The Prince's Pretend Mother

Tenth Entry - Heart Where I Have Roots

{I'd like to thank Nyssa_Mirien for her enthusiasm and compliments, as well as all the votes, so I'm dedicating this chapter to her!}

Leave me at the shore 
of the heart where I have roots, 
remember 
that on that day, 
at that hour, 
I shall lift my arms.

In me nothing is extinguished or forgotten, 
my love feeds on your love, beloved, 
and as long as you live it will be in your arms 
without leaving mine. 

*

“Thranduil.” I had called the king’s name multiple times in searching for him. He was not in his house, nor was he upon his throne or many of his other haunts. At last I turned and entered his long balcony that overlooked the Lonely Mountain and Dale. “Thranduil, this is the last place you would choose to be if you are not walking the forest. Ah.”

I spotted him just returning from the far end of the balcony, pacing again, this time however without any of his usual scrolls or ledgers. He permitted me a tiny smile, then returned his gaze to the Mountain and the land beyond.

“Whether or not you keep track of the date, I do,” I told him firmly, and purposefully stepped in front of him so he had to stop his long pace or turn to avoid me. I reached out and gestured, keeping his neatly-wrapped gift held securely in my left arm. “Come on, bend down so I can kiss you and say happy birthday. I knew you would turn over another millennium soon after Legolas’s first century and was determined not to miss it.”

He looked down his smooth nose at me, hands tucked into his back, considering. “And if I do not bow to your wishes on a day that is supposed to be a celebration for me and not for you?”

I tilted my head to one side and smiled. “Then I shall stand on your gift to achieve the difference.”

“Is it fragile?”

“If I drop it it will dent and scrape and may even break. I cannot comprehend the damage that would be accrued if I were to stand on it.”

He heaved a sigh, “Very well,” and tipped forward so I could bestow a kiss upon his angled cheek and straightened again, relieving me of the brocade-wrapped gift I’d held nestled into my side. “What have you brought me?”

“You are not permitted to open it until I leave,” I informed him, stopping his hands from untying the black ribbon at the top.

“Did you make it yourself?”

“I did.”

“How long did it take you?”

“Perhaps a year. I was not able to work on it consistently.”

Both of his brows raised. “And all I gave you were flowers.”

“One’s four-thousandth birthday is slightly more significant than one’s two and a half thousandth,” I pointed out. “Besides you are not a gift-giver and Legolas stepped in for you. I only bestow gifts when I am certain they will be properly appreciated, and you know it. If I cannot think of something appropriate for your next millennium you will be receiving flowers as well. Tell me early what color you would like so I may preserve them. Winter birthdays limit my choices.”

Thranduil rolled his eyes at me and settled his gift into the crook of his arm just as I had done. “I shall inform you of my preferences. Will you leave me to my solitude now so I may glimpse this gift of yours?”

“If you so wish it. Happy birthday, Thranduil. We are always glad to be granted another decade with you.” With that said off I went, perfectly pleased with my year’s work, and left him to reveal my gift to him in peace.