The Hobbit - The Desolation of Smaug Edition (ON HOLD)

8. Malice Amid King and Queen

This scene was not in the movie, nor the book - just to make things clear :)

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The King was silent; his conscious dwelling in solitude and in lifeless thought. He had decided not to feel. His complexion exposed no emotion – no sympathy – as he glanced upon this creature with glasz eyes and auburn hair. Her absence had protracted through decades, yet she had not aged a day. Her beauty was unequaled, such as a source of light within the gloom of the caverns of this kingdom. Her skin was not in the likeness of her father, nor her brother – not ice cold and pale, no; it was creamy, and a tone darker – like her mother. Her eyelids were such as a shadow, and her eye color radiated an understanding, wise and kind beauty. They were not cold nor hard, and they meant no ill will.

Thranduil laid rested upon his throne high above her, grasping the wooden staff in his hand. As of later notice, he had lost all thought of her. He had come to terms with his previous emotions, deciding that they were not affirmative; but a waste – a weakness – and something that shan't be felt. So he locked them away, his complexion evolving into the rock hard expression of which he was known by. Yet, he feared that one feather light touch by this creature's smooth embrace, and his vault of ocean deep emotions; care and concern, would drown his silhouette in the gloom. As was why he remained up high on the throne made of carven wood and elk horns – the position of power and safety – and not below, standing atop the stone floor before the creature whose resemblance was of the one who died a death of flames and salt. Thranduil's jaw clenched, slowly exhaling what was left of these memories within his subconscious, along with trails of sympathy and love, and his ice-colored iris scouted the creature's anatomy, his face running expressionless.

"I thought I had told you not to return." His voice was bright and released and echo within the caverns. Aria smiled, and looked up.

"Sixty years have passed, and this is what you are going to say to me? How deep is your affection buried?"

Thranduil clenched his palm into a fist and arched his neck, slowly closing his eyes as if to allow her words to wash away from his mind. Once his eyes were to open again, the King exhaled, gazing into the void.

"Answer the question... please", he smiled, as if to taunt.

"I didn't. Legolas brought me here, and I had no say in it", she cocked her head and smirked, "So much for the benevolence of Thranduil, Lord of the Elves. Is this how you now treat travelers to your lands?" Her voice was soft, and with a clang – hardly bothered, nor with a distinction of agitation.

"Only the ones who annoy me", he gritted his teeth and tilted his head, complexion slowly running into provocation, "thieving, short-tempered traitors such as your Dwarfen prince. And those whom I banned from these lands, such as yourself." His pale, soft hand smothered in jewels, gestured towards her, "Your brother, however... He is not too fond of you either, you know."

Aria chuckled, as to hide her pain, and leaned her head to the side, "I noticed", she said, and bit the inside of her lip. Thranduil squinted, then inhaled with his rich, butterfly-wing-shaped lips.

"You destroyed the one decent relationship you had, for a man – a Dwarf in fact – that you can never have", he spoke with composure. Aria's lips formed a smile that quickly vanished.

"Harsh words", she whispered and turned to the stone floor.

"It is a harsh world, my love." And he arose from his throne, pacing down the stairs with inaudible steps...

"I have him...", Aria's glasz iris flew up to meet his ice, and they gleamed and glistened, "father. And you cannot tell me otherwise."

"You might have him now." His hands locked behind his back, and he emerged from his throne in a towering stance; arching his neck downward to look at her, "but what about fifty to eighty years from now? Do you think his youth will remain? Do you not think that the grey within his hair roots will spread until all of the hair covering his body is grey and his skin is wrinkled with age?"