Warnings: injuries, raiding, fire, and loss of one's home
Word count: 2205 (something a little longer for a change, YAY!)
Other:
Requested: So SO many of you wanted a part two so here it issssss! (Actually, I started writing this even before I had published the first part. But here it is anyway.)
Your reunion with Elrond doesn't go quite as you had planned or hoped.
You were sitting in yet another boring meeting with the council members and your father when a knock sounded on the door and a guard hesitantly peeked his head in.
"I'm sorry, but someone is asking for the princess." Your father straightened his back, rising to his full height.
"And why did you deem this important enough to interrupt our meeting."
"He keeps mentioning her by her first name, my lord." The king's eyes flashed with anger at the thought of someone disrespecting you so.
"Has he been inspected?" Your father asks, tone stone-cold and serious, and the guard nods instantly, standing with his back ramrod straight. You resisted the urge to roll your eyes. Why wouldn't the guards check someone that entered through the kingdom gates and demanded a meeting with the princess? They weren't stupid and knew how to do their job.
You thanked whatever high power was up there for the escape from the meeting. You followed the guard along the halls after politely declining the arm he had offered you. You were perfectly capable of walking by yourself. The guard bowed to you deeply as you reached the room, and you dismissed him with a smile and a nod.
You entered the room, running your hand along the hem of your dress, brushing a hand over the fabric. You swore that if this was one of your father's attempts to find you a husband, you would jump out the window. You had had it with the posh princes and their utterly boring tales of hunting where they described a bear attack so fake you wanted to gag. But your mood quickly changed as you recognized the person standing in the corner of the room, supporting himself off the wall.
"Elrond?"
Your voice was a whisper, but he still managed to hear you and turned his face towards you. A gasp left your mouth and you hurried forward. You could barely recognize him, his face so covered in soot, eyes filled with dread and exhaustion. His clothes were tattered and torn, and his breathing sounded labored.
"What has happened? Who did this to you?" You demanded, and he opened his mouth, but before he could get any words out, he started coughing violently. He tried supporting himself off the cabinet next to him, but to your horror, his legs buckled and he slumped onto the floor, like a puppet whose strings had been cut. You darted to his side, helping him to lay on his side, hoping it would aid his rasping breath.
"I need a healer, now!" You yelled at the top of your lungs, and not a moment later, three healers and four guards burst through the doors, no doubt thinking something was threatening you.
- - -
The grey stone floor would probably have grooves in it when you stopped pacing, but you couldn't help it. You were worried for Elrond. You would have been pacing the door of the healer's ward if your father hadn't deemed it "unworthy of your time" and "not suitable behavior for a princess". You had followed his orders and went to your bedroom, but when he had turned away, you had, like any other reasonable adult, stuck your tongue out at his back.
The moment you heard his fever had broken and that he had woken, you had stormed out of your room, leaving the guard who had come to tell you the news in the dust. When he realized you had left your room, you were already too far to hear him calling for you. You slid to a stop in front of the healer's ward. Your hair was sticking in every direction imaginable as you had run your hand through it countless times, and you hadn't even thought of brushing it before you had rushed out. The guards raised a brow in your direction but didn't say anything as you shot them a look.
You sat by the side of his bed as he slowly opened his eyes. He cleared his throat and licked his lips, trying to get the dryness of his mouth to pass so he could talk to you. You offered him the glass of water from the table next to him, and he took it, grateful, and emptied it in a matter of moments.
"T-Thank you." His voice was still hoarse and rough, and you frowned, grasping his hand. You didn't care that it was covered in soot, you just wanted to touch a part of him, to convince yourself that he was there, that he was real.
"What happened?" You asked carefully. You saw him tense and tightened your hold on his hand.
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to." You hurried to add. He shook his head feebly.
"N-No, no, I-" He was cut off by a hacking cough which made his entire body convulse. You just squeezed his hand tighter as the cough refused to let go.
When it finally subsided, he fell to the bed, closing his eyes. You ran your thumb against the skin of his hand and moved his hair out of his forehead, where it was sticking due to the sheen of sweat that covered his skin.
"It was raiders." Your head shot up at his words, a frown appearing on your face.
"They came in the night, burst through the door, demanding money." He shook his head, couching again. You waited patiently for him to continue, your heart pounding in your chest.
"When they found out I didn't have any, they-they left but not-not before setting my house on fire." Tears brimmed in your eyes as he finished, his tone now fallen to a whisper.
"I barely got out." A tear escaped his eye, and it traced down his cheek, leaving a clean streak on his dirty, soot-covered skin.
"I'm so sorry." You apologized, and he turned his eyes to you.
"It's not your fault." He assured you and you nodded, pressing a hand to his cheek.
"I know, but I feel like you still deserve one. From someone." A smile spread to his lips and he closed his eyes as your thumb drew patterns on his cheekbone. You started humming, and you could see another tear escape his eye.
Relief filled Elrond's body. After traveling for months and months, he was finally safe. With your soft voice, humming a song, and the gentle patterns you traced on his skin, it was easy for him to fall asleep. The last thing he felt was your lips pressing onto his skin, first onto his forehead and then to his cheek.
- - -
You continued visiting him every night, no matter how hard your father tried to stop you. No matter how many meetings or responsibilities he scheduled for the evenings to stop you from going, you always managed to get out of them in time to meet him before he fell asleep, aided by the herbs the healers had ordered him to take. He insisted that you didn't have to keep visiting him, that he would be out of the kingdom the moment he was well enough to travel, but you disagreed strongly. Firstly, you didn't mind visiting him at all. It usually was the highlight of your day. And secondly, if he honestly thought you were going to allow him to leave the kingdom when he was healed, he had another thing coming. You had already talked with the head healer, and he was beyond impressed with the things you had told him about Elrond's skills with herbs.
It had been two weeks, and the healer was allowing Elrond to get out of bed for short periods of time. They highly recommended that he left the castle and got some fresh air. You had taken it as your duty to take him for a short walk every evening when the sun had set and the air wasn't as heavy to breathe as it was during the day. The smoke had caused severe damage inside his lungs, but the herbs were working and the healers and Elrond himself had convinced you that he was recovering well.
You walked slowly next to Elrond as he took in greedy lungfuls, the cool air soothing the occasional pain that flared in his chest. You gave him a worried glance when his steps stilled, but he gently ran his fingers across the petal of one of the roses in the bush. You thought he was just smelling it, but in reality, there was a battle raging inside his head. A part of him wanted nothing more than to pick up the rose and present it to you, but another part was insistent that it would be too forward.
Elrond's breath began to wheeze slightly, and you noticed, even if he tried to hide it from you. You made your way to a bench, and Elrond sunk to sit next to you, trying to hide the relieved look that threatened to take over his face. The garden you had made your way to today was quiet, with only a few birds singing in the trees. It was just the two of you, a silence settling between the two of you. Unbeknownst to either one of you, the other was just as stressed about coming up with something to talk about.
When both of you did come up with something to say, you opened your mouths at the exactly same time.
"I was wondering-
"Did you-" You stopped when you realized the other was talking too and hurried to give them a chance to talk first.
"What were you saying?"
"Please, you first." It ended in a short spout of silence that was broken by your giggle, which soon blossomed into a full laugh. Elrond joined you after a while, his lungs aching slightly but at the moment, he didn't care. You looked so beautiful, the setting sun illuminating you with its soft yellow hue, and your laughter rang bright in the garden.
You managed to calm yourself down and were surprised by the look Elrond was giving you. It was so gentle, the warmth in his eyes when they met yours was undeniable. The world seemed to be still as you looked into each other's eyes, and neither of you realized you had leaned forward until your lips met in a gentle kiss. It was cautious but filled with emotion, gentle blooms of love flowing through it. Your mind was empty as you shifted closer to the bench, setting your hand down blindly. It landed on him, and it quickly became encased in his long fingers as he pulled you closer to him.
"Y/N HAROLDSDOTTIR!" A voice boomed, and you jumped apart, searching for the source of the voice. The garden was still empty, but when you looked up, you could see your father leaning out of his window. Even if he was on the higher levels of the castle, you could still almost feel the heat of his fury.
"YOU HAVE SOME EXPLAINING TO DO, YOUNG LADY!" The window slammed closed, and Elrond jumped up from the bench, walking back to put distance between the two of you.
"I- We- We shouldn't have." You cut him off.
"Now you listen to me. Do you want to be with me?" You asked, gently, trying to keep the hurry out of your voice. You stood and tried to step closer to him, only to have him back away.
"Yes, of course, I do, but-" You cut him off, your tone now firmer but your eyes still holding the love-filled look.
"Then there is nothing my father can do to tear us apart because I want to be with you too.
"He can throw me out..." Elrond trailed off, and you grasped his hands into yours.
"If he throws you out, I will leave with you before he can command the gates to be closed." You stated simply and tried stepping closer again. This time he didn't back away, and you were able to step so you were chest to chest. You slowly leaned in and closed the gap between you, your lips meeting in a kiss. There was more heat behind this one, the feelings you had been growing for the past months finally set free. Your hands found his shoulders as he pulled you closer, his arms wrapped around the small of your back. The fact that your father knew felt so distant and neither of you couldn't be bothered to care.
Whoo, this was soooooooooo much fun to write!
I am a little torn on part three, I don't know if this story has enough material for that... What do you think? It would probably be in the second book ;)
Part 189.