Part 2
The Elvenking wasn't surprised to find his young son in the dining room already, sitting up in his usual seat eating breakfast.
The reaction he got from the little elf when he looked up at the doorway was something that tugged at his heart - the problem was the news he had to deliver that would break Legolas' heart.
"Adar! You're back!"
The blonde elf, almost a carbon copy of the older elf in appearance, jump off his chair and raced to hug his Adar, a huge smile on his face.
"Hello Little Leaf."
"Where's Naneth Adar? Is she going us for breakfast today?"
This was something that needed to be handled delicately and Thranduil was infinitely grateful for the arrival of Captain Feren, which distracted his son for the moment.
"Captain Feren!"
"Good morning Prince Legolas!" The Captain had a large smile for the little elf that seemed to charm everyone. He gave a little bow in respect.
"Are you joining us for breakfast Feren?"
"Yes, if you'll have me?"
"Of course, won't we Adar?"
"Yes of course. Join us Feren." They all moved to sit around the table, each helping themselves to various foods. The King however found himself not hungry and drank deeply from the hot coffee on offer, wishing it had been wine instead.
"So Adar, Naneth is back yes? Is she coming too?" The excited look on the elf's face nearly broke him apart inside. By the valar, how was he to do this?
"Legolas, Lady Evangeline is back yes."
"But she's not coming for breakfast? Is she too tired? Can I go see her?"
The put down his cup and looked directly in the blue eyes that reflected his own.
"Legolas - I need to share something with you and I need you to listen to me. Can you do that?"
"Yes Adar."
"Very good. Do you remember from your lessons with Sven about the Enchanted River in the forest?"
The elf looked confused. "Yes. It's not to be touched because it can cause the person to be ill - memory loss in particular."
"Yes that's right."
"What's that got to do with Naneth?"
"She, ahhhh." He was lost for words. Extremely hesitate to cause any pain.
When the captain cut in, he was very grateful. "Lady Evangeline is home Legolas, but she's in the healing halls. She seems to have touched the enchanted river."
"Oh no! I must go see her at once!"
"No, my Prince, you can't. Not yet."
"You can't stop me!"
"He can't, but I can." Thranduil hated the look his son sent him, but it was for his own good.
"You will not disturb Lady Evangeline Legolas. Let her seek you out and exercise patience."
"I don't want to wait, I want to see her!"
His son had leapt off his chair by this time and was half way to the door. Thranduil was quick enough to catch him around the shoulders and then knelt so he was at eye level with him.
"I'm not saying no forever, but just for now we need to let her be, for her own safety."
Real tears cascaded down the small cheeks and the elf erupted with emotion.
"I hate you Adar! How could you keep me from Naneth!?"
With that he gave a little shove and was out the door. The King looked at Feren. "Follow him, make sure he doesn't find her."
"Yes, My King."
And then the Captain too was gone.
Thranduil rubbed his temples. That certainly hadn't gone well, but then it probably never would have. He left the room for the sanctuary of his private study to think.
Once seated in the large velvet chair, he reclined a bit and cast his mind back to the night before she left on this little mission. He was so angry that everything had been stuffed up by this incident.
...
He just heard something from Legolas' room and had gone down there to investigate, when he was momentarily stunned to find a red headed woman closing the door softly. Her soft curls fell loose down her back and shoulders, slightly covering the deep green silk and lace nightie that stopped mid thigh, exposing her bare legs. The material did nothing to hide her perky and full breasts as he looked her up and down appreciatively.
It took him a minute to remember why he was there and she spoke before he got a chance to do so.
"oh, Hello Majesty." She gave a little curtsey and a shy smile.
His eyes met hers as he stepped forward to be a bit closer to her. "You know you don't have to call me that in private, Evie."
"Yes, I know. Do you need something?"
He glanced at the young elf's door. "Is he alright?"
"Yes, I think just a little anxious that I'm leaving tomorrow."
"understandable. How are you feeling about it?"
"if I'm honest, a bit anxious myself."
"Would you like to talk about it?" Thranduil found himself a bit out of his own comfortzome asking this. He didn't normally involve himself in other people's problems or feelings.
"Are you sure you want to listen to silly thoughts?'
"Not usually no, but your silly thoughts intrigue me,' was his teasing response.
Her soft laugh was like music to his ears. He couldn't remember the last person he had wanted to make laugh. He waved down the corridor towards his personal study, "Would you like to join me for a drink?"
"yes, I'd like that."
'Also, maybe you'd like something…?" He moved the dark blue robe from around his shoulders and moved closer to Evie to place it around her own smaller ones. It was much too large, with a heap of the material pooling on the floor, but Evie smiled at him in thanks and then took his offered arm as they walked together, her legs peeking through the soft material along the way.
Thranduil left her near the mantle piece, gazing into the fire as he went to pour some wine in 2 glasses. She thanked him when he gave her one and then went to sit in his Kingly chair, not saying anything, just waiting for her to be comfortable enough to speak.
He rather liked the look of her in his clothes, he had to admit. A consuming desire ran through him to want to drop the robe and nightie and be able to ravish her beautiful body, worshipping every inch of her soft skin. But he would hold himself back, he wasn't sure if she was ready. The signals had been leading him towards the fact that she wanted him, but for all the flirting, they had no crossed the line yet of being physically intimate at all.
He was dragged out of his thoughts when she finally did speak, her green eyes fully focused on him. "Do you think I should stay?"
"Why would you ask me that?" He had not voiced any of his thoughts about this with her for her did not want to come across as overbearing.
"Normally you involve yourself with everything!" She waved hand around for emphasis.
"Well as the King it's my job to."
"Yes, but you didn't." He recognised that as a statement and a question, he head tilted to the side slightly while she tried to find an answer that just wasn't forthcoming.
"Would you like the truth from me? Or just pretty words?"
"As pretty as your words can be Thranduil, I'd like the truth. I thought you'd have said no."
"I did say no." He let that hang in the air for a moment to let it sink in.
"So why am I going?"
"Because you said yes."
"I'm confused."
The King just took a long mouthful of the glorious wine in his glass before answering that.
"Lord Galion advocated for you to go. Pushed is probably a better description. I didn't really have a reason to say no that wouldn't share some personal feelings. I compromised and told him you could go if you made the decision for yourself. "
"You let me choose. You never let anyone chose."
"No, it's not in my nature. If things were different, I wouldn't have."
"Compromised?"
"No."
"I don't really understand why you would be so lenient with me when you aren't with anyone, not even Legolas."
"You aren't a prisoner here Evie, I'm never going to force you to do anything you don't want to. If you'd said no to Galion, I would have ensured it was the end of it."
"But what if things were different?"
By the Valar, that was the area he hoped she hadn't focussed on. Was it time to tell her how he felt? He had of thought his actions might have been enough, but with females, you just don't know what goes on in their heads. Looking at her standing there facing him, her green eyes so vivid in the firelight, so intense as she waited for his answer.
Maybe he needed to summon some courage and go for it. They couldn't dance around it forever – well they could, but it wouldn't do anyone any good with the effect it had on him.
"If you were my wife."
There, he'd said it. He just watched her eyes widen as they took in this new information. Was she ready to become a wife? Especially to him? Maybe not. His hope started to fizzle out with the minutes that ticked along.
"Is that? I mean, don't you have to court first or something? The book said…"
"Don't misunderstand me Evie, I'm not asking you to marry me right now…."
"Silly of me to jump to such a thing…"
"But maybe someday you might consider it."
"What do you mean? I'm not an Elf."
"No, you definitely aren't an Elf. And if you'd asked me a few months ago that I was confessing such a thing, I'd have thought you to be mentally unwell. I know you aren't oblivious to the affection I've shown you. May I have leave to say that you have reciprocated that affection at times?"
She just nodded her head in confirmation.
"Elves do not jump into intimate relationships on impulse Evie. Especially I, the cold hearted King of the Woodland realm. If you agreed to it, then yes, we would court for a period of time and then…"
"Go from there?"
He had to laugh softly as her strange phrase, "Yes, go from there."
He sat back and said nothing further, just waiting for her, who seemed to be deep in thought. Her next words were certainly a bit of a surprise.
"You have no other chairs in here. Why is that?"
He was distracted from her question as she walked gracefully from the mantle piece, around his large desk and sat on the edge of it, her legs crossed and bared to his sight when the material fell away.
"I don't like to encourage others being too comfortable.'
"Oh really?" She had leaned slightly towards him now. "I would have thought your presence is enough to intimate them?"
"it is, but it doesn't hurt to reinforce it."
"Should I be feeling intimated by you now then?" Her smile told him she was teasing him and if anybody else was seated on his desk like that, he would be appalled. He decided to play this flirting game with her, he loved it. He stood up and came to stand in front of her, her legs touching the front of his body. 'You tell me if it's working?"
She just took a sip of the wine. "Not yet."
His response was to take her glass of wine and finished it, placing the glass on the desk and then leaning forward so their noses almost touched and hands were resting on either side of her body.
"What about now?" It was said in such a deep, husky way, laced with the desire he could no longer hide.
The electricity charged between the two of them being so close was full on and they both felt it. The pull had just become stronger and stronger every day they resisted.
"I think I'm starting to feel something."
"oh?"
"I care for you too Thranduil. You haven't said it in so many words, but I see it in the way that you act. Truth be told there's been a connection building with you for some time that I haven't really known what to do about. I'd like it very much for you to court me. With your permission, there's something I'd like to try?"
He really couldn't believe the words he was hearing from her. His courage had paid off it seems.
"What's that?"
She didn't answer, just closed the gap and brushed her lips against his softly.
...
Evie took a deep breath as she finished putting on her brown slippers. They complimented the light blue dress perfectly.
She'd just braided her hair back off her face, not feeling like doing anything more elaborate.
The truth was that she felt so out of place here. They were all beautiful Elves - tall and all glow-y. And here she was. This short human feeling very off kilter. What was she doing here?
She'd just put her head in her hands when she heard a knock at the door. Looking up she saw a smiling female elf with dark hair.
"Hello Evie. My name is Gwenth. I'm here to help you settle in."
"Hello."
"Are you ready? I can give you a tour to begin?"
"Ahhh."
"Or I can just show you your room for now to rest and we can do the tour tomorrow?"
"That sounds good to me."
"Alright, if you'll just follow me…"
Gwenth moved out the door first and waited Evie as she makes out - marking the slight hesitation to leave.
The truth was that when Evie looked at this female Elf, there was this feeling like she'd met her before. But she didn't know what or why. She couldn't remember a life with Elves in it. She was jogged out of her thoughts by a hand on her arm.
"Are you feeling ok?"
"Not really, can we just.." she gestured to towards moving forward.
"Of course. Please"
Gwenth steered her gently forward and through various corridors, turning left and right. - Evie didn't mark where they were going, but just wanted a moment to be alone.
She almost sighed in relief when they came to a beautiful cream and gold door, which Gwenth opened and ushered her in. It was more like a suite of rooms rather than just one. It had a beautiful large bed in one room, a sitting room in another and it sounded like a bathing room, from the water running sounds she could hear.
"Wow. It's beautiful."
"Yes, we want you to be comfortable here with us. Now, I've started to run a bath. I wasn't sure if you'd want lavender or maybe even…"
She'd stopped listening and had just started to admire the space that had been so kindly given to her. These Elves were definitely good to newcomers of this is what she could expect - it was fit for a princess.
She ran her fingers over the white and gold vanity table on the left hand side and noticed a heart shaped pendent in a glass jewellery dish. She lifted it up gently and admired the way the light caught it as it moved, the rainbows reflecting on the walls around her. Whoever had stayed here previously had left it behind and would probably want such a beautiful piece back. She turned and went to call for Gwenth when the door opened with a large bang as it hit the wall.
Even jumped slightly and dropped the pendent in her fright, her green eyes looking to the door with a bit of trepidation.
"Naneth!?"
To find a small elf with platinum blonde hair attached themselves with an iron like grip around her legs was a shock alright and left Evie stunned as to what to do.
"Ahh Hello?"
"Naneth, it's me Legolas. Adar told me you might not know, but how could that be true, you and I spent all that time together and I
know you love me."
Evie really didn't know who this little elfling was and she didn't understand why that caused such and ache in her heart. She hadn't really spent much time around children so she didn't know what to do.
She looked up searching while the little one cried into her and found Gwenth come out of the bathing room in a hurry. She pleaded with her eyes, she needed help. She couldn't deal with this right now - a headache had started to form.
"Gwenth please?"
"Yes my Lady. My Lord Legolas, would you like to come with me and we'll see what Amos has made for you today?"
"No! I won't leave Naneth! She's back and I can't have her gone again! She has to remember!"
"I really must insist My Lord, Lady Evangeline needs to rest."
"No -" Any attempt to try and move Legolas away was met with a hard push and him
Only hanging on tighter.
Evie could really start to feel the pain in her head getting stronger - she really needed to lie down or something.
"Gwenth - I don't really feel very well."
"Of course My Lady… Lord Legolas…"
"No Gwenth, Naneth has to remember me! Our time together on the ranch with the horses and then coming back with me. All the fund we've had despite Adar not liking her at the start. And Malthen misses her too!"
Evie stopped being able to hear anything that was said, the pain was just too much and she cried out as she held her head and sank to the floor.
She didn't notice the Captain of the guard arrive in time to witness this, drag a distraught Prince out of the room and declare he would get a healer.
Evie just sat there, the pain throbbing over and over again. Tears leaked from her eyes as she cried.
...
"Is she alright?!"
"I think so My King."
Gwenth was with Thranduil to give a report on the day. It hadn't gone well and she could see he was displeased by his son's disobedience.
"I think it was maybe a bit too much for her all at once. She was fine at first seeing him - other than not knowing who he was of course - but there was no distress then. It was only when he began to talk about their life together that you could see the pain on her face. I think some rest get the next few days might be enough and then with your permission we could see if she's ready for more intimate interaction."
"The rest I agree with you on. The interaction will need to wait. No one sees her unless they absolutely have to and even then we can have no talk of her past. I will not have her in any pain while here. I want her to feel comfortable and welcome and safe."
"You want her to stay." She knew this was the wrong thing to say the minute his vivid blue eyes turned hard as he looked at her, but it had just popped out. Everyone had borne witness to their feelings before this had happened so it was not hard to conclude that he wanted to win her over again. They would all love to see it.
"You forget yourself Gwenth. I am your King and you will hold your tongue. Legolas wants her to stay and will do everything in my power to make that happen.
Keep reporting to me if there is any change or progress.
She's allowed to wander and do what she likes if she's feeling well enough - just keep her away from my study. Are we clear?"
"Yes My King."
"Very good. You may go."
As she walked back down the corridor, Gwenth knew the King was hurting and that's why she didn't take his coldness to be anything more serious. She wanted to help bring them together again. But she wasn't sure how.
...
"Amos?"
"Just a minute Gwenth!"
Gwenth took the time to make herself a cup of tea and grab a freshly made biscuit to put her feet up while she waited for the head chef to come back.
No doubt he had been busy preparing the feast for the end of the week. Word had come earlier that day that Mithrandir was on his way and was expected in 4 days' time. Another reason the King might have been in foul mood, thought the female elf, he expected the Wizard to drop everything and come here - but he had business in Laketown first.
She had just taken a sip of the herbal brew when the cheeky male elf she'd been looking for came to sit down, snatching the half eaten biscuit from her hand.
"Hey! Get your own!"
"They kinda of are all mine technically!"
"I was enjoying it Amos! It's been a long day!"
"I've heard out Great King is not very happy. What's the scoop?"
"The Prince went to see Lady Evie and it did not end well. Feren had to carry him out while she just about collapsed from the pain."
"Is she alright?"
"She spent the day crying in her room. I said she was to the King, but I don't think she is Amos. You need to help me."
The elf covered in flour looked incredulous. "Me?! What are a few biscuits going to do to help?"
"Small steps Amos, but first I think she needs a purpose. I'll take her for a tour and we'll come here. I want you to offer for her to bake - say you need the help."
"But I don't need the help."
"No, but you like her yes?"
"Of course I adore her. But it'll be so hard knowing all about her and her not knowing me."
"Trust me, I know. But she needs us. And I have an idea about how it could help with the bigger picture. Please?"
She was on her knees pleading with him, hating the teasing smile he gave her but she really needed him on side to help with this plan.
"Yes alright, I'll do it…"
"Thank you!"
"On one condition!"
"Anything!"
"Tell me the plan you are concocting. I know you are so don't deny it. You're going to need my help so it's not stuffed up."
"Amos!"
His laugher echoed throughout the kitchen, which was more quiet that time of the day before the dinner rush began. They sat with their heads together, quietly scheming until Gwenth had to leave to check in on Lady Evie and bring her some tea.
...
Author's Note
Thoughts? In the original version, I just felt like there was a lack of context before the night of the starlight feast and they go from not together really to married couple. I think this story extra is going to fill in some of those important relationship holes.
I probably need to revamp the original at some stage but first I'm going to finish this.
Part 3 coming soon.