Reluctantly, Thranduil and I release each other's lips and let air flood back into our lungs.  I'm too exhilarated to think about anything other than him, only him, the one who makes me feel the most alive.  However, my mind is suddenly shaken by the sound of footsteps in the meeting room on the other side of the wall, which sends me spiralling back to the present. 

'We must stop, meleth nín.'  Thranduil's words are barely audible over the voices conversing loudly nearby.

'We're wasting time, aren't we?' I say breathlessly, my face only inches away from Thranduil's neck.

He chuckles softly, while his hand continues to fondle the elaborate braid adorned in my mass of hair.  'I usually have all the time in the world, and as soon as I have a four hour deadline, I start doing this!' he smirks, 'as much as I want to continue, we do in fact have a meeting to attend.  If Tauriel's as efficient as usual, everyone should be here by now.'

It takes so much to tear my body away from his. In fact, I take care to stand extremely close to him as we walk—not just for my own pleasure, but for protection. In the next room will be an assortment of ellons and elleths alike, the majority of whom will be wealthy Sindar, who most likely resent my presence and relationship with Thranduil. I won't even start on Avalor and his family, whom I can completely guarantee will be in there too.

Thranduil squeezes my hand with one of his, and with the other he pushes open the vine patterned door to the meeting room. The moment we pass over the threshold, an abrupt silence falls.

The room is relatively plain besides the large oval table in the centre, which is surrounded by about thirty chairs, all but two of which are occupied. Avadhil is slumped against the back of his chair, practically radiating boredom across the room.  Until upon seeing me, that is, when he tenses slightly, and glances to his older brother sat on his right.  Avalor, also obviously tense, is busy pretending to find his own fingernails extremely interesting.  Every other elf—including a scowling Tavalon—just stops and stares at us, and for a moment I feel almost majestic, stood by the side of a great king; then I remember what we're here for.

'Before you all rush to accuse Elena,' Thranduil begins, his rich voice blossoming in the silent air, 'I advise you take a moment to assess what you plan to say, for as of yet, none of you know the full story.'

Forcing myself not to gaze at him appreciatively, I follow Thranduil to the two vacant chairs at one head of the table, and seat myself on his right. On his left is Legolas, whose blue eyes, though darker than Thranduil's, are piercing spirals of emotion. I'm probably fighting a losing battle to keep myself looking composed, but I'm still unable to banish the sickly thoughts infecting my mind: what if some of the elves here end up dead because of me? What if something happens to Thranduil because of me?

No one responds verbally to Thranduil's statement, but I do see a few elves exchanging glances, Avalor and Avadhil included. The two brothers seem to be making it their priority to avoid eye contact with anyone other than each other. As I scan the room to distract myself from the agonising silence, I notice that Thranduil, Legolas, Tavalon and his sons are the only elves here whom I know by name. Tauriel is, of course, out leading the guards. The remaining chairs are occupied by unfamiliar faces—some I've seen from a distance but not spoken to, and the rest are simply strangers to my eye.

My thoughts are interrupted by Legolas clearing his throat. The handsome ellon has somewhat reduced his beauty by wearing a look of utter resentment towards me. I hold my gaze; the Prince can try, but he'll never intimidate me this way.

'The whole story?' Legolas eyes his father with this comment, before looking back at me. 'Why doesn't Elena explain it to us? Is this, perhaps, the story of how she seduced my father and prompted orcs to wander freely into our borders?'

I stifle the scoff threatening to escape my lips. Is this really what he thinks is necessary? To assume lies about me? If he thinks I'm trying to replace his mother, I'm afraid there's not much I can say to convince him otherwise.

Thranduil, on the other hand, has promptly begun to glower at his son. 'Nothing of the sort happened. It is not your place, or any of your places...' he pauses to look up and address the whole table, 'to inquire about the personal life of a Star, namely Elena. All you need to know is the battle plan of the orcs.'

'How would you know that?' drawls Tavalon, most likely in one of his tedious attempts to get on Thranduil's nerves.

'I know because Elena quite rightly told me,' Thranduil continues, 'as she is about to tell you.'

It proves immensely difficult not to shoot Thranduil a glare.  Why couldn't he do all the talking?  These elves will never listen to me, surely.

'The orcs have surrounded the Southern border.'  I attempt to sound authoritative, but I probably sound like I'm doing a half-hearted impression of Thranduil.  No one can sound at all decent after he's blessed our ears with his velvety voice.  'They are to attack at midday.  A first division plans to occupy the guards, while a second infiltrates the kingdom and captures me.'

'Is that all?' inquires the well-dressed elleth sat on my right, looking to her husband for support.  The husband, clearly embarrassed by his wife's questioning, avoids her eye contact.

'That is all I know,' I confirm, cursing internally.

To my surprise, Avadhil decides to speak, while his brother continues to find fascination in his own fingernails.  'How do we know you're telling the truth?'

'I'm a Star. I have no reason to bring harm to your realm.  In fact, I wish the opposite.  I know it is my presence that brought the orcs here, and I will do everything within my power to help expel them from your lands.  That is why I am telling you this—to help you.'

'If you wished to help us, you should have warned us of the orcs' coming before they arrived,' Tavalon replies icily.

'She could not have done that,' Legolas interjects before I can speak, 'for her intent is not to help us.  She has put my father under her spell in order to summon doom to our kingdom.'

'My spell?  Is that what you think I am, a witch?' I retort, the last scrap of patience I had with this Prince finally falling away.

Before Legolas can respond, Thranduil steps in, his jaw once again clenched and his brows low.  'Legolas, you know nothing of this matter.  You assume wrongly about Elena, and if you do not trust me enough to believe me, I can summon friends of Elena to confirm that she means no harm here.'

The Prince remains resolute, but out of the corner of my eye, I notice Avalor shifting uncomfortably in his seat.  Thranduil then catches my eye, and I pray he hears the silent cries of thanks I'm sending his way.  It seems I need him more than I realised.

'I trust,' Legolas begins, 'that you realise how many beings will be competing for the Star prize besides yourself.  Elena does not belong to you, or to this kingdom, therefore she should be gone.  I know you remember what we spoke of.  She has healed enough to walk, so why have you not sent her on her way?'

'I can choose my own path, Princeling, and I can no more predict what is to happen than you can.  However, you are right about one thing, and that is that I will be leaving soon.  Firstly, we must deal with our visitors, and if we are to be rid of them, then all of you must heed my words.'  I gesture to all the elves sat before me, excluding Thranduil, at whom I quickly cast a glance.  'Now I do not need to gain your trust, but your respect, well, that would be something of a pleasant nature since all you have done since I arrived is assault, harass and wrongly accuse me.'

An inevitable smirk spreads across Thranduil's face, but every other elf looks positively baffled.  I gave them many things to ponder in that sentence, and why their King is smirking proudly is most likely the least of their worries. 

'Who you need to trust,' I continue before anyone can get a word in, 'is your King.  He is under no enchantment—that kind of power is not granted to me, and still I would have no intention of using it on him. Since he confirms my words, which are in fact true, then it is your duty to go by his commands, is it not?'

The room is engulfed by a blanket of quiet.  Thranduil appears incredibly proud of me, especially since the smirk has not yet vanished from his face.  Legolas, finally appearing somewhat subdued, directs his gaze downwards into his lap.

'I'd advise that you listen to her,' says Thranduil, breaking the silence at last, 'and I know not all of you have done this, but if anyone is to harass Elena, they will no longer be worthy of a seat at this table, and possibly even a place in this kingdom. Have I made myself quite clear?'

He receives a plethora of nods from across the room; each has varying degrees of reluctance, with Avalor's being surprisingly low. The meeting then properly commences, bringing about helpful contributions from practically every elf present, including Legolas. We eventually conclude after half an hour or so, on the decision that every entrance to the kingdom is to be heavily guarded, while some riders are sent to strike the orcs at their base. The riders are to depart in one hour, meaning we have the element of surprise since the orcs will not yet be prepared.

In complete honesty, I expected the rest of that meeting to be agonisingly slow, but as soon as we got onto the topic of battle, everyone seemed to put aside any grudges or bitterness and focus on the strategy. All except Thranduil and myself have since exited, on their way to spread the news and—in the case of most of them—to get themselves armoured and saddled. I think we might actually have the edge in this fight.

Finally, Thranduil rises gracefully from his seat. 'I must go and get myself ready. You go to our room, and you keep yourself hidden.'

I'm almost too offended to pick up on the fact that he called it our room. He expects me to sit around inside while he goes out to fight a battle that I caused? We had spoken in the meeting of riding out together, and he thinks he can still persuade me to let him clean up my mess?

'I wish to go out there. This battle was my fault, and I want to be there to help resolve what I have done. I want to be there with you!' I say adamantly, leaping to my feet.

'You're the one thing they are looking for. I cannot let you put yourself at that risk.'

'The orcs are stupid, they won't know I'm a Star, especially if I dress in a guard's clothing.'

Thranduil sighs. 'You will ride with me then, so I can protect you. I am confident that none of these orcs will live to tell the tale.'

'You're... you're letting me?' I breathe, almost unable to believe what I heard.

'Yes,' he replies, 'but I'm not letting you out of my sight.'

***