Kingsfoil [Thranduil] LOTR

Restless

Two Weeks Ago...

Thranduil thumbed through the latest reports from the Forest Guard. The enemy was moving. Ever since the attack on the woods at the end of June when Gollum had escaped, his warriors had seen a significant rise in attacks and skirmishes.

He sighed as he noticed Legolas' ledger of appointments for the next shift of guard duty. Narylfiel had volunteered again for another three week stint on the Southern border, where the fighting had been the worst. Thranduil flipped backward in his son's ledger to the previous month, and then the one before that. As he continued turning the pages for the last six months, his son's careful notes confirmed his suspicions. Narylfiel had been regularly taking the worst and longest duty assignments ever since the last Yule. Thranduil was at a loss to understand why.

He snapped the book shut and pushed his chair away from his desk, crossing his long legs as he did so. Reaching for his glass of red, Thranduil swirled the contents for a second and stared at the intricate tapestry on the opposite wall. He knew Narylfiel had many friends in the guard, and she had become extremely close to Legolas as well. He was like the older brother she never had. So she enjoyed serving in the Forest Guard, he concluded, but her schedule...that spoke of something else, some darker purpose. Something bothered her in the palace, perhaps, so she wanted to be out in the woods as much as possible.

She had not always been that way. Thranduil remembered how she used to love being in his halls. She used to seek him out, popping into his study, uninvited, just to tell him about her day. Then hours later, they would have to call for a tray from the kitchen, because lunch had come and gone without their realizing it. She just treated him as she would a friend, not someone's king, and frankly that in itself was pretty refreshing. Thranduil would never admit it, but he loved spending those long hours with Narylfiel, just gossiping-he could always count on her for the latest news-or planning some sort of diversion in the palace; he and she were of similar minds when it came to planning festivities. He recalled the fun they had planning the Yule feast.

The king frowned.

He eyed the ledger on his desk and took a slow sip from his glass.

It was right after the Yule feast that Narylfiel started signing up for longer guard duties.

What had happened over the Yule to make her want to leave his Halls? Had someone hurt her? Thranduil wished he could call her into his study right now and grill her about it. She never could keep anything from him. Unfortunately, Narylfiel was still with the Forest Guard on the southern border of the forest, the area that had suffered the worst attacks as of late. At least, Legolas was there with her.

He drained the rest of his glass and stood. When she returned, he would get to the truth of the matter and fix this problem for her. After all, he was the king, was he not?

Besides, he missed her.

. . . . . . . . . . .
July 3018

Just as she expected he would be, Narylfiel found Thranduil in the stable. She had to walk all the way to the very back stalls, past the piles of fresh-smelling hay and the elegantly carved stable doors, before she found him under the flickering light of a single lantern. The king had shed his heavy robe and draped it carelessly across one of the stalls. He stood with a curry brush in one hand, his sleeves rolled up to his elbows, as he patiently brushed the coat of Taurion, one of the Great Elks that had long been friendly with the woodelves.

Thranduil glanced up as Narylfiel approached but continued brushing the elk with long strokes, and the elk seemed to preen with pleasure at the attention given to him by the king.