The grieving in Amon Lanc for the king lasted a month. It was very sorrowful – but there was hope among the people in the form of Thranduil, who had taken the duties of the throne with no hesitancy. But he no longer smiled.

Thranduil had appointed me a member of his council, which I grew ever grateful for as it was the only time I could be with him. He made an effective leader, and his grimness and determination made me admire him more, for I knew of the trauma that he was dealing with. Thranduil had always been tender and vulnerable, and I knew that healing would not enter his heart swiftly.

I stayed late after one council, after the others had left. Thranduil had been besieged by reports of numerous and demanding requests for retribution for horses lost in the war. Horses! I was disgusted by the greed of the people; that they did not understand that the palace was not responsible for repaying sacrifice freely given. Thranduil collapsed into a chair after the hall had emptied, holding his face in his hands.

"I cannot do this," he murmured.

I knelt by his side, pulling his hands into my own. "You can, and you will," I said softly. "I believe in you – we all trust in your abilities."

His eyes softened, and I realized that this was the first time we had been truly alone since he had kissed me on my begetting day. I worried that he would pursue intimacy me once more, but he simply smiled and said, "You are far more skilled at my job than I. Never leave my side, Caradel. Your wisdom is precious."

"We shall see," I said, doubting his words.

After the mourning period had passed for a season, the coronation of Thranduil was to take place. He sent me, against his will, to carry invitations to the event to different dignitaries. He was loth about losing me – but the thinning of our population from the war did not lead very many other people that had as few duties as I. Besides the council, I had many hours of free time in my days.

The coronation was to take place on Midwinter. After I had taken several weeks during the early autumn to deliver the invitations, Thranduil had put me in charge of the festivities following the actual ceremony. I knew that he did this because he found socializing so distasteful, but he claimed that it was because I was the only elf he knew that was bossy enough. It had taken much willpower on my part to keep from laying a blow on my future king.

I did not enjoy arranging the feast as I thought I might – many elves that I tried to work with saw me as a child, and therefore too inexperienced to know what I wanted. Also, I was torn between affection and annoyance between Thranduil now almost continuously, and so wavering between guilt and angry cunning at my idea to have him stand in a receiving line for half the night. He would never forgive me for that.

Nevertheless, I did not choose to irk my king on his coronation day, and the ceremony and feast proceeded without any major problems. There was very little socializing until the dancing was to take place. The only issue I encountered was when the feast was midway though, I nodded off into my soup and so missed the remainder of the feast, something Thranduil was quick to point out the following morning.

"Do you find everything celebrating my person so distasteful?" He appeared, smirking, behind me while I saddled my horse. I wanted to clear my mind from the stresses of the past months, and so a ride had seemed in order.

"Perhaps if you had wanted my presence the entire evening, you should not have worn me out by giving me the assignment of organizing the whole thing," I said insipidly. "And I thought that you would lounge in bed today – the wine I chose was not light."

"No, it was not," he agreed, pulling down the saddle for his stallion. "But the rest of the elves were much more affected. I will not confess to pressing those involved in my morning engagements into drinking the most wine of all."

I laughed. "Is that how horrible it truly is to be king?"

"You would not believe it unless you were king yourself," Thranduil said. We walked out of the stable, our horses following us.

"That surely will never happen," I said. "And I thank Elbereth for that."

"You could be a queen."

"Of what!" I laughed once more. "All the great kings are already married."

Thranduil gave me look.

"O, pray don't be offended," I said. "You are not a great king yet, I cannot count you among my options." We mounted our horses, and began trotting. The sun had barely risen, and there were no other elves that I could see besides the posted guards.

"I wanted to thank you for minimizing my suffering," Thranduil said. "I would have thought you would make the festivities as painful for me as possible!"

"I considered it," I said. "But then I remembered that as my king, you could send me as an emissary to the Haradrim in spite. I wish to remain on your good side."

"The dancing was not nearly as enjoyable without you," he said. "I had to dance with all the young ladies and not one of them told me I was arrogant!"

"That is quite sad indeed," I said. "I'm afraid that will have only increased your sense of your own importance."

Thranduil rolled his eyes. "You exaggerate my flaws."

"And so!" I said. "Where will you send me next? I haven't done anything of true importance since the war."

The king was silent, as if contemplating carefully what he would say next. "I do not require you to visit other kingdoms quite yet," he finally said. "I need your advice, here, more than anything."

"Very well," I said, but I was suspicious. Perhaps this was his way of keeping me safe.

"Would you like to race to the edge of the forest?" Thranduil challenged.

"Did you really want to begin your day losing your pride?" I smirked at him, accepting the challenge.

I won.

Now that Thranduil was more involved in his official duties, I was kept much busier than before. It was true that he did not send very many messages from the forest, which surprised me. Oropher had been greatly involved with the world, but his son now seemed to want to be very separate from it. I did not quite agree with him on this, and I did not hesitate telling him.

The council had been discussing the rogue attacks of orcs, who were now running wild now that their master was gone, on the kingdoms of men. Some of the council were in favor of sending aid, as the population of Gondor was a greatly depleted as our own. Thranduil was adamantly in favor of not helping.

"Men can manage on their own – they have before! Why should we lose more lives? We need to rebuild our lives here," he argued. "Surely Lórien will send aid, and by the time our soldiers might arrive, the problem will have been resolved."

"That is no excuse to refuse!" I said. "We are allied with Men!"

Thranduil sighed, as if I was a child to be dealt with. "Seeking war is an open invitation to retaliation, Caradel. I do not wish to endanger our lives here by meddling abroad."

"I agree with the king," an elf intoned. "Rash actions bring uncomfortable consequences."

It was put to a vote, and I was on the losing side. I did not wish to give away my frustration by allowing my emotions to show to the council, but it was fortunately soon over and I could disagree with Thranduil as much as I wanted.

"You fool!" I hissed at him after the rest of the council had departed. "Evil things come into the woods whether we meddle or not! We can assure safety by showing we are not afraid to take a strong stance against the enemy."

"Calm down," Thranduil said, patting my hand. I regretted sitting by him - his touch affected my ability to think in my heightened state. "It is not as bad as you think! And the council voted, you cannot dispute that."

"You are pleased because the council decided in your favor rather than mine!" I said in surprise. I had not noticed his satisfied grin before.

He shrugged, still smiling at me.

Ooo! I was angry. I stood, scraping the bottom of my chair on the stone floor, and began to flounce out of the room. He knew that I was not happy about losing this competition between us. Had it been a competition? I did not know. I was yanking open the door in a huff when his slender hand covered mine and shut the door once more.

"Do you wish to gloat more?" I growled, whirling around to face him. "For I will tell you straight – I am not in the mood for that!"

Thranduil's body was leaning close to mine, and I struggled to not give in to his comforting presence. I would not give him the satisfaction of affecting me so!

"I was going to tell you, before you decided to leave," he purred, tilting his head towards mine. I glared back at him, for his glorying and for what he was doing to me. "Your compassion makes me admire you greatly. Your concern for others outside this wood is why I have you on this council."

"Good," I said. "For you have no sympathy of your own."

"And you should not be so bitter about the decision of the council," he continued, as if I had not spoken. I tried to ignore his sweet breath on my face. How I wanted to kiss him once more! But not in anger, never in anger. His eyes were darkening, and yet he still smiled.

"I must go," I said shakily.

"Why?" His face was getting closer.

"Because it is improper for an unmarried woman to be along with the unmarried king," I said, trying to put force into my words. "The courting of royals much be done properly."

"May I court you properly?" he asked.

The gall of this man! It seemed that he would never give up. "No," I said. "I'm much too busy to be courted."

"Too busy? But what if I relieved you from your duties?"

"Then you would have more work to do yourself."

"That would be a problem," Thranduil agreed. "Perhaps – I might convince you to consider me in the future, when you are less busy." He brushed his lips against mine – and it was just as disorienting as before. I had not realized how badly I had wanted this, and I grasped his tunic tightly. If he insisted on affecting me so, it was at least going to be a pleasant experience for me.

His mouth moved to my ear. "I doubt that you can kiss me like this, and yet deny that you are attracted to me," he whispered, husky and warm, kissing my ear.

"Yes, I can," I said in a strangled voice. "Bodily attractions do not always indicate love."

Thranduil finally released his hold in my hand and pulled away, allowing me to open the door. He bowed formally. "Enjoy your evening, Caradel."

I rudely did not reply, merely giving him a poisonous glance and prancing down the hall, as if he hadn't just kissed me, as if he hadn't just flirted with me, and as if I hadn't enjoyed it.