AN: To those who gave this story a chance. Here is the next part.

Wheel of the Year

~Chapter 2: Beltane-Part II

by StillWatersAreDeep

It was the end of April when Prince Thranduil made the decision to attend one final Wheel of the Year festival before his marriage to Gilorndes. He knew that once he spoke the vow of faithfulness to her, his heart would not allow him to partake in a sexual relationship with another elf. Since he would marry on Litha this year, the only festival he could attend before then was Beltane. Normally he only attended when the actors of the play were already drawn, like it was during the Yule festival. But he would take his chances. The possibility of him been drawn as the Winter King was so slim that they could be said to be non-existent.

So with these thoughts in mind he began to make plans for his festival visit. First, he needed to get his hands on one of the plain masks that were given out for free in the two weeks before a festival. Then, a trip to the market and forest would be in order to get some dye for his hair, as well as some feathers, moss and other decorations for his mask.

As Prince Thranduil was soon to learn a one in a million, even a one in a billion chance was still greater than zero and thus, while an unlikely possibility still very much a possibility.

~ Wheel of the Year ~

Esgalcalien knew that she was still considered too young to go to this year's Beltane festival, but she was not in the mood to wait for another five years until she was officially recognised as an adult. The the last patches of unwanted hair had already fallen out in February so no one would be the wiser. The mask would hid her face and her easy recognisable red hair was dyed to a brown colour, a hot iron would smooth her slightly wavy hair, and thus protect her from people recognising her.

The one advantage of eternal youth. Once you are of-age no one can say if you're only one yen or two hundred yens old, Esgalcalien thought as she put on her mask. She'd painted the white mask in violet, orange and red tones before she drew squiggly twigs in a deep purple colour on it.

As for the dress, her mother had left behind some of her old wrap up dresses. In Esgalcalien's opinion the belt made the red dress show off her womanly curves. She still hoped that her breast would grow in the next years; compared to the other elleths hers were rather small.

When she neared the entrance to the festival in the forest glade she felt nervous. As she waited in line, she tried to distract herself with happy thoughts. Maybe I'll even become the Queen of May? she wondered and laughed softly under her breath. The thought is ridiculous, though, it would be exciting. Having all of them look up at me, wanting to be in my place. The respect and admiration that the other elves would show her as the Queen of May would do her soul good, all the years of distrust and rejection having left their mark even if she tried to hid it. Even from herself.

She observed as the elves before her were all asked to open their clothes to prove their maturity. Some of them chose to stay naked, or half-naked, hoping that their fit body would attract an equally attractive sexual partner for the night. When she was in front of the line, she too was asked to open her dress to show that she was of-age. She felt how her cheeks turned a deep red, the mask luckily hiding most of it. At the guard's nod, she quickly re-wrapped the red dress.

Now it was her turn to drew a stone from the small orange bag the guard was holding out to her. She already changed her mind about becoming Queen of May. As much as she would love the title, she could do without the obligations that accompanied the respected positions. She aimed to loose her virginity tonight, but she'd rather choose her own ellon than to let a stone decide her partner. Spending the night with just one person that would look at her with lust instead of mistrust would have to be enough.

When she placed her hand inside the bag, she felt the cold stones beneath her. Probably collected from the river bank, she guessed based on the smooth surface and different shapes. Not wanting to make the people behind her wait longer than necessary, she quickly closed her hand around a random stone. The stone was green instead of the plain grey ones she saw the elves before her having drawn.

"Welcome to Beltane, Queen of May," the guard with his black mask said when he saw the stone and bowed. A second guard from nearby opened a chest, in which two wooden crowns lay.

Me? Queen of May? Esgalcalienwas in shock.

"If I may?" the second guard who also whore a simple black mask asked when he pulled out the smaller of the two crowns and moved to place it on her head.

"Please be at the stage when the second bell rings. You'll have about thirty minutes to talk with the Winter King, to get acquainted with the available props and to plan the scene you want to play out."

"The second bell?" Esgalcalien asked for confirmation, still in shock.

"Yes," the guard repeated, smiling gently. "The first bell means that the entrance is closed, the second means that the preparations begin and the third and fourth signal the start and the end of the scene between the Queen of May and the Winter King. Fell free to walk around until then," he said.

Still in a trance, she entered the forest glade. With big eyes she took in the decorations. Ropes, decorated with little lamps and garlands of twigs and flowers, had been tied criss-crossed from all sides of the glade, building a canopy between the trees. Pillows and blankets were thrown on the forest floor. Some benches, chairs and tables with food were standing around too.

Some elves were already there, sitting on the pillows and benches, talking, feeding each other, kissing or involved in sexual acts. Esgalcalien averted her eyes from the latter scenes, which brought her eyes to the side of the glade where small tents had been erected. There, the more modest elves were protected from prying eyes if they so wished. Though with the lights, one could still see their moving shadows.

Esgalcalien felt overwhelmed by all of it. And then her eyes landed in the middle of the glade, where a platform had been erected. The stage for tonight, she though, excitement and nervousness making themselves equally noticed. A four-poster bed made of birch stood in the centre, the pillars were carved with figures. Probably telling the three Wheel of the Year stories, she guessed. Soon, she would be able to let her fingers wander over the fine wood craft. Two birch thrones stood to the right, a side table between them.

The thrones awakened her imagination. She already envisioned a kneeling winter king before the throne as she imperiously touched the part of his face that was uncovered, showing her dominance as she trailed one finger down his lips and chin, before she reached the throat and pressed on the windpipe.

Don't get carried away, she chided herself. You don't know what he'll be comfortable with. But I hope that he's open to experiments, she wished.

With the circumstance that Beltane was a festival of lust, she was not delusional enough that losing her virginity would be an act of love. Neither was Esgalcalien so naively optimistic that she believed that whoever ellon she was able to attract for herself would allow her all the liberties of exploring his male body to her healer's heart's content.

The fact that she now was the Queen of May instead of just a normal visitor of the Beltane festival would make the loss of her virginity an even less intimate event, however, and this thought was cheering her up immensely, the Winter King was supposed to submit to her, opening the opportunity to explore the male body as part of the play.

Esgalcalien decided to sit down on one of the pillows near the edge of the glade. With a cup of juice and some fruits, she watched the other elves around her as she waited for the second bell to ring. She took in the atmosphere around her, trying to inconspicuous spy on the naked elves that walked around, while being watched and judged by the other guests who were curious about this year's Queen of May.

~ Wheel of the Year ~

Thinking that the later he came the lower his chances were to become Winter King, Thranduil arrived at the entrance only ten minutes before the ring of the first bell. There were only seven other people in front of him. With annoyance he noticed that the elleths were no longer asked to drew a stone, the ellons though still had to get out stone of the purple bag. Each time one of the ellons in front of him drew a stone, he hoped that it would be blue instead of grey, but during all four times, it turned out to be a simple grey one.

After he presented his naked body to the guard, he left his royal blue robe open. When he then inserted his hand into the bag, he could feel that there were only five stones left.

He tried to feel the paint, but colour was not something he could see with his hands. One out of five. It's still a slim chance, he thought as he decided on the stone that had the smoothest surface and was more circular in shape than the others.

"Fuck," he swore when he pulled his hand out again. His stone was blue.

The guard must have heard him because he said, "There is no going back, Winter King. Be at the stage when the second bell rings."

"Don't worry, the Queen of May will respect your limits," the other guard added as he placed the crown on his head. The guard thought that Thranduil was just uncomfortable about having to submit to an elleth, and thus further added, "And come Yule, you will be in charge of her."

That's my problem, Thranduil thought, but did not say anything to the guards. He did not mind being the Winter King now. It certainly was a good way to celebrate his last day as a bachelor. No, what troubled him was that he now would be obliged to also join the Yule celebration as the Winter King, when he was already married to his Gilorndes. He already knew that he would spend some sleepless nights debating between betraying his new wife or betraying his people's tradition by not showing up on Yule.

Having already attended his fair share of Wheel of the Year festivals, he knew that he would not have much time to look around once the first bell rang in about ten minutes. As he looked around he did not know if he was looking for Gilorndes or the Queen of May. Maybe he was hoping that they turned out to be one and the same this year. It would certainly solve his Yule dilemma.

Two minutes before the bell rang, he finally found the Queen of May. When he saw her brown hair, he first tried to find excuses. Maybe Gilorndes also dyed her hair? he hoped as he absently moved a hand through his own, currently black hair, but when he looked more closely, he saw that the hair only reached the elleth's breasts rather than her hips. And Gilorndes would never cut her golden hair, at least not for a simple night of carnal desires.

He took one deep breath, and as the air slowly left his lungs he decided that he would worry about having to return as Winter King on Yule once Samhain passed. Today he would just enjoy the moment, the excitement that he felt at every Wheel of the Year festival that would be enhanced by being on stage.

After all it was the freedom and the light-heartedness that this festival awoke that made him come here tonight.

~ Wheel of the Year ~

When Esgalcalien heard the second bell ring, she slowly got up from her viewing point. So far, she liked the general atmosphere of the festival. Being a healer, she'd experienced the conservation of the decorum first hand far too often. And sexual desires and activities were taboo topic outside of the festival. At least this was the impression she got, having no close friends who may break the socially acceptable behaviour with her. Thus, for Esgalcalien this Beltane festival felt deliberating. Like chains had been cut and everyone was free to give in to their unorthodox sexual needs, their want for their own or opposite gender.

She could see why her mother had attended the festival even though as the seer of the Woodland Realm she was forbidden to give into her carnal desires. She must have felt even more restricted than I, Esgalcalien mused.

By the time she'd reached the stage, the Winter King was already there. From the distance, she could see his broad shoulders and well-trained body through his half-open robe. One of the warriors, she assumed. And when she was standing next to him, her first guess was confirmed by the fine scars that were one his body. The marks of a soldier of Woodland Realm. "Hello," she greeted, trying to sound confident, but feeling that she came across as nervous.

"Good evening," the Winter King returned her greeting. Esgalcalien had the feeling that she'd already heard that voice, but she could not connect it to a face. Probably one of my previous patients. I tended to enough soldiers during the last years.

"You're here, good," one of the guards from the entrance said. "Here are the rules. First, you," he was looking directly at Esgalcalien as he spoke, "are to respect the Winter King's limits and stop when he says the safe word."

"Of course," she replied with a nod. She'd heard most, if not all, of the proceedings from the rumour mill already.

"So what are your limits, Winter King?" the guard questioned.

"No marks," was the simple reply. Thranduil had decided that tonight he would celebrate his last night as a single elf, so he was going all out.

"Do you mean no permanent marks? Or all kinds of marks like bruises that will heal in some days' time?" Esgalcalien asked him to clarify. Some scratch marks on his back one of the things she had in mind for tonight.

"No permanent marks. Other marks only were clothing will hide the evidence while they heal," Thranduil answered. It would not do for someone to see a love bite on his neck. Gilorndes would be livid.

"Anything else?" the guard questioned.

"No." Short and to the point.

So he's kinky? Esgalcalien tried to hide her smile, but failed. Her lips raised up on their own volition. She would be able to explore his body like she wanted, while also living out all of her darkest desires she'd so far only fantasized about or others that she saw minutes ago and wanted to try out right away.

"What are your safe words?" the guard inquired.

"Rouge and Noir," he replied using the Westron words for red and black.

"Rouge for a break, Noir for stopping completely?" the guard questioned.

The Winter King nodded.

"Are you planning to use a gag or other speak-hindering items?" Esgalcalien was asked by the guard.

A gag sounded tempting to her, but since he asked the question right after the one about the safe words, she could guess in with direction this conversation was going. If she used a gag they would need to agree on a non-vocal safe word, which would mean that the Winter King would need some freedom of movement. She rather had him bound and free to explore his body than to have him silent but free to defy her exploration.

"No," she answered, shaking her head slightly.

"In that case, I'm only left to inform you that if you either ignore the safe words or use a gag, we will stop the scene immediately. I'll leave you now to discuss the scene you want to perform." With these final words the guard took his leave.

Esgalcalien was silent. Contemplating if she should tell the Winter King what she had in mind for tonight. Her plans were not solid yet, her options numerous with the inconsequential limit of the Winter King and the time available to her still unknown. "Do you know how much time we have for the scene?" she asked and only belatedly realised that it gave away her inexperience and youth. Someone who would have attended at least one Wheel of the Year festival would know how much time was available. Too late, she thought and hoped that the Winter King would not change his mind about his limits due to her inexperience.

Thranduil was surprised when he heard the question. He expected her to discuss what type of submissive she wanted him to play. So much for going all out, he thought dejectedly but still answered her question. "We have about two hours before the last bell will ring."

Two hours, she mused. I do not want to come across as a science nerd, so as much as I would like to use the whole time to still my own thirst for knowledge, I should limit it to twenty minutes, thirty at the most.

"I would advise to keep the audience in mind," Thranduil interrupted her musings.

"Of course," she replied. What to do?—Ah, the guard said something about props. "Would you accompany me to the available props?" she asked.

Like the gentleman he was trained to be, the Winter King held out his arm for her as they walked the ten steps towards the side of the stage where the props for tonight were displayed.

Esgalcalien let her hand wander over the display in exploration. A shudder of excited pleasure left her at all the fascinating options at her disposal. The long and soft bands of silk are perfect to bind the Winter King to the bed, she thought. Experimentally, she picked up one of the whips and let it hit the air. Too unsafe for a newbie like me, she decided, but saw two different sized paddles lying close by. When she looked up, she saw that she was being watched. If I want to surprise him, I better not touch everything I plan to use.

When her eyes wandered over the plugs, she remembered to ask, "Have you cleaned yourself internally?" She hoped that he would say no. That way she could use it as an excuse to explore his prostate. Something she had no hope to exam under other conditions. As a female she would never be allowed to professionally exam it as a healer and the average lover would be very unlikely to allow such a touch as ellons generally were a bit skittish about elleths touching such a private and intimate part of them.

"I have," Thranduil replied. He had considered to submit himself to another elon's care for some hours of tonight as this would be something that Gilorndes never could give to him, so he prepared himself accordingly just in case he would meet someone he would feel comfortable enough to submit to.

"You are not against me touching you there?" Esgalcalien asked.

"As I said before, everything is fine with me as long as you leave no marks," he repeated.

"Thank you," she said earnestly.

"What kind of Winter King are you desiring? A submissive one, a headstrong one?" Thranduil asked. Time was running out and he wanted to give the watches at least a bit of a show, even if the Queen of May's inexperience would not make it thrilling for himself.

Esgalcalien shook her head. When she heard the question the Prince's examination entered her mind. But this is what I desire, isn't it? She asked herself and then voiced her decision. "I would like someone who is resisting me where he can by talking back or using the gaps in my commands, but who in the end still submits to my rule," she said.

"As you wish, my Queen," he said and bowed mockingly.

"Exactly like this," Esgalcalien laughed. Somehow the small gesture made her relax.

The third bell rang loudly in her ears. It was time to perform.