Mae Govannen! Hope you enjoy the story, and don't forget to comment and follow ;)
"Lord Olwë of Alqualondë has requested that Lady Élarinya of Alqualondë be permitted to seek lodgings in Mirkwood?"asked Legolas.
"So it would seem," replied Thranduil. He flashed the golden seal between his fingers and huffed."It can hardly be called a request. He requires we provide lodgings for the Lady here in Mirkwood."
Legolas laughed. "Does King Olwen think Mirkwood's an inn of the sort? What does Elarinya look for so North her father's territory?"
Thranduil shrugged in disinterest.
"As long as she's not off to find herself a suitor, their business is no concern of mine. There exists only a single reason as to why I haven't declined King Olwen's 'kindly' request here. It's well known I have little patience for foreigners and you know me all too well Legolas." A sly smile crept unto Thranduil's face and Legolas was now certain, Thranduil's' intentions were less than regal.
"I suspected it from the start. Your interest lies only with the Lady. But have you considered keeping her father's respect?"
"I respect her father well enough," admitted Thranduil," but to risk my men venturing through this forsaken forest for the sake of a foreigner's request? It would have to be for a good reason and I have most certainly found one."
Thranduil, King of Mirkwood had ruled for many years without a Queen by his side. But Thranduil realized, to spend his immortal life without a Queen made him an incomplete King. He believed a King must have a Queen to complete his kingdom. Yet long ago Thranduil had a Queen. And as much as he still loved her Thranduil knew that perhaps it was time to move on.
Legolas disagreed and couldn't see father's need for a woman. He argued a good King ought to not be so dependent on a woman. But maybe he argued as a result of his fear for love, and his past gave him every reason too...
"Father, you're at it again! You ought to not say such things, you sound...,"
"Selfish?" Finished Thranduil. "Legolas, I am aware of how arrogantly I speak right now and unfortunately I don't care. A good king needs a queen, and I have suffered long enough without the love of a woman."
"And what about me?" Asked Legolas. "Do I not suffer for my past? It has taken me years to forget about what has happened and yet it still aches me!"
Thranduil's eyes shone with anger.
"Tauriel was an elf, in love with a dwarve. She died in your arms, blissfully unaware of your true feelings towards her." Thranduil shook his head,"It was her pity- but realize this Legolas, it was not your duty to love her. This is something you chose. It is my duty to find a Queen."
Legolas glared angrily at his father. How could he say such a thing? Legolas loved Tauriel, and duty or not her death had brought upon him a world of pain...
"A duty?" asked Legolas in disbelief."How can it be your duty to love a woman? Is it your duty to love me? Was it your duty to love my mother?"
Seconds later, Legolas realized those words should have never came out of his mouth. Thranduil was quick to anger, and Legolas knew better than to loosen his tongue in front of father. And now, as Legolas watched his father's face contort into the epitome of rage, he would now face the consequences. Legolas braced himself for the worst. A slap in the face, more likely than not.
"Is it my duty to love?" Asked Thranduil, in a low voice. Legolas knew he was doing his best to maintain his temper. His blue eyes stared coldly at Legolas.
"No," said Legolas. He dare not add oil to the fire.
"I didn't think it was," said Thranduil.
"I tried- Eru knows- to raise you in the right way, and this is the way you repay me? If my love was a duty, I wouldn't have bothered to watch over your well being myself. I could have had someone else do it. Do you truly believe that ?"
Legolas realized, hearing the falter in Thranduil's voice, that he was not angry- but disappointed, maybe even sad.
"Father, I-,"
"Yes, I'll admit. I've been searching for a good woman like its a duty- but it doesn't mean I won't love her," said Thranduil,"your mother was a great woman- and I loved her more than the Kingdom itself. But I can't go on living in the past. And neither can you. Tauriel is gone Legolas."
Tauriel is gone...
She can never return...
She loved a dwarf.
It was true. It was all true, yet Legolas couldn't give up living out the past. He hated living in the past, but he feared his future would be harder to handle. Could Legolas fall in love once more? In part, Legolas didn't want father to marry a woman and be happy, while he struggled to move ahead. Legolas knew it was a terrible thing to wish, and would constantly chastise himself for such thoughts. They always made him feel terribly guilty.
But this was his father. And father's wishes- not Legolas'- were law.
"Forgive me father, If I have offended you." Legolas dropped his body to the floor, and kneeled at Thrnaduil's feet. He was ready to beg for father's forgiveness.
Legolas felt his father place a hand upon his shoulder. But it wasn't a forgiving hand. It felt cold.
"Rise, Legolas," said Thranduil,"you are dismissed."
The trees were far better listeners than fathers. And far wiser. Their aged bark and withered branches revealed a time long before the days of even the Eldar.
Legolas would often travel beyond the borders of the castle, and venture through Mirkwood. He was mindful to avoid the giant spiders and other creatures.
Legolas sat on the tree stump of what was once one of his favorite trees as a young boy cut down by a wandering human man whom Thranduil harshly banished from his lands. Overhead, vibrant green leaves spread across the skies while peeks of sunlight hit the forest floor scattered with pine cones and dead things. A crunching sound met Legolas' boots as he leaned forward.
Lord Olwë? Thranduil and Olwë had never been close allies, and even quarreled some of the times. Still, Legolas wondered, what Élarinya was doing, traveling, north, away
from where her elvish kingdoms dwelt. Alqualondë was a long way from Mirkwood, and that made Legolas wonder where the Princess was going.
To Legolas, it seemed Thranduil's plan would be another failed attempt at finding a good Queen.
But Thranduil was perhaps one of Middle Earth's most eligible bachelors. Females, elf and human loved him, so why couldn't he find a woman? He was capricious. Thranduil treated love like a game where one either lost or won. There were no rules, and you could be the eye of his apple one minute and nothing to him in the next. And Thranduil had yet to crown a champion.
As the light began to dwindle Legolas climbed up the nearest tree where he could perch upon the highest branches and watched the sun set. Streaks of orange and yellow painted the skies while the glowering sun began to disappear into a series of trees far west. And when the yellow light made the green of leaves gold, like the trees of Lothlorien, Legolas knew, Mirkwood needed no Queen. It would always be a prosperous Kingdom.
The sun was gone and twilight filled the skies. Legolas' opened his eyes to meet the darkness. The night sky was filled with a cold, biting wind too harsh for Legolas' liking. He shivered. Off in the distance, heavy grey clouds hovered above the trees. He climbed back down to the the forest floor and walked back in darkness. Even from afar, the Halls of Thranduil glowed intently.
He was met in the castle with a series of gasps and scolds. The elf maidens all flocked to Legolas' screaming and squawking.
"Where've you been?" Asked one of the girls with a hiss,"Thranduil's been searching for you all across the kingdom!"
"He has?" Asked Legolas, a little nervous, a little hopeful. Perhaps Thranduil wished to make amends with Legolas.
Yes, whispered the women with giggles. The Prince is so dashing isn't he? So clueless!
"He doesn't know, does he?" Asked one of the girls.
"Know what?" Asked Legolas.
"Oh," said the first elf maiden," It's Lady Élarinya. King Thranduil is preparing for her arrival tonight, and he is very frantic."
Thranduil is kinda a (HUGE) jerk isn't he? You just wait, you'll probably want to wring his neck in the chapters that follow and by the end of the story shower him with adoration.
To be continued...