Kingsfoil [Thranduil] LOTR

Impulsive

This chapter is dedicated to the #Fabulous readers who voted for the last chapter: Natalia Vegas, Feather Frenzy, Northern Lights, Niepoprawnslowa, ShaeLeeSnow, PBJ123456, Olivia Smith, HaveCourageBKind, Bre2333, and the Midnight Fangirl! Thank you for your support!!
. . . . . . . . . .

Not long after having moved into the palace, Narylfiel made it her business to explore the Elvenking's halls. Of course, she had been taken on a tour of sorts by Galadhor, the king's chief of staff, which was all very well if you only wanted to know where the grand dining hall and throne room were. Needless to say, the young elleth spent days upon days canvasing the winding paths of Thranduil's halls; it became one of her chief delights and greatest pleasures, only to be exceeded by the time she spent in the king's own company, in which many occasions she would report back to him all that she had seen. He knew all of which she had to say, naturally-it was his own home after all-but her excitement to share her discoveries soon became the highlight of the king's tea time.

On one such outing Narylfiel came upon a closed set of tall doors at the far end of a long hall on the southern side of the palace. The elf maiden looked around and behind her and then carefully tried the overly large door handle. It was not locked, so she nudged it open, just enough to let a beam of light from the hall strike across the dark room. What she saw inside stole her breath away.

A bevy of portraits twice her height gleamed rich with color and detail on the walls. Narylfiel cautiously crept inside for a closer look. At first she mistook the largest one on the opposite end of the hall for King Thranduil-the elf in the picture looked so similar, with the same golden-white hair, the shape of the eyes, and yes, even the eyebrows-but little differences made Narylfiel guess that the elf in the picture must be the former king, Oropher. The painting was so artfully done that Narylfiel wondered why such beautiful pictures would be hidden away. Then she saw another painting across the room, only someone had draped a cloth over it, which had partially slid off.

Ever the inquisitive elf, Narylfiel immediately went to it, peeked under the cloth, gasped, and then pulled the cover completely off. Now this was undoubtedly a portrait of the Elvenking, and Narylfiel marveled at how lifelike- how real he seemed- as if the elf in the picture might turn and look at her any second. The painting Thranduil, however, was not looking directly out from the picture. No, his gaze was drawn to another figure in the painting, an elleth so achingly lovely, so exquisite in feature and form that Narylfiel found herself staring. She was Thranduil's queen, Legolas' mother. Narylfiel thought she had never seen any elf so beautiful, but even so, she found her eyes drawn back to the king and the look in his eyes. It was clear that he absolutely adored her.

"Narylfiel." A voice from the door made her turn, and she sheepishly met the friendly eyes of Galadhor.

He came into the room, shook the dust from the cover and replaced the cloth back over the portrait. His eyes briefly scanned the portraits in the hall as if reminding himself, and when he turned to address Narylfiel, she thought he looked a little sad.

"Narylfiel, you are a member of the king's household now. He would want you to feel welcome anywhere in his home, but the Hall of Portraits has been closed away for now," Galadhor said. His eyes were kind, but firm.

"Is it okay to ask why?" she inquired in a small voice, taking the hand that Galadhor offered to lead her from the room.

"Our king has lost much..." his voice trailed away as he pulled the door shut, and this time, produced a key and locked it. "This room held too many memories. King Thranduil did not like to be reminded."

Narylfiel sucked in her lower lip. Poor King Thranduil! He was too good, too wonderful to be unhappy. She vowed right away to cheer him up. Then casting her long-fringed brown eyes back up to Galadhor, she asked "But what about the queen? What happened to her? She is so beautiful!"