A liaison in the Great Greenwood

Chapter 28

She hid herself deeper beneath the furs and blankets upon her bed when she heard the soft tapping at her door.

"Adlanniel?" Thranduil's voice called to her gently.

"I wish to be left alone!" She called back angry.

"I came to apologise...."

Throwing the blankets and furs back from herself she sat upright and stared at the door for a long, hard moment.

Her eyes were hurting for the amount of tears she had shed due to the king's previous animosity towards her.

"Gi fuion! Ego!" She snapped, wiping away the burning tears that now sprung once again at her eyes with the velvet of her dress sleeves.

Thranduil sighed deeply as he leant his arm against the door and his forehead upon it, knowing that he would perhaps have more difficulty getting through to the elleth than what Legolas had had.

"Gin iallon, hiril vuin..." He pleaded with her after a moment. He truly regretted having somewhat lost his temper at her and having handled her so roughly. Yet he wished that she too would be more understanding and less difficult in her manners.

"Díheno nin. It was horrible for me to have treated you the way I had, and for me to have hurt you so."

She had risen from her bed and was now standing between it and the door, listening intently. The king's apology had sounded sincere and genuine, she thought, yet she was still feeling the inner grudge towards him from within; her stubbornness wound not abate.

"I do not know what came over me Adlanniel. Perhaps I am too weary of war and the horrors and pain that it begets. Perhaps I worry about losing those I love again...I worry about losing my son....I worry about losing you...They are deep burdens I am bearing..."

His words brought fresh tears to her eyes. She could hear through his voice that he was troubled by and tired of all that had befallen them. It made her hardened heart soften for him for she empathised completely with what he was feeling.

Slowly she made her way to the great mahogany door and stood before it. Gently she clicked open the lock and brought the door open towards her, the king looking down at her sadly as she appeared from the shadows of her room to stand before him.

"We both have burdens to bear, do we not?" He asked her softly as he reached down to wipe the tears from her soft cheeks, her eyes remaining ever downcast.

"May I come in?" He asked her softly then as he continued to stroke her soft skin with his thumb. Giving a slight nod she moved aside and allowed him entrance, to which he quietly closed the door as she walked back to sit on her bed.

"I do not want you to leave without me. I do not want to be left alone here." She sobbed.

"I know you do not, my dear child." He replied sympathetically as he moved to sit beside her.

"But you know for well that I can not allow you to come with us. It is far too dangerous, especially now that you are with gwanûn in your womb. I can not possibly risk your safety. Or theirs." He spoke with a more serious tone which only sought to dishearten Adlanniel more. Thranduil could sense this easily enough and so took her into his strong arms to try to offer some form of comfort and solace.

"And I can not risk losing either of you; the two ellyn that I can not live without.....the two ellyn that I love with my whole heart..."

Her heartfelt words then struck a new cord within him. She just admitted to loving them both. Of course she loved Legolas, he was her soul-mate, but did she really feel love for her kingly lover as well? Indeed, they both knew they loved each other but not in the way soul-mates love each other. Yet her voice then could have proven otherwise.