Hi! We are 25 chapters in and they haven't even kissed yet. Lordt. Barely looking in each other's direction. To Thranduil she is still a bit of a headache and to her Thranduil is king. It might change…just not in the next few chapters.

We will meet Arwen and a dwarf before we even get to Thranduil's ex (or are they still together?) and well something has to happen before Thranduil and Lena start blossoming.

Thank you for all the reviews: shadowoftheblackdeat, rybkakoi (has a Russian feel to it? Smells fishy?), Mimosa Evans (Have done the Sorting Hat quiz?), Roxanne Obsidian, Carla.

And the favs and follows, all of you are nice too.

A question: Does this story need a coverart?

And just extra unnecessary information…brain is cooking up idea about Loki and ofc or Bucky/OFC. Not sure what it will be. Just ideas.

And this chapter is like superlong...

Illicit sketches and a visitor

The chambers she was given were private and very much cut off from the rest of the palace. The high walkway leading there was rarely used by palace staff since it was secluded. Guards were posted on the far end of it. Giving her little space to move about. Though the rooms themselves were majestic, much more embellished than her room had been in the healing chambers.

To her left were white high curtains, similar to what she had seen at the feast. Those separated the bedroom from the hallway. To her right there were two doorways, one was grand and the other one much smaller, she peeked into the small room which happened to be a bathroom. A carved wooden bath in the centre of it. Lena then looked behind the other doors, it revealed a day room of sorts, the first thing that caught her eye was the view, it overlooked Greenwood. As far as she could see there was a sea of green, the high beech trees and a stream running from the mountainside, it took her breath away for a moment.

The dayroom was furnished with two lounge chairs, a writing desk and a bookcase covering the wall. On the desk, there were various writing supplies and the king's seal. Lena lifted it up and studied it curiously, the wax dried on it was old as the seal itself and it looked rarely used. The emblem of it was partially scratched.

She heard three knocks on the door and then Galion entered. "Lady Selene, as from now you are confined in these rooms by the king's decree. The guards have brought your possessions, if they missed anything please let me know. You'll be brought food regularly and the king has allowed you supervised visits to the library. If you need anything please ask the servants. Good day." Galion bowed and left.

Lena could only blink in response, looking at the chest deposited at her feet. Galion had been very quick, not letting her get a word in. She couldn't leave the chest in the middle of the room, so she tried her hardest to push it against the wall.

Soon after that two of the maids came in, one making her bed, the other bringing her a tray of food. "Could you bring me tea later? In a few hours or so."

The elleth nodded and went about the room quickly dusting and paying her no mind. So Selene sat down on one of the chairs with her hands in her lap, watching them work, taking small bites of the bread she was given. She had lost her appetite, but didn't want to look ungrateful.

She tried to talk to the two, but only got curt answers. 'Yes, milady' followed by 'No, milady' by that she could tell that gossip was loose over the palace and they were probably afraid of her.

The one who brought her food left after a while, returning with a basket, she first placed a small jar of medicine in front of Lena and then proceeded to put towels in the empty cupboard. Lena looked at it, it was ground down healing herbs mixed with bearfat, used for healing wounds and to keep out infections. Thranduil had put it on her wounds before.

As the maids left, both of them curtsying before her, Lena fell deep into thought. Her mind going over what happened, the day had started off good only to end in such a ruin. Thranduil had surprised her, the king had truly left her shocked. Only to be fair, you shocked him first. Her brain quipped.

She had a breakdown and with her emotions running high she had pushed him, the king, and witnessed fury in his eyes after that. To put the final nail in her coffin, he had figured it all out, it had taken him time, but the secret she tried to protect for so long, he knew. And to her misery he had acted so strange, unlike his kingly self.

Lena knew what to expect, when Thranduil was acting in his usual way. The king wasn't very predictable, but she thought she had a good enough read on his nature. She was expecting him to send her away to the dungeons or exile her after such a transgression against him. Lena knew that from time to time both of them had a habit of being stubborn and pushing each other's buttons, but now she had gone and blown up the buttons.

And to top all of that off, she had done god-knows-what to lady Mareth. It wasn't her intention to magically bug zap her, or whatever it was that happened. She felt like a burned out lightbulb after that, a flash of light and then she felt sick to her stomach. Of course the amount of wine she had drunk before might have something to do with that.

Lena heard a soft knock on the door looking up she saw Landmir enter, flanked by two guards.

"Dear child. I heard what happened." Landmir wanted to comfort her.

"Is Mareth alive?" came the first question to Lena's mind.

"You did a number on her, but she will heal." Landmir sat down. "The king is…conflicted in your matter. We spoke. Lady Mareth is calling for your exile or execution."

"What? I didn't mean-"

"I know. The king saw what happened, it was self-defence through rather strange means. Have you got any idea what may have caused it?" Landmir inquired, the king had hoped to know something more, it was one of the reasons why he had allowed Landmir's visit.

"No. I just wanted her to stop…but to be honest I had a lot of wine before that. I was out of the palace with Elma at first, then Anna."

"I heard about it. A very long night of merriment. You made quite an impression." Lena wanted to facepalm herself, because of embarrassment. She had been hammered and she had sang too loud and the way back…she remembered the curse words.

"I was drunk." Lena groaned.

-…-…-…-…-

Thranduil had a strange week. A truly strange one. It started with Selene and… it ended with Selene as well. Lady Mareth had milked the injury for all it was worth and even against Thranduil's expressed concerns, the incident between the two elleths was known all over the palace and the cause of a lot of speculation.

Selene, it seems she was always on his mind. Thranduil couldn't blame her for not telling him, she was scared of him and he couldn't deny, the truth had shook him. It was odd as someone who carried so much joy around herself, Selene had rarely been happy. When he first met her could sense the sadness in her spirit, but did not know the reason and now he was unsure how to handle it all.

Punishment that lady Mareth called for was unreasonable and though she heavily relied on her position as the ambassador of Rivendell, he only dismissed her calls for exile. Their fight had happened because lady Mareth had acted first and not because of her status as the ambassador, but due to her pride. Thranduil also knew that Lady Mareth had sensed his ire and tried to influence him through the public opinion. So she spread storied, some reported by Galion were even entertaining due to their fictions nature.

The last matter pertaining Selene was the plea from the palace staff. He did not expect one of the cooks to request an early audience. 'It was my fault, she had been feeling down and I only wanted to help her. I know that lady Mareth has never liked Selene and has said some very unkind things about her.' A few hours after that he had been requested again. He was ready to give council in his own rooms until Galion advised against it and he instead went to the council hall. He was surprised to see so many there, led by Calime and followed by Elma, who also avoided looking straight at him. Calime had asked him to be as wise and kind as ever in his decision.

Finally there were some news he was ambiguous on, Lord Elrond was coming and maybe he could shed some light on the strangeness that was Selene.

-…-…-…-…-

Legolas could see from afar white horses under the banner of Rivendell. He sent a guard to notify his father of visitors. With any luck they came to collect lady Mareth, he had had enough of her.

"Greetings prince Legolas!" Elrond was in a jovial mood.

"My lord." Legolas bowed his head, bringing his right hand in a clenched fist to his heart. "My father has been expecting you."

He could hear the horns echo through the forest. Legolas chuckled knowing it was his father, pomp as always.

-…-…-…-…-

Their discussion so far had been pleasant, Dorwinion wine making even the harder topics pass by easily.

"You wrote to me about a delicate matter." Elrond sat down after refilling his chalice. Elrond had heard about many delicate matters from kings that usually pertained an illegitimate heir or a mistress- kings in question of course human. He had never known Thranduil to be the amorous sort.

"Yes, the matter is an elleth." Those words caught lord Elrond's attention. "She is strange." Thranduil sighed.

"I can't remember a time when an elleth was on your mind. You must not keep it a secret anymore."

"Selene is her name, she is like…" Thranduil sighed yet again, he didn't know the word to describe her aptly. Infuriating, strange, gentle, vexing. "It is better I explain where she came from than…her." He then spoke of Selene's origins. Thranduil was thankful for Elrond's open mind, there were many elves he knew of that would've declared him insane, but Elrond as always listened.

"I understand why this matter is sensitive, but what happened that has unsettled you so much?" Elrond asked worriedly.
"She has powers, powers I don't understand and she can't control. She and lady Mareth had an argument, it escalated and lady Mareth slapped her, she tried to protect herself and there was a flash of light that emanated from her hand, it threw lady Mareth into a wall behind them, she herself almost fell off the walkway, like it had drained her." Thranduil described the events.

"Mm-hmm." Lord Elrond tapped his finger against the table. "Did you sense anything other than her?"

"No. What makes the matter more interesting, the onodrim in the woods calls her Lightbearer. She had…to simply put it- healed the forest. The guards had reported that part of the woods had fell under the sickness. She had done…something. She said that it was a simple healing spell that Landmir taught her. I had to confine her for the time being."

"Onodrim? It has been ages since I last saw one…May I meet this elleth?" Lord Elrond inquired.

-…-…-…-…-

Three short knocks on the door, it sounded like Galion, who had been her only visitor so far along with a pair of guards. He usually brought her food, so she didn't bother to get up and settled back on the floor, where she had made her reading nest with an exclusive view over Greenwood.

Turning her head she saw Galion enter first, followed by Thranduil and an elf she did not know, though he was fancy dressed and looked much older than Thranduil. He was also shorter than Thranduil and had dark straight hair. Come to think of it…he wasn't bad looking, but he made Thranduil look better in comparison. Lena shook her head, being contained in the rooms for a week had affected her mind.

She looked up at them dumbstruck, her book open between her hands a furrow developing between her brows. Lena was weary, expectantly looking at Thranduil then at the other elf.

Closing her book, she slowly got up, eying both of them. "My lord…and?" She curtsied.

"I am lord Elrond of Rivendell, pleasure to meet you." Elrond introduced himself in Sindarin.

"Selene. Fished from the river." Elrond found that endearing, her Sindarin was fluent.

"I am a friend of Thranduil, he seeks answers and so do I. May I take lady Selene out for a walk in the forest?"

"Yes, I'll notify the guards." Elrond offered his arm to Selene, who looked back at Thranduil obviously confused.

Thranduil was looking around, sorting in her papers, until something caught his eye…Lena groaned inside. He had seen the little sketch of him she had made in charcoal, Thranduil with little devil horns, a tail and holding a pitchfork. Oh. Crap.

-…-…-…-…-

Galion led the way outside while Thranduil stayed in her chambers, probably searching for a few more entertaining sketches. 'Oh well,' Lena shrugged 'I am fucked anyway.'

Lord Elrond was very conversational, not like Landmir who jumped from topic to topic and rambled on or Thranduil, who mostly stayed silent. Lord Elrond made conversation easy starting from easy questions, about what she had learned and what she already knew about elven magic as well as herbs and so on.

"The king spoke about the incident between lady Mareth and you. Not knowing the cause of these powers worries him." Elrond eased into the most difficult topic so far.

"It worries me too. I wasn't planning to magically bug zap Mareth, but it happened." Bug zap? Lord Elrond's brow furrowed, she was strange indeed.

There was a guard patrol far from earshot, they reached the clearing. Lord Elrond looked around searchingly. "Did you do this?" he finally asked. He wasn't as in tune with the forest as the elves, who lived in it, but that place felt more vibrant than anywhere else.

"Yes." Lena wrapped her arms around herself feeling self-conscious and unsure.

"The king spoke that you could call forth onodrims?"

"Yes…I think."

"May I ask you to do so?" Elrond looked at her expectantly.

Lena gave a nod and went to one of the older trees, pressing the palms of her hands against its bark. She closed her eyes, concentrating on the forest itself around her. She could hear faint whispers moving through the treetops as the wind gently swayed them. 'Ao!'

Lord Elrond watched the elleth mutter something and then the wind picked up, rustling the leaves. He felt a pulse of energy go through the forest, even the guards further away sensed it. She then stepped away, wiping her hands against her dress.

"Does contact help?"

"Yes. Ao is somewhere near. I can sense him…also the forest…is telling me…" Lena turned pointing her finger towards an older forest road "to go…that way."

Elrond just gave a curt nod, looking way too giddy for a ruler. "How do you know to go that way?"
"The trees talk. I can hear it in the wind." Lena answered, Elrond was actually smiling, Thranduil hadn't given an actual smile to anyone, she could name from on top of her head a few of Thranduil's looks: angry, annoyed, exasperated, smug, evil and the weird evil look combined with a smile.

Lord Elrond heard a loud crunching of branches and the ground trembling beneath his feet.

"Ao!" Lena called out.

"Lightbearer." A deep voice echoed over the forest. Lena noticed lord Elrond had given her a weird look.

"I have no idea why he calls me that." She shrugged.

After a rattling of branches, lord Elrond saw the ent appear, grander than most trees in the forest, moving slowly but surely though the woods. Lena went its way without fear, wrapping her arms around its trunk. Ao lifted her high up into his branches.

Lord Elrond's guard patrol looked stunned, while Elrond himself bowed.

"I am Elrond of Rivendell."

"Ao. I have not seen your kin in a long time." The ent bowed as the wood groaned.

"Lady Selene is your friend?"

"Yes, she is. The Lightbearer." Lena shrugged yet again.

"Why do you call her the Lightbearer?" Good question, Elrond.

"She is…light. Can you not see her shine in the darkness? She drove away the sickness that came from the darkness. "

"I wish to speak to you more." Lord Elrond had never been given a lift by an ent, but a branch lowered on the ground. Elrond stepped on it and was lifted up high onto the branches.

Lena had never seen an elf lord so excited. She had decided that she liked lord Elrond, he was much more personable than Thranduil.

-…-…-…-…-

Thranduil set his book back on the table, resting his head against the headrest. He was tired and there was still more to come. A feast to honor his guest and Selene to deal with.

Ao had settled itself near the palace gates for the night, the palace guards excitedly had extended their patrols, their route passing by the ent. Selene had been escorted back into her new chambers. Lord Elrond had been delighted with her. Thranduil knew that meeting the ent residing in Greenwood had much to do with it. Elrond couldn't give clear answers, but he wished to see Selene again, just to confirm a few things.

He had granted them access into the Kings Gardens, since Elrond had requested for an open area, secluded from the palace with space to move about. Lady Mareth had also talked at length with Elrond- mostly about her recent injury and how horrific the whole deal had been. After which Thranduil had reminded her what was asked of her, discretion and silence on the issue until it was resolved. Instead he had a palace overflowing with gossip.

The door opening brought the king back from his thoughts, Galion had brought wine. It was a bit too late in the evening, but he didn't care about appearances. Pinching the bridge of his nose, he filled his chalice with wine, knowing that his guest had already seen the best and the worst in the palace. Lady Mareth and Selene- and he wasn't in a mood to specify, who he meant to be the worst.

That's it for this week. I will update when I can. Starting with some bug zapping and a party.

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And let me know about the typos. God knows, english-vinglish.