Legolas had expected his father to react poorly to the news about Nyx and he had not expected was this level of sharp decree. No immediate command to summon Nyx back to the Woodland Realm. No pointed threats about dwarves and their short , Thranduil just sighed—a long, exhausted sigh, the kind that spoke not of anger, but of deep, personal that was far more interesting than any tantrum his father could have , Legolas observed. watched as his father swirled his wine, as his gaze drifted to somewhere far beyond the throne room, lost in a past Legolas had never been allowed to that's when it , like his father, was royalty that never wanted a , like his father, had spent her life trying to live beyond the weight of her , like his father, had lost people she loved and carried that grief now, she had found something—or someone—that made her feel as his father once straightened, carefully considering his next words."You understand her," he said at did not answer immediately. He simply stared into his goblet, as if it held some great , softly, with a weight Legolas had rarely heard in his voice, his father replied:"I understand more than she realizes."And that told Legolas the first time in his life, he saw not just the Elvenking, but the man beneath the crown.A man who had loved once.A man who had lost now, a man who would not stand in the way of someone who might be walking the same path—even if that path led to a ."So you will allow it?" Legolas 's lips curled just slightly, the ghost of a smirk touching his face."Allow it? No. I will simply… not interfere."Legolas chuckled."For you, Father, that is practically the same thing."His father exhaled sharply, shaking his head, but Legolas did not miss the slight amusement in his , there was something unspoken between them. A quiet would never say he he would not stop it, that? That was as close to acceptance as Thorin Oakenshield would ever grinned to , this was going to be very interesting indeed.