With You

Chapter 16

As Thranduil approached, Celebelen motioned him forward. Her father chattered happily as he carefully twisted the braids he had made into a familiar hair style that he had done for her as a child. Amarie simply held her hand, her thumb tracing the length of her daughter's pinky absentmindedly. It had been too long since Celebelen had basked in the light of the Silver Trees that her mother held. The silver light and the powerful gold magic her father exuded simply by breathing was such a comfort of home that she had forgotten that she even missed.

Finrod had told her of all the things that had changed in her absence. He had always been keen on gossip, her mother had always teased him about his new interest in the business of others. Amarie had mentioned that she carried a letter from Este for her, she demanded to see it. When she was denied, she tried to employ her old tactic of puppy eyes, which made Amarie laugh.

Her eyes met Thranduil's as he stopped in front of them. Grinning, she asked, "How goes the day, my prince?"

To her amazement, a dusky blush bloomed on his cheeks as he bowed to them, "I come to inform you that the hour grows late. We must set off very soon if we are to return by the time the welcome feast is ready."

She stared at him as he avoided her gaze, his cheeks still burning. When she spoke, it was hesitant and tentative, "We will mount quickly. Elian said she would be herding the mounts for my parents. As soon as we find her and the mounts, we will be on our way."

When he nodded, she gently shook off the hands of both her parents to stand close to him. She made it nearly impossible for him to avoid her eyes. When he met her gaze, she wrapped her arms around his waist and murmured softly, "Let's go home, meleth nin."

His right arm instinctively wrapped around her in response, his cloak nearly hiding her from view in his embrace. As she smiled up at him, he nodded slowly. It was curious to see him behaving this way again, so stiff and formal. She had been told that it was often awkward to meet the parents in courtship, but he had always been so sure of himself. She would have never guessed it would have effected him.

She quickly found her mount as the others broke camp. As she grabbed the reigns, hands grabbed her waist and lifted her once again atop the horse. She looked down and saw Thranduil looking for his elk with his eyes as his hands were busy adjusting her saddle. Leaning down to still his busy hands, she told him, "Don't stray too far from me, beloved."

He did not look up, but took her hand and pressed a kiss to her fingertips, then another to her knuckles. "Never," he whispered.

All too soon, they were on the road back to Greenwood. She smiled when she saw that her parents had elected to ride together on a single mount, rather than ride separately. They had always been the kind to always be touching each other, but she supposed Finrod was simply used to traveling so much that Amarie's added weight in the saddle did not bother him. She idly wondered if she and Thranduil would eventually be similarly entwined.

Her beloved stayed true to his word and kept his mount ever close to hers as they rode. She tried several times to start a conversation with him as they pressed onwards, but he seemed avoidant. He never ignored her, but his responses were shorter and less forthcoming than they used to be.

It was a few days of riding, when she had gotten tired of Thranduil's emotional distance. She called out to Oropher to stop the entire company for a moment, and was quite pleased when he did so easily. Knowing this was asking for gossip to spread, she dismounted quickly, too fast for him to help her down. As he dropped the reigns to help her, she walked purposely to his elk and grabbed firmly on his saddle to lift and seat herself in front of him.