I feel Elrond enter my mind and I look to his starlight eyes for the reason why.

"Should you need to share minds I am here, mellon." He assures me and his care touches my heart. But I will not taint him with my melancholy.

"Your love alone brings me joy, dear friend. Thank you." Elrond nods and his mind removes itself from mine.

"Why does the Great Eagle think I mean you harm?" Thranduil questions and we all look to him. The question seems to have burst from him like rain from a storm cloud. How amusing that it seems to bother him.

"I should think because you pointed a sword at him last you met. He also heard you threaten to tie me to you and drag me back to the woodland realm." Surprise colors the faces of the two beside me and I smirk as Thranduil's eyes widen slightly.

"That was your suggestion, was it not?" He points out and takes a swig of his wine as my cheeks heat. Thank the Valar for my dark skin, so it is probably not noticeable.

"I said that was what would have had to be done to keep me from the fight."

"Ah, so it was your wish." Thranduil twists my words with a half-hidden playful smirk. Flustered, I forfeit.

"It did not come to fruition either way." I end, but his smile only grows. If only I'd known embarrassing me is what would make him smile, I might not have wished for it so often.

"I do not foresee your stubbornness fading, so the opportunity may present itself again." Thranduil posits and once again my cheeks heat. Is he playing with me?

"Do you wish it to?" I fire back and grin as he falters.

"I did not know the king had the power of foresight." Elrond interrupts and Thranduil looks to him as if he forgot the other two were here.

"An educated guess, Lord Elrond." He relents and the table quiets for a moment. I do not eat but drink water profusely. My tears have spent me.

"You must eat," Elrond tells me in my mind and I look down at the lovely food. My lip curls.

"It will taste like ash in my mouth," I tell him knowingly as I shiver. My head lifts to see him tilt his head to Legolas.

"You worry him, Aeolin. Sustain yourself." My eyes look over Legolas glancing from my plate to me concernedly. An image of the king's searching eyes pop into my head as well and I look to Elrond questioningly. "The younger Greenleaf is not the only one concerned." His voice is slightly amused now and I pick up my fork to avoid further argument. Elrond removes himself from my mind as he smirks.

"I did not know that you and Lord Elrond were so well acquainted," Thranduil comments and takes a dainty bite of his food. I shrug and swallow a tasteless bulk of meat. Not that it is not seasoned, but that my sadness has leeched the flavor from life.

"You did not ask." I tease and like seeing the small smile on Legolas' face.

"Must I ask about every detail of your life in order to know it?" Thranduil asks and I barely laugh at him. That ghostly smile slides over his lips. Lips that have touched my skin.

"That is how one usually learns, King." I sigh and shiver once again in the early morning light.

"Are you cold, Aeolin?" Legolas asks in a low voice. Elves do not feel the cold as keenly as humans, but I am weak and feel the chill around us as if mortal. Especially with only a nightgown on. I part my lips to answer, but the king has already stood. I watch him walk to me as he sheds his burnt orange and red cloak. With one smooth movement, he drapes the body warmed coat around me and secures it tenderly over my shoulders. He smirks at my flustered eyes and lips parted in shock.

"Do you now coddle me, King Thranduil?" I quickly tease to regain my composure. The king pauses far too close for company. His hands are still tugging slightly on the cloak, but no longer to make sure it's steady. More to keep me close. He ties the two small strings at the top to keep it on me. Or as a reason to linger.

"Do you wish it?" He answers my question with a question and I smirk.

"It seems I do not have to for you to do so," I answer back and am rewarded that strange hum that could be a laugh or a scoff. He pulls back and moves gracefully to his seat, eyes on me as he settles once again. My cheeks are still hot and the rest of me is quickly growing warm from his leftover heat. For one with such an icy visage he truly does emanate warmth.

"I...should wish to stay awhile as she heals, if I may." Lord Elrond reclaims our attention and my cheeks turn a darker red at his searching eyes. Hopefully, it isn't noticeable.

"Of course. A room is already prepared for you." Thranduil accepts and my eyes flick up to his. He seems unbothered by what either ellon alongside me things of our...teasing. As long as he embarrasses me, that is. Despite what it may lead to. Despite us both being long married. Our eyes are all caught by the red-headed elleth as she walks in with her dark fire hair and my thoughts are thwarted.

"Tauriel?" The king addresses her and she bows.

"My apologies, my lord. Wargs have been seen near the burned orc pack. I think returning scouts. Do I have permission to eliminate them?" She asks and I can hear the strain in her voice. She wishes them gone as much as I do. Her eyes flick to me as the king's do. I stare him down and sit tensely. He sighs, but there's amusement in his eyes.

"To prevent our guest from charging out and finishing them herself, yes. I dislike an unfinished job after all." He allows and I relax back into my seat with relief. Tauriel bows and sends me a quick thankful look before hurrying out.

"I will join her." Legolas stands and Thranduil pauses a moment. After a brief struggle, he nods once. I snag the prince's sleeve before he's out of reach. My grip is weak but his senses sharp. Legolas feels me instantly. He looks back to me with those blue eyes, always so much warmer than his father's, and bends slightly to listen.

"Keep aware and strike from above. Wargs are poor climbers." I smile as he nods and then leaves us. It is only Elrond, Thranduil, and I now. I wish I was fighting, but I am not a fool. I am in no state for battle. At least the physical sort.

"Before I left Arwen gave me something to give to you. May I leave you to retrieve it?" Elrond requests and I nod immediately.

"I believe the king will watch over me just fine," I assure him and tease the king at the same time. Elrond ducks out with a small smile on his lips. I look to the king and he stares at me.

"Are you warm?" He asks with a smirk. Huffing slightly, I finally shove my arms into his sleeves. They hang off me like a cape.

"Yes," I admit and his smirk turns slightly more genuine. "Thank you." My voice is softer now. More tender.

"Thank you." He returns and tilts his head to the exit. "You gave my son good advice." My heart warms at seeing how he cares for his son. He could stand to show it more often.

"I need no thanks for that. You know how I care for him." As if he were my own. My mind continues and the ache within me returns. My posture sags as I lean back on the chair I'm in.

"And how he cares for you." He returns and pauses a moment, calculating. Long fingers tap methodically on his wine glass. "He told me once...you remind him of his mother." I blink at his sudden vulnerability, but his eyes do not waver from mine. "I have been looking to see what he sees and have not seen even a hint." His brows furrow at me. "You foolishly dance in the rain, you bait me with teases, you wear your emotions on your sleeve, and you defy me with the most infuriating vigor. Your anger, perhaps, is like her." My eyes narrow at him a little.

"And yet you have not removed the crown from your head. The foolish crown I gifted you." I point out and he raises a brow. Why it would bother me so much to differ from one he once loved, I don't know. It feels like an insult.

"I am not finished." It takes everything in me not to throw a plate at him. He smirks as if he knows this. "She loved him more than anything. More than life." A little of his own nostalgic melancholy slips into his voice and calls to my own. I lean forward slightly in my seat. "But only today do I understand what he sees. The moment you called to him as," Thranduil pauses and actually chuckles, "your favorite little sapling." The smile on his face is as beautiful as it is shocking.

"It's a name that his mother would call him when he was being especially mischievous. That's when I saw that you love him as a mother would. Perhaps not as well as his own, but better than..." None. I finish in my head as his eyes burn into me. His words pierce my heart. The king's blue eyes are careful as he watches me, gauging how his words affect me. "As neither of you gets to love and be loved is how you love the other. I'm thankful for it. He deserves more than just myself. Far more." He ends and I'm frozen in place, my mind stalling for words or emotions.

"Of course." My voice is ragged. "Who could help but love the elfling?" I ask rhetorically, thinking of the ellon with a raw heart so ready to give.

"Who indeed," Thranduil says softly and only now do his blue eyes look gently upon me. Suddenly he blinks and takes a sip of wine from his glass before speaking again. "Since it is nearly time for the seasons to change, I should wish you to make me another foolish crown to fit the colors." His hand skims a flower atop his head and I fight my smile as he baits me.

"You cannot request a gift, Thranduil," I tell him and his lips curl up.

"I believe I just did." He combats and I hum a soft laugh of my own. "Perhaps as an exchange then? For one, I may not scold you for yet again neglecting my title." My eyes roll and he smirks. "You may also keep my coat if you make me another crown. Besides," Those thin lips curl up into a smile. "I believe it looks better on you than I." My cheeks heat, but my smile is wide.

"If we're bargaining, I think I should like one more thing." He arches an eyebrow, but I'm not able to respond before Elrond returns with something within his hands. Another laugh leaves my lips as I hold out my hands for the small plant.

"She refused to give up on it," Elrond admits and places the pot in my outstretched hands. "She knew you could save it."

"Ah, she is a true pearl, mellon. What a gift." Elrond glows at the thought of his beloved daughter.

"She misses you." He tells me softly and I smile sadly at the thought of a wishing Arwen.

"Seems Aeolin is in high demand," Thranduil interjects with that soft smile still lingering on his lips. "What kind of sapling is it?" He questions and stands as I do, his hand reaching out as Elrond supports me.

"Do you have any place in particular you would like a tree, King Thranduil?"