King Thranduil rode slowly on a majestic white horse. The king was melancholy and the horse was by all appearances exhausted.

In the first few days, following the devastating news that accompanied the raven, Thranduil had remained hopeful that he might still see his son alive. He had ridden with such urgency, that the accompanying party of elves had struggled to keep up. But the horses were now spent and their riders drained, having had little respite in two weeks. In the last few days, all hope had been drained from the elvenking. He had arrived at the realization that he was riding to retrieve Legolas's body. His only hope was that they might do so, before his son's body was either buried or burnt, by whomsoever he was with, at the time of his death.

The elven party that accompanied him was silent. Little had been said between them and they avoided speaking to the King at all costs, for fear of driving him into a rage. A rage, that they had witnessed several times they had left the Greenwood and had no desire to experience again.

The wood elves, unfamiliar with lands so far from the Greenwood, had stopped briefly at Rivendell, to enquire of the Greenwood prince's whereabouts. They had received information from the Sons of Elrond, that Legolas had last been seen with the Dúnedain, in a small village of Rangers, North of the Shire. The wood elves had been advised to make their way in the direction of the ancient city of Fornost and thus find the Dúnedain nearby. Although, as they had since discovered the Ranger village was well concealed.

In the last three hours, the King had sent out scouts in various directions. The King however, was unable to remain idle in the same place, and now the party was following his lead and wandering aimlessly in a northly direction.

The King clenched his teeth. He had suppressed his thoughts and emotions while he had ridden in haste to see his son, but now that their pace had slowed, his regrets were overwhelming him. The harsh words he had spoken, the many choices he had made, the barriers he had put up around him, had all led to this. The acute pain that he had felt so long ago, when he had lost his beloved, had returned and had begun to engulf him yet again. He felt it draining and weakening him. His eyesight was blurred, as he looked to the horizon and blinked, as he tried to regain focus. It could not be, surely.

His guards had seen the approaching figure, long before the elevenking had become aware, and they had moved forward to intercept it. But as soon as nature of the stranger had become apparent, they stepped aside and respectfully deferred, by bowing their heads.

Thranduil gave an almost imperceptible shake of his own head, as if to wake himself from a dream. There was no one else in Middle Earth, that this tall blond reflection of the king's own image, could possibly be. But having already let him go, Thranduil was now struggling to grasp hold of the present moment.

The figure leapt off his horse and with one stride was at Thranduil's side. He then reached up to grab Thranduil's hand.

"Adar*..."

Thranduil flinched, as if the touch was white hot.

"It is I, I am not dead."

His voice brought Thranduil back to reality. The elevenking slid down from his horse and grasped his son by the shoulders.

"Legolas, my son, is it truly you? Do you live by the very air that I breathe?"

"Yes Father, I am here."

Thranduil, having presumed to have lost everything he held dear in Middle Earth, and in an instant regained it; flung wide his arms and drew Legolas to his chest in a powerful embrace. Legolas was surprised by elevenking's uncharacteristic show of emotion and touch. He was briefly stiff in his Father's arms before he returned the embrace, the first that he could remember, since the loss of his mother.

Thranduil withdrew after a moment and gripped his son by his shoulders. He spoke with urgency.

"But how is that you live? We received a raven from Strider two weeks ago, telling us that you would not last the night..."

"I was wounded father, almost immeasurably so. In body, but also mind. Thank the Valar, I recovered."

"But how is it possible, that you were so mortally wounded? You are one of the greatest warriors in Middle Earth, you have not shed a drop of blood in the last one thousand years."

"That is not strictly true Father, but please walk with me, I have important news that I must tell you. Some of it that may be difficult for you to hear."

Thranduil tilted his head ominously. "Speak my son, explain yourself..." The iciness had returned to his eyes.

Legolas took a breath, he seemed visibly agitated. Thranduil was mystified, as this was so unlike his son.

"Father, I have pledged myself to a female ranger that I have met here."

"What?" The ice in Thranduil's eyes was instantly consumed by wild fire. "A mortal?" He was incredulous. "What could have possessed you?"

"She is not completely mortal, she has some elven blood in her, perhaps even half."

"You offer this as a platitude, it is almost worse; there is nothing pure about her!" The king was incensed. "What are you thinking, that you would throw away your future, my kingdom because of this... this thing!"

Legolas took a step back from the Thranduil, as the King's rage intensified. His anger was so pronounced, that the glamor he used to hide the dragon scars on his face, began to shimmer and fade.

Legolas sought to pacify the elvenking, but at the same time warn him. "Father I care deeply for you, but this is my choice to make. If you continue to insult the one I love, you will force me to retaliate." The prince's hands were clenched and his shoulders stiff.

Thranduil ignored his son's threat and spun from him and began to pace.

"This is madness, I demand you turn from it!"

"Father, my mind is made up, nothing you can say will change it."

"Your mind has demonstrably changed, remarkably quickly. It has been barely a year since you threw your heart at Tauriel's feet. Had I known that this was to be your alternative choice, I would have let you marry the Silvan a hundred years ago." Thranduil ridiculed.

A pained look crossed Legolas's face.

"What I felt for Tauriel, is but a whisper of what I feel now..." His voice softened. "Father, I have found the one whom my soul loves."

Thranduil glared at him and was scathing in his response.

"You know not of the love, of which you speak. If what you say is true, then your existence will cease to hold any meaning without her. And her mortality ensures that is imminent. Do you not think that when I lost your mother, I stood on the very edge of that abyss? You have no idea of the darkness that will consume your soul."

Thranduil could see the sadness in Legolas's eyes, but he could also see hope, and that incensed him further.

"Father, if you told me she would be my wife for a year or a thousand years, it would not change my decision. Every moment with her will make an eternity without her, worth it."

Thranduil's face contorted in a sneer.

"I have never been fully known and fully loved, as I am known and loved by her." Legolas continued and bore his Father's demeanor without flinching.

Thranduil stepped back from Legolas, he was wounded by his son's words.

He paused and then said slowly, the ice taking hold in his heart again and spreading fast, "You realize that you relinquish your right to my kingdom, if you follow through with this."

"I have no desire to rule your kingdom, Father."

Thranduil had been grievously injured by Legolas's news, and subsequent confessions, but now it was if his son had driven a dagger in even deeper. "Everything I have ever done has been to protect and further our kingdom... your kingdom ... for you and your future heirs. And now you casually discard it, as if it was worthless."

Thranduil's shock turned cold and cruel. "Well then so be it. You will be glad to hear that you are no longer welcome in it."

"Father..." Legolas pleaded.

But Thranduil had already turned from Legolas to leave. He gestured to the party and issued an order, without looking back at his son.

"We depart for Mirkwood immediately."

-0-0-0-0-0-

*Adar ~ Father

Hmm, so not the happy family reunion we were hoping for... but it's not over... yet...

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Thranduil Artwork: kindly used with permission from the very talented 'the wise snail', please see her other beautiful work on  https://wisesnailart.deviantart.com/