Tauriel slowly opened her eyes. It took her a while to get used to the darkness inside the room and she still felt very wretched and weak. She was about to burry her face into the soft pillows again, when she remembered yesterday's events and noticed that Thranduil was no longer beside her. She grew restless as she wondered where he had gone, what she should do and if she was all alone in his chambers now.
The longer she thought about these questions, the more her restlessness grew and without a second thought, Tauriel leaped out of the bed and hastily ran towards the door. She pushed it open and found herself face to face with a blonde elfling slightly taller than herself. When Legolas had heard the stirring inside his father's bedchambers, he instantly had raised himself off the couch and hurried towards the door.
Tauriel abruptly had come to a halt so as not to bump into him but now she stood there staring at Legolas with a shocked expression on her face. Legolas was sure he had frightened her so he gave Tauriel a moment to recover, smiled at her quite cheerfully and bowed.
`Good morning! I hope you have slept well? I am Legolas, son of Thranduil. My father just left to tell the servants to prepare a breakfast for us. You must be hungry. Well, you certainly look very pale I must say. Would you like to sit down until my father returns?´
She suddenly felt very foolish having stared at her prince like that with not a single polite word coming out of her mouth. Tauriel instantly fell to her knees.
`I apologise for my very inappropriate behaviour, my prince!´
Now Legolas was the one who had a bewildered expression on his face.
`What are you apologising for? You have done no wrong at all.´ He leaned down towards the red-haired elfling, offering her a hand to help her up. Whilst doing so he curiously looked upon her face.
`She looks very sweet indeed!´ Legolas thought to himself.
He took her hand and suddenly felt very sorry for Tauriel's loss. He had never truly known his mother for she had retired to the Halls of Mandos shortly after his birth and he did not want to think of what he would do should his father pass away the way Tauriel's parents had.
The compassionate expression on the prince's face did not go unnoticed by Tauriel and she wondered what had made him become so saddened and thoughtful all of a sudden and if it was her fault. Legolas, however, quickly pushed those dark thoughts to the back of his mind. He wanted to make her feel better.
After a little while, they heard Thranduil enter the chambers who was very pleased to see Legolas chatting gaily with Tauriel. He had expected no different from his son and he knew Legolas would do anything to cheer her up. However, when he saw his father he fell silent.
Thranduil walked over to Tauriel and looked at her worriedly. He knew she had had a restless sleep. Several times during the night, she had started to whimper, squirming and writhing in his arms and several times he had tried to release her of her nightmares, placing a hand on her forehead whilst softly chanting in Sindarian. A few moments, she would have been still, her breath slow and even but the nightmares had kept coming back. They most likely would haunt her the following nights as well.
Tauriel bowed to him. Thranduil affectionately placed his hand on her head, letting it glide over her soft red hair and came to a rest on her pale, cold cheek. First Tauriel had felt the need to shy away from him as she had the day before out in the forest but she soon felt comforted by his warm touch and let herself be caressed by him. Thranduil dreaded the moment he would have to tell her of her parent's passing but he knew it had to be done.
He heard a knock at the door and granted admission. Two servants entered the room, quickly placing trays of food onto the big wooden table in the chamber. After they had prepared everything, they bowed to him and Thranduil gave them permission to leave as he had no more orders for them.
Thranduil helped Tauriel sit comfortably onto one of the chairs.
`Thank you very much for your kindness, my lord.´ She smiled at him weakly.
Thranduil returned her smile and they ate in silence for a while. Legolas had become quiet. He was curious and there were many things he wanted to ask her but he was afraid to say something wrong, now that his father was present.
Thranduil was not too concerned about making conversation, yet he kept a watchful eye on how much Tauriel was eating and what she favoured so as to offer her more once her plate was empty. He knew it was important for her to regain her strength before he told her about her parents. Thranduil had never known an elfling which had faded or even died of grief but he would rather not take any risks. He was aware older elves knew about Valinor, the Halls of Mandos and that all of them eventually would sail west one day but he did not know if that knowledge would ease any of Tauriel's pain.
She was still so young and to be torn away from her parents and all she was familiar with so abruptly would be very hard on her, he had no doubt about that.
Still, she had to get accustomed to the life inside his halls. He would assume full responsibility for Tauriel's upbringing and treat her no different than his son. Though many things had to be considered. For now, he had decided Tauriel would share his son's chambers but sooner or later when she grew older he would have to set up chambers for her use only. Elfings learned quickly. His son did most of his studying on his own in his library and Thranduil was planning to make him a little more familiar with his kin's art of archery very soon. He would have Tauriel join his son's studies but later on he would have to find her a task to attend to inside his halls.
`Tauriel, when you are finished with your meal, I would like you to bath and spend the day with my son Legolas. I myself can not keep you company for I have important matters to attend to. I assume you are not very familiar with my halls?´ he asked, his cold clear voice piercing through the silence in the room.
Tauriel shook her head. `No, my lord, I'm not. But I have visited the feast halls with my naneth and adar a few times.´
Thranduil looked over at his son who was clearly excited at the prospect of spending an entire day with Tauriel and showing her his home that would also be her home from now on.
`I trust you two will get along rather well and I'm sure you will find something interesting in these halls, Tauriel!´ Thranduil said.
He had to attend the entombment of those who had died during the attack and would later enquire after the state of the few survivors in the healing quarters. He would also design new plans for extending the private chambers of his kin inside the halls. He wanted to provide sufficient space and comfort for his people during the winter for Thranduil never wanted a disaster like this to happen ever again. The elves living out in the forest would move into the king's halls during the winter from now on. It was the best solution he was able to come up with. Rather build new chambers in the safety of his halls than send more patrols or guards outside thus endangering their lives should there be another orc attack which he knew very well there would be.
After Tauriel and Legolas had finished eating, Thranduil helped Tauriel to run a bath inside his spacious bathing chambers. New clothes were provided to her which were more suitable for the elven king's halls but very unlike the clothes she used to wear out in the forest. Her hair was brushed and braided by one of the servants but Tauriel wondered why such a fuss was made about her for she felt uncomfortable being in the centre of attention.
When the king was about to leave his chambers, Tauriel finally dared to ask the question which had been on her mind since she had awoken this morning.
`My lord, when will I meet my parents? Will they come and take me back to our home in the forest later?´ Tauriel looked at him in a hopeful manner.
Thranduil hesitated. `I have to go now, Tauriel. Do not worry about your parents. We will talk about when you can meet them when I return to my chambers this eve.´ He glanced at his son who looked at him knowingly and with these words, Thranduil left.
Tauriel did worry about her parents. Maybe something bad had happened to them. She especially worried about her mother who she had not seen since they had ran away from that evil creature out in the forest. She turned to face Legolas who was standing behind her. When he looked into her eyes, he knew what she was about to ask him so he lowered his head, facing the ground...