An arranged marriage could solve everything: Legolas' post-war melancholy, Lasriel's dream of freedom and a family, her mother's exile, King Thranduil's dark secret. But turning childhood friendship into love is not as easy as they thought - and nei...
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"How dare you? All of you. Standing around deciding my future? I am not a prize to be won."
– Jasmine, Aladdin
~♕~
1. Matched
"I won't marry you; I'm going to be a warrior." Legolas released the arrow, hitting the target with a dull thud. "See! I will become the best archer in Greenwood."
"You missed bull's eye," Lasriel huffed. "Also, our adas and nanas say we shall."
"Well I won't, so there."
"Whatever." She changed topic. "You have practiced nearly all day. It's boring. Shall we go climb trees and see if we can find a bird's nest?"
"Sure, sounds fun." When his friend wasn't going on about marriage, she really had some great ideas. Tossing the bow aside, he started to run. "Last one up is an orc!"
"Ha! Easy win. I was built for speed." She was close on his heels.
~♕~
Thranduil followed the running elflings with his eyes, watching them scramble up a thick trunk. It seemed the elleth would win this time.
Soon he heard her chanting from a top branch: "Lego is an o-orc, Lego is an o-orc."
"Am not!"
Lasriel's mother chuckled. "They are so sweet together."
"Indeed," replied Mithrellas, Thranduil's wife. "Like leaves and branches, as we hoped." She turned to him and smirked. "I told you so."
"Our son just said he does not want to," he disagreed, taking a sip from his cup. The wine was a bit too sour for his taste and he made a mental note to tell his butler not to add this vintage to the collection he was building.
"All young elves say that. You did too, remember."
He remembered. He also remembered how much he had meant it. "In our case we did not have much of a choice, did we?" He took another sip.
She fell silent.
Lasriel's father had been dozing in the afternoon sun. Now he rubbed his eyes and rose on one elbow. "I know we all agreed on this match when the children were born, but... is it really such a good idea? As you say, Thranduil, our parents did not allow us to choose for ourselves, and we..." He paused. "We were not too happy about it."
His wife frowned at him. "Those were different times, dear. Our children are growing up in safety and peace; they shall have more freedom. We will encourage the match but never force them."
"Precisely," Mithrellas agreed. "Our parents were so much stricter, and what with the troubled times they had lived through, who could blame them? They did what they thought best for us."
