Chapter 42
Dinner time was a time Bard looked forward to the most, out of all the hours in his day the thought of coming home to family, filling his belly with good food and hearing stories over a sweet glass of ale was the most comforting experience for him.
He paused in movement, slightly flinching at the sound of a fork being stabbed into the piece of potato and for a moment he felt sorry for the poor thing.
He took a mouthful of broth and grimaced, if there was one thing he did not look forward to, it was having to suffer for the crimes of another as they all undoubtedly were.
The culprit however, seemed gleeful and Bard bit down a shudder that had unconsciously erupted from his spine. Whatever it was they spoke about, Leanna had returned seething with a flushed face and an array of colourful descriptions spiking from her tongue, it did not help that Thranduil came afterwards with a smirk and slightly bruised cheek.
The elf had now taken to imposing himself as a guest upon their family dinner meetings without a care in the world. He felt a little joy at the fact that he would have to eat what they all were subjected to, since any meats or food besides potato broth and dried fruits made Leanna wretch out her stomach simply by virtue of it's smell in the room.
He prayed to whatever force that would hear him to knock some sense into their thick headed skulls, this had gone on long enough and the worst of it all was the raw tension between the two, It was so thick you could cut it with a knife. It made anyone who witnessed them uncomfortable.
She had tried her hardest not to look at him all evening, knowing he took pleasure in watching her fidget under his unabashed scrutiny and why wouldn't he? She cut the dreaded potato into smaller pieces and ate it with a blank face, Bertha had insisted on a strange and somewhat bland diet that left her tongue clean, oddly enough it was the only thing her body seemed to accept.
"Must we eat this every night Bertha? Surely you couldn't find a different dish that we could all eat?" Leanna smiled behind her cup as she heard Bain complain.
"Be begging ya pardon young master Bain but if you're wanting to eat something else you'll have ta look elsewhere, this here's the best to eat at a time like this" Bertha said with a stern face as she cleared the table of its contents.
"How did you come about this recipe anyway? Is this something homely women used when with child?" Leanna asked Bertha, curious of the ingredients used, some of which she was not familiar with.
"That would be your lord husband milady, he noticed you weren't eating proper and said you'd like this instead, even made sure to stand watch over the whole thing" Leanna turned to Thranduil in surprise and looked away, unconsciously placing her hand on her belly.
Thranduil caught her action and said nothing, his eyes conveying all he needed to say to her. The room resumed it's awkward silence until Tilda spoke, seemingly oblivious to the situation at the moment.
"Da says when you love someone, you want to lots of things for them"
"Yes sweetheart it is so" Bard answered, hoping to ease the room with light banter.
"So then...does that mean...that his majesty loves Leya?" The question caused a rippled reaction across the table. A befuddled Leanna looked flushed blinking at Tilda's bold question. She dared not turn to Thranduil for fear what answer he might give and yet she wished to hear what he had to say.
"Alright! Alright! The king's personal business is none of concern, it's time for bed, Bertha! Take them up now please?" Bard said while hurriedly ushered the children away from the table.
"Children" he chuckled as he bowed in greeting, turning around to go have a talk with his youngest daughter on matters on subtlety.
The room was left quiet, with just the two of them still seated at the dinning table. Thranduil had turned from the rowdy bunch that was Bard and his family and continued his silent watch on Leanna. His silence or in this case lack of response to the question left feeling as though she already had an answer.
She sighed quietly, trying to hold her emotions in check as her eyes watered. She stood up abruptly and moved to the door, seeking a moment of solace in the cool night air and hopefully anything that could calm her nerves down.
Leanna tramped over the cold damp ground, her hair bathed in moonlight had began to change once again, winter had begun. However the change in season was not her concern, she could not seem to control her tears anymore than she could her strange cravings.
Hearing a crunch behind her, she swirled around, ice jutting from her hand at the ready, intending to strike whoever dared to approach her at this hour.
"Go away" she whispered, her command weak and uncertain.
"You know I cannot do that" Thranduil moved closer, watching a tear slide down her cheek. He stood before her and brushed the tear gently off her cheek, looking into her eyes, he spoke again.
"I will never do that, tell me meleth, what is it that I must do to cease your suffering?" He spoke gently, but Leanna caught another feeling from it, weariness.
"How do I know this is not another trick, another game you wish to conquer and win??" Leanna moved away from him in anguish, her body had readily accepted him, yearning for his touch but her mind knew better than to give in to one so selfish as Thranduil.
"Games...Tricks?? You think I bind myself with you to amuse myself? To risk the loyalty of my kin for entertainment" He stepped closer, his words carrying a bite in them.
"I do not know for what reasons you do these things anymore! Or why you're here!"
"I have told you have I not? In every way an elf could show a woman he loves her or must I strip myself bare of dignity for you to understand that your smile is a nectar to my eyes and your voice an enchantment upon my ears. Your pain is a knife to my heart and should so much as a scratch come upon you, it would be the end of me, where you go I will always follow" Thranduil said, holding her close, his voice low and deep as he poured his feelings out.
"But Athiniel and the others-"
"I bound myself to you because I could no longer bear to be separated from you, I confess that the Valar did not hold so much influence as many thought" he wrapped his hand around her waist and took her hand up, placing it against his cheek.
"Then you're saying that you want this? You want this child? You want me...?" Leanna said thickly, her eyes tearing up again at his words.
"Meleth, I cannot conceive a child unless it is what I desired and I have desired to have one with you since..." He paused visibly unsure of whether he ought to say his mind.
"Since?"
"Since the day you picked up that young foal in the forest enclave, it has been on my mind long since then" Thranduil said staring into her eyes.
"I did not want to be queen..." Leanna started. "...I wished to live my life here...anew in Dale, as quietly as I possibly could. I'm afraid...what if I fail again?" Leanna whispered. Thranduil cupped her face with his hands.
"I'm right here Leanna, I will help you, I will not leave your side ever" Thranduil said soothingly. He kissed her lips slowly, as though conveying all his feelings into that singular actions and he felt her open up, their bond repairing from the strain it had endured for torturous weeks on end.
"I have missed you" Leanna whispered as Thranduil rested his forehead against hers.
"And you cannot imagine how much I have yearned for your touch meleth" Thranduil said in response. He looked into her glittering blue eyes and swallowed before speaking.
"If I asked you to bind with me once again? As my heart, as my lover, as my queen and wife? Will you?" Thranduil asked with a hopeful expression.
"Even though I am mortal?" Leanna asked quizzically.
"It matters not to me meleth" Thranduil lifted her hand and kissed her small palm. It was a strange sight, one she never thought to dream. His behaviour was so unlike him and yet here he was showing her a part of him she suspected only she was privy to.
"If that is so then...we are already well passed the point of no return and refusing now wo-" Leanna swallowed the rest of her words as Thranduil crushed his lips against hers.
"I'll take that as your agreement" Thranduil said.
"Mmmm" a moan escaped unconsciously and Leanna looked away from the piercing gaze Thranduil cast on her. He bent his head to take her lips again when Leanna held her hands on his chest.
"I feel a bit tired and cold" Leanna said quickly, blushing at the intense look coming from the elven king. If he could, he'd take her right here in the open, with no sense of shame and they were already the topic of enough gossip as it is, she did not look forward to a raunchy scandal that she could not deny. Her face turned beet red as the image filtered into her head.
"You need not worry over the manner or place it will happen, only that I shall touch, taste and feel every crevice and depth of you, till you in all your entirety know nothing but me" Thranduil said smirking.
"Careful your majesty or you'll get smacked again" Leanna said blushing furiously as Thranduil lifted her up and carried her to her chamber.
"I could not help myself, you were particularly ravishing on that afternoon" He said as he walked the cobbled stone path to her home.
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Leanna had felt much better in recent days than she had in a long time but the angry which she thought to keep burning within her, dissipated in the wake of a heated kiss. Another feeling just as intense however, had taken route.
Or perhaps it was there and she hadn't realised it until she felt it surface at the dinner table. She knew Thranduil was a handsome elf, he was as handsome as they came and he had the body to match.
Leanna's cheeks bloomed a red hue and she blinked in disbelief over where her mind was headed and realised in horror that she had been staring openly too.
It didn't help one bit that she felt a hot flash erupt in the pit of her stomach with her thighs jamming together in longing. What in Arda was happening? Since when did she lust after Thranduil?
Taking a deep breath, she tried to answer a question when a raw image of naked flesh slapping together popped into her mind and she swallowed slowly so as not to choke.
"What was that Sigrid?" Leanna paid all mind to Sigrid, doing her best to seem indifferent despite her mind melting into a pot of lewd fantasies.
"We were wondering if you'd like...to help us pick a dress for the wedding"
Leanna blinked for a moment, ignoring her body's ambush of desire to look at the girl who had just asked her something most important. She glanced to Bard who nodded his head subtly in approval, wiping his lips with a handkerchief as he finished his dinner.
"A-are you sure? Sigrid...I-i'm not sure if I'm someone who-"
"Please...I want you to do it...there's no one else who I'd want to do it" Sigrid whispered with conviction. Leanna contemplated her request. It was not one to be taken lightly as it signified an important stage in a young woman's life.
The choosing a wedding garment equated a rites of passage between mother and daughter, it signified a mother's acceptance of her child finally leaving the nest. She glanced at Thranduil whose lips tilted in response to her quarry. Following her line of sight, Sigrid further added.
"Please? Even King Thranduil gave his blessings"
"He did??" Leanna gave the elf king a questionable look filled with surprise.
"He did indeed, and a fine gift it was too"
"A small jewelry box, nothing of such consequence" Thranduil stated as he lifted his cup to his mouth, ignoring the surprised look his wife had given him.
"You call a box full of stringed pearls and gems nothing of consequences? I'd like to see what you do regard as a serious matter" Bard muttered into his own wine cup, also ignoring the astounded look Leanna was giving him.
"Point is! Will you?" Sigrid looked at Leanna with hopeful eyes and Leanna made a decision there.
"Of course my dear, we'll visit the dressmaker at first light tomorrow, right after my lords tell me what other secret they've been keeping from me" Leanna smiled at Sigrid before casting stern looks in the direction of both Bard and Thranduil.
"I'm not keeping any s-"
"-I'd be much obliged to tell you anything you're curious about" Thranduil smirked openly and stared directly at Leanna.
In one swift moment, the warm and joyful atmosphere in the room was seized with tension. The kind that made silence a proprietor and awkwardness it's deputy and just like that, Leanna felt her thighs clench together.
She had very well caught his intended message and it certainly did nothing to help her already shameful disposition.
The rest of the room had noticeably tinged red except for Tilda who seemed too innocent to understand the embarrassing situation at the table, something Bard was immensely grateful for. He was not prepared in any way to discuss the topic with her anytime soon.
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Dinner had been an interesting affair and Leanna was grateful it had ended on a simpler note than it had started, however there was still the question of her very odd cravings to be answered.
She entered her chambers which had been darkened, though it did not matter for she could see well enough. It was a trait she had discovered was a much recent development.
A knock sounded at her door and moved to open it. As the door opened, it revealed Thranduil standing ever poised as though he posed for a portrait. Without realising it, her cheeks bloomed into a soft red hue.
They stood there facing eachother in silence, until Thranduil lunged at her lips, pushing her a few steps back before slamming the door shut. His frenzied kisses moved from her lips to her neck as he hoisted her around his waist without breaking contact.
Leanna gave herself to the pleasure stewing in the pit of her stomach and moaned loudly as Thranduil's lips suckled on her skin. If there was ever any part of her that thought to resist, it was certainly drowned out by the euphoric feeling she was experiencing.
He unbuckled the ropes of her bodice while she moved to unbutton his tunic and both stripped themselves bare of all clothing. Thranduil kissed her lips again and laid her on the bed, moving over her as he looked at his lovely pregnant wife.
Parting her legs slowly, he kept his darkened blue eyes locked on hers, lowering his lips to the moist wet pink folds in-between slid his tongue from one end to another, all the while revelling in her muffled squeals.
Unsatisfied with her stifled reactions, he plunged his tongue into her, grabbing her thighs to remain in place as she tried to push away from him.
He slurped and sucked, feeling the walls of her wetness grow tighter and knew she was reaching her peak.
It was too much to bear, too many sensations began hitting her at once and too much of it. She could all but succumb to it as her elf's ministrations made certain she could not move an inch.
A mewl escaped from her lips and Thranduil felt himself get harder, stiffer, his body reacting naturally to the sounds escaping from his captives swollen lips. He watched with a repressed shudder rippling through his body as she let out a yelp, signalling her orgasm.
Leanna had barely recovered from the onslaught of pleasure as Thranduil slid his tongue out of her and rose up, kneeling between her legs, his manhood resting on the smooth curve of her navel. She looked up and felt her wetness tighten unconsciously over the look he had.
His eyes roved over her naked body, stopping at the place where his child was slowly growing. He looked into her eyes once again and this time his eyes held a glint of light in them, relaying the heavy desire he nestled in his body to her.
In one swift thrust, he entered her, both groaning loudly as he did. Unconsciously, Leanna wrapped her legs around his waist to give him more access, an offer he gladly took without question. He thrust into her, pounding into her flesh all the weeks longing, the harsh nights without her and his untamed love for her.
He drowned in her moans and squeals as they echoed on the walls of her room. With no thought to hesitation, he turned her over, hoisting her on her feet and knees as he entered her smoothly again.
He would make due on his promises so that by morning all would have no sliver of doubt in their minds that, Leanna was his and his alone.
"Not yet meleth" He thrust into from behind, as he felt her tired form slump into the bed. He turned her over, molding his body into hers and with the last ounce of strength left in him, emptied his seed into her.
Thranduil slid out of her and reached for a pitcher of water on the dressing stand. Filling his mouth with the cool liquid, he gently held her face and poured the water into her mouth.
Leanna though tired, felt a sweet feeling wash over her, followed by an array of different emotions, the most being relief.
She felt a strong arm wrap around her waist, dragging her closer as her bare back connected with a hard chest.
"Let us get some rest, we have a full morning ahead of us in a few hours" Thranduil murmured as he kissed her hair.
And into the wee hours of the night, the once again reunited lovers succumb to the call of sleep.