Of storks and elflings

Of storks and elflings

Oropher was staring down into his desk, his face a bit pale and his expression rather sheepish. "I am so sorry ion nin, I have made a terrible mistake, please forgive me."

Thranduil stared at his father with wide eyes, then he took two tentative steps backwards, still staring. "Who are you and what have you done to my father?"

Oropher had never done this before, openly admitted to him that he had made a blunder and absolutely not when it came to things for which he had worked hard and long. Oropher rolled his eyes and sighed, Thranduil was in some ways still a bit too youthful and brash and he had a peculiar sense of humor the king believed he had to have inherited from his mother's family. Yet his son did make him proud on a daily basis, he was just not good at showing just that. Oropher had never been one to show his emotions openly and he could often appear to be cold and reserved but he did love his son dearly and would do anything for him. "Thran, believe me, I am very sorry. "

Thranduil sat down, he had braided his long hair back and it made him look very young even though he was close to being two millennia old. "Then do explain this to me please, I don't understand anything. You have been forcing me to accept an arranged marriage and you have been working like a mad dwarf digging for Mithril to have it all arranged and now, hours before the wedding you claim to be sorry?!"

Oropher dropped into a chair and stared at his son, he was biting his teeth together so hard it hurt, how was he to solve this problem? Could he trust that Thranduil was mature enough to handle the problem in an orderly manner or would this end in disaster? Not only was his son hot tempered, he was hot blooded too and Oropher knew that he was far from being a virgin. He had probably had several lovers of both genders and had a bit of a reputation for being a bit too rough and impatient at times. Of course he never mentioned that he knew of this for his son but there was little concerning his son of which Oropher didn't know. "I am not so sure of how I am to explain this to you son, it is a bit...awkward"

Thranduil sighed and leaned back into the chair. "You have managed to get this organized, and you find it awkward? Why?"

Oropher rolled his eyes. He had pushed this through yes, used his influence and not a small amount of pressure and subtle tactics else known as bribery to get this marriage arranged. He was afraid that his son never would find a wife, he was too restless and too fond of his freedom and Oropher did understand but as a crown prince it was Thranduil's duty to produce an heir and hopefully more than one too. It was always nice to have a reserve. Times were getting increasingly violent and he feared that it would end with a war that very possibly could change everything. The family line needed to be secured.

He had remembered an old friend of his from his days at the court of Elu Thingol, a highly regarded scholar with an impeccable reputation and a good family background. He had a wife and several children and so Oropher had asked for the hand of one of their daughters on behalf of his son. At first his friend Failarion did refuse, believing that none of his house was neither worthy of such an honor nor capable of handling such responsibility but after a few decades of much luring and sweet talk he had agreed. His daughter Fanarille was his youngest and only a hundred and ten but old enough for marriage and well thought of among their kin. Oropher had of course sent his spies to gather information of the potential princess and the elves had returned with nothing but praise. The elleth was very sweet, beautiful like a spring dawn, polite, well behaved, she had a nice sense of humor, was an excellent cook, fond of children and she had absolutely no scandals of any sort clinging to her name. It did sound a bit too good to be true and Oropher had indeed discovered that yes, it was.

He had been eager to have the wedding done before winter made the paths impossible to use and since Fanarille and her family resided by the coast it was quite a journey. They had been delayed by heavy flooding for several days and therefore they had arrived just one day before the ceremony. It was impossible to postpone the whole thing so it would proceed as planned but by Eru did Oropher regret that they had decided a date that couldn't be moved. He had met his future daughter in law that very morning and the wedding was to take place that evening, in a few hours. Guests had arrived, the whole palace was buzzing with activity and he sighed and stared at his son. Thranduil was of course not happy with the arrangements, he had tried to oppose to the whole thing for years and Oropher had rarely raised his voice when talking to his son but when it came to this he had to, several times. And Thranduil had given in at last, too tired of his father's constant nagging to manage to fight on.