Who will be there for Thranduil once Thorin is gone? Should Thorin be pleased that the elven king might still have someone to love him? Can he share, even if he is no longer there to feel jealousy? No, he's going to feel jealousy in advance of the event and this will lead him to track down the prospective new lover. Honestly, Thorin, this really isn't a very good idea and will lead you into all sorts of sordid and dangerous situations. Unusually for my Thorinduil stories which often have a humorous tone, this one is darker than usual and gets even darker in the subsequent story, Kings, Secrets and Lies.

This is the tenth story in my Thorinduil series which begins with King of the Antlered Throne.

.o00o.

The Kings and the Rivals

Chp I

Jealousy

Thorin sat on the bed absorbed in a letter from Balin. He was spending two weeks in Mirkwood after Dain's visit had kept him apart from his lover for twice as long as he had expected. He had left his heir, Young Thorin, together with the lad's betrothed, the dwarf woman, Brangwyn, in control of the kingdom – sort of. But Balin was at their elbow and had been charged with sending him a detailed report half-way through his absence.

And detailed it certainly was! It covered a dozen pages of parchment in closely written runes and required all of Thorin's attention.

"Come on," wheedled a naked Thranduil, sprawling suggestively on the bed next to him. "Can't you give that up for the night and read it tomorrow?"

"No," muttered Thorin, not wanting to be distracted, "I need to answer this first thing tomorrow morning. There are a number of pressing problems here."

"I have a pressing problem too," murmured the elven king seductively, running a hand up Thorin's thigh.

"I need a few hours," was the only response.

But Thranduil did not give up easily.

Thorin was sitting shirtless but still in his breeches and the king placed a long finger lightly on his muscled arm. "What a fine tattoo," he said. "Not the sort of thing that any elf would have on his body, but I find yours strangely attractive." And he followed the writhing pattern from the bicep, up over the shoulder and down to the nipple with his fingernail.

Thorin ignored him.

Thranduil tried harder.

He leaned forward and sucked the little pink nub into his mouth and then he bit it.

"Oww," said Thorin, batting him away.

"I was just thinking," mused the elf, "that it must have really hurt when the needle reached this far." And he ran a finger in a circle around the nipple.

"Umm," said Thorin, just getting into a passage on the complex finances of Erebor.

"And I expect that this really hurt too," said Thranduil, kissing a nasty battle-wound on Thorin's side, delivered courtesy of Azog.

"Umm," said Thorin.

"You know," persisted Thranduil, "I think you have the most beautiful navel I have ever seen: so wide, so deep, so tempting." And the wet tip of his tongue swept the navel's perimeter and then plunged into its depths.

The elf lord was groaning with desire, but Thorin's forehead wrinkled as he got to a tricky section of the letter. Time for a more aggressive approach, thought Thranduil, as he surreptitiously unbuttoned Thorin's breeches and slipped his hand inside.

The elven king purred deep in his throat as he thought how sweet and soft the dwarf felt, like a small animal curled up in its nest. But, I believe we can do better than this, he laughed to himself, and, cupping his hand under the dwarf's balls, he began to fondle them.

At last, he had Thorin's attention as his lover looked down with a grin at the elf's golden head, now resting on his powerful chest. "What shall we do with you, Thranduil?" he tutted, as his member stiffened and grew. But, then he went back to his parchments.

Thranduil redoubled his efforts, stroking and squeezing the hardening length until Thorin finally held his wrist. "Stop it," he groaned. "I really must finish this paperwork, you know."

"All right," conceded Thranduil, "but only if you answer one question."

"Which is?"

The elf studied Thorin's erection with amusement. "Is this a typical dwarven length?" he asked. "Or are you exceptional and am I just very lucky?"

Thorin roared with laughter. "You're just very lucky!" he replied. "This particular feature has been inherited from Durin himself, or so I am told."

"Ah, then," sighed the elven king, "you have spoiled me for everyone else."

It was said as a compliment; for any dwarf, elf or man would be lucky to have a lover with a cock the size of Thorin's. But, the dwarf took it another way. He thought ahead to the moment of their eternal parting, to that time when Thranduil would then look about him for another bedmate, and it made him angry and jealous. By Mahal, these elves boasted too much of their immortality, passing so blithely through the lives of mortal men and dwarves, using them and then moving on casually to another until the end of all things. He was just a moment in the elf's existence and Thranduil was obviously already thinking of the paramour who would follow after.

Thorin pushed a startled Thranduil from him, throwing Balin's letter to the ground, then standing up and buttoning his breeches. He grabbed a pillow and the coverlet, then marched into the other room. "I shall sleep in here tonight," he snarled, throwing himself down on a sofa.

Thranduil stumbled after him. "What have I said?" he asked in a confused voice.

"Let me sleep," snapped Thorin, turning his back and pulling the coverlet over his head. "I shall be up early tomorrow to answer Balin's letter." And the elven king was forced to retreat to his bed.

.o00o.

Neither of them slept but Thranduil managed to work out what Thorin's problem was, whilst Thorin himself was up with the sun to write a detailed response to Balin's letter. As he wrote, he wondered why he was bothering. Perhaps he should just return to Erebor and sort things out in person. His love for the elven king was so powerful, so intense, so all-consuming that he sometimes wondered if he should break off the betrothal and turn his back on Mirkwood and his lover because the relationship was just too exhausting.

Thranduil quietly entered the room and placed a gentle hand on Thorin's shoulder. "You must know that other lovers never cross my mind when I think of you."

"Even so," replied Thorin without looking up, "they do cross mine and your words were a reminder."

"Our fates cannot be changed, but bitterness can spoil our time together," said the elf.

Thorin sighed. "Let me alone a while to get past these thoughts," he finally murmured. "Leave me to write this letter to Balin." And the elf lord was more than relieved that the one he loved had not decided to return to Erebor.

Thorin finished his letter and handed it to a messenger. And then he passed on out into the gardens of Mirkwood so that he could have a quiet think. He knew that he couldn't change his fate and yet he still tormented himself about all the lovers that would follow on after him. And then he suddenly realised that any new lover would be an immortal elf and one who doubtless already existed in Mirkwood. And he thought of Ethril who had lusted after Thranduil for a thousand years and yet still had waited patiently for him, even trying to split up the relationship between the two kings.

Then the dwarf felt an overwhelming urge to know the face of the one who would follow after him. He would study all the elves at the court, beginning with those who seemed the likeliest potential lovers, and, if he could guess, then perhaps it would help him to reconcile himself to a rival. Perhaps he could grow to like him and be happy for Thranduil's sake.

.o00o.

The relationship between the two kings had caused quite a bit of muttering in Mirkwood. At first, knowing he wasn't welcome, Thorin had kept to Thranduil's apartments whenever he visited. But, more recently, especially since their betrothal and on Brangwyn's advice, he had been trying to make himself known to the elven courtiers. "They can't like you if they don't know you," she had said, waggling a finger.

And so, nowadays, Thorin would always go down to the Hall to eat his meals and, there, Thranduil created opportunities for his retainers to discover his lover's appeal. If there were singing, then the elven king would pass Thorin a harp and invite him to participate. At first, there were raised eyebrows but they soon learned that he had a very beautiful voice and that the songs of dwarves, though melancholy, had the ability to pierce the heart when sung by such a skilled performer.

When old stories were told, Thranduil asked Thorin to relate both those from dwarven history and those events that he himself had been involved in, such as the Battle of Azanulbizar, although the two carefully sifted through such stories in advance to make sure that they contained no material that criticised the elves or clashed with their particular version of events. "Or else," laughed Thranduil, "we shall find bloody battles being played out once more in the middle of the dining hall."

And the way that Thorin told these tales in his melodious and thrillingly deep voice held his whole audience gripped and, as with his songs, there were usually cries for more along with the applause.

When they walked around the palace and its courtyards, sometimes they would come across elves practising with sword or bow. Then Thorin would draw forth Orcrist and they would admire its beauty and be proud of its elven origins. And he would give a demonstration of his skill with sword and axe whilst they showed him how they fought with their long knives and both sides admired the other's skill.

Soon, a certain respect began to grow between them. "There, now," said Thranduil. "That wasn't so difficult, was it?" And, no, Thorin was surprised that, when he had made the effort, they had begun to accept his presence. Even Legolas was being reasonably pleasant to him and more understanding of what was going on between Thorin and his father.

This was useful because it was Legolas that he decided to pump for information.

.o00o.

Next chapter: Circle of Friends, where Thorin persuades Legolas to introduce him to Talagan, with whom Thranduil shares a common interest in music. But, really, Thorin: this just starts you thinking and you know what happens then, don't you?

.o00o.