Draco and Legolas

51

Draco had to admit that being able to wander around outside of the palace, despite the fact that the palace was literally outside, was a different experience. He had not been sure what to think when he had been told they were leaving the palace, and he had to admit to himself, if none else, that he had been a little bit worried about it. It was different, walking around along with the Prince and the King, but it was nice getting to see the smaller parts of Legolas's kingdom. He was shown around pretty much everywhere, something which up until now had not happened. Outside of walking to the Palace, the only places of the Kingdom that he had seen were the training grounds, where he had anxiously fought that Elf. He was still surprised that he had done as well as he had, but one thing that he would say for himself was that he hated making a fool of himself anywhere. It was partially why he had strove to do so well in that time.

He had heard that supposedly, things were going around amongst the servants of the Palace, but he had not managed to actually talk to one, so he was not sure what was being circulated. Furthermore, he barely understood his own bearing in the Palace at the moment, and he was quite in danger of loosing his status. He was there because of Legolas, and that was the only reason, that and the fact that the King had taken an interest in him, so his standing was quite...tentative, to say the least. He did not mind it, as he knew that these things happened, but it was unnerving. Pretty much the best thing that he had going for him was how much Legolas seemed to care for him, which was great, but not really...anything substantial. He knew that he was using Legolas, to some extent, and it did somewhat unnerve him. He did not like it. He was sure that Legolas would not hold it against him, however, but that was of little comfort.

Draco glanced towards the King, wondering what more he could do to ensure that he did not seem to be mooching off of his son. Draco knew enough about royal families that for now, the King had a vested interest in him as both a person that his son was curious on and enjoyed being around, and as someone who could become a threat, and therefore it was within his best interest to keep around, but that could just as easily change. He had seen it happen more than enough back in England. Things could change in the blink of an eye, and nobody would think twice about it. He had to be careful, and he did not know what to think about Thranduil's so called promise. That he could find me a teacher, it seems rather...suspicious. Likely anyone he does find, if he even manages to find anyone, would be reporting directly to him, and informing him of everything I was doing and gauging my ability. That is if he does not end up being unable to find anyone and just decide to teach me himself. Draco gave a low sigh as he tilted his head, watching as Thranduil seemed to sweep about the grounds easily.

"What is wrong?" Legolas questioned, obviously having noticed his conflict. It was yet another thing that surprised Draco greatly, and which posed another problem, how observant everyone was. It threw him off, sometimes, and that was potentially problematic, if he did not figure things out quite quickly. He was lucky that learning to control his own emotions was the first thing that he learned. It was not amazing, as compared to some of the Elves, but he also had not had hundreds of thousands of years to perfect it either, so he could give himself a bit of a pass on that one.

"Ah, it is just something that I have been wondering on, it is nothing to worry about My Prince." Draco brushed the question off, but he knew, and he was correct in his thoughts, that Legolas would not allow it to simply be dismissed. Legolas was rather...insistent when he wished to be, and Draco could not very well lie to the Prince. Well, he probably could but he did not really want to, hence his rather frustrating complication.

"Draco, I understand that you dislike speaking on somethings, but I do not want to settle a matter if it has you unnerved or upset." Legolas stated simply, gently tugging them to walk a bit further behind the King, who still headed their group. However, the guards that flocked them, Draco knew, could just as easily report to the King as the King hearing what he was saying himself. It was useless to attempt to hide from the King, he had eyes and ears everywhere in this Kingdom, literally. From what Draco could tell, the only place that was not observed was the personal rooms, and even then, he had his own doubts. He really did not want to speak on these things here, so he just shook his head towards Legolas who, noticing his increased discomfort though not his outright denial, simply sighed. "We will speak on this once we return." Draco gave a slight bow of his head to agree, thankful that the Prince was not going to demand he speak on this.

For now, as difficult as it may be, he did want to enjoy the time away from the Palace, it was just...difficult. He did not know how far that they were going to go, but it would seem that currently, Thranduil had deemed the grounds around the Palace looked through enough as he began to walk further from the grounds. He glanced nervously backwards, wondering if this was truly a good idea, but on the positive side, he knew that Legolas would stand for him, even if it was horribly unnerving.

"We will now take to the towns beyond the palace," Thranduil spoke, confirming Draco's suspicions that they were going to leave the grounds. He felt his heart give a slight leap at the information, unsure whether it was a good or bad thing. Who knows where Haldir is and here I am about to go in the middle of the woods that I don't know with my only ally being Legolas. Every part of his self was desperate to refuse, but he knew that he could not afford to do so.

"My Prince, have you travelled to all of the different towns you and your father preside over?" Draco wondered softly. Legolas gave him a fleeting smile and a nod.

"Of course, it is our duty, though perhaps we have not been as...updated as we should be. This is partially why Father decided to have an outing either way. Typically, any sort of travel outside of the Palace is done with ample notice. At least a few months are given to coordinate everything. This was rather last minute in comparison." the Prince explained dutifully. "However, during the recent weeks, Father has noticed that some of the coorespondence is going down a bit."