Thranduil / Reader (4)
It had been many years since you had been introduced to the Elf King Thranduil who ruled the Woodland realm called Mirkwood. You had been introduced him in a beautiful party and you had gotten along famously from the first evening which was a relief for your parents because they had promised your hand in marriage without informing you about it.
You were a princess, the daughter of high elves who ruled far, far away from Mirkwood. Your parents, the king and queen, had a son so it had been clear for them from the first day on that when a girl was born, she would move to Mirkwood as soon as she had turned 100 years old and become an adult.
These plans were kept from you during your entire childhood and when you had finally found out, it had almost broken your heart. Leaving your home realm was something that you had never thought about doing and the thought scared you. You had not been told exactly. No, the way you had found out had been a little less subtle; you had heard your parents arguing about whether the mighty king would accept you as his wife since you were so… wild and free spirited.
Yes, that was what you were. You laughed loudly and your laughter echoed in the great halls of your palace. You kept climbing in trees as you were trying to catch the last rays of the sun as it sank behind the great mountains and there was no trouble, where you wouldn’t had gotten yourself into. You were a lady, of course, but a lady with a heart that lived from sunshine and laughter.
Then you had heard that you were to get married with King Thranduil who was known to be very wise but also cold. He was beautiful like a crisp winter day and you were something different; wild and free by heart and often spoke without thinking things through. Being diplomatic for the sake of politeness and good manners was not your strongest point and you rather had a conversation with the forest than the counselors of your father.
Politics were boring in your opinion and it was ridiculous how the adults rather shut themselves indoors to talk about boring things when at the same time the sun was shining and coloring everything in all different, fascinating shades.
You had been angry at your father for making such life-altering deals behind your back but you were also reminded that the old unions had to be remade and the bond between your realm and Mirkwood had to be made stronger so when your brother started to rule your home realm, he then had the support of the Mighty king and your parents could sail into the West with light hearts. That had been the point when you had understood that there was nothing that you could had done. You were going to marry a man that you had never met and who, according to everything you had heard about him, was entirely different from you.
Then you had been taken to Mirkwood. You had just turned 100 years and become an adult when you had begun your own strange adventure. The journey had been long and you had just stared out with a longing, sorrowful look on your face you from the window of the carriage as it had slowly gotten further away from your home and closer to the unfamiliar future. You had assumed that you would just visit the Woodland Realm and then return home and it had been a shock when you had been informed that you were supposed to stay after your parents left.
After a couple of days of your arrival there had been a massive celebration in your honor, you after all were the future queen of Mirkwood. You had been escorted to the grand hall and your name had been announced. At that moment the entire crowd of guests had gone silent and parted in two so you could walk to your future husband. Then you had seen him; a tall, hauntingly regal elf who had the most magnificent clothes that you had ever seen and his hair looked like it had been made of the rays of sun itself. On his head there had been a simple crown that had been made from silver and had one sparkling stone in the front.
You had walked slowly to him, too nervous to even look at him until, after your curtsy, he had taken your hand, bowed deeply with a calm smile on his face and then raised your hand on his lips. He had pressed a soft kiss on your knuckles as he had stared deep into your eyes and then welcomed you to his realm.
You had felt something at that moment what you had never felt before; your knees had almost given in and your heart had almost stopped. Then you had felt the butterflies in your stomach and blushed terribly. You had expected to be scolded or laughed at but instead of that the King had just continued smiling and led you to the dance floor.
Thranduil had been an excellent dancer and he had led you well. You of course had been taught all the elven dances known to your teacher but you had always felt that you had been born with two left feet when it came to dancing. If someone asked you to run in the forest, jump on the rocks or climb into trees, then you definitely had both feet securely in your command. However as you had danced with Thranduil, it had felt like you had been basically floating on the dance floor.
You had not expected that, no, not at all.
Then later, when most of the guests had already left you were startled in the garden by him. You had been watching the stars and listening to the sounds of nature when he had walked behind your back and spooked you for real. You had burst into laughter and broken the fragile silence but instead of being told to shut up, he had joined your laughter and then escorted you a bit deeper where there was a gorgeous fountain and strange blue flames that twinkled all around the otherwise dark environment.
You had started to talk about yourself and asked many questions from the King who had been graceful enough to answer them. He had tried to kiss you but you had had to stop him because there was something you needed to ask him but you did not know how to. You had heard so many things about the king and how he got unimaginably angry if someone annoyed him and how he had killed some people for doing so, and therefore you had gone completely pale and silent.
Thranduil had been surprised and a little irritated for the sudden rejection at first but then as you had asked him to give you a little time to get to know him first, the look in his face had softened and he had kissed your hand instead. After that you had rescheduled the wedding, which was supposed to be in few short months, for next summer so you had an entire year to get to know him and also to get familiar with the realm that was now your home.
You had shared long walks with him, private dinners and noticed that there was a warm heart beneath the icy surface. His warmness was always hidden but when he was alone with you, he let it shine and he even laughed.
It had been a cold winter morning when he had stolen you your first kiss. You had been walking in the gardens when he had joined you. The sun had been shining through the snowy trees and the whole world was sparkling white. He had given you his arm as you had walked slowly and then he had suddenly stopped. The sun had been in his eyes and made them appear even lighter than they really were, almost silver-colored. His hair had glowed with perfection as it always did and then, then he had stepped in front of you, put his hands on your cheeks and pressed one, sweet, soft kiss on your lips.
Even thought the kiss had been soft and very brief, it had been enough to set your heart on fire. That first kiss had been followed by countless and countless of sweet, innocent kisses that had slowly grew into more intense and passionate ones, which never crossed the line however. The elves were strict after all about taking things further before marriage.
Then you had gotten married. The ceremony had been beautiful and all your dearest people had been there. You had stayed up until the morning and then fallen asleep in the garden where you had been watching the sunrise with Thranduil. He had then carried you into his chamber and lay you down on his bed, taken you into his arms and kissed your lips goodnight.
It had taken a couple of years for you to get pregnant. When you finally did, it was the greatest news in the whole realm. Thranduil had been quite busy during that time and you scolded him for that because sometimes you felt that he was not interested in your child since he already had Legolas who was the future king after all. Thranduil did not mean to make you feel unimportant so therefore when the new child was born, Thranduil wanted to express his happiness by throwing a party. It was a massive celebration and even the dwarves were invited. That caused disapproving rumors to spread, stating that Thranduil had gone soft.
Then at the party, Thranduil had held a speech where he had basically forgiven the dwarves everything and stated openly that no longer he wanted to hold a grudge against them. He had called them “brothers” and even invited a dwarf-delegation to his palace so it could tighten the relationship between those two races. He had finished his speech by stating that now that he had this new, dear baby-boy, he was ready to forget the jewelries that were still in the possession of the dwarves.
This had caused many elves to gasp for air knowing that those gems had belonged to the kings late wife who was Legolas’ mother, who was still missed and highly respected in the court and although they respected you as well, she always had a special place in their hearts. This was something that you had been a bit jealous and bitter about but you had learned to accept it as a part of “how things were in Mirkwood”. You would had liked to hear more stories about Legolas’ mother, but no one talked about her.
The celebration was a success and Thranduil kept his word about inviting a dwarf-delegation to live in the elven court permanently. To be honest, he was tired of holding grudges and you had changed him with your lightheartedness. You had showed him that life was a wonderful thing and he was wasting it by being cold and distant.
It had not been easy for Thranduil to open up but when he held that little boy in his arms, when he laughed at his daddy, the great King knew that it was time to move forward. This however did not please everyone and rumors started to spread.
The people started to say that the king had gone soft and his new wife was actually a witch who had put the king under her spell. No one addressed these rumors directly to the royal couple, but you knew that people were talking because when you entered the room, people turned away and stopped talking.
The one rumor that really hurt you was the one that claimed that you had planned to steal the crown from the crown prince Legolas and were now plotting against him so once day your son could rule instead. This rumor was in your opinion the most absurd one and you had never even thought that you would do such thing. You had never imagined that your son would be the king, no! That was the duty and honor that belonged to Legolas and Legolas only. However the people, some of them, seemed to think otherwise and it hurt you.
What hurt you equally was the fact that you knew that your husband was well aware of these rumors, well, he knew everything that was going on in the realm, but he said nothing. He did not think that there was any reason to do anything about them since you were under his, as well as Legolas’, protection. You however wished that he would take the rumors seriously and put an end to them. You knew that Legolas did not think that you were plotting against him, but still it bothered you.
It bothered you so much that sometimes the servants found you crying alone, holding the baby in your arms and then made them swear that they would never tell anyone about what they had witnessed. You were supposed to be happy, but instead of laughing and being merry, you cried and isolated yourself from the court. “Oh, I am just tired” you said constantly when you did not attend a meeting with diplomats from the different realms.
When the boy turned 2 years old you were emotionally done. You had tried your best to correct some rumors yourself and even with Legolas by your side but as long as Thranduil was not taking any sides, there was no reason for the rumors to stop.
You were sitting in the garden, watching your son playing on a blanket that had been spread on the soft grass under a big, old tree when Thranduil walked to you. He had been told that you cried almost daily nowadays and scolded himself for not noticing it. He stayed in the shadows for a moment and watched you as you stared into nothing particular with a blank look on your face. You looked tired and troubled. He had not noticed it before but his dear wife, his ray of sun, the mother of his baby boy looked lifeless and sad, unhappy even. It made him worry.
- My dearest wife… he said when he finally came to greet you.
- Thranduil, what a lovely surprise! you exclaimed and wiped your cheeks, just in case because you could not tell anymore if the tears had been rolling from your eyes or not.
- How are you doing, my love? he asked. You smiled briefly but before you managed to tell him the usual “I am fine” –answer, he continued
- I was informed today that you have been crying almost daily.
- Oh? you asked and tried to sound surprised. You however were trying to think through your maids and servants, guards even, who had seen you crying and now betrayed your trust.
- Tell me… why are you so unhappy? Does not our son bring you joy anymore? he asked. His tone sounded accusing to your tired ears and you could not help but burst into tears. Thranduil sat next to you and chuckled a bit when his son tried to stand up using his father as support. You forced yourself to smile through the tears when the baby smiled at you.
- So what is it? Thranduil asked.
- Have you not heard the rumors? you whimpered.
- Which ones? the king asked. He, to be honest, had heard many, all of them most likely, because he had spies who then informed him about things that people talked about in the court. There were no secrets.
- The one that states that I am plotting against Legolas and will use our son to steal the crown from him.
- But that is absu-
- Yes! It is absurd but can’t you see that as long as you do not put end to the rumors, they will continue growing and getting bigger and meaner?
- But why does those petty-lies worry you so much? You should not pay any attention to th-
You stood up. You could not have this conversation with him like this, sitting down casually while playing with the baby, like nothing was wrong.
- I cannot ignore them! you stated with shaky voice.
- You must know that I would never plan such horrible thing! you continued and stared into those blue eyes that you loved very deeply.
- Yes, I do know that. But the question was, why do you care what your subjects think? Thranduil asked. His voice was a bit annoyed and you could see the same irritation in his eyes. He was not taking you seriously.
- Because I need their respect! you exclaimed and made your son cry. You turned away and left the garden. You had never left your son like that but you figured that your husband would surely know how to calm the baby down.
Thranduil was shocked when you just left. You had never walked away from him like that. There was a counselor that had seen the whole thing and came to talk with the king right afterwards. He thought that Thranduil was angry with you and assumed that this was the perfect time to stab a knife in your back. Thranduil after all was quick to get angry and slow to forgive.
Thranduil listened to the man talking, subtly assuming that the queen was not to be trusted and there had been alarming signs indicating that she was planning to overthrow Legolas and turn the king against his first born son, the crown prince so he would never get the crown.
The king listened to his counselor talking, going on and on how everybody knew this in the court already and then he even said that maybe it was better if the queen took her bastard son and returned to her home realm. Thranduil took a look at the baby who was now sleeping in his fathers arms, peacefully and totally unaware of the mean things that were being said right under his nose.
That was enough. Now Thranduil finally understood how much those rumors had hurt you and he cursed in his mind that he had not gotten involved and interested sooner. He called the royal babysitter who took the baby to his bed to sleep and then he started raging. He had always this certain amount of coolness about him and he never lost his temper. This time he did. He was ready to sentence anyone and everyone who had said such things to exile and said that if the rumors did not stop, he would. He told this counselor to “spread the rumor” and if someone did not believe it to be true, they were more than welcome to test it.
The counselor swallowed once very nervously, bowed and basically ran away. Thranduil stayed in the garden to cool off his nerves and then he came to look for you.
You had gone to the baby’s room to watch him sleeping. He was so little still that he did not know what a cruel place the world could be sometimes. Sure you still saw the silver linings in the storm clouds but lately your skies had been fully covered with those clouds and there had been so few of silver linings.
You heard the door opening and familiar footsteps getting nearer. You did not have to see Thranduil to know that he was in the room because you recognized his presence as well as the way he walked. You stood up and saw Thranduil nodding at you. You felt so relieved when you realized that he had finally stood up for you. He opened his arms and you basically ran into his embrace.
You had not been embraced that tightly for a long time and it felt good. You felt safe and loved, warm and cherished, you felt the way that a dearest wife was supposed to feel. You put your hands on the cheeks of your beloved and guided him to kiss you. He kept close, his lips gently brushing yours before he finally kissed you.
His lips explored yours with such skill that even after some years he could make your knees weak and turn your brain into mush, like he had done the first time. His lips moved to kiss your neck and collarbones. You laughed when he found that ticklish spot under your ear. He moved his hand on your mouth so you would not wake up the baby as he continued gently caressing your skin and then returned to worship your rosy lips with his.
Suddenly he lifted you into his arms and stared deep into your eyes. He looked at you admiringly and whispered that he loved you very much, more than any words in any language could describe. You smiled and this time the smile was a sincere one. It came straight from your heart and lighted up Thranduils face, almost like hundred suns had come into existence at once. You traced his face with your fingertips and then pressed your hand on his heart. It was beating steadily against your palm. You loved to feel his heartbeat against your skin and that was the feeling that you had been missing. You both were silent and after a long moment you broke the silence by suggesting that the little boy surely needed a sibling and winked your eye at your dear husband.