Bow With Honour (Thranduil x Reader)

Chapter 11

It started off as a quiet day. You had been wondering around the realm with Thranduil just talking about, well, nothing interesting, really. You decided to head to your chambers to fresh up before supper when the guards suddenly all started running and you were ushered back into your room. You sat on your bed wondering what was going on. Honestly, in all that time you've been in the realm not once had there been any sign of intrusion, panic or even an emergency. Except for that time you had to retrieve Loren, of course. 

Legolas went out into the woods that day to deal with a spider issue. Spiders had been terrorizing the borders for a couple of weeks now and every time they lead them away, the spiders keep coming back. Maybe someone got hurt and they had to return to the realm but lead the spiders here? No, they would have some sort of diversion, the elves were smart like that, thank you very much. Tauriel went with them so they should be more than fine. 

Tauriel became the new head of the guard after Loren resigned. He did not want to leave, but the healers wanted him to. His mental state worsened over the years and he was not fit to lead a whole elvish army anymore. You had been quite supportive of him and you made sure he had something to do every day. He eventually found some work in maintaining the plantlife in the realm. 

You snapped out of your train of thoughts and decided to see what all the fuss was about. 

As you walked down the stairs, your eyes widened. 

Dwarfs. About 12 of them. Actually, no, 13 after you did a quick count.

How? What? Why... you had so many questions. None of them could be answered right now so you went down to see if you could find Thranduil anywhere. You could hear his voice somewhere very vaguely and figured he'd be in the Throne room. 

And he was. Sitting on his throne like a true king would. But he wasn't alone. One of the dwarfs was with him. The leader, you presumed. 

It sounded like Thranduil was offering their release. 

'I will let you go. If you but return what is mine.' Thranduil said. 

'A favor for a favor?' the dwarf said. 

'You have my word, one king to another.' Thranduil said. So the dwarf was a king? The only dwarf king that you could remember was Thráin. But his kingdom was taken by a dragon and he eventually died in Dol Guldur. Before his death, he could not remember his name, where he was, who his sons were. Tragic death. 

'I would not trust Thranduil, the great King, to honor his word should the end of all days be upon us! You lack all honor! I have seen how you treat your friends. We came to you once, starving, homeless, seeking your help, but you turned your back. You turned away from the suffering of my people in the inferno that destroyed us!' the dwarf shouted. 

What he said there shocked you. Did Thranduil really...? 

'Do not speak to ME of dragon fire! I know its wrath and ruin! I have faced the great serpents of the north!...' You saw how Thranduil's cheek suddenly revealed a massive scar. You never knew about that.

'I warned your grandfather what his greed would summon. He would not listen... You are just like him. So go, stay here and rot. One hundred years is a mere blink in the life of an elf! I'm patient! I can wait!' He gestured for the guards to take the dwarf away. 

You walked down into the throne room and stopped walking in the middle of the room. He caught your eye and just for a second, he was worried. Worried you might have seen and heard all of that and you might think differently of him.  

'I assume you heard quite a lot of that.' His low voice echoed all the way through your head. 

'Enough to know what you did.' You said. 'Turning your back onto someone when they need your help is a dreadful thing to do, Thranduil. 

'I was protecting my people!' He now came down from his throne to face you. He was inches away from his face and his eyes spit fire. 'I did not wish for any of my kin to be trampled by Smaug or to be burnt by its fire! Do not fault me for safeguarding my people, (y/n), you would have done the same thing if it were to be your people.' 

He seemed to calm down a bit. 

He was right. If it came down to it, you would not want anything to happen to the people in your village either. You decided to not dwell on it anymore. 

'I'm sorry. I should not have said that.' 

'It's ok, (y/n).' He pulled you towards him and you laid your head on his chest. It was nice like this. 

'I do have to ask, if you don't mind telling me, what's that scar you have?' You said, very carefully.

'I have had my fair share of battles. That leaves scars.' He said. 

You looked into his eyes and nodded. That's all you need to know, for now. 

You decided to check up on Legolas as he was probably making sure the dwarfs were locked tight in their cells. You made your way down into the dungeons, seeing Legolas and Tauriel having a discussion. Tauriel left after that and spoke to you when she met your gaze on the stairs. 

'I need to speak to the King, do you know where he is?' She asked. 

'He went back into his chambers, so he should be in there.' You said. 

She smiled. 'Thank you, (y/n).' She made he way back up and went to Thranduil's chambers. 

You walked over to Legolas. 'The dwarfs are secured in their cells. There is nothing that they can do to get out. They have enough water and bread to live. Although I would have liked to see that differently.' He said whilst looking a bit menacing. 

'What did the dwarfs ever do to you?' You asked, being unable to hold back your laughter. 

'Not all of them, just.. one.' He looked down and you followed his gaze. You saw a particular dwarf sitting in his cell. He was quite handsome, actually. 

'Was that what that discussion was about with Tauriel? Are you serious, Legolas?' You said with a bit of a smirk. 

'I am very serious, (y/n).' His voice was a bit irritated and you decided to not push this any further. 

'Right. Shall we get some food? I'm absolutely starving.' You asked Legolas. 'There should still be some warm food somewhere around here, I think.' 

'That sounds like a good plan.' He said. 

Right when you were finished eating, someone shouted for Legolas. It was one of the guards, speaking in Elvish. He told you to stay where you were, but you were not having any of that. 

You ran after Legolas, all the way down into the wine cellar. Legolas quickly spoke to the guards and he soon realized what happened and so did you. 

The dwarfs escaped by crawling into the wine barrels and falling down into the water. But how did they escape the cells? Anyway, it was quite a clever escape. 

Legolas called for Tauriel to look for the dwarfs down the river, it was sure to be a very exciting pursue. 

Hey. There it is. After almost 20 years I wrote another bloody chapter. I'm so sorry it took so long, guys. Also, I did not proofread this so I'm sorry for any continuity errors as well. At least I tried, right? :) Hope you enjoy this chapter. I love you all so much for sticking with this lame ass story. Happy reading! 

xxxx