The prophecy of the elvish warrior

An unexpected gift

When we arrived back, I was immediately greeted by Haldir, Legolas and the king himself. All three men looked very displeased if not even fearful. Haldir and Legolas were by my side immediately, taking hold of Gwedal and pulling me off the horse. Only Thranduil stayed behind, taking in the sight in front of him, a smile crossing his lips.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Legolas started to scold me. "Running off this late of day into the woods without any weapons or guards. Do you know what could have happened? There are spiders everywhere not to speak you could have simply gotten lost." Halir stepped in to support him as well: "What you did was stupid and dangerous. I cant believe you would do such a thing."

I just raised an eyebrow: "You out of all should know, this is exactly what I would do." I retorted, earning a low huff from both men. Surprising everyone, Thranduil stepped in to my rescue: "It looks you found Enedaers necklace." Everyone stopped and looked at him confused. He took it as a sign to carry on: "One of my best soldiers and Gwedals last handler. He died in the dagor dagorath. Only Gwedal made it back and ever since, he has been a very jumpy and stressed horse. He wouldn't let anyone touch him, refusing to let someone ride him. Looks like you earned his trust."

I looked at the horse besides me, who scoffed and bumped his head against my shoulder. Then I turned back to Thranduil. "But why would he lead me to dig out those necklaces?" The elven king shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. Gwedal as well as Enedear both had their own way of communication and way of seeing things. It is not unusual for handlers to get a piece of jewelry for their horses, but I have never seen a horse be this persistent to have it back." He reached out to stroke Gwedals head. "Seems like that's what had you break out of the pasture every time you could, wasn't it?"

Gwedal shook his head, a proud look in his eyes. Thranduil laughed, patting his neck. "Yeah. You are a menace. A good thing you picked Visha as your new handler, I don't think any of my men would have been able to tame you..."

The words of the elven king made me smile and I looked at my new horse. Gwedal seemed happy with the outcome of the day, because he neighed one last time and then trotted back towards the stables. Thranduil looked after him for a while, before he turned to me: "I will have one of my farriers work on having Gwedal shoed and pick out a new saddle for you. Any wishes in material or color?"

I looked at the elven king confused: "Color?"

Thranduil raised an eyebrow. "Do you not pick out your saddles to fit your general wardrobe?"

Pulling a face and raising an eyebrow, I looked at him: "May I remind you, that I was raised by a rouge to be a mercenary? I took what I got and made due with what I had."

My answer seemed to upset the elven king, because he raised his chin, walking towards the stable with the full expectation of being followed. The sheer confidence in his walk made me sigh and give in, following his long strides. Shaking his head, he looked down on me and then back to my husband: "I cant believe you wouldn't customize the saddle of your wife, Haldir. Have you not been taught better?"

Haldir looked like he wanted to say something, but chose to stay silent, just a small twitch in the corner of his lips indicating his mood. Thranduil kept on talking without really taking notice of my husbands expression: "Since you seem like a practical person and are not one for bright colors, I will have the saddle be made out of black leather and held in a simple style." Waving one of the stable boys towards him, he quickly spoke to him in elvish, sending him off to fulfill his demand. "Its not necessary to make me a new saddle, my king. I can work with whatever you have." I tried to argue, but was shushed by the raised hand of Thranduil. "Nonsense. You will be the future queen of this realm. What a king would I be to withhold you from my generosity?" With that, he simply took a right turn, leaving the three of us to ourselves.

I looked at Legolas and Haldir, trying my best to make sense of what just happened. Neither of them seemed to really understand it either, just looking after the elven king and his dramatic robe flowing through the corridors. Legolas was the first to find his voice again: "I guess since that seems to be decided, I would suggest we all head back to our chambers and get settled for the night."

Without a word, Haldir held out his arm for me and I took it with a soft smile. Hooked to my husbands side, I followed the young prince through the many corridors and paths of Mirkwood, until we reached the royal chambers again. The sun had finally set and when we reached the last pathway, it was sparsely lit by torches, the fire reflecting in the silver armor of the guards. Again they bowed as we passed them and only when we closed the door of our living room behind us, Legolas loosened up, turning around with a big smile.