Thranduil finally looked at him again, gaze level but still somehow distant. He had to keep himself distant, because to do otherwise would surely result in a show of weakness. Thranduil had held himself strong so very, very long.

Neither Gandalf, Haldir, nor any of the others were his subjects or his kin, and he could bear more easily their predicament than his son's, though he would not wish it on any of them. It was a hideous thought.

"If you escaped, shall not they as well?"