Chapter 24

The next morning, Turi sat on the ground by a little silver stream in the rougher back end of the palace's gardens. She was thinking about the long hours she'd spent last night with border patrol making sure all party guests had been accounted for, minus one unfortunate green elf, of course.

She watched drops of dew as they gathered on fresh green leaves overhanging the stream, while a pale sun rose over the horizon.

The drops collected into little streams that plunged over the edge of the leaves to join the stream below. She always found streams soothing to the mind – reflecting the sky in a million facets, bubbling and tinkling along, curving around objects but never stopping.

So Turi sat on the outer edge of the royal gardens, beyond the view and earshot of any elves, and was waiting now for Thranduil to catch up with her. They had to talk about what had happened.

She was hoping to get some kind of explanation for last night. Any explanation besides the painfully obvious I-did-it-to-get-rid-of-Reinilian would do for Turi. And it doesn't hurt to hope. It sure does not.

Still, this wasn't easy for her, and Turi found herself having to take a deep breath to calm her nerves.

'Hiril vuin, gi suilon – my beloved lady, I greet you. Have you been waiting long?' Thranduil appeared through the thick of the trees.

Turi just smiled. Somehow, the tense circumstances didn't dim the king's material beauty. If anything, he looked lighter in the morning light, more flowing than he had when being weighed down by his heavy robes at the ball.

So handsome, she thought as she let her eyes wander over his brocaded blue tunic, up to his face and shining blue eyes that were fixed on her.

Thranduil smiled, too, then assumed a more sober expression. Turi nervously shifted and tried to straighten her simple green tunic that she wore to work, and well, always pretty much.

'About last night' he started. 'Our public display.' He hesitated, seemingly trying to find the right words to say this.

Turi frowned and braced herself for the let down that he was about to dish out. She saw her concerned look register on his face, and his expression mellowed.

Of course last night had all been a play, intended to publicly throw Reinilian off the idea of marriage. But still, he could have chosen anyone, right?

'Any one of the fair elven maidens that adore you' Turi suggested 'would have been delighted to dance and be romanced by the king in a public display'. She cocked her head to the side. 'Why me, if I may ask?'

'There is another way to look at all of this', Thranduil sighed.

The sweet perfume of the forest drifted between them in the silence that followed. As he crouched down to her level, he explained to Turi that being in his position means giving up on any semblance of a normal life.

'Everything becomes a public display, my dear Turi. You are never just yourself, but rather exchange one mask for the other. When I am not performing at being the ruler, I am the diplomat, the guardian, or the spiritual head of this community. The responsibility is enormous and incessant. A heavy weight comes with this crown.' He bowed his head, as if to give emphasis to his words.

Despite the sincerity in his voice, Turi couldn't suppress a smile and a roll of the eyes at the theatrical manner in which he'd declared his faith.

'Nín âr - my king,' she started, meeting his eyes and lightly touching his arm. Her voice tightened as she said 'to me this was more than a public service.'

Thranduil didn't speak, but opened his arms to her, and she leaned into them. 'Gi melin Turi – I love you Turi, you know I do.'

She closed her eyes and they clung together for a long moment. The distant thrumming of the stream and the birds whistling seemed to perfectly reflect the peace in Turi's heart.

As he pulled back he wiped the hair out of her eyes and looked at her tenderly. 'So now?' she asked. She wanted something, anything to come from this. It felt like they had been here before, and exactly nothing had happened following that.

'Would you really be happy to always perform, never be yourself, until there is no self left, and you only play at being a role?' he asked her gently.

Turi smiled softly and averted her eyes. She wasn't sure what to make of this. How to express that she wanted only him. That she needed him like the air in her lungs.

Thranduil wrapped his arms around her again rather than wait for an answer, and brought her into a hug. She faced away from him so that he could hold her in the hollow of his body. He was breathing softly over her shoulder.

'So you can spend the rest of the day here?' he asked. 'Well,' Turi pondered 'I should really get back to the office.' Saying that, her resolve faded even as she spoke.

'Sit with me' Thranduil said.

The end

Turi will be back, promise!  ^x^