Adult-FanFiction.org : Lord of the Rings

Underneath alien skies	By : Nuredhel Category: +Third Age > AU - Alternate Universe Views: 1617 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: II do not own Lord of the Rings, it belongs to Tolkien, and i do not earn any money from this work of fiction, it is solely written for entertainment and not for profit at all. do not own Lord of the Rings, it belongs to Tolkien,

Chapter List
- 6
- 7
- 8
So, Thilian is his one true love, now what? He has to tame the shrew so to speak, make her realize that he isn’t a danger. It could be easier said than done when considering Thilians past experiences. She really has some demons to dodge and is it possible for him to reach her without getting burned, quite literally? Rated adult due to some language.

Chapter seven Monster within
The eyes are a mirror
Reflecting a soul trapped by grief
Dare to stare back and unravel it’s secret
Uncover the monster within
He rode past the city gates so fast the guards barely had time to see who it was, the streets were crowded but the sound of hooves made people move out of the way even though he received many a loud curse and insult. Afhira was indeed fast, he had never ridden any horse with more speed and she was very easy to control. The mare was sweating but far from tired when he rushed through the gates and into the arena. He shouted for help and Raigh and a couple of the other men dropped everything they held and came running. Raigh stared at him and Thilian with disbelief written all over his face. “What has happened? Where is Shanrae?”
Thranduil felt so very helpless at that moment. “She is behind me somewhere, her horse isn’t as fast as this mare. Get Naragh now!”
One of the apprentices ran like a rabbit and the elf held Thilian firmly within his grasp until Raigh grasped the reins and held the horse. Thranduil just swung his leg over the saddle and landed elegantly on both feet with Thilian in his arms. Raigh looked a bit impressed but he went pale when he saw the blood and the bandages. “What the hell?”
Thranduil had an expression of fear on his face and also a lot of confusion within his glance. “She got attacked by a sting tail, it hit her several times. I have cauterized the wounds but she needs help, fast!”
Raigh frowned. “A sting tail? Why in heavens name would that attack a person? They are afraid of people and will run, not charge?”
The elf shrugged. “So Shanrae told me too, perhaps it was her scent? She was furious when it happened I guess.”
Naragh came running as if his robes were on fire, he was wild eyed and pale and he had three of his apprentices right at his heels. “Oh no, come, carry her into the infirmary, hurry!”
Thranduil just ran and Naragh questioned him about what had happened and what he had done. Well inside the old healer had him place her on a bed and he removed the bandages Thranduil had made. The wounds looked even worse now and he had to turn away with a groan, he felt how his knees shivered and he felt so very sorry for her. Naragh threw a rather annoyed glance at him but he looked the old healer back in the eye and held his ground. “I am not leaving her, never!”
Naragh sighed. “Fine, suit yourself but don’t complain later, I have warned you. This will not be pretty”
Thilian was just half awake, her eyelids were shivering and her eyes appeared to be rolling, it looked horrible. He knelt down and grasped her hand, held it firmly. “Thilian, listen to me, I am not gonna leave you, I am here. Don’t worry, it is gonna be alright, I promise”
She just groaned and Naragh finished examining the wounds. He was swearing so bad it almost hurt listening to him. “She is in shock, her body is shutting down!”
Thranduil stared at the healer with wild eyes. “But you can fix it right? She is gonna be ok?!”
Naragh stared at the elf, he was really truly and deeply concerned about her and the old man could see something within the elf’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. He sighed and closed his eyes as if to gather strength. “I will do all I can I assure you but she is in grave danger, I have to be honest.”
Thranduil shivered, the idea of her dying was so horrible he couldn’t even imagine what it would feel like if she died. He would die too, he was sure of it. Naragh sprang into action, he gathered bottles and instruments and his apprentices were running around following his orders. First he removed the burned flesh by using some kind of small knife, that started the bleeding again but it did not bleed that much now. Naragh worked really fast and he was mumbling all the time, there was a constant clatter of instruments and every now and then he barked an order to his helpers. Thranduil remained kneeling by her head, holding her hand. He did not remove his eyes from her face even when Shanrae burst into the room with fear written all over her lovely face. Ghuad was right behind her and he was ashen grey, he looked as though he had seen a ghost.
Thranduil winced when he saw her step father, feared that Ghuad would blame him for the whole misery. Naragh cut a grimace, he was covered in blood to his elbows and Shanrae fainted from the sight. Ghuad caught her before she could hit the floor and Naragh hissed while he cleaned the last wounds. “Place her in that chair, I’ll deal with her later”
Ghuad remained standing there and Thranduil felt his heart beat in a wild rhythm. Ghuad sighed, looked at him and his eyes showed only gratitude. “Shanrae told me what happened, I am glad you managed to get her back here so fast. People in the streets claim you rode like a devil.”
Thranduil could only muster up a very faint smile and Naragh placed a bottle on the table and uncorked it. A very pungent scent filled the room and Ghuad went pale from it. “Oh gods, is that what I think it is, oh my poor girl!”
Thranduil looked at Ghuad and Naragh with confusion written all over his handsome face and Ghuad turned around and looked like he wanted to be gone from the place sooner rather than later. Naragh grinned, a very wicked grin. “This fluid will clean the wounds and prevent infections but it burns like hell, Ghuad has some experience with the stuff.”
Ghuad grunted, he seemed to almost shrink a little for a second. ”The bitch that was her mother used that stuff on me, I have never screamed like that in my entire life!”
Naragh gave Thranduil a determined glance. “Hold her, and don’t let go. Here goes”
He lifted the bottle and poured from it right into the wounds, Thilian went completely rigid, and then she screamed and Thranduil thought he never had heard such a terrible sound before. He felt like crying and he was stroking her head without even knowing that he did it. He could see that the fluid appeared to boil within the wounds and she was shivering in spasms like she was dying. Her eyes had rolled back into her head and she made strange wailing sounds from the back of her throat. It was horrible to watch.
Naragh then injected her with something and she relaxed again, went limp like a piece of dead meat and the healer started to stitch the wounds back together. He let his best apprentice, a half elven man take care of the minor wounds while he dealt with the huge gashes. Ghuad was trying to help Shanrae who were coming back to her senses again, she was pale and obviously dizzy so he lifted her up and carried her off to their own rooms. Thranduil saw that Thilian was unconscious now and Naragh poured something into her throat and made her swallow. Then he counted her heartbeats and held a hand on her forehead. “She is so cold, damn it”
He waved at his helpers. “Bring me a tub and hot water, now!”
The men ran off and came back with a rather huge bathtub it took four men to carry. Some servants came carrying several buckets of hot water from the kitchens and they poured it into the tub. Naragh started tearing the rest of her clothes off her, Thranduil stared down and felt deeply troubled by it. Naragh threw him an angry and determined glance. “If you care about her, then help me. I don’t care if you are too goddamn shy to look at a curvy young woman or to sexually frustrated to touch her without getting a hard on, I need you to make yourself useful or you may leave the room now!”
Thranduil was blushing so bad he felt his ears burn, he just nodded and tried not to look down upon her as they carefully lifted her up and gently lowered her into the tub. She groaned and twitched and Naragh held his fingers on her carotid artery to monitor her pulse. He cut a grimace and his face told of concern and doubt. “Damn it, she really knows how to mess things up for herself this one.”
Thranduil frowned. “Oh? Has she been in trouble before?”
Naragh nodded. “Oh indeed she has, I am sure you know of her problems yes? One of the first times she and Shanrae visited this place she broke into my storage of medicine and ate at least two boxes of pills. I think she tried to end her own life and to her all the pills probably looked the same so she just took some and hoped they would be the end of her.”
Thranduil was staring at her face in absolute shock, to an elf the very concept of suicide is just unimaginable. It is a complete taboo. “What happened?”
Naragh sighed and started to lay fresh bandages out on the table. “She regretted it, very much so too. None of the pills she had taken were lethal but my oh my how she suffered for a few days.”
Thranduil felt so sorry for her, he now understood how deeply troubled she really was. When the only seemingly good way out of it was to choose to die then you really had hit rock bottom. “Suffered?”
His voice did shake and he wished he could explain to her how he felt. Naragh grinned. “Yeah, those pills were a type I made for Dheg, for horses with constipation. And some were diuretic pills or pills we use to help people with muscle spasms. Needless to say the mix proved to be a rather…explosive one”
Thranduil felt the corners of his mouth quiver but he did not laugh, he could not laugh at something that really was tragic. “So she had a tough time?”
Naragh grinned. “Pretty accurate yes, she did not leave the toilet for three whole days, we were giving her two gallons of water every hour so she would not dehydrate and boy, I have never seen Ghuad that furious or so much in despair. “
The elf could understand that, he would have felt the same way too if his son was ill and had done something equally stupid. He could remember the one time Legolas had been ill as a child, he had eaten some unripe fruits and had a belly ache for days and he could still recall that terrible helpless feeling he had had. The poor elfling had been bawling and crying and the healers had given him an enema which had resulted in the boy becoming terrified of them. He shook the memory away, it was not the time to dwell in the past.
Naragh felt Thilians forehead again, smiled. “Good, she is warming up, we can lift her out of the tub.”
They grasped onto the unconscious girl and placed her back on the table. Thranduil tried not to look at her, he felt like he was violating her in some way by seeing her like that but Naragh noticed and just chuckled. “Don’t worry lad, it’s all natural. I can see that you like what you are seeing, don’t be ashamed of it. She is a true gem wouldn’t you say?”
Thranduil could only swallow hard and nod. That man was reading his thoughts, he was pretty damn sure of it. Naragh dressed the wounds with fresh bandages, then he made one of the servants go get a night gown and told Thranduil to braid her hair so it wouldn’t get too tangled up. He followed the order and wondered at how soft her hair was and how it felt like the finest satin against his hands. Naragh gave her yet another injection and told Thranduil to lift her and follow him. He gently gathered her up into his arms and Naragh went to her room, it was almost identical to the one Thranduil had gotten and very cozy. The elf looked at the healer with a puzzled expression. “Why can’t she stay at the infirmary, I stayed there before I got well again?”
Naragh cut a grimace. “To her it will feel better to stay within familiar surroundings, where she feels safe. “
Thranduil placed her on the bed, very gently. It was a huge bed and it looked very comfortable and the blankets were thick and soft. It was obvious that this was her private room and reserved for only her. They did have plenty of space there so it was no wonder. “Somebody will have to keep an eye on her, who?”
Naragh turned around with a snigger. “You will!”
Thranduil looked terrified, he almost backed out of the door again. “Me? Heck no, I can’t..”
Naragh’s eyes got very narrow. “You can’t what? Stay in the same room as her without thinking about how nice it would feel to fuck her? Listen up, you do truly care for her, and do not try to pretend like you don’t because I have eyes, I can see. Many here thinks she is crazy, none of the masters or the priestesses of course but the others. They don’t really care if she were to perish. I trust you Thranduil, oh I know you are tempted, badly tempted too but you will never cross the line. “
The elf looked at the old man with a bit of confusion and also a small growing feeling of pride. He felt proud that Naragh in fact put that much fate in him. “Why are you saying this?”
Naragh raised an eyebrow and grinned. “You have honor my friend, lots of it actually. You would never disrespect her or worse, abuse her. I know you would love to touch her, be with her also as a lover but you will never try to force her into something she would regret later on. I am right and I know it”
Thranduil looked a bit stunned. “How can you know so much about me?”
Naragh sighed and smiled, a somewhat sad smile. “I have learned to read people through the years, and I remember what you told me about your wife and your wild youth. “
Thranduil tried to recollect his thoughts and Naragh pushed a huge armchair into the bedchamber. He placed it by her bed and placed some blankets in it. “So, there you go. I’ll come back in a couple of hours to check in on her.”
The elf sat down reluctantly, Naragh tucked the girl in and made sure that she was placed in a comfortable position before he left the room. Thilian had not moved an inch and she was so quiet Thranduil had to really use his ears to make sure she actually was breathing. The room fell quiet and he started to feel tired. It was early in the evening but the day felt like it had lasted a lifetime. He stretched his long legs and yawned, he knew he was supposed to stay awake but the harder he struggled the more difficult it felt and his eyelids felt like they were made out of lead. Before he really knew it he had fallen asleep.
He was dreaming again, he was standing in the woods outside of the palace and it was a beautiful sunny day. He could hear happy voices and then he suddenly heard his son’s voice, cheerful and filled with tenderness. “Watch out little one, I am gonna get you!”
He turned around to see a small girl running down the path with Legolas right behind her. She had hair like dark bronze and shimmering blue eyes and suddenly he realized that he knew her. He had just not met her yet. The girl laughed and Legolas lifted her while he made buzzing sounds, he was smiling all along. “Don’t put me down Legolas, I want to fly!”
“Little one, you are going to make your big brother tired, where do you get that energy from?”
The voice was familiar, Thilian came walking towards the two of them and she was clearly pregnant, she had one hand laying on her belly and she was smiling. She was so beautiful she did outshine the sun itself. “Naneth, Legolas is gonna teach me how to fly!”
Thilian grinned and grabbed the girl, lifted her into her own arms. “I am sure he will but for now my dearest we are going to have a bath and a good meal and then it will be time to sleep.”
The girl sulked. “I don’t want to sleep”
Thilian stroked her hair. “Oh but you have to, you have to be strong and ready when your little brother arrives remember? “
He stared at the scene and felt his heart shiver, was this a vision of the future? Oh by the Valar how he wanted it to come true. It was everything he ever could have wanted and more and he could not stop staring at them, his family. He suddenly heard a voice from behind him. “It is such a lovely scene don’t you think? I wish the same thing as you my son, I really do. I pray that this will be reality, that you will be surrounded by love.”
He turned around very slowly, stared at his father’s ghost once more. “So what must I do?”
His voice was shivering and low and he feared to see this beauty disappear.
Oropher smiled. “You know what to do, deep within your heart you have always known what to do. You just have to admit it to yourself.”
Thranduil swallowed and his eyes followed her like she was his last hope. “I…I don’t understand.”
Oropher shook his head. “Well then, allow me to help you remember!”
Suddenly he stood in the throne room, his father was on the throne and he could see himself standing in front of it, head bowed but obviously ablaze with anger. “I don’t give a damn about what you are saying, I am not going to do it, you cannot force me. No!”
Oropher looked as calm as always. “You will do as I tell you to, there is no discussion. Whence you are married you may start to like her, even love her.”
His own voice cut through his very soul. ”There is no such thing as love, it is a lie!”
They stood outside of the palace once more and he saw how his family walked together towards the entrance. “Do you understand now?”
Orophers voice was mild and gentle and he closed his eyes and sighed. “Yes adar, I understand.”
His father smiled and faded away. “Good, then you do know what to do!”
He woke up with a start and at first he did not know where he was. He was sitting in the chair with his head resting on the top of it and his left leg had fallen asleep. He grunted and massaged it, stared at Thilian. She was laying there motionless and only her moving chest told him she was alive. He gasped and felt tears running down his face, wiped them away with an expression of confusion on his face. Then he remembered the dream and his heart swelled within him with both hope and fear. Could it come true, could she become what he had seen, the happy loving mother of his children? He knew what to do, he had to lay his heart open, be completely vulnerable and accept love for what it was and what it ought to be. A perfect union of souls. He had to forget all about the man he had once been and dedicate himself completely to somebody else and for the first time in his life he felt like he was really ready for that kind of commitment. He loved his son of course but this was another kind of love and he had been afraid of it his whole life. He could see that now, he was afraid to lose himself within these strong emotions he had seen others enjoy, he had believed himself to be stronger than they were, more in control of his own feelings. He had been deathly afraid of letting somebody see the real Thranduil and he swore to himself there and then that he never ever would lie to her, not in any way.
She was so beautiful. As rare as the most precious of gems and he felt like he wanted to climb into the bed and lay down next to her and stay there forever. He would gladly lay down his life for her, she was his world from now on, she and the children they might get. It brought another thought to his mind, his first wife had died in childbirth. What if the same thing happened to Thilian? The very idea was gruesome, unbearable. He swallowed hard and tried to calm himself down. Could there be any way of avoiding that danger? He snorted, got a funny expression on his normally calm face. He could of course try to be satisfied with just living with her and stay clear of her bed? He could hear a little voice in his head and it was very sarcastic and dry. Yeah right it said, we all know how well that will work, idiot! You’ll probably end up with an extremely calloused right hand.
Then he remembered what Shanrae had told him of dragons and he realized that she actually could be infertile, at least with somebody not of her own race. He could see that image again, their child, their lovely daughter. He wanted that to happen, by the Gods how he wanted it to be real. He had to ask Naragh, maybe he knew a little more about these matters. He would be extremely embarrassed to ask but he knew he had to swallow all of his pride to find the answers he was looking for.
And then it came to Thilian’s own ideas and needs, it could be that he never managed to patch her wounded heart and soul back together again, that she would turn her back on him no matter what he did. That thought made his stomach drop and his heart felt like a rock, it would be the death of him for sure. He would have to do absolutely everything within his power to gain her trust and make her accept their fate. He sighed and tried to find a more comfortable position, the chair was made for someone a lot shorter than himself. After a while he managed to relax and since it was well after midnight he fell asleep again. This time without any more dreams.
Thilian was waking up with a feeling of intense agony, she moaned and could not remember what had happened. She was in her own bed but how had she ended up there? Then she remembered and twitched, oh gods, that animal! And then Thranduil had burned her wounds! She suddenly felt that she wasn’t alone and turned her head very slowly. She gasped when she saw that he sat in the chair next to her bed, he was fast asleep and she gasped and shook her head to clear her mind. She bit her lip, why was he there? He had saved her but she could not understand why, why would anyone bother with her? Shanrae and Ghuad were like her parents, they had to but to everybody else she was just a nuisance.
He had carried her back home, she could remember sitting on a horse in front of him and she remembered her own panic and then the strange sensation which had flowed through her. She had given up, simply stopped to care anymore and then she all of a sudden felt safe, protected like never before. It was as if some voice had whispered to her that she could trust him with her very soul and she felt that it was the truth. But she had no idea as to why, she looked at him again. He was so handsome, beautiful even. His rather sharp features and usually haughty expression made him look both majestic and distant, like some force of nature you could admire from a distance but never get too close to. They were alike, she saw it now. She too tried to keep her distance to others. But he had seen through her masquerade and seen the real Thilian, at least for a short moment and it scared her so much.
She could not let him any closer, she could not reveal the ugliness she was hiding, the monster she truly was at heart. He was so lovely, she held her breath as she admired how his long silky hair fell down his shoulders and his large but oh so perfect hands. He had such long elegant legs and his chest and shoulders were wide, she had seen how muscular and lean he was, he looked like some great cat or something like that and she remembered how he had killed that sting tail. He had not hesitated even for a second, he just did it, killed it to save her. One part of her was so impressed and in awe of him and the other half terrified. She could not allow herself to go all soft and weak just because of a pretty face. But he did make her feel safe, and she had a weird sensation within every time he had looked at her. It was as if she somehow knew him, but how? She had never met him before and she moaned in confusion. What was she to do?
The door opened and Naragh entered, he carried a tray of food and she could tell that it was enough for two. She wanted to hiss at him and tell him that the darn elf could eat somewhere else but then she remembered strong warm arms embracing her and keeping her safe and she swallowed the harsh words. She was no barbarian, she was grateful in some ways.
Naragh checked her temperature and she watched him awaken the elf who looked a bit startled by the fact that he had slept for so long. She hid a smile, he looked so cute when he was confused. Her wounds hurt a lot and she swore when Naragh helped her getting up so she could eat, it was a habit of hers but not one she was proud of, far from it. It was just that it kept people away from her, away from harm.
The elf stretched and yawned and got a tray of his own, Naragh had brought them a jug of thin ale to go with the food and also some fresh juice. The healer felt her wrist and counted her heartbeats, all with a very polite but somewhat distant expression upon his face. “I am gonna give you something against your pain, and if you start to feel feverish you let me know right away”
She could only nod and heard how her stomach rumbled at the sight of the food. Jalisa had a habit of spoiling everybody who got sick or injured and this time she had clearly outdone herself. The tray was filled with bread still warm from the oven, some very nice cheese and nuts and fruit mixed with yoghurt. She had also put a small jar of jam on their trays and Thilian knew that Jalisa was a master at making the stuff. From the scent and color this had to be strawberries mixed with raspberries and perhaps even cherries.
Naragh left and Thilian pretended like she was alone there, she did not even look at the elf who reluctantly started to eat. He got a surprised look within his eyes and suddenly he appeared to have an appetite after all. No wonder, it was delicious and Thilian ate until she felt rather stuffed. She burped and blushed slightly, the elf did not seem to notice. He had been very busy with the bread and the jam, it seemed like the combination was new to him but very much to his liking. Thilian sighed and leaned back against the headrest, she felt a little dizzy and her leg and hip hurt but she guessed that she deserved it. She had been a fool but she would never agree on it to anyone.
Thranduil saw that she finished eating and she looked very cute but also a bit introverted. He could sense that his presence there was unwanted but he had to reach her somehow. He removed the trays and sat back in the chair, he tried to find anything to say. Thilian kept staring into the wall and the awkward silence made the atmosphere a little unpleasant. Thranduil bit his lower lip, he hawked and she turned her head and looked at him, she was still hostile but not quite as aggressive as before. “So, your name, I have never heard it before?”
Thilian looked down, her eyes looked angry but he had seen through her little lies now. “It is just a name.”
Thranduil tried to smile, what he really wanted was to hold her close to him forever but if he tried she would probably scream and go completely nuts again. “A name is never just a name, do you know what it means?”
Thilian nodded, she looked at him through loose locks of hair which reminded him of the colors of a forest in autumn, He wanted to touch it, but he managed to remain calm and apparently relaxed.
She mumbled. “It means bringer of mist. They call the first night of frost that, it marks the end of summer and start of winter.”
Thranduil looked a bit surprised. “That is really beautiful”
Thilian looked at him with a frown. “You really mean it?”
He nodded. “Yes, that’s almost poetry. Bringer of mist, I think it fits you somehow”
She cocked her head, he had made her curious, perhaps he was more than just a pretty face and a haughty attitude after all. “How come?”
Thranduil smiled and his eyes got a distant expression. “Have you ever walked through a forest in the first light of the day, when the mist still covers the ground and everything looks like it is enchanted, put under some ancient spell? When the light makes the droplets on every straw and branch shine like diamonds and the air is so fresh and filled with scents it is like walking through a cloud of the best perfumes ever made?”
Thilian gave him a glance filled with disbelief, he did indeed know how to use words and she felt a bit confused. Maybe he wasn’t that bad after all? “I…I have not, I have never had the chance.”
Thranduil swallowed. “What do think if I promise you I will show you the forest whenever you’d like to. “
She looked down. “I don’t think that would be such a good idea, look what just happened to me.”
Thranduil cut a grimace. “I’ll be there to protect you, nothing is gonna harm you I promise”
She looked angry again. “Oh no? You have no idea of the harm I am capable of inflicting, can you protect me from myself, can you protect yourself from me?”
She was staring straight into his eyes and he saw her fear once more, the regret and the shame of what she once had done. “I am not afraid of you Thilian.”
His voice was very calm and steady and there was a warmth within it which made her panic, he could not care! He should not care! She hurt everybody who cared for her, eventually she would drive him away from her as she had with everybody else who dared to get involved with her. She gasped and leaned over, got as close to him as she could and snarled. “No?! But you should be afraid of me, can’t you see I am a monster? I should not even have been born, I am a freak! You will end up being burned if you try to stay near me, fear the beast!”
She screamed the last words, her voice almost cracked and she shivered all over. Thranduil did not know what he was thinking about, but suddenly he was leaning towards her, his voice but a dangerous growl. “Bullshit, you are no monster, no more than me. I am no stranger to fire!”
He forced it forth, the memory of his old injury, made it appear once more upon his face. He did not know where his sudden wrath came from but he guessed that it had to do with the way she thought about herself. His face was so close to hers he almost touched it and she stared at the gruesome sight with eyes that opened up wide in horror and shock. She placed one hand across her mouth with a startled little shriek and threw herself back towards the headrest, pale and terrified.
The anger left him like someone had put a needle to a balloon. What the hell had he been thinking about? He had frightened her and he stared at her with shock within his eyes. How was he gonna explain this to her? His face looked normal again and then she did something he never could have expected. She leaned towards him again and slowly she raised her hand and touched the skin where the injury had been. It was such a gentle touch, he could barely feel it but it made his heart shiver. She had tears in her eyes and her lower lip shivered. “Oh gods, oh no! Who did that to you?”
Thranduil had sworn to himself never to lie to her. “A dragon!”
Thilians eyes got even wider and she shivered. “What happened?”
He took a deep breath. “I killed it, I killed a dragon Thilian, one of your kin perhaps, so who’s the monster now?”
She stared at him and he saw tears in those beautiful eyes, he was sure that he had done it this time, she would hate him forever. Thilian gasped and then she suddenly threw herself forwards and placed her arms around his neck, embraced him tightly. “I am so sorry, so sorry! It hurt you! Scarred your lovely face!”
He was in shock, the feeling of her arms around his neck, of her warmth and smell so close to him. It felt so good he had to close his eyes in sheer disbelief. “It is healed, what you saw was just a memory, an illusion”
Thilian was crying, she touched his cheek once more and he allowed himself to enjoy the feeling. “You must have been so brave, to endure that.”
He did not want to answer, he just wanted to sit there and enjoy the contact. She slowly released him and he sighed, he wanted her to remain where she had been but he knew she had reached her limits. Thilian had a very vulnerable expression within her eyes and he grasped her hand very gently and held it. “Thilian you are no monster, you never were a monster and you will never be a monster, and do you know why?”
She swallowed, looked so incredibly young and hurt and he wanted to protect her, for all eternity. “No, why?” Her voice was just a faint gust of air and he smiled at her, his most comforting smile, the way he had smiled when his son had felt sad or hurt himself.
“It is not who you are that defines you as a monster, it is what you do and why!”
She shivered and sobbed. “I burned those men, and I have injured others”
Thranduil gently lifted her face towards him with a finger underneath her chin. “If you were a monster Thilian, as you claim you are, you would not have felt regret or shame. You would have enjoyed it, enjoyed their deaths, bragged about it even. You are no monster, you are a very lovely and lonely young soul born with a burden you never asked for. Am I not right?”
His voice was so soft and she bit her lower lip, she shivered from his touch but somehow he did not frighten her like others had. There were no hidden motifs behind his gentle caress, no malice. She looked down, her eyelashes so long and thick he never had seen anything like them. “Yes, you are right”
He sighed and caressed her chin with his thumb. ”I would never see a monster when I look at you Thilian, no matter what you do. I would only see you, Thilian”
She bit her lip again, her eyes pleading. “How is that possible? Everybody thinks I am horrible”
Thranduil looked her deep into the eyes. “That’s because you never have allowed anyone to see the real you. You expect to get hurt so you try to hurt them first. But that makes you feel awful right? And even more hurt and then it just grows inside of you until there is nothing but hurt and doubt left.”
She stared at him in disbelief. “How can you know this? You…you are right!”
He sighed and gave her a sad smile. “Because I have felt the same way, believe me”
She reached up, let her finger follow his profile down his forehead and nose, she had a puzzled expression on her face. “How can you feel doubt? You are…you are perfect!”
Thranduil let out a sigh. “That’s where you are wrong meleth nin, so very wrong!”
She frowned. “What does that mean? Please, speak common to me, I don’t understand a single syllable elvish?”
He smiled at her. “No? Then we’ll have to do something about that”
She cocked her head and looked very charming and eager, he swallowed hard, was this really the time to reveal to her how he felt or was it too early?
He was gathering his courage to explain those words to her when there was a creaking noise and the door slowly opened. Shanrae walked in with a basket filled with clean clothes. She grinned and Thranduil felt both relief and disappointment. Saved by the bell, he would surely have said something stupid again. Shanrae smiled and placed the basket on the floor. “I brought you some new clothes. I am so glad you feel better, and how nice it is that you and Thranduil are talking.”
Thilian grimaced but there was a small glimpse of humor within her eyes and Thranduil winked at her. “Oh, he has promised me he will teach me elvish”
Shanrae lifted an eyebrow in an expression which looked impressed. “Really? Good luck with that, I mean, how wonderful!”
She looked a bit stunned, normally nobody managed to stay more than a couple of hours in the same room as Thilian unless she was asleep. The girl was blushing slightly and Shanraes eyes got a bit narrow while she threw a suspicious glance at the two of them. She had a strong feeling that something was going on, something she somehow didn’t quite manage to unravel. “I’ll sit with her a while now Thranduil, I guess you have things to do, training and stuff?”
He got up, he did not really want to leave but if he insisted on staying he would arise suspicions. And he did not feel like explaining his intentions to anyone yet, it was bad enough trying to make Thilian understand that he really truly cared about her. He had problems leaving the room and went straight for the bath. He needed a very long swim and he needed to clear his head. He could just pray that his words had hit home and made an impression on her. Then he remembered that she’s might ask the other elves there for the meaning of the words he had said in elvish and he sighed and leaned against the wall, eyes closed and moaning. How was he going to handle that problem?
- 6
- 7
- 8
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Underneath alien skies