"May I ask you to accompany me for a stroll around the garden?" A voice asked, very similar to the voice that had quickly become her favorite but not quite. Startled, Mereneth looked up from her book and into the eye of King Oropher who stood imposing above her, expersinless.
The last thing she wanted to do was to be left alone with Oropher, but it was not as if she would be given a choice one way or another. She tried to give Thranduil or Ferdan a pleading expression but they were too involved yet in their game to notice her distress.
"Of course, my lord." Mereneth said as politely and warmly as possibly, forcing her near trembling legs to stand and hold her weight. Judging by his expression, she had not done a very good job at concealing her fears.
The two of them started walking at a mild pace, and Merenth struggled to look at absolutely everything but the king that was strolling along next to her. As per usual though, her eyes strayed to Thranduil.
He was in the midst of playing some sort of game that involved a ball and targets in the tree's that supposedly had been popular in Doriath, that Merenth still did not even understand the basic principles of. She could not help but smile and laugh as Ferdan tackled Thranduil's legs and practically scaled him like a ladder even while they were both rolling in the dirt in an attempt to get closer to the ball.
Meanwhile, Galion sprinted by and snatched up the ball for himself, a string of exasperated and betrayed accusatoins following behind him closely.
Mereneth peaked at her king out of the corner of her eye and was surprised to find a hint of the fondest smile she had ever seen, and an affection burning like a forest fire behind his eyes. She could not help but wonder if it was only for Thranduil, or all three of them.
"I wanted to tell you something," Oropher said, voice as mild as ever.
"My lord?" She asked, daring to glance up at him for a few quizzical seconds. Every part of her body desperately wishing he was not about to try and force her and Thranduil apart. Threaten her with something, perhapes.
"When Thranduil picks people, it's for life. His whole life."
She hated that she could not keep her face from flushing with heat in what she imagined was a scarlet blush, remembering Thranduil's whispered promises that he would not let his heart be taken away from her. Even if he was a prince and she had no status of any kind, that he had chosen her and nobody else.
"Sometimes, there will be times where you are certain that person is bad for him. Perhaps even the worst thing he could be around, I have thought that many times. Countless, probably." It was Mereneth's impression that Oropher was speaking more to himself or the world in general than to her specifically.
"But he will always prove you wrong at the most crucial of times. I don't know how he does it, but he can tell the kind of person you are without even a whiff of your scent." Oropher looked back over to his son with open fondness this time, "I do not trust anything in this world, but I do trust my son and his judgement. It was one of the hardest realizations I ever had to come to terms with."
Merenth tilted her head to the side and for the first time since she had stood from the bench she looked him fully in the eye, "Why are you telling me this?"
"Because it is important that you remember it, when you are his family."
The use of the word 'when' in reference to their union made her head spin, considering how against their relationship Oropher had seemed up until this point. It nearly felt as if the weight of the entire world was lifted off her lungs and chest. She took her first deep breath in months. "Will you not be there to remind me?" She asked.
Orphers expression changed then, it became similar to the one Thranduil always had when he knew something that she did not but refused to tell her. Not out of game, or to tease, but because of fear of hurting or scaring her.
She had never liked that expression on Thranduil, but it was nearly terrifying to be found on Oropher.
He turned sad eyes to her, vulnerable in a way Merenth had not even contemplated Oropher could be, "No, no I fear that I will not be. I fear that soon my son will have to face the horrors of this world without me. That nobody will be around to remind him of the important lessons he forgets every few centuries, or help make sure that the chosen people in his life understand him. Really, understand him. The way he see's things, feels them, expresses them. It isn't like any elf I have ever met before, and everybody always expects him to be."
She wanted to ask how he could sound so sure that he would be leaving Thranduil soon, but refrained. If he had wanted to explain, he would have. So she settled on another question altogether, "Well, then it sounds like you have a job to train me in for before you have to leave. Then I can carry on all of your work."
He blinked at her with silent surprise, "You think that you can learn everything in the span of a few years?"
"Everything?" Mereneth shook her head, "No, not everything. So start with teaching me all the things that Galion and Ferdan don't know yet. I'm sure between the three of us, we can figure it out."
In the background, there was another uproarious chorus of laughter from the three best friends, and a bit of that determined fire was rekindled in Orophers eyes, "Yes, I'm sure the three of you can. Let us begin, then."
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Thanks for reading! I hope you liked it!
