Of Mine

IV

Thorin slept until early evening wedged in his tree, and for the following days he waited nearby hoping to catch a glimpse of the sliver ghosting figure he had seen in the garden.

He wondered if anyone at home would be worried about where he'd run off to. He decided that he would return to Erebor in a few nights. If he did not see the ElvenKing in two days, he would start his journey home.

Though he wished to go home, he found he was unwilling to leave the forest, or even the vicinity of the ElvenKing's palace. He had a deep-rooted desire--no, he had a need to see the King one last time.

Thorin was having the strangest thoughts. He wished to see the ElvenKing again, but this time closer. He no longer had such a hesitation. He wished to feel the skin of the tall and noble Elf, though such a thing was hardly possible.

Suddenly, he was startled by the sound of mellifluous song, all around him were Elven voices. Their perfect harmonies sent chills through him, and he felt his legs grow weary and leaden. He knew that the Elves were drawing near. He desired so terribly to stay, but his mind recalled the thought of being mistaken as a spy.

Starting off back into the forest, in the direction he supposed he had come, he moved only a little faster than a walk. He found his legs would not do otherwise.

Soon, he had lost his way. Having no idea of where the path lay, or which direction the ElvenKing's palace was (he found the latter much more disappointing), he paused. He looked around, but he did not recognize this place.

Despite these days being much sooner than the darkening of Mirkwood, Thorin felt as if the trees would suffocate him. He suddenly wished he had not left home.

Oh, Dís would give him quite the tongue-lashing should he find his way back to Erebor.

Distantly, he could still hear the Elves singing, but couldn't determine from which direction it came. He tried to take comfort in their song. Deciding that whatever way he went, it would eventually lead him to the forest's edge, he kept walking.

The singing died out voice by voice, but Thorin thought it had seemed somehow louder than before, was it possible he was, in fact, coming back toward the palace?

"Hello, Dwarfling," said a voice somehow familiar, harmonious and smooth as alabaster.

Thorin could not hide the jump his body gave, his fright at being caught off-guard. He turned, trying to find the source of the voice.

He found it. He found him.

The ElvenKing stood before him, tall and slender, resembling in more than one way a tree. He was like a willow, hair tossed slightly by the wind, but no less magnificent. He was like a pine, tall and proud. A birch, slender and pale, but golden in the sunlight.

"Why are you wandering this wood," Suddenly the King was whispering past him, face so close to Thorin's he could reach out and touch him. "that belongs to me?"

Thorin was trembling slightly, but he called up his Dwarvish courage and spirit. "Admiring it and all it holds," he said, trying to remember that he himself was royalty.

Thranduil pulled away, eyeing the Dwarf suspiciously. "Never has a Dwarf been found in my lands with merely good intentions, or the desire to behold its beauty," raising a hand, the ElvenKing stood tall again.

Though the ElvenKing had been alone while walking his lands, he could call up his Guard at any moment. He whispered something, and suddenly Thorin was being grasped by firm hands. "It seems my King wishes you to accompany us to the palace. He will question you when he returns." Said the strong voice.

The voice belonged to the Captain of the Guard of the ElvenKing. Galion, was his name.

To Thorin's disappointment, the ElvenKing had disappeared from sight. Galion and Thorin stood for a moment, before the dark-haired Elf, regal in his own way, began pulling him away.

Thorin yanked away from Galion's grip, "I will come by my own accord, do not handle me with such harsh care." He snapped, and Galion gave an expression such distain as could burn through iron, but he did listen.

Within moments, Thorin was being led into the ElvenKing's palace, and taken deep into the labyrinthian halls of wood and stone.