Daughter of Stars of Earth

Chapter Ten-An Oak Tree

*Thranduil's POV*

I'm flabbergasted when she asks where I would like her little sapling to go. Not having a clue, she smirks and chooses her own. Little did I know it would take so long to get there.

"Perhaps this should have waited until you were well." Elrond frets slightly, but the elleth's attention is on the sapling in her hands. And she still wears my coat. It looks well on her. Like an obsidian stone caught in flickering flames. Begging to be touched but burning all who do. By the Valar, what kind of thoughts are these for a king? I shake my head to clear it and continue on.

"The moment you left me I would have done this anyway." Her voice is strained, but I've no doubt she speaks the truth. Finally, we reach a small patch of daisies and I feel her eyes on me. I meet her eyes and she instantly smirks. My lips twitch at the sight. How I love that she smiles at me despite it usually being at my expense. It is rare that I receive smiles. Perhaps because I do not give them. "I should like to honor this gift by gifting it life and gifting it to another." She looks up at me with a teasing light in her eyes. "Will you allow me to plant this here, King?" She asks and my head shakes slightly with disbelief.

"Since I do not wish to traipse further, yes." I allow and she grins.

"Then you'll be happy to escort me." She latches onto my arm and tugs me with a shocking amount of strength towards the empty field. Elrond chuckles and I quickly begin walking beside her before she faceplants and drags me down with her.

"This certainly isn't what you were going to make your final bargain, is it?" I question and her laugh is light.

"Certainly not. I have something far more interesting in mind." Her eyes sparkle when she looks up at me and stops. "But now is not the time. This is a good place." She stoops and drags me down with her to keep her steady. A king stooping in the dirt. I'm sure Elrond is laughing, but all I can do is watch as her earth hands dig into the dirt. She takes a breath and wiggles her left leg, the one with the wound upon it.

"Extend this leg." My fingers barely graze her knee and her eyes snap up to mine. Amusement taints my mouth at her reaction. How fun it is to tease her. "It will hurt your wound less," I explain and her confusion clears. Still, she does not move.

"Ah, well has it occurred to you that I am in a shorter dress than usual and such a movement would likely expose myself?" She returns with cheeks just barely tinted darker and a smirk. I blink. I had not thought of such a thing. The thought does, however, stick in my mind a bit too long for comfort. "Besides, I am finished." She pats the dirt down around the sapling then looks to me. Her lips part, but she says nothing. I smirk.

"Do you need assistance, Princess?" I ask and she sighs. Humming a soft laugh, I reach out for her hand and she takes mine. Warm, she's always so warm, like the earth itself. We take a few steps back before she stops me. I look down at her eyes as she looks up at me excitedly. She calls to my own excitement.

"I shall need you to let me have my hands, King." Her tone is teasing and I look do our hands to find hers limp as I hold on. I quickly release her as she smiles. She takes a breath and faces the small sapling on her own. Elvish dances off her tongue as Elrond comes forward to my side.

"This is the true gift of the Night of Lothlorien." He murmurs and I watch as her arms slowly point to the ground, then lift to the sky. Green light suddenly emanates from the weak sprout and it shoots up two feet. My eyes widen. She continues. The sprout shoots up another two, then ten, another ten, then widens as if a hundred years old. Branches stretch above us like the elleth's arms and sprout even more, it's canopy heavy with leaves. Only then does the green light slowly fade and Aeolin starts to fall. I move first and catch her gently with hands sliding around her already too familiar shape. She blinks up at me drearily and my heart thumps unevenly. I reach up and carefully slide my cloak off her injured shoulder to find the bandage red with blood.