A big thank you to:
Aya Noel
April2016
Kelwtim2spar
Trunksymia
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Chapter 14
Evie POV
Evie was breathless as she left the breakfast room and the Elvenking behind her.
She was angry with her body for being so responsive to an elf that, until that morning, had been cold and heartless in his treatment of her.
Such a contrast to the bright joy that his son was.
She walked distracted for some time, not taking notice of her surroundings, until she turned a corner and hit a solid chest.
She would have fallen on her ass, if not for the large hands that clasped around her upper arms and pulled her firmly back into a warm body.
"oh." She lifted her green eyes, that had fallen shut anticipating the fall, to lock with a pair of familiar grey ones.
Her eyes trailed down the handsome face to see his lips shift into a smirk.
"Not everyday a woman almost falls to her feet in my presence."
Evie bristled until she realised the male elf was teasing her.
"Thank you, Lord Galion, I am very grateful for your assistance. You can…ahh..let go now."
He released her immediately, but reached out to draw her left hand up to his lips and placed a soft kiss.
"A pleasure to be of service, Lady Evangeline."
"Evie."
A eyebrowed quirked up.
"Lady Evie, then. Where are you off to?"
Evie was embarrassed then, not really sure of where she was headed.
"Just…wandering."
"Shall I give you a bit of a tour?"
"I don't want to inconvenience you."
"Nonsense, I needed a bit of fresh air from all the politics."
"Then, by all means, lead on, My Lord."
He offered his arm to her, which she took and off they went, the King's adviser pointing out things of interest as they went.
Thranduil POV
A few hours later, Legolas popped his head through a large set of wooden doors and peered inside.
"Don't hover in the doorway Legolas."
Blue eyes went wide when the little elf heard the unmistakable tone of his Adar.
Nonetheless, he heeded the advice by pushing the door open fully and walked in, stopping in front of his Adar's large desk.
"Good Afternoon, Adar."
A blonde head lifted to focus on his offspring.
"How are your lessons with Sven?"
"fine."
"What have you learnt today?"
"the importance of trading with laketown."
"very good. "
"What's that?"
His cold blues eyes shifted to the piece of parchment held between his hands.
"A response from Mithrandir."
"He's coming to visit?"
"yes. He is very curious about your new friend, Legolas. He will arrive next week."
The little figure was hopping from foot to foot in excitement, his eyes bright.
"Have you seen Naneth?"
The adult elf flinched at the casual mention due to the bad memories it drew to the surface.
He shoved them away in a heartbeat, not in the mood to dealing with such things.
"you need to stop calling Lady Evangeline that, Legolas." Disapproval laced the words.
The little elf immediately sobered but stood his ground and folded his arms over his chest.
"no."
The King's eyebrows both rose at the defiance.
His annoyance grew, clearly the woman was at fault for imprinting this new behaviour on his son.
"she is not your Naneth."
The words were notably colder than previous.
The little Prince stamped his foot in retaliation.
"she is Naneth to me."
"you cannot continue, it is unbecoming."
Another stomp and an irritated burst of air.
"No."
His frustration grew and the King rose from his chair to look down at his son with narrowed eyes.
"You will do as you're told, Legolas."
The little elf's response to this was to run from the room, tears falling freely down his cheeks, his Adar not quick enough to catch him.
Frustrated even more, the King paced for a few moments, trying to calm himself.
Deciding to follow his son, he strode out the doors with purpose.
Evie POV
The red headed woman was walking arm in arm with Galion at a leisurely pace in the private gardens, when she heard the unmistakable sobs of her little elf Prince.
Panicking, she shifted her focus into the direction the noise was coming from, but was saved from moving too far, when a little body flew in and locked onto her pink covered legs.
She reached a hand down to touch his platinum head in concern.
"Honey, what's wrong?"
A muffled reply.
Ignoring her audience watching on in surprise at the familiarity, she bent down to unhook his grip from the back of her legs and knelt down to be at his level, raising her hands to cup his tear stained cheeks.
"Look at you. What had got you so worked up?"
She moved her thumbs to weep away the tears and waited.
Slowly, glassy blue eyes rose to meet her green ones.
"Adar and I had a fight."
"oh, honey, come here."
By his tone and unwillingness to explain further, Evie knew then that they had fought about her.
She drew the little elf to her and hugged him tightly and began to softly sing, closing her eyes as she did so.
"Lavender's blue,Dilly dilly,
Lavenders green.
When I am King,Dilly dilly,
You shall be Queen.Who told you so,Dilly dilly,
Who told you so?T'was my own heart,Dilly dilly,
That told me so.Call up your men,Dilly dilly,
Set them to work.Some to the plow,Dilly dilly,
Some to the fork.Some to make hay,Dilly dilly,
Some to cut corn.While you and I,Dilly dilly,
Keep ourselves warm.Lavender's green,Dilly dilly,
Lavender's blue.If you love me,Dilly dilly,
I will love you."
Unnoticed by the two beings cuddled on the ground, the King had followed his son into the Garden silently watched as the woman sung to his son, his fury melting away word by word.
He had stopped Galion from interrupting the pair, interested in seeing the interaction.
"He loves you, honey. You know that?"
A little head nodded.
"shall we go and find your Adar?"
Another nod, the emotion still too much for the little elf to speak.
Evie kissed the top of his head, took his small hands in hers and pulled him to his feet.
"Legolas."
The both looked up in shock at the tall elf standing in the path who had spoken with such care, like he was seeing his son for the first time.
Evie gave the Prince's back a little push towards his Adar and dropped into a curtsey.
She felt Galion's hand on her arm, indicating she should rise.
"Walk with me son?"
"Yes, Adar."
They watched the two platinum haired elves, one tall, one short, walk down another path side by side.
Evie's heart gave a little squeeze in delight when she saw Legolas take hold of his Adar's hand.
"Shall we, My Lady?"
Galion indicated another path to their left with his outstretched hand.
"hmmmm."
"they'll be alright. It's just going to take some adjusting for both of them."
"adjusting?"
"To accommodate you."
She stopped to let these words sink in.
"Why would they…"
"need to change? " he guessed where her thoughts were headed. "things have been…strained, between the two ever since the Queen left. You obviously mean the world to Legolas and it's a new dynamic that we all have to get used to. The King is not someone that takes to change well, so we need to be patient."
Satisfied with this explanation, Evie moved forward.
"He has changed though?"
"oh, yes. Small, but it's definitely happening. Come Lady Evie, I'm feel like it's time for tea."
The next morning, Evie had found a sunny spot in a more private garden.
She was kneeling down at a bed of lavender bushes, inspecting a smaller bush that seemed to be struggling.
She reached out her hand the felt the familiar warmth of her golden magic leave her fingertips and glide over to the bush, weaving itself around, just as she had shown Legolas before.
The bush doubled in size, becoming greener and erupted with buds that bloomed with tiny purple flowers a heartbeat later.
She heard a gasp behind her and her magic instantly faded as she looked over her shoulder.
Awkwardly she got to her feet and curtsied.
"Your majesty."
He waved her up.
"you have a gift."
She took in his tall, warrior form as he stared at the spot that previously glowed.
She nodded nervously.
"Yes."
"what else can you do?"
"It's limited to things with life."
She waved a hand at all the plants and trees surrounding them.
"I can't make something that doesn't already exist."
He nodded, understanding the logic. He was curious, for each recorded Elemental had been slightly unique, their power manifesting differently.
She scrutinised him another moment.
"You aren't…concerned?"
He laughed freely. Taken off guard by her question.
Her eyes narrowed at his behaviour.
His blue eyes met her green ones and her breath caught at the dazzling smile.
"you are not a threat to my people."
"I could be."
She was angry at her power being dismissed so easily.
Before she could blink, he had closed the distance between them, held her tightly to his chest with one hand and had his arm around her throat.
She breathed in the earthly scent of him, laced with pine.
Evie froze when she felt the warmth of his body as it connected with hers. She shivered when she felt his breath on her neck, next to her ear.
"Gifted though you may be, Evangeline, you are not trained as I am. I could kill you right now and you could not stop me."
Her anger grew with these truthful words. Yes she had spared with Legolas, but that had been a bit of fun.
She was in a completely different world now, one that had horrors that did not hesitate to kill.
Shadows filled her green eyes for a moment as she remembered the orcs.
"then train me."
Shocked silence for a moment.
"You would do that?"
"I would do anything to protect him."
They both knew it was the little elf she was referring to and he could hear the truthfulness behind her statement.
She loved him. Fiercely.
She felt herself being released and turn to face the King.
"Train me." It wasn't a request.
Surprise filled the blue eyes that regarded her.
"I shall speak to Feren for you."
"thank you."
They stared at each other for a moment, both lost in their own thoughts.
Evie abruptly focussed her eyes from the King's lips to his blue eyes.
"You didn't come here for that."
"no. I wanted to thank you for what you did for my son."
"He's a bit stubborn."
A teasing smile, which the King returned.
"A family trait, I'm afraid."
A heartbeat later Evie spoke.
"Join me for some lunch, Your Majesty?"
The male elf's answer was to hold out his arm to her, which she took.
"I told you to call me Evie."
"Evangeline suits you."
"I don't like it."
"that's precisely why I do."
Their exchange was heard until they turned a corner in the path and were lost from sight.