Hello readers! It has been so very long since I've come on here with fresh new tales for you to enjoy. Recently, as I'm sure some of you know, The Hobbit trilogy came to an end in terms of release, and it has completely rekindled my love for Middle Earth, and I've come to adore the story of Thranduil and his late wife, who I have come up with an interesting tale for. So all in all, I hope you all enjoy this story as I release it bit by bit to you.

I would also like to take a second to go through the usual copyright rules and state I do not own any of the characters or any parts of the story used herein. These rights remain strictly with Tolkien's family, and Jackson, respectively.

Otherwise, enjoy!

...

The sound of leaves brushing together was not an unusual sound in most woods, hoever in Greenwood, it had at length become something a bit... odd. As time had passed, the usual sounds of the enormous wood had become more and more sparingly heard by its inhabitants. The elves, ruled over by King Thranduil and his queen, Niphredil, were amongst the many wonderous creatures who lived there. Granted, they were amongst the more powerful ones as well, by comparison.

However, something darker had begun to make itself an abode within these woods for some time now, slowly... but surely.

The air was stifling that summer morning under the thick canopy of leaves. And the sounds that filled the abnormally quiet wood felt suddenly far more magnified that morning.

A young elf woman crouched low on a branch, her brunette hair pulled back into a plait that fell down her back. Her deep green eyes surveyed the expanse of the wood all around her, her pointed ears alert for the sound of her prey.

It was not a regularly occurring problem, orcs and goblins straying into the limits of Greenwood, though they were still unwelcome and treated seriousy any time word from the watch elves brought news of them.

The woman leaned forward, tense, her brows furrowed together in the center of her forehead in concentration as she tightened her grip on her bow.

Was that a sound of movement just now? Or just an animal making its way through the woods, carrying on with it's own business as usual?

She parted her lips, reaching slowly for her quiver so she could draw a bow, but was stopped when she saw a large and powerful rabbit dart out from its hiding place and weave it's way amongst the thick foliage to get away from its hunter. The woman sighed, relaxing and stood upon the thick branch, reaching up with her right hand to steady herself as she quickly surveyed the surrounding woods once more. It all seemed clear afterall...

Making her way to the forest floor, she stowed away her arrows carefully and shoulders her bow as she made her way back to the kingdom's front gates, where they opened behind a wall of thick stone, opened only on magic command, and proceeded to disappear beneath the woodland floor into a realm unlike any other elf den.

Once she reached the front gate, she lifted her gaze to behold as they opened almost soundless for her on unseen hinges.

Once within the gate entrance, the doors moved to close behind her and the brown haired elf gave a sigh, removing her bow from her shoulder, turning to follow one of the many winding corridors to the armoury. Upon entering, a vice greeted her and she shut her eyes for a moment, making an face expressing her unexpected greeting.

"I though you had been informed there were no more orcs within the realm of this wood to hunt down, Gelvil..." came a gentle, almost amused voice fro behind her.

Turning, Gelvil, the brunette elf, set her eyes upon one of the fairest creatures she had ever laid eyes on.

Queen Niphredil was a rare measure of beauty amongst elves. Named after the small white snowdrop flowers woven into her hair, the queen's skin was a flawless pale shade that stood out in sharp but lovely contrast to her raven black hair. Black hair was a rare colour seen amongst elves, most of their kin having light or brown hair; almost never absolute black. There were some who compared the queen in beauty, to that of Melian, the Maia who resided within Doriath, wed to King Thingol, Lord of Beleriand.

However, Melian was not at the forefront of Gelvil's mind in that moment as her dark green eyes met the brilliant and light grey of her queen.

"I apologize, my lady... I wanted to be sure there were no more orcs within our realm," she stated, placing her bo and quiver away carefully.

Niphredil tilted her head calculatingly at Gelvil and narrowed her eyes only the slightest bit. "I thought I also told you not to call me by such a formal title..."

Gelvil hesitated and then turned to look at Niphredil again. "You have been my queen for a long time now... It is only appropriate."

"You have been my friend for even longer than I have been Queen, have you not?"

There was a strained silence for only a second, though it felt vast between the two.

"Yes..." Gelvil finally answered, loering her gaze. "But that does not grant me the luxury of forgoing your proper title when speaking to you."

Niphredil sighed, lowering her arms and strode into the armoury, placing a hand out onto Gelvil's broad shoulder, looking into her long time friend's eyes again, a warm smile appearing on her face.

"As Queen, I am able to make those judgements, and my decision is you do not ever need refer to me by any formal titles... I would be very disappointed in you if you didn't obey this request, Gelvil," she said quietly.

Gelvil looked at her and inhaled deeply before exhaling slowly, pondering these words. She parted her lips to speak.

"More disappointed than you are now that you've caught me sneaking out again?"

Niphredil grinned then and dropped her hand, quirking a brow at her. "Yes. I also wondered, why are you out there so early? You were injured only the other day, so I expected you to rest until your leg was properly healed."

"I just wanted to be certain there were no orcs out there still... It was reported two slipped away, but I wanted to be certain there weren't more that went unnoticed."

Niphredil sighed and shook her head. "You never do quite as you're told..."

Gelvil grinned unabashedly, folding her arms over her chest. "You should know."

Niphredil grinned back at her and rolled her eyes before turning to exit the armoury, her long black hair falling in gentle waves dwn her back. "I expect you to come and dine with me and the king this morning, Gelvil. I wanted to discuss something with you," she said over her shoulder.

Gelvil dropped her arms and frowned. "Of what concern?"

Niphredil smiled at her. "You will know soon enough," she said, watching as Gelvil strode out into the corridor again, looking back at her for a moment before she nodded in agreement, turning to go the opposite way so she could change out of her sweaty hunting gear.

...

Niphredil watched her long time friend turn away and proceed out of sight before turning in the opposite direction and proceeded down a large corridor to find her husband.

Thranduil sat upon his throne, speaking to one of the guards when his attention was drawn immediately to his beautiful wife as she approached up the steps towards his throne. Motioning with his hand that the subject was dismissed, he rose, his crown placed high upon his golden white head as he descended the steps and approached Niphredil.

"I was under the impression that I had asked you not to venture outside without an escort to keep watch over you?" he murmured, cupping her cheek gently.

Niphredil smiled warmly, turning her face into his hand before bringing her gaze up to his.

"And I have told you, that I am perfectly able of going for a stroll on my own," she pointed out.

"That may be, however I would still feel less worried if I didn't wake this morning to find you gone and noone knowing where exactly it was you had gone to," he said.

Niphredil's smile widened and she leaned up to press her lips gently to her king's before pulling away and reaching up, her fingers trailing lightly over his jawline affectionately.

"It was only a walk, and I was only gone for a few minutes... I was with Gelvil, regardless. I wasperfectly safe, I assure you there was nothing to worry about."

"Maybe not, however..." he said in a hushed and intimate voice as his hand came to rest on her still flat tummy area, "Given the circumstances, I still would feel much less stress if you humoured me in just this one way, Niphrodel... A band of orcs was captured only a week ago and two escaped, which were only finally tracked and hunted down yesterday... I would truly rest easier knowing you didn't venture out alone anymore. Even if to find Gelvil or any other member of this court," he said before she could argue the situation any further.

Niphredil sighed, her hand coming to rest on his broad chest and she nodded. "Alright..." she murmured. With a gentle smile, her hand came to rest over his and she gave it a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "I'll be sure to bring a small escort with me if I feel the need to go for a stroll on my own," she shook her head and looked at him in amusement. "Though a group of armed guards does defeat the purpose of going for a stroll alone, doesn't it?"

Thranduil smiled down at her and placed a loving kiss to her brow. "If I am able to, I shall accompany you whenever I can," he promised.

Niphredil grinned at his words. "So you'll make an effort to merrymake and drink a little less so you can rise with me at the same time each morning?"

The expression on the king's face at her words drew a soft laugh from the queen and she pat a hand on his chest reassuringly. "I'm joking... I would be delighted for you to come with me whenever you can, though I understand how busy you are lately," she said, assisting him in running his kingdom any time she could.

He smiled and squeezed her hand back.

"I've invited Gelvil to dine with us this morning," Niphredil said suddenly. "I wanted to talk to her about certain important matters at the same time you wanted to speak with Tunnor and his work as of late."

Thranduil nodded, stepping past Niphredil with an air of seriousness as they walked hand in hand to their area of dining together.

...

SOOOOOOOOO That's the first part done of my newest fanfic! Basically an intro to the characters, some old, some new. I'm aiming to try and do an upload every Saturday hopefully, so we'll see how well that works out.

In addition, I also welcome anyone who has interest in this story so far and who also likes Harry Potter to read my other fanfic, which has been completed for some time now, to get a feel for my writing and stuff and also to have something to read for a while! The HP fanfic can be found here:

s/7124895/1/Other-Evils-in-this-World

I really hope you all enjoyed this, and if there are typos all over, I am SOOOO sorry. It's a new laptop and the keyboard feels weird to me still, haha!

Anyways, see you all in a week!