Learn To Love - A Thranduil love story [discontinued]

Chapter 3

“And what proof do you have to show that you are not an enemy?” the king narrowed his eyes at you.

You were kept in the prison cell for several, uncomfortable hours. Many guards would walk passed your cell to snigger at you, or insult you. One guard in particular, whose face you remembered, thought it would be funny to throw a bucket of freezing water on you. 

After hours of shivering in a pool of water, the king finally summoned you, and so you were dragged back to the hall for more tedious questioning.

You closed your eyes and tipped your head, knowing you had no proof. No matter what you say, he will still see you as his son's kidnapper. He chuckled darkly and stepped closer to you. “Something confuses me about you.” he started. “What is someone like you, a wood-elf; someone of high order, doing so far from their kingdom, alone?”

“I wish not to speak of my history; it is not something that is pleasant to the ears.”

“Are you disobeying your king?” he raised his voice. “If you wish to keep your head attached to that neck of yours, I suggest you start talking.”

Before you could open your mouth to speak again, you heard a familiar voice behind you.

“No ada (daddy)! Thia is my friend!” you heard light, clumsy footsteps running up to you, and a small body hug onto your leg. The kings eyebrows knit together with confusion.

“Legolas! I told you that ada has to work!” he scolded with a hint of embarrassment.

“But ada!” Legolas whined. “Thia rescued me!” he pouted and hugged your leg tighter. The king looked lost of words as he looked from you, down to his son.

“In that case, tell me what happened, my son.” he said softly, taking a deep, frustrated breath in.

“Well…” Legolas started, letting go of your leg and stepping forward, holding his hands in front of him. “I didn’t like the babysitter lady, so I ran away from her and then I saw this really big butterfly! And I was chasing after it and it was really fast, but I kept running as fast as I could! And then-!”

For the next couple of minutes Legolas blabbered on about the butterfly he was chasing, and all that time the king watched his son with loving eyes, and a gentle smile on his face.

“And then I saw Thia by a tree, and we talked and then we played 'it', and she was ‘it’! But she couldn’t catch me because I was too fast!” you smiled and looked at the small elf. “And then a giant spider jumped out of nowhere!” he announced, jumping up and holding his arms above his head. “It was sooo big and Thia got her bow and shot an arrow at it!” he smiled and mimed shooting an arrow with his arms.

It took another few minutes for him to mime and explain what happened with the spiders, until he eventually finished with a proud grin.

“So ada, I don’t want Thia to go anywhere because I really like her…” he looked down and fiddled with the bottom of his shirt. The king let out a heavy sigh and slowly nodded.

“Okay, my son.” he finally said. Legolas looked up with a huge grin on his face. The king looked at the guard and nodded. You heard the guard step towards you, and then hit the back of your head, knocking you out completely.

- - -

A throbbing pain covered the back of your head, causing you to wince. You were laying down on what felt like a bed, you didn't bother opening your eyes; you felt too tired. However, you were suddenly alert when you heard slow, quiet footsteps approach you. Out of instinct, you sat up straight and grabbed the nearest object, and defensively held it up in front of you. You looked up to see that you were holding a scalpel right at the king’s face. He raised an eyebrow at you.

“F-forgive me...I thought you were an enemy…” you quickly placed the scalpel back on the bed side table. You let out a hiss and held your head, remembering where the guard had hit you. Putting a hand on your neck, you noticed the metal chain was gone, however your skin was sore from its weight.

“I came here to apologise...” he started and walked to the end of the bed. “...for not believing the words you spoke, and for my impatience; I had received distressing news, and so having to interrogate my son’s ‘captor’ caused my mind to become filled with...frustration.” he paused before adding, “...and I apologise for locking you in a prison cell for several hours...and for accidentally signalling the guard to knock you out. There was a miscommunication; he has only very recently received his position, and he assumed I wanted to be ridden of your presence.” he paused again and frowned slightly in thought, as though he was thinking of anything else he had to apologise for, before finally nodding and looking over at you.

“It is okay…” you let out a small sigh. “One would do anything for the protection of their loved ones.”

His blue eyes softened at you, yet his eyebrows remained stern. He seemed to stare into you, showing no signs of breaking eye contact, to the point that you slowly began to feel uncomfortable.

“Legolas is very fond of you.” he eventually said softly, with a hint of a smile on his lips.

“He is a very bright child; I am envious.”

“Why is that?” he tipped his head to the side.

“...I wish I could have had a happier childhood.” you sighed.

“Ah yes, you still have to tell me of your past.” he said and turned to face you, placing a hand on the banister at the foot of the bed. "The healer told me that the chain took several guards to take off...and she also told me your body bears many scars." You flinched and looked away.

"...they were from my master..." You whispered. "...and those wretched dwarves..."

"It is normal to detest those dwarves, those vermin." He said reassuringly. "Was your master one of them?"

"No, Dene-” you felt your voice get caught in your throat as horrible memories flooded back in your mind. “...he was human..."

The king opened his mouth to speak, before he was interrupted.

"Thia!!" You looked to the door and saw Legolas bounding towards you, and then diving into your arms. "You're awake! Are you feeling better? Can you teach me to use a bow like you can? Let's go play!"

You laughed gently and stroked his hair.

"Can Thia live here, ada?" He asked and looked round to the king. His question seemed to have taken his father by surprise, given by his face expression.

"Ada will have to think about that." He replied and looked at you. "Meet me in an hour in the gardens."

I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter! :) Sorry if it was a bit boring ^_^;

Let me know what you think! Any feedback is much appreciated! <3

Stay tuned!

Chiyo xxx