Matched From Birth // Legolas x OC, Thranduil x OC

2. Reunited

It couldn't hurt, could it?

Creeping along the path into the dark, looming wood, she anxiously squeezed the filet knife she had brought with her. There were still giant spiders in these parts... She increased her pace. Perhaps she ought to just run the whole way to the palace?

A branch cracked and a couple of frightened wood pigeons flapped out from the underbrush. Lasriel's heart tried to escape through her throat.

Yes. It was probably safest to run.

When she arrived in the central part of Greenwood a few hours later, her hair and clothes were soaked with perspiration and sprinkled with mud from the path. But she was alive, and that was the most important of course.

Despite the early hour there were lots of elves around, some standing in small groups talking, others walking purposefully this way or that, carrying loaded baskets or pushing small carts. Walking through the crowd, Lasriel started to feel very small and very out of place, like the country elf she was. But she kept her chin up, determined to go through with this. She had to.

Where would the feast be held? Inside the palace or outside?

It was probably best to just ask someone.

"Excuse me." She awkwardly edged closer to an elegant elleth. "Where will the party be?"

"That way." She pointed, looking like she tried hard not to wrinkle her nose at Lasriel's disheveled state. "Just follow the path until the forest opens up."

She thanked her and hurried on. Never mind muddy clothes; the celebration would begin in the evening and it was still only morning, she had plenty of time to dry and catch her breath.

The feast area was a large clearing, with several long, halved logs as tables and similar logs as benches on either side. At one end a huge pile of sticks and branches had been prepared for a bonfire. A few servants were placing autumn leaf decorations on the tables and hanging lanterns from the trees.

Lasriel looked for a place to hide while she dried. There! A tall oak in the outskirts of the clearing seemed perfect. She quickly scrambled up it, ignoring the extra stains she got on her dress in the process. Sitting down comfortably where the trunk forked, she could finally relax; now all she had to do was wait.

~♕~

Gazing thoughtfully into space, Legolas munched slowly on a piece of ham, the large part of his breakfast still untouched on his plate. But his new dwarf friend compensated by eating for two.

Thranduil peered worriedly at his son; something was off and he couldn't figure out what it was. He wished he had been able to talk to him without a dwarf as an unwelcome audience, but apparently the two were inseparable.

In an attempt to break the uncanny silence, he asked: "Is that what you are wearing tonight?" It was not the travel stained tunic he had arrived in, but a similar one from his wardrobe; plain hunter's green.

Legolas smiled. "I was only away for a year; I do remember some court etiquette still."

"That is a relief. You are a prince and need to look the part."

"Hm." He became thoughtful again.

It was disconcerting to see his eyes grow vacant. In the past, he had always been a cheerful and lighthearted ellon, taking most things as they came without complaining – even during the horrible first years after he lost his mother. Thranduil himself had been a broken mess, but despite his youth, Legolas had comforted him and confidently told him they would soon meet again in the Undying Lands.