Thranduil /Reader (1) - REWRITE - Part 2
Thranduil managed to grab you before you fell to the floor, just barely though because he had kept his distance until you had sought support from the back of the chair. The reason why he had acted then was that it had become apparent that you were going to pass out and he had not wanted you to get hurt; you could have hit your head on the hard stone floor, for example, and injured yourself in a more serious manner. This was a risk that the king had not wanted to take. The reason, however, why the king had waited until the very last moment to act, was that he had read your body language and come to a conclusion, that you had not wanted him to be near you. It had been obvious, in Thranduil's opinion, considering how you had pulled your hand away immediately after the wound had been healed and how you had tried to get away from him when the medicine had started to work.
The king knew that the medicine was very strong but he had not quite assumed that it would be so effective - it had been basically just few seconds after you had finished the wine when the potion had kicked in and you had felt the first effects. Perhaps he had been a bit too generous with the amount of the sleeping medicine he had administrated; he had actually put three drops of the medicine into the wineglass instead of two because he had reasoned that due to your profoundly disturbed and deeply troubled mental state you had needed a stronger dosage.
The king lifted you up in his arms and walked slowly towards the main entrance of his chamber, making sure to avoid stepping on the flowers as well as the sharp pieces of glass. However there were occasional high pitched sounds when the king stepped on random shards and they ground against the stone floor. Fortunately his leather boots were sturdy and therefore the pieces posed no threat to the king's feet. There were two doors that led into his private quarters; one, the main entrance, led into a corridor in the palace and the other led into the garden that surrounded the entire building, although the king naturally had a small private garden that was off limits from everyone else, except the gardeners and the manager of his chamber, you.
Just as the king was about to leave his chamber, he stopped, shifted his eyes from the door to you and mumbled to himself "What are you doing?" He knew that perhaps the more appropriate thing to do would be to get you into your own chamber and to assign someone to to look after you, to delegate this whole thing to someone else, but for some reason that did not feel like the right thing to do. The king kept staring at your grief-stricken face as he tried to decide what to do. Should he break the rules of etiquette and... keep you? Should he keep you even if it was against the rules of appropriate behavior and more importantly... against your will?
Suddenly the tall elf felt you slipping and nearly falling off from his arms. He recoiled immediately from his thoughts, improved his hold of you and pressed you tightly against his chest. The king was shocked; he had been so distracted by his conflicted feelings, trying his hardest to decide what to do with you, that he had not noticed his grip loosening, which had caused you to slip and nearly fall. The king had forgotten that you were not holding onto him because you were unconscious and therefore it was his responsibility to make sure that you wouldn't fall. Your body, after all, was limp and nearly lifeless, but at the same time it was very tensed up in some weird, inexplicable way, like even in your sleep you had been terrorized by the monsters that haunted you.
The king took a step back, turned around and instead of handing you over to a guard like he had first intended, he decided to keep an eye on you by himself. However he knew that he couldn't lay down with you... but he had to make you feel safe somehow. He had a feeling that if he just dumped you on his bed, you would encounter terrible nightmares and wake up even more traumatized since there was no way you would be able to wake up immediately. Oh no, you wouldn't be able to wake up for few hours due to the increased dosage of the strong sleeping medicine. Thranduil cursed silently and scolded himself for making the decision to add the extra drop against the healer's instructions.
Thranduil walked to the sitting room and sat down on a comfortable, yet elegant sofa, still holding you. He wrapped his arms around you quite tightly, guided you to rest your head against his chest and spoke words of encouragement and hope softly into your ear, wishing that you would hear him and his voice would have a calming effect on you. He spoke to you about your first meeting as he brushed your hair with comforting, slow motions. Thranduil placed his hand on your arm and stroked it softly up and down along the sleeve of your dress, hesitantly at first but when he noticed your breathing changing more relaxed and your aura as well as your body getting less and less tensed up, he became more confident with his actions.
The king brushed the runaway strands of your hair off your forehead, tucked them behind your ear and traced with his fingertip the outer edge all the way from the pointy end to your earlobe, barely touching your skin. He moved his finger from your earlobe to your jaw, ran his fingers along it and cupped your face with his large warm hand. Thranduil leaned closer, brushed his nose against yours a couple of times and then, just as he was about to press his lips against yours, he suddenly realized how out of line he was. This was not what he had had in mind! No, it certainly was not but for some reason he had just gotten carried away.
Thranduil got up from the sofa, his head spinning from slight shock, still careful not to drop you and carried you into his bedroom. He lay you down on his luxurious bed and then tucked you in with his large cloak. He reasoned that actually opening the bed and covering you with the blanket would be too bold of him. Like this you were laying on his bed and not in it, besides the king's cloak was very warm and comfortable. It was lined with the finest burgundy-colored silk available in whole Middle Earth and the silver-colored outer fabric was delicate yet sturdy material that looked like embroidered satin, giving the garment very elegant glow.
Thranduil made sure that you were deep asleep as well as laying comfortably and then walked into his private study, also connected to his private quarters, in hopes to get some work done. He needed a distraction, otherwise the sight of your lips, just slightly parted, so plum and rosy, would haunt his mind and make it impossible to keep an appropriate distance. Besides during the past week Thranduil had received many letters from other realms, news and invitations to various celebrations to which he was yet to respond - he had been too tired for that.
There even was a letter from Legolas, sent from Gondor, informing the king about the approaching coronation. It was an event where also Thranduil was most welcome. Thranduil read the letter three times from start to finish, dissected the words and phrases and after forming his thoughts into a proper response, he wrote a letter back, thanking for the invitation and then explaining that at the current time he was unable to leave Mirkwood; he had participated the war, fought Sauron's army from the north and unfortunately the battle had claimed many lives and therefore the king felt that it was not appropriate for him to leave right now. "My people need me here" he wrote and then added with a graceful handwriting "Please represent the realm of Mirkwood on my behalf. Enjoy this victory." He sent his greetings and congratulations to everyone, sealed the letter and gave it to a guard who would forward it to a messenger.
The king returned to his study and opened another letter, it was from Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel, the rulers of Lothlorien. Thranduil started to read the letter through but after a while he noticed that he was reading the first paragraph over and over without actually internalizing what the letter was saying. The letter itself was clear - it was the king whose mind was somewhere else. He folded the paper back into the envelope, leaned backwards in his chair and sighed. He sat there and stared out from the window, into his private garden for an hour, trying his hardest to avoid thinking about you but somehow you managed to sneak into his head despite his best efforts to ignore the subject; you... sleeping in his bed... your chest rising and falling slowly, the sound of your calm breathing... your lips, slightly parted, almost like you had been waiting to be kissed... the flowery scent of your soft and silky hair... your warmth that felt like home...
The king snapped out from his thoughts and realized that it was late afternoon already. He ordered a guard to call a maid to clean the mess up and while waiting for the maid to arrive paced restlessly around the scene of the accident. The king squatted by the pile of flowers and picked up one of them - it was one of the few that you had managed to save... so many of them had been ruined for good... but he appreciated that you had at least tried. His favorite flower was a lily of the valley, white bell-shaped flowers and long green pointed leafs, simple and fragile but also so beautiful in a very sincere and unpretentious way... but also very easy to get damaged if not handled with care.
There were only few people who knew what the king's favorite flower was and you were among the selected few. Therefore you made sure, with the gardener's help, that the king was the only one who had them in his room - ten flowers in a simple vase and no extra decorations in that special bouquet. You had actually planted them to the king's garden too during the very first spring, after getting promoted and therefore gaining access to the otherwise restricted areas - his chamber and his private garden. These specific flowers were not to be used in any flower arrangements either in the general areas of the palace or in the chambers of courtiers because you wanted the king to enjoy them exclusively; the king dedicated his life to his realm and his people and therefore you wanted him to have something that was reserved just for him and no other.
There was no written rule about it, but it made sense because these flowers were very temperamental and grew quite slowly. However there was something in the soil of Mirkwood forest that made the flowers bloom for the entire summer, from the first days until the end of autumn, when in the rest of Middle Earth the flowers only bloomed for few weeks in the beginning of the summer. Despite the propitious climate and nutritious habitat the flowers took a great amount of care and plenty of time to grow. It would have been a shame, a crime even, to exhaust the supply by decorating every corner of the palace with these delicate flowers... and it would have made them a little less special, in a way... or that was how you viewed it. Besides to be honest everybody always assumed that Thranduil preferred big, pompous flowers over small and delicate ones and it was not even that surprising, considering the way the king dressed and presented himself.
You, however, knew the truth and that was why you wanted the king have something special in his... home... to make his quarters to feel more like a real home... the kind of home that you had had when you had lived in the village, in your own small but cozy and homey cottage... and that was the reason why you had begun... or more like continued... this tradition instantly after getting promoted. Actually your mother had grown lily of the valleys in her garden and you had delivered them to the palace regularly before... well...before everything had changed. That was why you knew about the king's preferences and as a matter of fact, it was how you had met the king for the first time.
Around six centuries ago the king had visited the village and taken a tour there as well as in the vicinity of the settlements; there had been many sightings of foul creatures in the surrounding forest and therefore he had wanted to reassure the villagers that the king remembered his subjects, no matter if they were not living in or right next to the Mirkwood palace…
*
Thranduil arrived on a magnificent elk and then hopped off effortlessly, told the elk to wait by a small forest pond, by tall trees and then started a walking tour in the village. He inspected the crops with his entourage, visited some homes and enjoyed a simple and light, yet tasty lunch in a local tavern, but just as was about to leave, he noticed a medium sized cottage a bit further away, on the outskirts of the village and he decided to pay the lodgers a visit before leaving. There was something about the cottage; it looked very cozy and inviting even from afar, not very elvish… but resembled the style of the mortal men and how they usually built their homes. “Interesting… and strange” the king thought and told his entourage that he would catch them soon.
The king walked alone to your parents’ cottage and knocked the door. He heard two cheerful voices arguing playfully which one of them should open the door so the king decided to open it himself. He stepped in and laughed loudly when he saw the baffled looks on your parents’ faces but after a brief moment of silence your parents had started to laugh as well. The king spoke with your parents, meeting them for the first time and actually he instantly became friends with them; Thranduil was very impressed about your father's healing skills and equally impressed about your mother's business. The king asked if they had any children, because your parents seemed so happy and family-oriented, and they told him about you. The description aroused the king's interest so he expressed his desire to meet you in person. Your mother told him that you were out in the garden, enjoying the sunny afternoon and taking care of your field of flowers. The garden was your mother’s but your mother thought that it sounded more poetic the way she had put it.
The king stepped out and walked to the backyard where he found you standing in the middle of a small meadow surrounded by those white flowers, the lily of the valleys. The sight made the king smile immediately and he wished he could have taken off his leather boots and joined you because you looked so carefree and lighthearted; your aura had not been tarnished by grief and disappointments, although the king suspected that even you had had your share of misfortune like everyone else, but despite it… despite anything… it was clear that you were in high spirits – a beautiful young woman, inside out.
You were watering the flowers, completely ignoring the king, not deliberately of course, but because you were so focused on the task at hand. You had tied a large ridiculous-looking knot of the hem of your dress, lifting the fabric to the level of your knees so it wouldn't damage the flowers as you walked among them, placing your bare feet carefully on the narrow paths in order to avoid stepping on the flowers by an accident. "Such a wonderful sight to behold" the king thought silently as he stood by the meadow-like garden and admired you attending his favorite flowers so delicately.
Eventually you noticed the tall, handsome and very stoic elf, grinned at him as you walked to him, completely unaware of the identity of the stranger, and made some silly joke about your attempts on turning the hem-knot into a fashion thing. “Just wait and see, it will catch on!” you stated and introduced yourself to him in a very casual matter. You offered your hand to him for a handshake, because you had been raised to value a good firm handshake, in fact you had been raised to believe that a handshake told you a lot about the character of the person you were shaking hands with – no, it was not very elven-like of you and your parents but sometimes your family liked to do things the other way – but instead of shaking your hand, the king lifted it on his lips and pressed a soft, graceful kiss on your knuckles. His lips barely touched your skin but the gesture was enough to melt your knees and turn your brain into mush. The elf presented himself as Thranduil and bowed slightly while maintaining intense eye contact with you. He was wearing somewhat plain outing clothes that day and therefore you did not realize that you were talking with the king.
You shared a short conversation with Thranduil, during which he asked many questions about you and at times it felt like he was trying to find out whether you were already spoken for or not. Those subtle hints and questions amused you, well not really amused per se, but the sudden and unexpected situation made you feel a bit nervous, which then manifested in the weirdest ways and came out as embarrassing grins and chuckles. The truth was and had always been that you did not often receive such attention from anyone and when it finally happened, you weren’t capable of handling it too well… or… in a somewhat ladylike and appropriate way. But, honestly, Thranduil found it quite cute and adorable… in a very sincere and unpretentious way… like his favorite flowers.
Thranduil reasoned, taking to account the way you were acting and refusing to give him straight answers concerning your status, that he was making you feel uncomfortable and therefore he changed the subject back to flowers, for example he told you that these flowers were his favorites. He also asked you to keep it as a secret and to deliver a small bouquet for him on the first day of every summer and autumn month until the first snow fell and the flowers died in your garden. You smiled and promised to honor his wish, to which Thranduil answered with a simple “Thank you” and a smile that made your stomach fill with butterflies. You were delighted that the man was not asking you to exhaust your garden but to enjoy the flowers every once in a while, very sustainably.
That day you were wearing some of the special flowers in your hair and before parting ways with the king, still not knowing that the stranger was the king of Mirkwood, you undid your hair and handed one of the flowers to him. “Here, a memento or… a souvenir…” you mumbled with a shy smile decorating your face when you handed him the flower. “…I enjoyed talking with you, Thranduil” you added, inhaled and exhaled slowly. Thranduil took the flower from your hand, his fingertips brushing yours very lightly, and pressed the flower against his heart. He closed his eyes and bowed gracefully, his way of saying “thank you”. Then he summoned his elk and rode away. You removed another flower from your hair and admired its delicate details while hoping that the handsome stranger wouldn't forget you so easily.
Then, after the king had gotten on his elk and ridden away, your parents asked you "Don't you know who he is?" to which you responded by shaking your head with a confused expression on your face. "He is the king, Thranduil Oropherion Greenleaf!" your mother exclaimed and rolled her eyes. You were a bit embarrassed and decided that you wouldn't wear those flowers in your hair ever again because they belonged to the king. You also regretted being so casual and silly in his presence, so ridiculous… but then again… it, after all, had been rather obvious that the king had enjoyed your company... unless he had just been amused due to your foolish or... childish behavior.
After few days the king sent a note to you that he wanted a bouquet of ten flowers to be delivered to him and delivered by you specifically. You were nervous and excited, dressed up in your finest dress and wore pretty flowers in your hair, not the king's flowers obviously, but when you arrived to the palace, you were greeted by two guards who did not allow you to enter the palace. After arguing with them for nearly half an hour and after that trying to talk yourself out of the situation and into the palace... and failed miserably, you gave the flowers to them and asked them to deliver the bouquet to the king.
Then you walked home and took the rest of the day off because you felt quite low due to the encounter; you just retired to your own small cottage and cried your eyes out until you were too exhausted to cry anymore. You had not had big expectations concerning the private audience with the king but you had not expected to be stopped at the gate either. You had not expected it at all because you had carried the king's note with you, presented it to the guards and the note had been handwritten and sealed by the king himself. After this you always left the flowers to the guards because you felt thoroughly embarrassed and humiliated due to the way you had been treated and talked down to.
What had actually happened that day was that Thranduil had given clear instructions to one of his most trusted guards, who was supposed to be waiting for you at the gate. However there had been an orc attack by the eastern border and Legolas had ordered this specific guard to investigate the event with him. Therefore there had not been anyone to welcome you and due to the orc-situation, the other guards had been instructed not to let anyone pass. Of course the guards had recognized the king's seal but they had been too snobbish as well as entitled to let a commoner to enter. "Go home, peasant!" they had said many times, repeatedly, glared at you and scoffed. They had even called you a peasant whore and you had been told that the king liked to play with little girls like you. This you had refused to believe but still hearing it had hurt you deeply. You had tried to reason with them but after getting mocked, scolded and laughed at, you had just given up.
This had caused damage on your self-esteem and in fact it had been the first time you had come across social classes... the first time you had been showed your rightful place and it had really cut you deep because until then you had never felt yourself any less worthy, inferior in any way. It had made you realize how the world actually worked and just because your background was not noble enough you would never have the same value than the high elves who had been openly laughing at you and your petty flowers. "What if the king knew? What if he had planned it?" you had asked yourself on your way home and sworn on your honor that you would not fall under the king's charms. You had decided to avoid meeting him if that was possible in any shape or form.
When the king had asked the guards about the flowers and the lady who had brought them, the guards had lied and told the king that the lady had not wanted to enter the palace. Thranduil had found this quite strange and surprising but also somewhat offensive; he did not like getting rejected like that... especially since he had planned a nice evening including delicious, festive dinner and casual stargazing afterwards. What had offended him also was that a commoner had had a nerve to reject him... the king - of all people. You were not a fine lady... but a... peasant. However Thranduil had scolded him for being so petty as soon as he had recovered from the first reaction. A couple of weeks after the supposed dinner and plenty of self-reflection and contemplating on his own attitudes, he decided to pursue you, or at least find out why you had rejected him.
So the king wanted to get to know you, your parents wanted to hang out with their new friend and you wanted to avoid the king, still suspecting that he had had something to do with your humiliation. However during the next years you came to realize that avoiding the king wouldn't be so easy after all because your parents kept inviting him on private dinners and the king was happy to oblige. He was a busy man and had no time for social calls, except once a year, usually during the midsummer, he visited the village to spend a weekend with your parents. Sometimes, when there were rough years, the king was forced to skip the midsummer feast entirely so it was not uncommon to have a decade-long skip in the tradition. However, years passed so quickly in the elven realm anyway that having breaks like that did not make any significant difference.
You usually attended the dinners but kept your distance because you had been unable to brush aside the nasty things the guards had said to you. The truth was that you had never told anyone about the events even though your parents had asked you several time what had happened that day. You had always changed the subject or refused to answer any questions because the memory still brought tears in your eyes even many years afterwards. During the dinners you always were polite towards the king, smiled at him and entertained him with your stories, but even the king noticed eventually that there was something troubling you; you were behaving in an overly polite way, always choosing your words with great care and never making any jokes, especially silly ones like you had during the first meeting.
This, dining once a year, had gone on for two hundred years when one day the king appeared behind your parents’ door with some “takeaway” dinner that only had to be heated. That night after the dinner, surprisingly in the middle of the winter, the king asked your parents for a permission to take you out for a walk, in private. Your parents gave their blessing for anything and everything, of course, they after all liked Thranduil a lot, and unexpectedly you were left with no other choice than to accompany the king for a stroll in the nearby forest. After walking slowly in silence, side by side in the silver moonlight, snow squeaking under your shoes as you walked, the king suddenly stopped and stated with a desperate and uncommonly fragile tone "Lady (Y/N), you must release me from this misery. End my suffering, I beg you." You stopped immediately and stared at the tall, handsome elf with a deeply confused look on your face. Thranduil paced nervously back and forth, stepped right in front of you and took your hands all of a sudden.
- Tell me, my Lady, what have I done. Why do you treat me this way? he asked and squeezed your hands softly.
- What... what do you mean? you asked, your heart beating so fast that you were afraid that you might actually pass out. You were genuinely confused because you did not know what you had possibly done to upset him so badly.
- Why do you keep ignoring me? Why did you reject me? Thranduil asked, released your other hand and placed his fingertips under your chin very gracefully. He guided you to look at him because you kept avoiding eye contact with him. You were speechless; on the other hand it was such a beautiful moment - the snow glimmering in the moonlight, the king looking as handsome as ever, an outing of your dreams - but then again, you were still carrying the scars from the humiliation... after all these years and it made you feel very conflicted about... whatever was going to happen next... and whatever the king was about to say.
- Surely you know how I feel. the king said, his tone something between frustrated and desperate, and then added nervously "You must know that I... love you." You felt your heart stopping for a moment and your breath getting stuck in your throat. "Is this real or is this just a joke?" you asked yourself silently while you stared into the eyes of the king with eyes as wide as serving plates.
- Please forgive me for being this frank as well as for just appearing on your doorstep in the middle of the winter... he said and added shyly “…But I couldn't wait until midsummer.” You tilted your head and waited patiently for him to continue; it was obvious that he was not finished and by the looks of it, if there was something else… something more serious that he wanted to say… he had not said it yet.
- I must tell you how I feel. Thranduil said, paused to fill his lungs with the crisp winter air and finally, after hesitating a bit more, continued. "I absolutely needed… it was vital for my survival to come here and ask you...” he spoke nervously, inhaled sharply and added with a voice that was filled with hope “…To marry me."
The sincerity of his tone really hit you hard and a wide smile appeared on your face as all doubts, concerns and suspicions disappeared into thin air. You reached out to cup the king's face, he was almost too tall for that so you had to get on your tippy-toes and then pulled him closer. The king closed his eyes, still waiting for your reply, hoping you to accept his hand in marriage, but just as you were about to say “yes” his proposal with a kiss, he suddenly chuckled "The king marrying a village girl, who would have thought."
The smile left your face immediately when you heard those belittling words; a village girl. Sure, you knew that you weren't exactly a noble elf and your background was very humble indeed but you had not expected the king to bring it up while proposing to you. The casual chuckle made you feel betrayed and fooled so you stepped back immediately, stared at him with a deeply hurt and disappointed look on your face and walked away without saying a word. You did not stop or even look back even though the king called your name more than a couple of times. After you had locked yourself into your small cottage, the king had hopped on his elk and ridden away without giving any explanation to your parents.
After this the king had visited the village many times, regularly one could say but he had never dared to seek you out… and that had been the end of the friendly dinners as well. The king was confused, thinking that you did not want to talk to him because you still refused to deliver the flowers to him personally… and partially he was right… but the thing with the flower-deliveries was a whole another thing. The flowers kept on coming as scheduled but you never entered the palace. The king had been upset and slightly offended because of it, your stubbornness and unwillingness to see him, but then he had come to a conclusion that you surely had your reasons to refuse his proposal and after a while the king had decided to respect them... as long as he received a bouquet of ten lily of the valleys on the first day of each summer month.
The years had passed and the realm of Mirkwood had fallen into the shadows; the king had changed and finally stopped visiting the village altogether. You had continued living your life, farming the king’s favorite flowers and delivering them to him. You had decided to never speak of it again, to never see the king again and to never dream about such foolish things again… and as the seasons had slipped away, you had managed to find some of that lost and forgotten cheerfulness… until a guard had been on your doorstep and said “I am sorry to inform but… your father and your mother have been…”
*
Thranduil recoiled from his thoughts and sighed; it had been many years since those events had taken place but he still sometimes found himself wondering why everything had played out the way it had - now was one of those moments. He selected the flowers he wanted to save, rinsed them carefully in the bathroom to avoid any small pieces of glass and then filled a small vase made of crystal and silver with water. He put the flowers in it and carried the small bouquet into his bedroom. Thranduil placed the flowers on his finely carved wooden nightstand and lifted an armchair beside the bed. He took his favorite book out from the nightstand's drawer and started to read it, while taking brief glances at you as you slept in... no, on his bed.
The next hours were a bit hazy for you: you woke up a couple of times and when you looked around, everything seemed to be covered in a sort of mist, even the king, who was napping beside his bed in an armchair. You tried to get up from the bed but the medicine was making you fell so heavy that you were physically unable to even move a muscle. You tried it a couple of times but then gave up, your attempts draining every bit of mental, emotional and physical strength you might have had. Therefore you had no other choice than to close your eyes and let yourself to drift away once more. You fell back to sleep immediately but this time you had terrible, most horrible nightmares about the fire… the spiders… and about the day when you had been called a peasant whore.
Thranduil woke up when he heard you calling for help and sleeping very restlessly, nearly crying in your sleep. He sat on the bed beside you, bent himself over you placed his hands on your wrists in order to hold them against the bed so you would not hurt yourself accidentally. He stared at your face from a close distance, spoke softly to you, hoping that you would find a way out from your nightmares and wake up. You looked tired, tormented and worried, especially from such close proximity. Your beautiful features buried in grief and sorrow, pleas for help escaping your beautiful lips and your whole physical form struggling against Thranduil… or not really… you were struggling against something… evil and unpleasant in your dreams.
Suddenly you woke up. You opened your eyes, filled with tears, gasped for air like you had been struggling to breathe and as a reaction jerked your upper body off the mattress almost as if you had been nothing but a doll that had been pulled up from some invisible strings by some invisible puppet master. All at the same time; an unexpected and quite violent response, that shook your entire body and made a heartbreaking cry escape your lips.
When you did this, raised your head and upper back from the mattress, your lips accidentally got slammed against the king’s because he had been staying very close as he had tried to hold you against the bed to prevent you from getting hurt, in other words your lips had landed on his just because they had happened to be there. As soon as you realized what had happened you let your body fall back to the mattress, all tensed up and shaking, your head against the soft pillow again and hoped that you would just cease to exist. You stared into the blue eyes of the king without blinking and tried to figure out whether you should apologize, pretend that it didn’t happen or just keep silent and wait for the king to punish you for such foolish, although entirely accidental, action.
The seconds slipped away, although they felt like hours, your lower lip trembling and few tears rolling from the corners of your eyes as you held your breath and waited…