What goes around, comes around (editing in progress)

Discovering the truth

Thranduil stood on his balcony, his gaze fixed on the horizon. Enraged by the unexpected changes, he held on to the railing so tightly that his knuckles turned white. His first plan had not worked out and now his second plan was failing, too. This was truly unusual, he thought. He slowly shook his head as his eyes wandered over his forest in Erebor's direction. His memories of king Dain only worsened his already foul mood. That dwarf was the most loathsome of his entire race Thranduil had ever had to deal with. Sometimes Dain had driven Thranduil so mad that the elf king almost wished that Thorin Oakenshield had not died in the Battle of the Five Armies.

His face darkened and his thoughts returned to the current situation, reflecting on the various possibilities. Thranduil had less than two weeks left to win Tinnueth's heart. But he was not the kind of elf who would charm an elleth to win her favour. He had never done so. It was not in his nature. His wife, Legolas' mother, had placed many obstacles on Thranduil's way. But eventually he had overcome them all by the use of deceit. He wondered what he could do so that Tinnueth would desire to marry him. How would he be able to spend more time with her? He might have another sword fight with her, but he doubted that another fight would be of the same quality as their first one had been. Now she was blinded by her love for Esgaron, a fact which angered the king greatly.

He walked back into his chambers and picked up the wine goblet, drinking a few gulps before he refilled it again. Thranduil sat down in his chair and slowly spun the wine around inside its goblet, watching the dark red liquid spin around, colouring the inside of his goblet light red. He had tried so hard to make a couple out of Tinnueth and Legolas. Thinking all the time about her, watching her move and speak, eat and drink, she had occupied his mind to such a degree that he had eventually become attracted to her. Such is fate. The only positive thing about the whole situation was that Legolas had not fallen in love with her. That would have been the worst possible case. Thranduil would not hesitate to kick Esgaron out of his halls and realm, in fact he might even kill him to achieve his goal. But he would not be able to kill his own son over an elleth. He thanked fate for having been on his side so far. Now that he had entangled himself in the game of love, he only desired to win it badly. But what could he do to change Tinnueth's feelings? The situation seemed hopeless. He leaned back in his chair and drowned slowly in the gloomy mood.

Later that evening Thranduil watched Tinnueth as she enjoyed her supper. He was greatly disgusted by her obvious attraction to Esgaron. How had she developed such a deep affection for the ellon within such a short time? Did that happen simply as a result of the time they had spent in the practice grounds? The king's gaze remained on her as he ate his meal and drank his wine. He could not get rid of the feeling that he had seen something like that before. It was time that his spies brought some useful information to him. He knew that Estehelth's and Tinnueth's brothers were still spying on the elleth. Thalawest had informed the king that her brothers had made sure that Esgaron would not come too close to Tinnueth. He had tried to kiss her a couple of times after the king had caught them in the garden. But before their lips met, one of the brothers had interrupted them, always finding new excuses to disturb them. The king was greatly pleased to hear about their endeavors to protect their sister and friend. They were in fact acting to his advantage. Still, he was worried as their betrothal was to be held in less than two weeks. And time passed quickly these days, too quickly for the king's liking.

*****

Legolas and Esteleth sat on the balcony of his chambers. The king had arranged a table and chairs for them and tonight they had their supper alone, far away from everyone else. They ate together and spoke about their plans. Legolas definitely wanted to visit the north. He had suggested to Esteleth that after their betrothal ceremony, when the festival was over, they would travel north, where they would spend the full year of their betrothal together. Then they would return to his father's realm for their marriage. Esteleth smiled happily.