Thranduil x Bard

Rumors

It was already pretty dark. The people of Dale had all gathered around campfires to eat their dinners and share their days at work.

Legolas, Bard, Bain, Sigrid and Tilda were sitting on logs around one of the campfires eating their meals and chatting. After a while four men walked to them with bowls of food in hand.

"May we sit and eat with you my king?" The oldest asked.

"Please do, the more the merrier." Bard answered happily. "Make room for these men." He said looking at his children. They made room and soon enough all of them were seated.

As they were eating and making small talk Tilda asked a question. "Dad?" Tilda started. "When can I visit Mirkwood again, I would love to see the elves and hear their stories."

"When we are delivering the next patch of fish I will happily take you with me." Bard said smiling. "It will be great for you to learn about elf's."

"You plan on going to Mirkwood again my king? Are you sure it is suited for you?" On of the men asked.

"Why would it not be suited for me? I am a fisherman after all."

"Well you are a king now. Shouldn't you be here giving orders to us on how we rebuilt Dale?" Another man asked.

"You do not need to worry about that." Bard said ending the conversation.

It was quiet for a while. Well until Bain asked a question. "Legolas... Does Mirkwood have a princess we don't know about?" Bain asked trying to change the subject but it really wasn't that good of a topic.

Legolas shook his head. "No we don't have a secret princesses." 

"Okay..." Bain said

"Why do you ask Bain?" Bard asked

"Well..." Bain closed his mouth as he didn't know what to say next.

Instead one of the men opened his mouth. "Your Majesty, we all know that you had the elven royal symbol in your cloak when you returned. You are not an elf nor an elven royal, well unless you marry someone who is. We also know there isn't a secret princess, so we all can't help but wonder if you and prince Legolas are engaded."

The food Bard was eating went to his airways and he started to cough. Legolas patted his back until the coughing ended.

"Me and Legolas are definitely not together, how come you even think that." Bard asked surprised.

"I am sorry you Majesty but after we saw how you and Legolas were on the market today it only made us more suspicious. And if there is no secret princess and it is not Legolas then who could it be?"

Bard closed his eyes and sighed. "You will meet my lover when it is time."

The three men nodded in unison but still one of them couldn't help but open his mouth to speak. "If you are going to marry an royal elf then what about your responsibilities as a king?"

Bard got up from the log frustrated. "You do not need to worry, I will do my duty as a king and I will not slack off. Dale will be rebuilt as a much greater city than it was before." And with that he left leaving everyone else.

To be continued...