*I do not own the Hobbit characters, nor do i make anything from the writing of this fan-fiction, other than the guilty pleasure making them do what I want*
Chapter one- Treaty
The light streamed into the bedroom through a large open window, the shafts filtering first through the leaves of the forest canopy adding a slight green tinge to all it touched. It shined softly along the thin, delicate, copper stands of hair as the ward of the great Elven King, Thranduil, was being dressed in front of his dressing room mirror.
"Ah! Ionor, that hurts."
Ionor laughed softly and continued to whined and pin the soft copper curls into place, as maid to the Lord Fanrel, she was used to these grumbles and gripes and had learned to stop listening to them years ago. As the last pin slid into place Ionor looked into the mirror to check her work.
The circlet looked wonderful, leaves made of ruby and amber and gold rested perfectly against the brow of the young elf, copper hair braided elegantly around the stems to keep it in place, the one streak of silver in his hair was left loose to follow the line of his cheek and help draw attention to his deep leaf green eyes.
"You have never looked more divine, my little thorn," the maid chuckled "you could almost be mistaken for a flower."
This earned the older elf a withering look in the reflective glass before those stunning green eyes where cast down to look at the olive green tunic and leggings with silver stitching spreading along the garment like the silk of a spiders web. The boots travelled up to his knee and where made of soft dark brown leather embossed with elvish decorative knots.
"I feel naked." He finally said with a deep grumble in his tone.
"I don't much care Fanrel. Young men do not go fully armed into treaty meetings dressed in hunting gear and hair that closely resembles a bird's nest. You forget, little thorn, that you are no longer the little lost child riding into the city on the back of the king's elk and nether are you a worrier at this meeting." Ionor packed away the brushes and combs while she spoke.
"Ionor, that is not a fair assessment of me!" Fanrel huffed as the maid looked back with one delicately raised eyebrow. "My hair has never resembled a bird's nest"
The older elf couldn't stop herself from laughing as she placed the combs and brushes back into one of the draws, Fanrel even added to the mirth with a little of his own deep chuckling. Looking back at her Lord she couldn't keep a twinge of sadness from her eyes. She knew that her time with the young man now limited, and it hurt. Fanrel was more than her Lord, she was like her own child.
The day the King had brought a small filthy, copper headed elf child back from a hunting trip Ionor had been in charge of the boy's care. She had bathed him, brushed his hair, with much squirming and screeching as she tried to tease and pluck at the knots, and found him clothes to wear. Ionor had been the first one to hear the child speak a word and had been for a long time, one of only three people who could give the boy food or water without ending up covered in it moments later.
There was a soft knock at the door and the maid went to open it. On the other side of the dark wooden door was the King himself, his ice blue eye's taking in the maid as she stepped to the side to allow the man inside. After the King had entered the chamber Ionor took her leave closing the door behind her. She cast one last look at the door before turning and heading to the kitchens to get on with her work.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x
Thanduil watched his ward with a tilted head, taking in his fine clothes and the circlet and smiled softly. Walking forward he watched at the younger elf stood with his hands behind his face schooled into a neutral expression, but even that couldn't hide the playful and rebellious glint in the man's eyes
"This cannot be the same child I brought back from the wilds so many years ago...how you have changed, Fanrel." The King smiled a little wider, not something many people saw outside close family.
"Ionor just polished me up a little, my Lord, I am still as rough as bark under all of these petals." He said looking down at himself with a slight heir of disdain on his lips "how do you ware these things all the time? This is just not practical I feel like even walking is going to ruin the cloth!"
Thanduil had to hold back a rare chuckle as he gracefully took his seat on the cushioned windowsill. "Unlike you I have had a lifetime of practice." He gestured to the other half of the seat.
Taking his seat across from the King he started practising the way Ionor had been telling him to sit, hands resting on his knees, back straight and legs together. All in all he found the practice to be completely ridiculous. The whole point of sitting was be comfortable and this was defiantly not so.
"Fanrel, you know what this meeting with the King-Under-The-Mountain consists of do you not?" Thanduil said as he watched his ward tuck himself into the corner of the sill in an attempt at comfort.
"To barter the terms of an alliance treaty." He answered without really thinking about it. He had been told all of this that morning by Ionor while the maid had been torturing him with clothes and jewels and brushes and combs and pins.
"Correct. You will be one of the men accompanying the council and myself to Eribor and I ask that you conduct yourself as a Lord and nothing less." The King turned his head to give him strict look, "I want you to concentrate on making a good impression upon the Dwarves."
"Yes Sire." Fanrel said looking back into those cool blue eyes to show that He was listening. He owe his life to the King of the Greenwood and he had pledged to do anything the man asked of him, especially if it meant the protection of the people he had come to think of as his own. Between the King and Ionor, Fanrel had gained a family when before he had nothing but himself.
Nodding the King rose from his seat and headed for the door beckoning the young elf with one long pale finger to follow him. Standing Fanrel headed out of the room behind the King trying t ignore the fact that he automatically reached for his bow as he exited the room, he probably would have picked it up if Ionor had not had the good sense to remove it earlier that day when he wasn't looking.
It wasn't long before they where outside, a group of horses, already mounted by the council and the other men travelling with them, where waiting inside a group of the kings personal guard. The Kings elk waited for him at the head of the group, waiting next to it was the kings son, Legolas, already on horseback holding a second set of reigns which belonged to Fanrel's horse, Bay.
Fanrel overtook the king and gave the Elk a wide birth while he got to the other side of his horse, the Kings Elk did not much like the Ward of the king, it might have been something to do with the fact that as a boy Fanrel had rid it of a clump of it's fur when he had almost fallen off it, but considering nobody spoke Elk it would never be confirmed. All he knew was that the thing hand kicked him in the posterior on one too many occasions.
Swinging up into the saddle with ease Fanrel shared a grin with Legolas as he was handed the reigns. The Kings son was like a brother to him and the two got along like all siblings, they fought at times but it was always a short one and by the end of the day they where back to laughing and joking together like nothing had happened.
"Well look at you." Legolas chuckled giving his adoptive brother an appraising look up and down to take in the new clothes. "You look almost noble."
"I leave the nobility to you, my dear prince. If I can help it, this will be a one time thing, then it's back to hunting and clothes that can be worn without the fear of getting a little mud on them." Fanrel said knocking Legolas on the shoulder lightly.
The Prince just laughed and looked behind him at the other none council members waiting on the back of their steeds. They where all young and all of them where coated in finery, hair perfectly styled and each one was stunningly handsome in his own way. They all of them look uneasy in varying degrees.
Casting his own glance at the entourage Fanrel raised and eyebrow. "Well there is certainly plenty on the menu." He glanced at Legolas "Apart from me that is."
"We all know that the Dwarves are not as stupid as people think, but there is a chance that they might pick one of them." The Prince shared a look with his adoptive brother. "But...odds are that you are right, if they want one of us to marry The King-under-the-Mountain's Grandson...it's going to be you."
Distracted by their conversation it was only when they heard Thranduil call out the word to start moving that they realised it was time to go. Urging their mounts forward the two young elves set off to the great Dwarf city of Erebor.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
It was well know among certain circles that the Grandson of the King of Erebor preferred the company of males. It was nothing to be ashamed of, it was just not exactly public knowledge, not much about Royal families ever is. Although Erebor was in itself and enclosed city that could house and maintain it's own people fairly well there was a few problems that they encountered on a day to day basis.
Living so close to the city of Dale meant that they had a thriving trade centre in which to sell their gold and jewels in exchange for the food and supplies that could not be gown underground. However they where also very isolated from help if anything should ever choose to attack them and although someone would have to be insane to try and attack a mountain, the possibility was there, and the city of Dale was also under their protection.
The Elves on the other hand had less problems with isolation, they had a forest to protect them, just as good as a mountain and all they needed the Forest provided, the only raw materials they did not have their hands on was metal and precious gems. They traded for them of course but of late the prices where getting higher and higher, always a problem when you don't trade with the people who mine the things.
The negotiations had started a few months prior to the trip the elves where now taking and both parties had managed to come up with terms that suited the others needs. In exchange for metal ore and other precious metals and gemstones the Elves agreed to come to the aid of the Dwarves if they or the city of Dale where ever attacked and they would help supply Erebor with the products of the forest, including bows which the elves where famous for.
Thranduil however had added an additional clause to the agreement. The Elves would only render aid to Erebor if one of his own people where in threat. The King of the Elves was no fool, the chances of anyone attacking Erebor where slim but that didn't mean that the Dwarves would not use this treaty to their advantage by dragging the elves into every petty war or battle they found themselves in. The Dwarves, agreed to the term but only on the counter condition that one elf must reside in Erebor and be legally tied to the Royal family.
A marriage treaty had therefore been agreed on, however the only member of the Royal Family eligible for marriage was the Kings grandson, Thorin. Not one to make his own family suffer needlessly Thror decreed that the Elves bring a selection of male's from which to choose from.
Thranduil couldn't have been more pleased with the outcome. Had the eligible dwarf been female there was a chance that he would have to loose his son to the Dwarves, however the fact that it was a male who was only interested in other men, meant that his son was safe as Legolas had never shown any indication of being attracted to another man however Fanrel, his ward, did.
The other males where really only being brought as a precaution, in case by some miracle the Dwarves decided they did not want to pair their prince up with, for all intents and purposes, the only eligible male elf closest to the Royal Family.
Fanrel knew what was going to happen and had resigned himself to it. He owed the elves of the Greenwood everything and he had no reservations about doing what was best for them. After all without metal ore they could not make weapons or armour to defend themselves or hunt with and the prices they had been paying had not stopped climbing for many years, soon it may come to the point they could not afford them.
Legolas was watching his adoptive brother closely as they rode. There was a determined set to the elf's lips and his eyes where set on the road ahead, but Legolas knew that they where not really seeing anything at all. He was lost in his own thoughts. Bay was just following the Elk in front more than he was being steered by the elf on his back.
Leaning over the prince tapped the other elf on the shoulder lightly. Last thing he wanted was to started his brother into falling off his horse. Deep green orbs turned towards him, coming back for staring into the middle distance to rest on the prince, who gave the other elf a reassuring smile.
"You know you can tell me anything." Legolas said pulling his horse closer so that they could have a more private conversation. "You can't fool me brother, I know when your putting a brave face on."
"It's not a brave ace Legolas. I want to do this, I really do." Fanrel said with a half smile. He glanced behind him to see the other potential matches to the Prince of the dwarves looking a bit saddle sore and not quite as preened as they had been when they set off, none of them looked very happy.
"For them?" Legolas said giving the other elves his own glance.
"Look at them. Not one of them really wants to be here, they don't want to be married off to someone they have never even seen, never mind anything else. I know that it's a slim chance that any of them will be in with a chance but it's not because they are not attractive enough. It's politics and from what I have seen of politics it is a game of who can get the upper hand without the other lot knowing." Fanrel chuckled "Ward of the King or handsome noble, which one would you choose?"
Legolas nodded after a moment or two, he had to admit that the political thing to do was to pick the Ward of the King, close enough to be part of the royal family without actually having and blood connections to it.
"I am glad to be the one they will more than probably choose to marry the prince. For one, they get to go home and find the love of their lives and two, I have yet to find an elf that can handle me, maybe the dwarf will have better luck." Fanrel burst into almost hysterical laugher at the look that settled on Legolas's face, it was a mix between incredulity and horror.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
The sun was only and hour from setting when the party reached the road before the great doors of Erebor. The elves who had not already seen the great majesty of the entrance to the Lonely Mountain where wide eyed with amazement. The sheer size alone was staggering as the rode between two towering dwarven figures on bended knee guarding a huge set of green stone doors.
Fanrel almost turned all the way around in his saddle as he turned to look at the detail on the statues but his attention was soon drawn instead by Legolas as he was tapped on the shoulder. The elven prince then gestured for his brother to look up at the balcony above the doors.
Between the rows of soldiers Fanrel could just about make out three differently dressed figures. The one in the centre had something metal in tires along the length of his great beard. On his right hand side was another older dwarf sporting a matching beard to the one one in the middle but without the decoration. To the left was a younger dwarf dressed in blue, his hair was a rich dark brown and the beard on his face was short and well kept, not exactly like Fanrel had imagined first seeing the Prince but he was hoping, for the sake of his own vanity if nothing else, that the one if blue was Thorin.
Guards came forward before they reached the doors of the great city and the King dismounted, Fanrel and the others in the Elven King's company followed suit and, as the animals where bing lead away to what Fanrel assumed was a hidden stable somewhere, a dwarf came threw the large stone doors that opened with a great grinding sound. He was alone apart from the guards that lined the way inside the hall.
He walked up to the Elven king and bowed his head by way of respect to the monarch before he introduced himself.
"I bid you welcome King of the Greenwood, and welcome also to your companions. I am Balin, advisor to the King. I have been sent to formally greet you on his behalf, if you will follow me I shall show you to the meeting chamber. Your rooms will be prepared while you talk busyness."
With that the Dwarf gestuered through the massive green doors and set off at a smart pace, closley followed by Thanduil who gestured that Fanrel and Legolas should walk by his side. The two younger elves quickened their pace so that they could could catch up to him assuming a more relaxed pace when they where by his side, Legolas on his right and Fanrel on his left.
As they walked through the cavernus space everything seemed to be made of the same green stone and trimmed in gold rails. Fanrel tried to take it all in without turning his head too much. Thanduil wanted him up front so that he was easily recognised as the Kings Ward. Gaping around like a loon was hardly going to win confidence with the Dwarves.
He glanced to the side and met the ice blue eyes of the King watching him with a soft and barley noticeable smile on his face. He leaned slightly closer so that his words wouldn't not echo around the stone walls and pillars on either side of them.
"It is impressive for a hole in the side of a mountain, but I do not find it so impressive as the intricate beauty of our forest. You are doing very well make sure that you keep your hands behind your back and do not be fooled, you are being watched even as we speak, show them how proud you are to be from the Greenwood" Leaning back she watched from the corner of his eye as Fanrel clasped his hands desecrater behind his back and straightened to his full hight, back straight.
After a few minuets of walking they reached a large green stone door trimmed in gold braided patterns. Balin opened the door and held it so while the elves filed in, Fanrel could feel the dwarfs eyes trained on him as he went past, but he pretended not to notice even if it was slightly unnerving.
Once inside Thanduil took he seat a a large ornate wooden chair. It must have been made for other royals to sit at while meetings where held as a second identical one sat directly opposite . The backs of the two chairs next to the throwns where a few inches shorter this is where Fanrel and Legolas where directed to sit by Thrandul with a flick of his steely gaze, keeping their former possessions on each side of him. The rest of the council took the other normally proportioned seats. Each of the other suitors took his position standing, hands behind their backs behind a council member.
Fanrel took this time to look at the other suitors that had been brought along. Each one of them was a noble's son but not one of them was a first born, Fanrel had even been in a relationship with a two of them. They all wore the same expression on their faces though they didn't know quite how easy to read it was.
They where all thinking the same thing, very loudly. "Please let it be him." Fanrel didn't blame them, they hadn't signed up for this. All that had landed them here was the fact they, like him, preferred males and their fathers had pushed them at the king when he has called for volunteers. He wished he could reassure them.
It was then that the door opened and The King-under-the-Mountain stepped inside the chamber. It had been he that Fanrel had spotted on the balcony with the glinting beard, thanks to the strips of metal that adored it. The Dwarf actually seemed to be coated from head to toe in the stuff to the point where Fanrel thought that surely the Dwarf should be unable to move under the weight, and yet in he strode as thought he was wearing nothing but light leather.
Next came what must have been the Kings son, as stocky as his father and almost a double image of him. Although Thrรกin was missing an eye. One side of his face was just en expanse of smooth or scared skin, although it didn't seem to impair him too much as he took his seat next to his father.
Next threw the door was The Dwarf in blue. He was less bulked out than either of the other two, his neatly trimmed beard and long Dark hair surrounded a much thinner and chiselled face with blue eyes that seemed to look right threw what ever they touched. Fanrel blinked slightly in surprise. He had never been able to think of a Dwarf as handsome before but this one made it hard to resist.
Sitting next to the King on his other side and directly across from Fanrel, those blue eyes resting on the copper haired elf who found himself bowing his head slightly in respect, green eyes looking directly into the Dwarf Prince's.
The rest of the dwarvish council filed in and took their seats along the table. The entire thing was done in silence and once they where all seated it settled over them for a few minuets while each side of the table eyed the other as if to see if one of them was about to produce weapons from hidden places under the table.
"Welcome Thanduil, its nice to see that you have brought so many young suitors for my grandson's hand. Such a fine array of young elves." The King's eyes took in all the suitors who tried their best not to shift uneasily or avert their gaze from looking directly at the opposite wall.
The dwarf's eyes settled on Legolas and with just a hint of a smile playing under his large moustache. "I do not remember your son being a member of your council. Is he also here to try his hand?"
"No." Thranduil's voice betrayed no hint of emotion at the notion of his son being a potential mate for the Dwarf Prince, mostly because everyone knew full well that this was not the case and that the old dwarf was simply trying to bate the Elf "My son is simply here to learn the art of politics."
The old Dwarf nodded before turning his gaze on Fanrel. The copper headed elf held the King's gaze all the while feeling the gaze of every other member of the dwarvish council looking him over. He could hear a few of them passing comments to each other in dwarvish, though he knew a little of the language he was unable to understand a word of it.
"This is my ward Fanrel. He, unlike my son, has come to offer himself as a candidate for your grandson." Thranduil said watching the other King with those sharp and calculating eyes of his.
"I would consider it to be a great honour to be selected as a match for Prince Thorin, Sire." There was not a waver in the younger elf's voice, he sounded both genuine and polite, bowing his head slightly. Though he was not used to this sort of interaction he did know how to be polite. Ionor had taught him what was and what was not the appropriate way to speak to those of a higher station.
The King-under-the-mountain seemed genuinely impressed by the eloquence of Fanrel's statement, so did did a few of the other council members who exchanged a few more comments and nodded to each other. Fanrel decided that he would take nodding and the fact that nobody had started shouting in indignation as a possessive sign.
"Well spoken, Fanrel." Thranduil said, imparting a rare public smile at his ward. "Would you like me to introduce the other candidates?"
There was one of two ways that this would go. Either to try and disguise the fact that they had already made the decision they would have Thranduil introduce the other elves that they had brought with them, or they would simply wave that and go straight to the terms of the marrage treaty. Fanrel could guess which one.
"I don't think that will be necessary. It would surely be rude to pass up the offer of the Ward of the King of the Greenwood. From what we have heard his is a most respectable and admirable young elf. I believe that he would be very well suited to my grandson." Thror smiled and placed a hand on Thorin's shoulder.
The other candidates at least had the good grace to hide their overwhelming relief, not that it couldn't be felt throughout the room. Thranduil simply inclined his head to the King of Erebor as Fanrel took the opportunity to share a glance with his adoptive brother along the table. Legolas returned the glance but Fanrel could tell that he was disappointed. No matter how slim the chance there was a chance that the two would not have had to have been split up from each other.
Balin rose from his position on the table and motioned to a couple of guards by the door, who smartly stepped forward with the sound of clinking and clanking of metal against metal. He had not thought that it was possible to be wearing more metal than the dwarf king but he had not paid much attention to the guards.
"My guards will take these fine young nobles to their chambers while we finalise the terms of our treaty." Thror said. The Nobles bowed with respect to both Royal families and followed the Dwarves out of the chamber and away to what where presumably guest bed chambers.
x.x.x.x.x.x.x.x
It was a few hours later and both Legolas and Fanrel where desperate to leave. It had been nothing but bartering over prices and numbers since the nobles son's had been allowed to leave. Fanrel was slowly willing away a headache as he doubted that massaging his temples would make such a good impression. Last time he has chanced a glance at his brother he had noticed that Legolas was looking about two feet above and two inches to the left of the dwarf king's head and was wearing a very glazed exspression.
"Well that seems to be everything covered." Thranduil said as both his scribe and his dwarvish counterpart finished writing down the terms.
"Not quite. I have another term to add." Thror said softly. Thranduil's head snapped up and staired at the other ruler, eyes glinting. He was not an Elf that enjoyed being surprised and they had covered all the items on the agreed agenda already. "It concerns young Fanrel and his...accomadation."
This caught the attention of the two younger elves in the room who came back to the conversation rather quickly. This had not been part of the bargain as far as they remembered . Fanrel felt his gut tighten but tried not to let his worry show on his face.
"As outlined by one of your term, you need only render us aid if your representative is in immediate peril or harm. I agree to this term, however I in tern require your agreement that to leave this mountain, Fanrel must have my written consent and should you wish to remove him for any length of time you must ask this fourteen days in advance." Thror said, the smile on his face clearly showed that he had seen threw what may have been an extensive loophole.
Thranduil was very still for a moment. He seemed to be weighing up the pro's and con's of this idea. They did need the items listed on the treaty, because if they didn't he would not be here bartering with the Dwarves, but at the same time he was damning his Ward to a life locked away in Erebor unable to see his friends or family without the King-under-the-Mountain's express permission.
He glanced to the side at Fanrel, who himself seemed deep in thought. A whisper to his right brought his attention to his son, who looked horrified at the idea.
"Father no, it is like condemning him to imprisonment!" Legolas whispered softly. "You cannot agree to this."
"Yes...he can Legolas..."
Both King and Prince turned to look at Fanrel, who was looking resolutely at the table, green eyes fixed on the green stone that rose from the floor like his gaze could bore a hole in it. "He can and he must." He looked up and flashed them both a cocky smile that didnt quite reach those emerald orbs of his. "Afterall, I will be living here anyway."
Thranduil held his wards gaze for a moment before slowly nodding to his scribe who's quill started scratching, moments later followed by the King-under-the-Mountain's scribe. Once the documents had been finished both Kings signed their own copies before sliding them over to their counterpart, Both documents where scrutinised and authenticated before being given to the Kings to sign. When This was done the documents where handed back.
"So it is done." Thanduil said standing along with the rest of his council and Both Fanrel and Legolas. "We shall retire for the evening and reconvene in the morning."
"Indeed, the guards will take you to your rooms." Thror said with a smile.
Thranduil left with a look of annoyance in his blue eyes and a swirl of his garments as he and the other Elves left the negotiation room only Fanrel throwing a glance back at the old dwarf before the chamber door closed behind them.