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Revolution  by Laikwalâssê

Revolution


Chapter 9:  disturbing news

 

With a sigh Galadhion leaned back against the cool stone wall and took a deep breath. He had managed to sneak into his father’s library only minutes before Thoran’s companions had come here.

His heart had nearly missed a beat, when the door suddenly opened again and the two elves entered. ‘So much for finding a place to think undisturbed.’ At the last possible moment he had managed to squeeze in a small alcove that would hide him from view.

Now his heart was pounding so loud that he feared they would discover him any minute. Then he would share his father’s fate, if not worse. Nonetheless he was glad for the situation presenting itself. Maybe he could come by some news without risking too much.

In the last three hours he had succeeded in gathering some information. Thoran’s followers had spread over the whole palace, stationing themselves at strategic positions, yet the crown prince doubted that there were enough elves to effectively control the huge area.

The palace consisted of many twisted corridors, secret doors, long forgotten or unused passages and tunnels; even Galadhion and his family did not know all of them. Only the King himself was familiar with the entire area; after all, he had designed the palace. 

A small smile flittered over Galadhion´s fair face. He had led uncounted search parties, mostly consisting of the King and himself, trying to find his youngest brother, who had managed to get lost while playing. Since then, he could recount many of the places someone could hide and disappear never to be seen. Maybe this would come in handy now.

Galadhion wondered how Thoran had managed to subdue the palace staff and the numerous workers doing their daily business. It would have been impossible to penetrate the palace and overpower the King, without the help from insiders.

Knowing Thoran, Galadhion was almost sure that he had only succeeded by threatening them either with the King’s life or the lives of their loved ones. How many had cooperated freely Galadhion did not know. He would delay finding this out until later.

With satisfaction however, Galadhion learned that Thoran as yet had no control of the warriors. They, and most of the guards, had removed themselves from Thoran’s grasp and were waiting.

They had left the palace grounds and re-grouped at a place Thoran hopefully didn’t know. Back then it had been a gathering place while the Kingdom moved north. Galadhion had only to meet them there. The warriors would not act unless the King himself ordered them, or so he hoped. The important thing now was to get in touch with them.

They could ill afford to underestimate the danger of the situation. Thoran held the King captive to force the troops to surrender, otherwise, he threatened, Thranduil would be killed. Right now, Thoran and the King were in a stand-off, and that was a problem.

Galadhion knew his father. The King would never command the troops to surrender and the warriors would never follow Thoran, if he killed the King. For the moment Thoran’s hands were bound, but Galadhion knew him better and this brought fear to his heart.

Thoran never backed away from a challenge and he was unpredictable. The possibility that he would kill his father in a fit of rage was great and Galadhion could not take such a chance.

Shoving these disturbing thoughts into the back of his mind for now Galadhion listened what the two elves had to say. His dismay grew with every minute he listened, and so did his anger when he saw how unconcerned they moved around.

His father had founded this place by making many sacrifices - political and personal - and now this upstart had come here to turn everything upside down and claim it as his own.

`I will never allow that to happen,” Galadhion thought grimly as he listened to the next words said. This time his heart really missed a beat and his knees went weak.

Are you sure the damned elf didn’t escape?” the one said to his companion.

 

Thoran´s bloodhounds took care that he never reached his goal, be assured,” the other retorted and Galadhion could almost imagine the gleeful grimace on his face.

 

I hope you are right. Thoran won’t take a failure kindly, as you know. He’s still angry that we haven’t found the crown prince yet.

 

“Come let us raid the kitchen, I’m starving,” Galadhion heard them say.The words had hardly been spoken before the two elves had crossed the library and left through the other end. When the door had closed behind them Galadhion slid down the wall and sat there breathing hard.

He removed the hand he had clamped over his mouth to keep from letting out a cry of rage, when he had heard what one of the elves had said. Without doubt they had spoken about his brother Saeron.

What in the name of the Belain had they done to him? Quickly he searched the bond with his brother and took a relieved breath when he received a response. He frowned noticing the weakness in the connection, but this could well be blamed on the great distance between them.

But had Saeron really managed to leave Mirkwood or was the weakness caused by injury? Galadhion swallowed. Contrary to the claim from the two who had just left he knew that his brother was alive, but that was all he could say for sure.

He clenched his fists. If they had harmed his brother or his father then he would hunt them down and they would not escape their punishment.

Now he had to leave and contact the warriors. Only with their help he would be able to achieve something. After calming down Galadhion rose and straightened his back. He would not let them destroy his world and he would do everything in his power to throw these bastards out of his father’s halls.

He had lost his mother too early, as a result of his failure; he would not allow this to happen again. Granted, she had not waited for his arrival to reach her and escort her home. She had departed from the guards of Lothlórien alone, and was killed by orcs only minutes before he was able reach her. Even if not his failure he would always blame himself and something like this would never ever happen again.

 

………………………………………

 

Before he left the palace to join the warriors he had one more thing to do. He had to contact his father and let him know what was happening.

But he had no idea how to achieve this. He did not even know where his father was being held. His guess was, of course, the dungeons in the lower levels of the underground palace, but Thoran’s fellows would be concentrated there.

Following a side corridor that ran parallel to the main hallway Galadhion ran along using every crevice and alcove he passed to avoid being seen. He glimpsed a few members of the staff but refrained from calling out to them. He did not know if they were helping Thoran freely or were being blackmailed by him. Either way it was dangerous for him and for them.

He stopped his flight abruptly, seeing an elf armed with a sword blocking the entrance to the main hall. Holding his breath Galadhion stopped and waited to see if the other had heard him. His hand rested on the hilt of his sword. Keeping his eyes glued to the back of the unfamiliar elf, the crown prince retraced his last steps remembering a small side tunnel a few steps back.

Rounding the corner while still stepping backwards he more sensed then felt the upcoming impact but it was already too late to avoid it. With a quick turn he whirled around, placed his hand over the other’s mouth, and dragged him down the small corridor out of earshot.

Having reached a safe distance, he stopped and stood there breathing hard, his heart pounding rapidly. The elf in his grip was struggling for air. With dismay he realized that this was because he had his hand tightly over the other’s mouth. He was also suddenly aware that the elf in his arms was a good deal smaller then he was.

Not entirely removing his hand he turned the elf around and looked into the frightened eyes of Liriel, one of the female elves responsible for the kitchen. When seeing who had dragged her so roughly down the corridor her eyes widened but her posture relaxed somewhat.

She made a brief bow. “My Lord, I’m so glad to see you, my…” Galadhion quickly placed his hand back over her mouth. The guard just around the corner could still easily hear them. Placing his finger over his lips he motioned her to be silent. Further down the corridor he glimpsed a door to a storeroom. He nodded at it and Liriel complied.

Stepping forward Galadhion grimaced when the hinges creaked while he opened the door. Quickly he gestured the cook inside and closed the door. He pressed his ear against the wood and listened carefully.

When he was sure that no one had discovered them he turned. The storeroom had only a little window but provided enough light to see each other. Stepping next to Liriel he took the hand of the slender women in his own. “Liriel, I’m sorry for dragging you in here like this but can you give me any information about the situation inside the palace?”

Looking at her Lord with wide eyes Liriel shook her head. “We do not even know what happened at all, my Lord! An Elf, Thoran he named himself, came into the kitchen a few days ago and declared that the kingdom was now under his rule and that we all had to cooperate.”

When Galadhion only nodded grimly she continued. “First, we were all confused and demanded an explanation but Thoran only laughed and recommended that we should follow his commands otherwise we would regret our decision.”

Liriel lowered her eyes and Galadhion took a deep breath. It was as he had feared. Thoran had made the loyal elves docile by threats. “What did he threaten you with?” he asked lifting the chin of the young elf.

Liriel swallowed and was close to tears now. “He has hidden my little son somewhere. He must have taken him from the nursery.  I cannot find him and Thoran threatened to kill him if I do not cooperate.”

Galadhion swallowed. It was as bad as he had guessed. Embracing the shivering frame, Galadhion had no words of comfort. What could he say anyway, that all would turn out well? How could he promise what he doubted himself?

When Liriel had composed herself, Galadhion released her and looked her in the eyes. “Liriel, do you know where my father is? Do you know where they are holding the King captive?”

To his surprise Liriel looked up at him and nodded. “Yes, my Lord. I’m in charge of providing him with food. I was just on my way to him.”

Galadhion blinked. It was just the chance he had hoped for. But then he frowned. Could he ask this of Liriel and endanger her by asking her to bring his father a message? But what other options did he have?

Feeling a hand on his arm he was ripped from his thoughts. Liriel looked up at him and smiled well aware of his thoughts. “My Lord, I will gladly transfer a message to the King. This is it what you want to ask of me, is it not?”

Galadhion nodded. “Liriel, that would be wonderful but do they not watch you closely?”

When the brown haired maiden lowered her eyes Galadhion’s hope vanished. As much as he wanted to seize this opportunity, he was uncomfortable with endangering the life of an elf, much less that of a woman who was not trained as a warrior.

However, the next gaze from the brown eyes directed at him startled him. “My Lord, I would do anything to act against this Thoran. If he has harmed my son, then he will regret it!”

The vehemence of the statement made Galadhion swallow hard. Although he could sympathize with the woman, he had to slow her down.

“Liriel, I understand your fears and I promise I will do everything possible to find your son but we must not forfeit the chance to get in contact with my father. Without him the hopes of so many others will be lost too.”

Liriel lowered her eyes again. She was being selfish. Many others were also hurting and she could not just think about herself, but this was so difficult.

“Liriel,” Galadhion rose her chin with his finger. “Have you seen my father? Have you had an opportunity to speak with him?”

The crown prince frowned when she shook her head. “No, my Lord, they always blindfold me and I’m not allowed to speak. I can only deliver the meal. They do not even open the door to the cell.”

“But….” she quickly added when Galadhion clenched his fists in frustration. “It’s the storeroom in the corridor leading straight to the river; the third door on the left.”

Galadhion nodded. This would have to suffice. Quickly he wrote a few lines on a piece of paper he ripped off from an old barrel of wine stored against the wall.

Liriel hid the paper in her sleeve after Galadhion had folded and handed it to her.

“Don’t worry, my Lord. This message will reach the King, I promise. Without another word she turned and before Galadhion could utter thanks she had closed the door.

“Let her be safe,” he thought and also left the store room.

 

To be continued………………………….

 

 

 





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