Thranduil follows the sound of muttered curses down the hallway, unsurprised when he finds Tauriel to be their source. He had been looking for her all morning without success, but it seems that she was rather occupied. She is on all fours, her hands trembling as she skates her fingers over a bed of small river rocks. Thranduil stares at her for a long moment, trying to figure out what she is attempting to do.
"Where is it?" she is whispering frantically, "I heard it hit, it has to be here..."
She is picking up the rounded stones, running her fingers over their surface, and then discarding them, and it only takes him a second to realize that she must have dropped the runestone she got from her dwarf.
He glances around briefly, his one good eye quickly locating her rock. It is just behind her, almost underneath her foot, and he represses a chuckle as he picks it up.
She jumps as he takes her wrist, startled, but as soon as he presses the stone into her hand she calms.
"You found it," she breathes, clutching the stone close for a second before she tucks it back into her pocket, and his lips quirk up a bit.
"Thank you, thank you so much" she smiles, looking up. "Erm...who is this?"
He doesn't reply, instead gently taking her hands and bringing them to rest on his cheeks. Her eyes widen with wonder, her lips parted slightly as she traces her fingertips over his face in a feather-light caress. She follows the bridge of his nose and the line of his jaw, and her eyebrows pinch together in concentration. He tries not to smile as she traces a finger across his lips.
He can tell the exact second when she pieces it together, her eyes widening as her hands slip from his face.
"My Lord!"
"Very good," he smiles, catching her hands in his and drawing her to her feet. "Shall we go for a walk?"
She manages a nod, and he links her arm with his to guide her.
He is relieved to see that she no longer shies away from him, but she is still nervous as he leads her through the halls, and he murmurs "almost there" to her as they get close.
He brings her to his throne room, walking her into the middle of the floor and releasing her hand. He then retreats to the foot of the dais. When he turns around he can see that Tauriel is fidgeting anxiously, and can tell that she wants to question what he is doing.
"Walk toward me," he calls, and he sees the flicker of uncertainty in her expression. "The ground is flat, you will not fall. Guess how far I am from you by my voice, and approach."
Tauriel's brow furrows in concentration, and he watches as she blinks her silvery eyes slowly. Her first few steps are confident, but that confidence quickly flags as she gets closer. She pauses a few paces away from him, one of her hands reaching out before her, and he murmurs "closer." At the sound of his voice, she confidently closes the last few steps.
"Again," he says, stepping around her and striding into the room, taking a wide arc around a side table so that she will not run into it. "Listen to my footsteps, follow my path." He stops and turns. "Come here."
She concentrates for half a second, nodding to herself, then matches his movements, walking in a wide arc around the furniture and stopping before him. He beams down at her, letting his voice soften with affection as he speaks so that she might know that he is pleased.
"Once more. I wish you to become familiar with this room."
"The throne room?" she asks, and he suspects that she has merely guessed at the location.
"Yes. I would have you as a personal assistant, if you were willing." He sees her catch an excited breath, but cuts her off. "I warn you, it will not be easy. You will need to be able to move around freely and confidently, and to find things placed around the room. You will need to be able to find me and move to my side by hearing my voice alone."
She nods, a determined look flashing across her features.
"I will, My Lord."
"Good," he smiles, again walking a distance away from her before turning. "Come here."