At dawn, Thranduil stood out on a balcony which was connected with his chambers. Tauriel was still fast asleep inside his bedchamber. The balcony did not overlook the great river and the trees of the forest as it had been carved out of stone inside the elven king's halls, yet the view it had to offer was not any less astonishing.
From this point, Thranduil was able to overlook most of the cave system of his halls, similar to the view he had when he was in his throne room.
At this time of the day, the halls seemed as though they were dunked into a soft greenish light. Normally looking at the waterfalls splashing down the high moss-covered cave walls and the sound of the underground rivers flowing just below his feet would have soothed the elven king and his thoughts but not so today. He stared off into the distance having a gloomy expression on his face but there was also great sadness to be found in his eyes.
Yesterday's orc attack in the forest had cost the lives of some of his kin and he greatly regretted their loss. He had been king of the Woodland Realm for many hundred years now but something like this never should have happened under his reign and he knew very well that there had been ways with which it could have been prevented. He also knew he would never be able to forgive himself such a foolish mistake. He had been careless and would never allow himself a weakness like that ever again.
It was winter. The orcs roaming through the woods were running out of food and the few animals they managed to hunt down were so starved out that they hardly gave enough meat to feed their greedy mouths. Thranduil knew the nature of orcs. He knew hunger was one of the main reasons to drive them wild and would make them do things which they wouldn't normally dare to.
But as small and weak as their minds were, they knew elves always build up stocks to survive even the longest and coldest of winters. It was the food they were after and every winter Thranduil's guards would have to fight off new packs of orcs that attacked them. The king sensed that they were growing bolder from year to year.
Yesterday, the attack of an especially large and vicious pack of orcs on the small group of forest elves had been disastrous. The patrol providing more efficient weaponry for defence had been too late to intervene in the attack. He had been too late.
When they had arrived, they had found the destroyed homes of their people. Most of the orcs had already run off, leaving only the dead or severely injured bodies of his kin behind.
He ordered his guards to take the dead away so that they could receive a honourable entombment as soon as possible. The few injured elves that had managed to survive were immediately brought to the healing quarters inside the king's halls. Most of his guards were already gone though Thranduil lingered on, staring at the destruction before him.
As king of the Woodland Realm, he knew all of his kin and suddenly he noticed that he had not seen the little elfling Tauriel or her mother Melmiel who had been living here, neither among the death nor the injured. Both hope and fright hit him. Perhaps they were still alive but he also knew that sometimes, orcs would take elves to torture them until they would fade away which brought great satisfaction to these unworthy, vile creatures.
Eventually, he found the trace of a single orc leading deep into the forest. He followed it for a while until he found the slaughtered body of Tauriel's mother Melmiel lying on the ground. Great grief struck him as he looked at her dead body. He had seen Tauriel's father Calendor had been killed as well so if Tauriel was alive, she would be orphaned. He knew he could do nothing more for Melmiel so he went on deeper into the forest looking for Tauriel. He had to find her. Thranduil tried to find a trace, opening his mind to even the lowest of sounds or most subtle of scents within his closer surroundings. Finally he noticed a little hollow at a tree where he could make out the elfling's scent. She had been here not too long ago, but most importantly she had managed to find a hiding place.
Now he knew there was a good chance she was indeed still alive.
Night was falling and he knew he had to find her before no light would be left in the forest. He was well aware of the dangers that lingered in the darkness of Mirkwood and there were very few safe parts left.
Thranduil swiftly moved through the forest without making a sound, following Tauriel's scent and looking around him with his keen elven eyes. That was when he finally spotted her...
Thranduil was still standing on the balcony as he was interrupted reliving his memories by his little son Legolas entering his chambers.
Legolas knew his father always sensed when he sat foot into his chambers so when he saw him standing out on the balcony, he swiftly ran towards his adar to greet him. He could barely reach Thranduil's waist so he clung to his right leg instead, nestling up to it. Legolas opened his mouth to ask his father why he had not visited him yesterday night as he always did before he would go to sleep but when he looked up and saw the expression on his father's face he immediately fell silent.
Legolas was aware that there had been an orc attack yesterday for he had overheard a conversation between two guards who then too had hurried off to aid the elves outside in the forest. The elven king's halls had been in a great stir, but there was nothing the little elfling could have done so Galion, one of his father's servants, had brought him back to his chambers and there he had stayed, waiting for his father, wondering why he was not coming. Legolas wanted to be with his adar and sometimes, Thranduil would allow his son to sleep at his side but Legloas knew that it would be best not to go looking for his father that night.
So when Legolas saw Thranduil's pained expression, he felt his father's misery through their close bond. The orc attack must have ended very badly.
Thranduil looked down into the worried face of his son who was still clinging to his leg. Everyone was saying Legolas was clearly taking after him but looking through Thranduil's eyes, he found many features of his wife and even more so in his character.
`My little Greenleaf...´ he whispered, leaning down to embrace his son, planting a soft kiss onto his hair whilst inhaling his familiar and soothing scent.
Legolas looked up into his father's eyes which now had great affection in them but he knew his father only called him that when he was saddened.
`Adar, I know what happened...´ Legolas said quietly. Thranduil sighed. Of course he did.
`Legolas, please listen to me carefully. Can you remember the little red-haired elfling who was born a few years after you? You saw her at a feast once...´ Thranduil was certain his son could remember her for there were not many elflings living in the Woodland Realm.
`Yes, father! What about her? Did she...´ Thranduil saw his son's face turned into horror.
`Do not worry about her, she is safe. However, both her parents did not survive the attack. That's why I could not come to your chambers yesterday. I found her wandering through the woods on her own and so I brought her to the halls. She's sleeping in my bedchamber now.´
In response to that, Legolas curiously looked past his adar to the huge wooden door that he knew led to his bedchambers.
Thranduil lowered his voice. `Be quiet, Legolas. I do not want you to wake her just yet. She had had a rough time yesterday and is very weak. When she wakes, I want you to be very gentle with her and make her feel at home. She will ask for her parents but I haven't told her of their passing yet. You will not mention anything about it to her though, do you understand?´
`Yes, I understand, adar! But who is going to care for her now? She is way too young to be on her own already...´ Legolas looked at his father thoughtfully.
`I'm her king and so it is my duty to care for her now that her parents are gone. I have given great thought to this and if you do not have any objections against my decision my son, I would like to be the one to bring her up until she will be able to care for herself.´
Legolas knew once his father had made a decision, he could be unwavering in going through with it though despite that he had no objections to the idea indeed. Legolas was the only elfling in the king's halls so being surrounded by elves who were all many hundreds of years old already caused him to mature quite quickly. He felt like he needed to adapt to their behaviour. Still, he often longed for a playmate, especially when his father had to attend to his kingly duties during the day.
A wide smile spread across Legolas' face. Thranduil chuckled at the sight of his son bowing to him and he quickly gave him another kiss onto his forehead before he told him that he would go and tell a servant to prepare a breakfast for the three of them.
As Thranduil had left his chambers, Legolas sat down on one of the couches to wait for his return when suddenly he heard something stirring in his father's bedchambers...