Emyra ran through the palace maneuvering around her Brother who was walking down the long hall with their Mother.
"Emyra, little star, slow down, you could fall and get hurt." Emyra laughed looking at her Mother.
"Yes mamma." She replied and slowed down to a job but continued going down the hall at a quicker pace than Meikeena would have liked.
It was the first time Emyra had been allowed to accompany her father to Greenwood, and she was bubbling with excitement. Emyra had heard so much about Greenwood from her brother, and her father. Her brother often spoke about how wonderful King Oropher was, and how beautiful Queen Lauralye was. The young elf was hoping to get a look at them.
Emyra had never left her Kingdom before. Being the second child in her family she was not in line for her fathers throne, and possibly never would be, her older brother Rhydian was.
Rhydian usually accompanied their Father on the trips to the Kingdom of Greenwood, but finally it was her turn.
"Settle down Emyra." Her Father spoke tenderly placing a hand on her auburn hair. Emyra smiled up at him, a smile that could brighten anyones day. "Now listen closely." Estalian said kneeling down beside his daughter gently kissing her forehead. "Emyra, my beloved star, this is a very important trip for you. When your brother is king, you will be his eyes and ears at the court of Greenwood palace." Emyra, still smiling brightly at her father nodded her head in understanding.
"Yes Ada." Emyra replied softly when her Father had finished speaking.
"We best be on our way then." Estalian gently picked Emyra up placing her on his horse, and then mounted sitting comfortably behind her. Meikeena and Rhydian stood by the gates waving them off as they passed through.
The journey had been tiring for young Emyra, but she still smiled the whole way, taking in the new sights, hearing the new sounds of the forest, meeting new elven folk in the surrounding villages she had never been too.
By the end of their second day traveling, they arrived in Greenwood, at the gate they were greeted by guards who upon seeing Estalian bowed their heads in respect and let them through. An elf then took their horse to the stables. Estalian took hold of Emyra's hand making his way into the thick trees known as Mirkwood.
At the end of the long path, Emyra found herself looking up a flight of stairs at a Elf who stood atop them, there was no doubt he was a very handsome Elf, with silver hair and a smile that spread across his lips, he spread his arms in a very open sign of welcome.
"What took you so long my Dear friend?" King Oropher stated moving down the stairs Embracing Estalian when he reached them, he looked down to see Emyra hiding behind Estalian's leg, peaking out just enough that she could see him, Oropher kneeled down with a kind smile on his face. "And who might this Beautiful young Elleth be?" Estalian chuckled lightly putting his hand on Emyra's head reassuringly.
"It is good to see you Oropher, this is Emyra, Rhydian's younger sister." Oropher raised his eyebrow's taking Emyra's little hand gently kissing it. Emyra moved far enough away from her Father to curtsy before replying with a soft hello.
Emyra eagerly entered the palace, looking around the large open are attempting to absorb every little thing she could, while her Father and Oropher chatted along. Not to her knowledge Emyra was being watched by the young Prince.
The gardens which they entered were extravagant and Emyra explored but didn't stray to far from her Father, Emyra had always been a curious little thing, but when it came to new places she was hesitant to stray to far from the protection of her parents.
Emyra was later settled into a room just down the hall from her Father, it was much like her room back at home but was slightly smaller, later in the evening they had a small dinner between Oropher, Lauralye, Estalian and an empty chair.
"Ada?" Emyra looked over at her Father, lightly tugging on his sleeve to get his attention. "Why is there an empty chair?" Estalian chuckled at his daughter.
"That is for the Prince little star." Almost as if on cue the doors opened and walked in the young Thranduil. Thranduil was about Emyra's age and looked a lot like his Father, his silver hair braided back, his facial expression was serious but he still had that twinkle of childish youth in his blue eyes. Emyra bowed her head to greet him as he took his seat, and found that they were stealing glances almost the entire meal.
"Ada, can the Elleth and I go to the gardens?" Thranduil asked, Emyra was rather shacked that he was so straight forward, but smiled anyways, she wanted to play with another child as Rhydian had stopped playing with her years ago, and there were few children her age in her home.
Oropher excused them with a nod and off they went like flashes of lightening in a storm, running through the halls until they reached the beautiful gardens. The children played games for over an hour, and slowly the Prince's stern look lifted from his face and was replaced with laughter.
When the end of their second meeting came, Oropher and Estalian went to collect their young, it was time for them to return home. Thranduil and Oropher so them to the gates, and both children had asked with eager smiles if they could play together again, and both Fathers agreed with tender smiles in return.
Since that day, Emyra returned with her Father every two months, Thranduil and her played together for many years, but slowly grew out of it as the years passed on. both having more duties and starting to learn how to be part of the Royal court, playing quickly became a thing of their past. Instead they would smile tenderly at each other every time they met, dine together, sit in the gardens and talk for hours, and in time they became closest of friends, almost inseparable.