An Unexpected Love

FIFTEEN

This was originally longer, but I split it in half because editing a 6000-word chapter didn't sound fun. The next part will be up when I actually figure out all the dialogue!
Thank you @SusanneHoppe for the comment on chapter 14 ♥

Time for a full Thranduil chapter!

Three days, 72 whole hours. That's all it took for Thranduil's curiosity to turn into frustration. There was no way Navaheya would stay away from the palace, away from him. Something was very wrong for Navaheya to stay away for that long without any word. However, his frustration was not with her, but with the situation and everyone around him. Nobody spoke about the seamstress who was suddenly not present in the palace. She had been such an essential member of the palace staff during large events and palace-wide celebrations. The silver-haired seamstress had been picking up projects for years during celebrations. from helping make or fix things around the palace, helping the cooks prepare the massive feasts provided to guests and royals, creating garments for royals and advisors to wear during events, as well as even being the on-call seamstress during all large events. She would be in the palace walls, out of view of the event attendees, just in case a guest's clothing got ripped or stained. She would sit in the seamstress workroom until she was needed, no matter how long the event was or when the event was during the year.

Thranduil had never seen her at a royal event, She was good at knowing how to be hidden out of view. Thranduil had to dig for information on Navaheya, he as a prince, had never been told about all of her contributions to the staff until he asked an hour after she was promoted and he met her for the first time. Yet, with all her help in every royal event, in many different facets, her name was not spoken throughout the palace during the final preparations of the Autumn Festival.

Thranduil had been beyond busy, he had been brought into the planning of the festival that seemed like it was right around the corner. In a back, dark corner of his mind, he knew he had been pulled in by his father and royal advisors as a distraction from Navaheya's absence. However, the rational side of his mind reminded him that the constantly increasing royal duties were a regular occurrence for him, simply because of his princely status.

The blonde prince was being draped in a silky deep red fabric while Lady Gaylia pinned the cloth strategically, he was mentally lost in his own internal debate. He had been completely silent during the fitting, letting the expert seamstress work in peace. The silence had given the prince the time to truly think about all the details surrounding the situation with Navaheya, and how all the details fit together a little too perfectly.

The prince's thoughts were interrupted abruptly when the dark-haired seamstress spoke while she was pinning into the sleeve of the fabric,

"Excuse my question if it is far too out of place, Prince Thranduil. But your sorrowful attitude is palpable. What is taunting your mind this evening?"

Her voice was timid as she asked the question. She wasn't afraid of the answer, she was actually quite comfortable being a sounding board for people. Gaylia had been Navaheya's sounding board as soon as she had started working at the palace, as well as many other employees around the palace. She wasn't afraid of the prince's answer. No, she was afraid of how he would react to the question. The prince wasn't known to be a sharing person and was both impulsive and easily angered when he wasn't in Navaheya's presence. She had no idea how he would react to being asked such a personal question, especially someone he barely knew.

Thranduil dropped his head and sighed, yet he still remained quiet. Gaylia debated on apologizing before he could reprimand her.

However, she was pleasantly surprised with what Thranduil responded with after a moment of staying silent, "Lady Gaylia, you are quite close to Lady Navaheya, correct?"