Beauty and the Beast | Thranduil x Reader

Chapter 16

The walk down the hall from the library was one of the longest of your life as you tried to figure out whether or not the King had some ulterior motive. Was he lulling you into a false sense of security? Though you couldn't come to any reason why he would need to do that other than the fact that you had built up such an image of him in your head that everything about him seemed to trigger your paranoia. It was maddening but you focused on keeping yourself upright as you trailed along beside him in the direction of your room.

"How many in your village can read?" Thranduil asked after a long silence, turning just slightly so he could look at you.

It took you off guard as you glanced up at him, eyebrows raised in question. "Uh." You shook your head, grasping for words. "Not many." You admitted, shrugging.

"But you can." It was not a question. Thranduil knew lots about most, if not all, of the villages surrounding Mirkwood and yours in particular was quite a small, poor one. Not many people prioritised learning to read and write and he was quite intrigued to find that you were different.

Nodding, you clasped your hands in front of you, looking around at the architecture of this place once more, unable to help yourself. The magnificence of it still overwhelmed you. "Yes. My father taught me... when I was small." Your expression fell slightly at the thought of your father. You missed him. A lot.

Thranduil sighed when you mentioned your father and you took it negatively, turning to look at him with a frown. "My father is a good man." You said firmly.

"I said nothing to the contrary." Thranduil replied, waving a dismissive hand, keeping his voice steady.

"You did not need to!" Your feet stilled as you stopped walking. You stood half-glaring up at him as you watched him turn around, irritation clear in his eyes, but you found that you didn't care. You loved your father, he was all you had and you were all he had. Legolas had told you he had not been in his right mind when he had stumbled upon this kingdom and you believed him. Your father was not at fault - he would never hurt anybody, not intentionally. "How can you be so cold?"

"That is not how you address your King, Girl." Thranduil's voice had dropped considerably, a clear warning laced through his tone like ice.

Now, this was the King you recognised. "I have a name, you know."

Another silence fell over you both. You could have heard a pin drop in that hallway as Thranduil stared you down and you stared back, not wanting to give in to him. You had never met anyone more frustrating or more confusing in your entire life. How did he switch so rapidly from mean to kind and back again. Was it all false? A lie? It seemed very possible.

Thranduil's face was as blank as a blank sheet of parchment but his mind was working on overdrive. He was faced with the fact that you were being outrageously disrespectful, to a king no less. You, his prisoner who he had allowed to roam freely in his kingdom. He was also faced with the fact that he understood where it was coming from and the fact that he had been trying to be nicer. He had been determined to, in his own way, make some sort of amends - show gratitude for what you had done after the encounter with the orcs in the forest. So why were you making it so difficult?!

"You are right." Thranduil said after another moment of pure silence, surprising you. Your frown disappeared and you stared at him in disbelief, having been anticipating an argument or for him to grab your arm like he'd done after finding you in the West Wing. Thranduil said your name then and you blinked, not even having believed that he had actually even known it. "I apologise." And with that, he turned and continued down the hall towards the room you were staying in.