdrive. Her sprint from the feast startled many, but concerned few, she had not seen any of her friends since, though Issel did try to knock her door down in a drunken stupor late into the night. She could still feel it, deep within herself. If she wanted to, she could reach out to him, give him a little jolt. She wouldn't dare though, she couldn't bare becoming too close with anyone again.

It wasn't until the fourth day of remaining unseen that someone came to visit her. She had been writing again, trying to translate her commands in Black Speech into Sindarin, the little project was coming along slowly, but hopefully she'd have something to actually add to her chronicles once she'd finished. A light rapping came from the door, someone was there. She looked up from her desk and at herself in the mirror, she was a mess, her hair looked like a bush, horrifying for an elleth, her eyes were constantly flickering between that baby blue and the fiery orange, a constant reminder of her conflicted emotions, and as far as she could remember, she hadn't gotten changed for a few days, only to have a bath.

She wasn't answering the door.

As soon as she placed her quill back onto her paper, the sound came back again. With a sigh, she continued her scribbling, she felt uncomfortable writing in such an accursed language in an Elven kingdom, but if she was alone, she reckoned that she would be fine and she wouldn't place some sort of otherworldly curse on the realm. The rapping became more of a thumping, the person at the door obviously becoming more irritated with the lack of response. The sudden loud noise shocked Laineth, making her jump and her hand go right across the paper, knocking the inkwell onto the floor, smashing it and spilling the ink everywhere in the process.

With a growl, she threw the quill across the room with such force it embedded itself into the opposing wall. Carefully, she kicked the remnants of the pot out of the way as she arose from her chair, making sure not to cut herself and get ink all over her foot. Whoever was outside must have heard the commotion, because they were now trying to force their way into the room, fumbling with the doorknob. The door was locked, they couldn't get in without a key, a key that Laineth had in her desk drawer. Combined with the thumping, the jangling of the doorknob became irritating enough that the elleth stormed over to the door and swung it open, her mood quickly darkening.

To her surprise, Maethon was the one who was on the other side. She hadn't seen him since they danced together at the feast, he disappeared when she began to dance with the king. It concerned her, but she was happy that he had appeared, she was afraid that he had been offended in some way.

"Pardon the interruption, but the Lady Issel desires to see you," He said very sternly, eyeing up the pile of broken pottery in the corner, "She asked for you to meet her in the great library as soon as you can manage."

Laineth gave him a nervous smile, he was never this stern with her, even when she was new to the kingdom, even after she ran off into the woods only to be kidnapped by her possibly possessed younger brother. Something was off about him, his eyes looked heavy, his mouth folded into a straight line. There was no essence of emotion coming from him, just a very commanding presence. No wonder he was a captain.

"I, uh," She fumbled over her words, fidgeting with her fingers, "Thank you for letting me know Captain, however could you please let Lady Issel know that I am unable to attend her at the moment, I am, for a lack of words, indisposed."

Maethon's mouth twitched upwards slightly, "She said that she knows you would say that, so she requested for me to tell you that she will hide you from the king, but only if you go and speak with her, otherwise she will speak her concerns for you to him."