Thranduil looks up sharply when he hears a crash from the small storage closet adjacent to his throne room, and is on his feet barely a heartbeat later.

"Tauriel?"

"I'm fine! I'm...I'm okay!" she calls, but there is a strained undertone in her voice, and he speeds his pace to check on her. His stomach clenches with worry despite her assurance, and he pushes the door open, quickly scanning the room for her. When he spots her, however, the only thing he can do for a long minute is stare.

She is - somehow - upside down, her torso slipped through the open back of a chair with the chair tilted at an odd angle so that it leans against the wall, and a bookshelf half on top of her. One of her legs is bent up between the shelf and her body, the other is pinned between the bookshelf and the seat of the chair. Her hair is splayed out everywhere.

"What-" he starts, but can't really find many more words than that.

"I mis-stepped," she mumbles, the tips of her ears flushing as she squirms to get herself free. "Everything's fine."

"...would you like some help?"

"No, I've got it," she assures him, grabbing the wooden supports of the chair back at either side of her waist and trying to worm her way free, but her legs are trapped by the shelf and can't bend the proper way for her to turn over. Thranduil watches her struggle for a moment with a raised eyebrow before clearing his throat. Tauriel goes limp with a long sigh. "Okay, maybe I'll need a bit of help."

He straightens out the bookshelf, relieved that there had only been a few scrolls and ink wells on it when it fell, before helping Tauriel free. He cups a hand around the back of her head to make sure that she does not bump it as he helps her extract herself from the chair, and steadies her with an arm until he is sure that she has her footing.

"Whatever were you trying to do?" he asks, brushing dust from her hair and shoulders.

"I was going to get one of the books you mentioned the other day off of the top shelf, but my foot slipped and...well..."

Thranduil straightens up the room a bit as she shifts her weight from foot to foot nearby. Nothing is broken, miraculously, and from what he can tell from the few surreptitious glances he gives her, Tauriel is unharmed as well.

"That was rather foolish," he scolds gently, arranging the scrolls in a stack on the shelf as she hangs her head, embarrassed. He turns to her with a sigh. "You know, Tauriel, if you want my attention there are far less dangerous ways to get it. Speaking to me, for example."

She glances up to stick her tongue out at him for that, and Thranduil smiles. He shoos her out of the closet, closing the door behind him, and trails her back into the main room. She stops at the edge of the dias as usual, and he slips past before turning to face her.

"Now," he starts, lounging back in his throne and patting the corner for her to sit, "what is it that you wanted?"

She hesitates, uncertainty flashing in her expression, and approaches but does not sit.

"It...it was nothing, My Lord."

He cannot hold in a small snort.

"It is never 'nothing' with you. Speak. Out with it. Why did you want the book?"

She ducks her head again, and her ears go a bit redder.

"Meldirion would often read to me when I was still getting used to this," she waves a hand before her eyes, and pauses for a long breath before speaking again. "I...I miss it," she murmurs, looking away.

Thranduil stares at her for a moment in silence. Of course she would no longer be able to read, but the thought had not even occurred to him.

Pity again tugs at his heart. She is certainly pushing forward bravely, but her punishment has taken its toll on her, and will continue to do so for as long as she lives.

If she wishes to be read to, well, he is not about to deny her that.

"If that is all," he says smoothly, getting to his feet. He takes Tauriel by the shoulders, guiding her around and sitting her down on the edge of his throne before walking back toward the closet. "Which book was it that you were you looking for?"

"I-...that is-... any of them, really," she answers at last, fidgeting in place. It only takes him a second to locate the tomes, and he picks up a well-worn one with a familiar cover.

"Very well. I shall start with my favorite of the lot."

"My Lord, please do not trouble yourself-"

"Hush," he murmurs, turning through the old, yellowed pages as he crosses back to her. "And move to one side. If we're both going to fit comfortably, you must share."

She closes her mouth as she obediently shifts over, and Thranduil nestles himself in at her side, balancing the book in one hand as he drapes the other across the carved wood.

"Chapter one," he starts, and smiles when he feels Tauriel lean close in anticipation. "The old forest road had not seen passerby for many a year..."