Your Hands Are Cold

The Cowardly King

The next few days were full of bliss between Arandur and me, however pure hell whenever I had to see the king. When it was time for me to enter his chambers, and for him to review the attires I have made for him or when he requested me new sets of clothing, I gave him certain glances that showed my dislike and anger towards him. I rarely spoke to him in full sentences, and only gave short, succinct replies. One day, before I exited his chambers to get to work and possibly meet Arandur on the way, Thranduil stopped me in my tracks.

 “Maeneth, are you incapable of being polite towards others? The looks that you put on your face are distasteful,”

 “Forgive me, my lord. You’d prefer if I do not look at you at all when I speak?”

 “You insufferable little creature,” he hissed. “I gave you a chance to work in the palace, or would your rather go back to your life as a solitary orphan?”

 My cheeks grew redder by the second. “Do not speak to me of loss, for though you have lost someone dear to you too, I have lost everything and not just one person,”

 “I have suffered as much as you. Do you think that the ache in my heart after the death of my wife and your queen has gone away after all these years?”

 “You know nothing of the kind. You know nothing of suffering. You live a life surrounded by lavish furniture, and you wake up everyday with servants to feed you your daily bread and look after you as if you were a child. My lord, I do not mean to offend you and I do know what you have endured during the death of your wife and I have seen it with my own eyes, but there are others who have suffered much more. Others that include myself,” Tears formed in my eyes.

 “I am your king, Maeneth, and I do not expect you to speak to me in such manner,”

 “You are my king and I am simply your seamstress, but have you not thought once in your lifetime that even us, your servants, deserve a little respect? A little appreciation from the king himself?”

 “I respected you, however this incident has completely destroyed whatever little respect or appreciation I had left for you, Maeneth,”

 “You respected me?”

 “Yes, I did,” Thranduil raised his tone, and it gave me a little fright. It was as if he was speaking to one of his prisoners. “Every morning you walked into my chambers, I was ready for your arrival. I help you and offered you my advice,”

 “What advice?” I asked.

 “I told you not to form such close relations with Arandur, and yet you disobeyed me,”

 “Nothing severe has damaged me and Arandur’s relationship, therefore this proves you wrong,”

 “Nothing yet, but the consequences shall come soon enough. What I am trying to say, Maeneth, is that I gave you remarks on your work that I have never given any other servant, and I treated you in a way that I have never treated any other servant,

 “But you know deep in your heart that you still see me as the lowlife orphan, don’t you?”

 “No, I do not, Maeneth,”

 “Why?” I asked in a quieter, more inaudible tone. Right now, I was more curious than angry, and had longed for the king’s reply to me question.

Thranduil remained silent for a moment, possibly searching for the right words in his head. “Never mind, that’s not important. We shall not discuss of this further. Leave quietly,”

 I looked into his deep blue eyes and said in my heart: Coward.