Lessons In Love

Fire In the Wilderness

(Warnings: none)

Thranduil had hated cutting his hair - it was partly uneven now. He had chosen carefully where to cut, though, so no one would notice it. The problem was that he himself knew. Cutting his hair was nothing compared to what he would face, though.

The Elvenking had arrived in an agreed meeting with a hooded figure. Thranduil had never seen his face, but in his despair for having an eternal life with Bard he had agreed on the conditions. It had seemed simple enough: bring a lock of your hair cut in your home and have your love for the rest of your life - in his case for the rest of forever.

The hooded figure examined the lock of blonde hair carefully. Thranduil guessed he was making sure it was really his hair. After several minutes the figure seemed to be happy with what he had received.

"Now," the figure started in its low, a little growling voice. Thranduil's heart jumped a little. He stared at the figure and his face gave no sign of the excitement he was feeling inside. The Elvenking was trying to remind himself not to get his hopes up. There was a fair chance that whatever this person was about to do might not work after all. Maybe the whole thing was a hoax. Maybe it was even a trap. He was ready to risk all that for the possibility of offering Bard an eternal life.

"Are you ready for the payment?" the figure asked. Its voice sounded almost like a mixture of the growls of a bear as well as a wolf, but still there was something very human about it.

"A payment? There was no mention of a payment before," Thranduil replied. He was taken a little aback by the demand of a payment. Of course he should have prepared for it, but how could he have known what the person wanted? Were gold coins enough? Or maybe some Dorwinion wine? An Elven sword?

The hooded figure made a laugh which sounded like the dying chuckle of a crow. The Elvenking felt dread creep up his back.

"Did the great King of Elves think he would receive something of this sort without a payment?"

"I brought you the hair you demanded from me. That was everything I agreed upon."

The figure stood up. Its movements were like of an old man's. It was tall and broad in shape. And it kept on hiding its face from Thranduil.

"Is it love that is making you so naïve, Thranduil Oropherion?"

Thranduil did not reply. He had not been addressed like that in a good while. He felt a rush of cold in his heart hearing the name of his father spoken out loud in such manner.

The figure lit again a candle that had been blown off by a sudden gust of wind crawling through a crack in the poorly fitted windowpane. The Elvenking was struggling with the situation. He did not want to ask what the payment was supposed to be since in a way he did not want to hear. What if the price was too high to pay? What if he had to go back disappointed after being so close to making his dream - and Bard's wish - a reality?

"So the payment... The price I demand you to pay - and it is up to you if you shall choose to pay it or not."

Thranduil felt like he was losing breath. He did not know what to expect, but he started to think some gems or even Elven weapons were not enough to this whoever it was.

"The price is you. Your eternity."

"Excuse me?" Thranduil was attempting to keep his voice steady but everything inside him was boiling with icy flame.

"If you wish to make your lover immortal you will have to give away your own chance of going to the Halls of Mandos. So should your body die here in Middle-Earth you will remain dead. You can still choose to travel West and live there forever if you want. You will still have all the power you have possessed till this day. But your body, for this world, will be mortal," the figure explained its demand.