Written by: Katie
For: Beauty in Disguise
Archery LessonsQueen Elenwen of Mirkwood awoke to find her husband working at his desk in his study again. King Thranduil looked like he'd already been working for several hours. His fingers already had the ink blotches on them that appeared when he'd been writing for a long time, and the stack of papers he was looking over didn't seem to be getting any smaller very fast. He rubbed his eyes and looked back at the paper he was currently reading.
"Thranduil, maybe you should take a break. You look like you need one. Why don't you come down to breakfast with me?" Elenwen suggested, putting an arm around her husband's shoulders. She knew that Thranduil had the tendency to become so immersed in working that he forgot most everything else.
"Maybe later," Thranduil answered vaguely. Elenwen sighed, knowing he really wasn't listening to her. Maybe she would bring something up for him to eat later, since he obviously wasn't going to be distracted.
Elenwen left for breakfast, still thinking about Thranduil and his workload. Walking through the throne room, Elenwen found her son sitting against the stone wall, looking rather dejected.
"Good morning, ion-nín," she said with a cheerful smile. When Legolas didn't reply, she knew something was wrong. "What seems to be the problem, Legolas?"
"Nothing, Nana. Good morning," he answered, trying to sound relatively happy. He seemed to be struggling with something. Finally, he said, "Nana, can I ask you something?"
"Of course, little Greenleaf," she answered, sitting down next to him on the floor. It wasn't her preferred place to sit, but she dismissed the uncomfortable feeling.
"Why does Ada have to work so much?" he asked slowly. Elenwen gave her son a wistful smile. So they were both thinking about the same thing.
"Well, your father has a lot of things that he needs to do. He has to oversee a rather big kingdom. He has to try as hard as he can to be a good king for all the Elves of Greenwood," she said, trying to make him understand why Thranduil couldn't spend so much time with him. "Why do you ask, Legolas?"
"I was just wondering." His eyes told a different story. Elenwen could see that Legolas dearly wanted to have his father to himself for just one day. Lately Thranduil had been so immersed in his work that he rarely had a few moments with his only child. She pursed her lips, thinking.
"You know what, though, Legolas? I think he's been working entirely too much." When Legolas nodded in agreement, she continued. "I think we should ask him to give you a first lesson in archery."
"Yes, can we, Nana?" Legolas cried, his face lighting up. Elenwen knew how much Legolas wanted to learn how to use a bow. She'd seen him at the archery courses, watching the older Elves fire arrows and hit the targets. She heard the Elves talking about how he would pester them with questions.
"Come, he's in the study," she said and walked with Legolas toward the room. The little elfling could barely contain his excitement. Elenwen knocked when they came to the door to Thranduil's study, and, without waiting for acknowledgment, pushed it open and stepped in. Thranduil was just as she left him, hunched over his desk. At the sound of someone coming in, he straightened and turned. A smile graced his face when he saw his wife and son. She mused for a few seconds on how much Legolas looked like him, before nudging her son forward.
"'Morning, Ada," Legolas greeted tentatively. "Nana and I—well, I was wondering if you would take me out for a lesson in archery." Thranduil's smile disappeared and he sighed.
"I can't, Legolas, I have to go through all of these papers by tomorrow and if I want to get them done, I can't stop," he said, his voice laced with regret. He didn't letting Legolas down like this, but those papers…
"That's all right, Ada, maybe some other time," Legolas said, quickly masking his disappointment, and exited the room. Elenwen watched him leave before turning to Thranduil with a frown. Her blue eyes, so much like their son's, with an intense look, made Thranduil look away from her.
"Thranduil…" she murmured.
"Yes, Elenwen?" he answered tightly, still trying not to meet her gaze. It hit a nerve knowing that even his wife disapproved of his brushing off Legolas like that. He didn't like doing it any more than she liked seeing it. In fact, he hated it. Thranduil knew that Legolas just wanted to spend time with him. He couldn't give Legolas that time, though.
"Can't you just—"
"I have to get these finished, Elenwen!" he interrupted, sounding harsher than he meant. He sent her an apologetic look. "I'm sorry, it's just that my life seems to be taken over by these official documents and notices. It's always sign here, read these papers, seal this, stamp that!" He gestured to the stack on his desk.
"Why do you let it then?" Elenwen said softly, walking over to him and placing her hands on his shoulders.
"I…I don't know," he replied.
"Legolas needs to know his father, Thranduil," she said quietly. "And you need to know your son."
Thranduil leaned back, realizing she was right. He needed to forget about papers and remember what it meant to be king—to pay attention to every aspect of your kingdom. That included his son.
"Excuse me, meleth-nín, I have to go teach my son archery," he said finally after a long moment, and stood up. He kissed Elenwen's cheek swiftly and left the room. Looking down the hall, Thranduil saw Legolas turn the corner.
"Legolas!" he called, hurrying quickly to the elfling's side. Legolas looked up at his father, clearly trying not to look hopeful. "I think that work can wait. Go on and find a practice bow in the armory, I'll give you your first lesson with the bow. How does that sound?" Legolas eyed his father warily.
"You're sure you don't have any work you have to do?"
"It can wait," he repeated.
"Really, Ada?" Thranduil nodded. "Thank you so much! This is going to be so much fun…" Then he was off again, explaining to the king what he learned from talking to the professional archers. Thranduil smiled.
A half-hour later they were standing on the archery course. Legolas was holding a practice bow, designed lighter and slightly smaller than a normal bow for younger Elves like himself.
"All right, now, Legolas—" Thranduil started, then stopped. His face broke into an amused grin as he watched Legolas struggle to draw the bow. The elfling's face was drawn in concentration and he was trying to aim an arrow that was too big for his bow at a target that was out of his range. He also happened to have the bow turned the wrong way. Thranduil guessed he was just excited. Very excited.
"Look, Ada, I'm you!" he said and flashed his father a smile. Thranduil let out a loud laugh, something he hadn't done in a while. Legolas dropped his straining arms, muttering about how hard it was to keep the bow drawn.
"Why don't we start with your stance? You can't expect to grow up into an able warrior if you're planning on shooting with the bow backwards," Thranduil said, stilling grinning. He set the arrow aside and turned the bow in Legolas's hands around. "Now, your foot goes here, and your fingers need to be just so…"
