Involuntary Princess (Legolas X reader)

Part One

Your POV

My hands are slightly sweaty, which made me grateful for my gloves. My hair had been twisted up into a knot on the back of my head. Trying to distract myself, I bring a finger to the bun and twist a curl around it. I sighed shakily, gripping the horse's white mane more tightly. It took all of my will power to not turn her sharply to the right and race away from my group. It's for my people. It's for my people. It's for my people. We need the alliance.

"Hang in there, princess," I hear. Turning my head, I met the eyes of my maid, Gladeriel. "We'll be there soon." Gladeriel knew how I awkward I felt about the arranged marriage situation. She leans over near my ear. "It'll be fine, dear," she whispers.

I nod. "Of course," I reply, sitting even straighter to correct my posture.

"Five minutes, I reckon," she guesses.

I realize I'm not breathing, and inhale deeply. "It's all so exciting," I say, forcing a smile to my face. There are, of course, several guards surrounding me, who can not learn my true opinions. While they are sworn to secrecy, I remain untrusting of who they could tell. Except my old friend, Ténert, whom I had known for the past two hundred and thirty years. But even he did not know my thoughts on the matter.

Those five minutes passed extremely quickly. Houses came into view, with several people walking in the sun. They were mostly off the path, excluding one little girl, who ran in front of the horses. "Stop! Stop, stop, stop," I order, sliding off my horse. I walk in front of our head guard, who just so happened to be Ténert. Bending down to the girl's height, I smile. "Hi, sweetie."

She looks down, probably embarrassed or scared. "I wanted to see the ponies," she whispers.

Chuckling lightly, I lift the girl off of the ground and put her in front of Ténert. The girl's eyes grow wide and she smiles brightly. "Next time, you can't run out in front of the ponies, okay?" I scold.

Her smile falters. "I'm sorry," she apologizes.

Little kids get me every time. "Just don't do it again," I say.

She looks back to me. "I won't," she agrees. "Can I get down now?" Just like when I was little; attention span of a gold fish. Nodding, I gently lift her off the horse.

When she's safe on the ground, she wraps her little arms around my legs. "Thank you, dear," I laugh.

Gladeriel walks arm in arm with me, abandoning our horses to the guards to grab. Ténert, behind me, whispers, "(Y/N), I would really like you to stay behind me."

Rolling my eyes, I laughed lightly. "It's perfectly safe, Ténert," I insist. "I'll be fine."

He sighs and I realize how much I'm going to miss my best friend. And my maid. And my brother. And my parents. And my people. Inhaling, I allow him to pass me. Gladeriel gives me a strange look, to which I nudge her slightly with my elbow.
Then, the castle comes into view. My new home. Despite the training I've done to hide my emotion, my hands nervously shake. Composing myself, I remount my horse.

Arriving at the castle, the guards all dismount their horses. Ténert comes to the side of my horse and helps me down, though we both know I can handle myself. Directly in front of us, stands the king and his son. My father had told me to greet the king before his son, as it was the respectful thing to do.

Ténert close behind me, I approach the king with a curtsy. I allow him to speak first. "Welcome, dear," he greets, returning a bow. "It's a pleasure to meet you, (Y/N)."
He takes me hand, kissing the top of it despite my gloves.

"The pleasure is all mine, Your Majesty," I reply respectfully.

My hand is released. "Please, call me Thranduil," the king requests.

I then walk to the prince. He takes my hand and gently tugs at my glove, pulling it off. The prince raises my hand to his lips and kisses it before lowering it once more and returning my glove. "It's nice to finally meet you, (Y/N)," he greets, though it sounds rehearsed.

I slip my glove back on my hand. "Thank you," I smile. "It's an honor to meet you as well, Legolas."