Chapter 13

Things were different. I could feel it in the air.

After I woke, Thranduil provided a dress and place for me to bathe. He joined me on a terrace overlooking the woods afterwards. The trees on the outskirts of the forest were charred.

I glanced at his hand, which lay on the stone banister. He wore many rings, but the most eye-catching was the golden snake winding around his right index finger that replaced the simple betrothal band he once wore.

The women's dresses were lower cut, some showed the shoulders. The people were rattled, yet there was still a sense of purity in the earth. These lands had not been touched by Morgoth in a long time.

My skin grew hot as I remembered how I greeted him.

"How long has it been, Thranduil?"

He sighed deeply. "Three thousand years."

This number did not shock me. Maybe I knew somewhere in my subconscious. Thranduil had aged. Not obviously, but his eyes did not sparkle as they once did. The stress of ruling a kingdom had worn him down.

"What has happened in these years?" I remembered the last moments I saw my brother. He was dead. There was no doubt in my mind.

"Sauron came back."

There were no clear memories, but there was a dull rush of thousands of missed years. When I attempted to discern any actions or faces, the thoughts dirtied me. "The Woman did not die, did she?"

He sighed and rubbed his face tiredly. "No."

I could feel it: her residue. I ran my hands through my hair and pulled at the roots in stress. It felt like my heart was in my head. With each beat, pain pulsed in my head.

"The ring?" I asked to distract myself.

"What?"

"You married."

He stared at the ring in surprise for a moment. "Yes."

"Lothuiel?" I asked.

"Yes." He did not look at me.

My face flushed red. "I apologize for kissing you."

"Do not be sorry," he said. "You did not know." There was awkward silence for a moment. "The Woman put on quite a show before she fled your body."

"What did I do?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"She attacked my son and me at a ball."

"Your son?"

"You went alongside Legolas on the quest to destroy Sauron's ring."

Memories flooded back violently. Blonde hair, blue eyes, skin touching, lips against mine, hushed moans and whispers of adoration. Did Thranduil know of these things? I was not even sure if the person I was thinking of was Legolas.

When my thoughts became coherent, I found Thranduil holding me upright. My head ached severely. "You need to rest," he said. I allowed Thranduil to lead me back to my bed as I sifted through hundreds of incomprehensible memories. As I lay on the bed, I looked up into Thranduil's eyes – they had the same eyes – and began to wonder if what I felt for Legolas was simply an echo of my feelings for Thranduil.

So...sorry for the brief hiatus but my classes were kicking my ass. This is just a short unedited chapter because I'm still recovering. The next chapter will include the return of Legolas. Thanks so much for all your reviews. Honestly, i was losing my motivation because of all the stress. Updates should be more regular now XOXO