Weeks passed, and although Catalina had found out so much about her past, she spoke nary a word to anyone, wandering about her room and the library silently, trying to digest the information she had suddenly recalled so quickly.
"Manwathiel?" The elven king gently called to her one day as she quietly gathered a stack of books she did not intend to read.
"Hmm?"
"I need to show you something," the king lifted her from the ladder and set her down.
"To where my lord?"
Thranduil smiled and took her hand and led her down a long hallway away from the main wing of the kingdom.
"May I ask where you're taking us my lord?"
"That is for me to know and you to recall, Melamin."
He led her to the stables, where they mounted a pair of horses and rode to the front gates. The soldiers were just coming in from their daily patrols, and Veryangole stood observing.
"My lord, where are you two off to?" He asked.
"Nowhere you should worry yourself over Veryangole," replied the king.
"Shall I accompany you?" His advisor looked at Catalina with suspicion.
"No Veryangole," the king responded sharply and led the duchess out the gates.
They rode for some time until they reached the entrance of the kingdom, where the statue of the queen stood lifelessly still.
"Why here?" Catalina looked on, puzzled.
"You may only see her, yet there stands another statue, unseen to others." He dismounted and walked to the opposite side of where the first statue stood. He removed some branches of a tree, and unmasked a taller figure of a warrioress. She candidly looked off into the distance, past the border, looking for the adventured that lay beyond the forest.
"Do you recognize her?" Asked the king.
Catalina looked down at him from atop her horse.
"Me?" She swallowed, looking again at the statue. The king nodded.
"No one but myself, and you, knows she is here. She has guarded Mirkwood since I brought you to Asgard." He smiled, and again mounted his horse. "Come, I have something else to show you."
They walked in silence for a while, then Thranduil led her into a wide open clearing. Sun shone on the sparkling wet grass, and butterflies danced among the falling leaves.
"Come." The king pulled her into the woods beyond the clearing. Eventually they came upon a vine covered stone fortress.
"What....." Her eyes widened, a memory flashing passed.
Thranduil led her up the steps and tore away branches and allowed her into the small front room.
"Do you remember this?" He asked.
"This is the place....The place you said you loved me...." Catalina ran her hand along the old walls, looking around at the empty space. It was familiar, and a longing accompanied its sight.
A pair of warm hands slipped around her shoulders.
"Would you kiss me darling?" The king asked, pressing his lips against her cheek.
Catalina turned around and wrapped her arms around his neck. She kissed him suddenly, passionately, longing for his touch she had been deprived of for so long, and had never been allowed to have, until now.
"You have never kissed me of your own accord," the king said, catching his breath.
"And I shall do it again," Catalina pulled him toward her and kissed him again.
"Be careful my dear, you may awake something in me that has been asleep for a long time." He grinned, going to kiss her neck.
"Thranduil," Catalina pulled away for a moment.
"Yes my love?" The king asked in between kisses.
"Why did you not come for me sooner?" She asked, her cheeks warm. She meant the question to be unanswerable, yet once she asked it, the king's lips withdrew from her.
"It was Odin; Veryangole also had a part in it...."
"Veryangole?"
"Well, both he and Odin knew of the Elves' unrest, and the knowledge of prejudice toward half-blooded or non-blooded royals-"
"Wait, so if he knows you and I are-"
"Catalina, I do not care about what he or anyone says anymore. I will have you as my own no matter the opposition. No matter how guilty he makes me, they cannot take you from me again!" The king's blue eyes shone with tears, all of the desperation and love he had stored up for so long finally emptying of him. "You are my love, and I will not have him stand in my way of you." He held her close to him. "For years, he held that guilt over my head, reminding me of Eluriel, and how I should have loved her; Maybe she would still be alive, but I kept waiting. I knew Odin would send you one day, and I would have my love."
Catalina smiled and hugged him tight. "Amin mela lle, Thranduil." She listened to his heartbeat quicken at the sound of her words. She felt his hands tighten around her.
"You truly....?"
"Yes Thranduil," she smiled, and kissed him. The king and duchess fell into each other, their arms intertwined and their lips joined. They stayed together for a long while, until the sun threatened to set, and the couple reluctantly sighed and, hand in hand, walked together back to the kingdom of the elves.
"Thank you," Catalina turned to the king," thank you for showing me those things."
He simply smiled back at her, and kissed her hand. "Your welcome my love."
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Once Upon A Dream (Thranduil Fanfic)
Fanfiction(Completed!) When Asgard sends its princess to Middle-Earth, Odin doesn't believe that she will remember anything. But when the Elven king Thranduil is allowed to give her a relic of old times, the princess will begin to learn a little more about he...
