I Am My Own (Reader x Thranduil)

Chapter 10

"You wanted to speak with me?"

I turned to Valori with a smile still plastered on my face from Thranduil and Oropher.

"Huh," I laughed, "Oh! No, I was really just trying to rescue Thranduil."

We turned a corner and I could see rain pouring down through two large windows that stood at each side of a huge set of doors, towering far above us. I had finally made it to the exit.

"Oh," Valori said turning her head to the ground, "Well, it looks like we've made it."

In that moment, I felt pity for her. Perhaps she really did love Thranduil. I can only imagine what it would be like to watch someone you love to be all of a sudden snatched from your fingertips to another.

I sighed, "But I wouldn't mind having a bit of company. Would you like to take a bit of air with me?"

A brief moment of confusion slid across here face before she finally understood what I was asking.

"Um, sure."

We stepped outside and the smell of early morning rain filled me with refreshment. I closed my eyes for a moment to take it all in.

Four guards were posted here at the front doors. Thankfully the overarching balcony kept both Valori, I, and the four guards dry. The other guards who were posted throughout the inside of the palace gates, however, were not as fortunate. I observed them as they stood completely still, water splashing off their armor without a single hint of discomfort.

I moved to the edge of the portico and leaned up against one of supporting columns, allowing my head to rest against it. Valori stood to my right.

For a moment we stood in silence, listening to the rain patter against the ground.

"Do you like it here," she finally asked.

"I do," I said telling half of the truth.

I missed my family and I missed Maewin. I hoped they would make the journey here safely. The rain could complicate things.

"Have you lived here all your life," I asked Valori to steer my thoughts from worry.

She shook her head.

"We lived in Arvernien when I was a child. My father used to serve Earendil the Mariner, but when the sons of Feanor attacked my family fled, finally settling here in Greenwood."

The only thing I knew about about Earendil was that he had two sons, Elros and Elrond who was only a few years younger than me.

"Earendil's son Elrond is a good friend of Thranduil's," Valori said as if she were reading my thoughts.

She looked off in the distance and smiled. 

"Perhaps I'll get to meet him at the wedding," I huffed thinking about greeting hundreds of elves on the big day.

Valori's smile was wiped away and replaced with a blank reflection.

"I doubt it," she flatly stated, "The journey is quite daunting and his family is very busy."

She tipped her head towards me and said, "Excuse me My Lady, but my father will be wondering where I am if I don't get back soon."

I watched her make her way down the steps of the palace and march off in the rain, not caring that the rain was pounding down on her head or that her dress was beginning to grow dark at the edges with mud.

I folded my arms over my chest and looked at the ground.

I must have irritated her at the mention of the wedding. The drama between Thranduil and Valori was beginning to get on my nerves. I can't keep acting like neither of them exist to each other and I made a mental note to address this to my fiance.