Chapter 8

Turi was wearing a light pink tunic under her brown cloak. She'd rested, washed her hair, brushed her teeth, then washed her hair and brushed her teeth again for good luck. She was now making her way down to the palace, her shoulders squared and taking long strides.

Considering the seriousness of her findings, which she hadn't shared outside of the internal surveys office until now, a visit to the palace was overdue. This brought with it the stress and equal delight of seeing the king.

Turi set her jaw as she crossed the threshold into the palace. After passing beautifully lit halls and inner walkways, she finally got within sight of the majestic throne room.

'Not so fast pen neth – young one.' Turi skidded to a halt, closed her eyes and sighed. A pair of tall guards ogled her curiously. They were stationed outside of the room, its tall and heavy doors shut.

She'd been lucky in bluffing her way in so far, passing numerous security guards who'd tried to pin her down on why exactly she was there. But this duo seemed more bent on stopping her than the others. They stood squarely in front of the ornate wooden doors, fixing her now with a cold stare. They also seemed unperturbed by the toothy smile Turi was casting their way.

'What brings a young elf like you here, all dolled up 'n all?' Turi felt her cheeks redden and the smile disappeared off her face as she opened her mouth, then closed it without speaking. 

She straightened her back and fixed the tallest guard with an icy stare.

'Soldier,' she started 'are you so sure of your position here that you want to address the head of internal surveys with your sexist remarks?' She hung icicles on every word.

'Ah, head of er, i..internal surveys? I see.' the guard stammered. Turi just stared quietly, letting the elf make up his mind. Then she sighed again and without another word pushed her way past the guards. 'I'll make sure to brief commander Coamenel on what a sterling job you elves are doing here' she said, rolling her eyes as she strode past them and into the throne room.

Still inwardly laughing at her cheek and imagining how the commander would react when he heard about this, the king's close proximity caught her off guard.

'Turi?' Thranduil was browsing the book shelves just on the other side of the door. She began to take a step back, then stopped and took a deep breath.

'Nín âr - my king, how wonderful to see you.'

He smiled back and bowed 'and you hiril vuin – beloved lady.' 

Ho-hum, she thought, a good start. 'My lord, I bring you bad tidings.' She frowned and cast her eyes down respectfully.

'To do with your investigation, no doubt.' Thranduil snapped the book close and straightened up to his full length. Turi nodded, unsure of where to start. She unbuttoned her cloak and took it off, folded it slowly and deliberately and placed it over an ornate chair on the side of the room.

Biting her lip, Turi looked up at the elven king, praying her face would not betray her inner turmoil. It was like this every time she set eyes on him, and she feared that he might guess at the wave of emotions that flooded her cheeks. She couldn't suppress a smile as she laid eyes on him.

His long golden hair was adorned with a fine crown that looked like spun silver, set with water droplet stones. His robes were brocaded silver-on-black, giving the impression of a thunderstorm on a rainy winter's day. But his face... sunshine in her heart. Every time.

'I've found a connection between these murders my lord' Turi said. 'Because without a doubt, murders they are.' Thranduil's eyes darkened at hearing the word murders.

'I know the latest victim's cause and manner of death.' She let her eyes wander down to the book he was holding, his arms and hands strong yet elegant. Had he been looking something up? 'You have been studying something my lord?'

'Please continue.' She fixed on his eyes again but neither of them smiled this time. Thranduil gestured for her to sit down at a light wooden and well-designed table on the side of the room, where a stack of open books were lying.

Turi then took Thranduil through her findings, carefully summarizing the leads they'd had so far, the missing helper no one had seen since the fire, murder scene details, and the threat of the poisoning having occurred within palace grounds. Finally, she broached the issue of finding another cryptic note signed by the cat.

Thranduil never interrupted her, but his gaze narrowed as she spoke. He let her finish, then got up and started to slowly pace the throne room, deep in thought. Turi respectfully got up as well, and figured she'd try out Taryan's suggestion.

'Perhaps, my lord, these messages are related to something buried within the history of the realm... a former political splinter group?' Thranduil stopped dead in his tracks. 

He looked at her, raising his eyebrows and cracking a small smile. 'My, my. Just Turi you keep on surprising me.'

Turi smiled back, a bit unsure about what he meant, yet encouraged by his compliment. 'If I may be so bold, were you browsing these books for information about the troubles a century and a half ago?'

Still amused, the elven king seemed to be weighing his answer very carefully.

'Perhaps so, perhaps not' he said, cocking his head to the side. Turi was surprised by his coyness. Surely there was nothing to hide, or was the situation more complex than she'd been lead to believe? 'My king' she started again, but she was suddenly caught off-guard by a massive sneeze.

She mumbled an apology but Thranduil fixed his eyes on Turi and asked 'are you quite well hiril vuin - my lady?'

She broke a smile and nodded, still sniffling and rubbing her red nose. Truth was, she'd caught a cold in the nippy night air at the time of Rusgan's murder. Thranduil parted his lips as if to speak, but no sound came out. He walked up to her, and without another word he cupped her face in his hands and looked her deep in the eyes.

Surprised, Turi's heart was beating fast. She answered his stare with all the frankness she could muster, curious at what thoughts were playing behind those fierce blue eyes. He set his jaw and without further hesitation kissed her on the lips.

It was a deep, longing kiss too. Turi closed her eyes and melted into his embrace, losing her train of thought. They came up for breath, but Thranduil made no effort to let go of her.

They kissed again, eyes closed, and she could feel his strength as he pulled her even closer. 

Turi felt punch drunk, her senses dangerously overloading with his touch, the caress of his skin against her face. Their blonde hair momentarily intertwined as their bodies locked in a passionate embrace.

Just as sudden as the moment had come, it was over. He let go of her and they stood there, momentarily out of breath.

For the first time in her life, Turi had nothing to say.