The King's Lady | Thranduil x OC

Chapter 57

The tonic was something Thranduil would only ever usually need to take once every six months because it was so strong... but since the attack in the forest, he had needed more than was normal. This was the second time in two weeks. Siofra did not like this but she certainly knew why it was happening. The King was letting his mind take control and the emotional pressure and stress was simply becoming too much. The mind was a powerful tool, after all, but it could rule you if you let it. His guilt and his anger over the attack in the forest, as well as his grief and his (in his eyes) unrequited love... was causing him to feel weak and this was eating away at him... and Siofra knew that he was drinking. Too much. He had always liked wine, this was no secret, but too much of it would be overriding the effects of the tonic, therefore making it more difficult for him and perhaps causing him to use the majority of his energy to keep the illusion in place, which would render him quite useless for other tasks.

"You should have come in sooner." She told him, not saying any of this for now. If he came in for more tonic too soon, she would say something then, but she hoped he would find a way to calm himself... the sleep tonics she had already given him would help with that - he needed rest - and she trusted him to take them. Siofra handed the vials to him and watched him tuck them away deep inside his robes.

"I have been busy." Was all Thranduil said in response.

Siofra went quiet and simply blinked at him.

Thranduil pointedly ignored her gaze but then he sighed heavily. "What?"

"My lord," Siofra said with a small sigh of her own. "You must take better care of yourself. That is all I shall say."

There was another silence. "I have many people to care for, Siofra. A whole realm if you had not noticed." Thranduil stood up.

Siofra had her eyes on the paperwork on her desk once more. She was used to Thranduil's way of speaking and she no longer took offence to anything really that came out of the king's mouth. In fact, a quarter of the time, she paid no attention to what he said, or the tone in which he said it, at all.

Satisfied he had gotten the last word, Thranduil turned to leave the room the same way he'd entered it, with a long stride so he could shut himself back in his office and drink away his stress and now his guilt over snapping at Eirien.

"A realm that needs their king in good health to do so." Siofra's voice sounded again, just as he had stepped over the threshold of the door.

Thranduil stopped moving and he stood there, still and silent. His shoulders slumped downwards just the tiniest fraction and his eyes showed something close to despair for the briefest second.

Siofra did not look up, though she could see him from the corner of her eye.

Then he was gone.

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Eirien and Rindir took the next four days to empty Laurina's home, all of her belongings packed away. They had started out by trying to do everything all at once, just to get it over and done with in the quickest amount of time possible, but they found that that only made things worse. They argued a lot more when they tried to rush it and so eventually Callon had stepped in and practically ordered the pair to take it more slowly, take it easy, be kind to themselves. So they did as he recommended and the dreadful task did become a little easier to bear.

When it was all finally done, Eirien probably cried much more than she had in the previous days. Just to see it sitting empty like it now was, while she remembered Laurina's incredible excitement to have moved out and into her own little living space... it was devastating.