The princess was indeed, very beautiful. As she was walking towards the Elvenking, not a single soul was not mesmerized by her aura. Every of the princess' step was as prideful and strong as the ocean waves. Her eyes were bluer than the droplets of the sea in autumn's air. And the very first sunlight of the gayest day was nothing compared to the golden stream of her hair.

Thranduil was caught up with the scene in front of him so well that he had to admit dearly Faeryn's words earlier. She is all the grace and beauty anyone could think of.

"I think I believe you now." Thranduil nudged the elleth besides him. He had made an order to save her a special seat next to him when this happens, thought that he would need her presence more than usual.

Silence.

The entire throne room was full of chatters, admirations, praises as the princess walked by, however the only sound Thranduil wanted to hear was not among them.

Carefully, he turned and seeked for Faeryn's face; what Thranduil had found shortly later, unfortunately, was nowhere close to what he had prepared for.

Her eyes went wide and her breath was skaking. In the moment, Faeryn looked as if she would collaspe anytime soon.

None of them noticed that the crowd had already piped down to Anglor's greetings. "Welcome, my dear friend of Aerindel and Your Majesty. Welcome you all, to Woodland Realm of High King Thranduil."

At the corner of his eyes, Thranduil saw the princess and her Ambassador looking at him whilst nodding to their surrounding. Her look put the elf on his nerve somehow, an uncomfortable feeling reigned the Elvenking.

"Faeryn, are you not feeling well?" Secretly, he started to poke the stunned elleth but just like a statue already carved in dismay, Faeryn showed no sign of hearing the king.

The maiden elf's forest green eyes never left the princess. Just then, he noticed that the blonde royal got distracted too, her glance eventually left the king and moved to the one beside him. What surprised Thranduil afterward was when the princess began to smile and waved to Faeryn.

"Do you know her, Faeryn?" Baffled Thranduil. He felt clueless about the contrary reactions between the two elleths.

However to Thranduil's dismay, Faeryn remained a mute. The king was started to be irritated by the fact that he was neglected

"The pleasure is all ours, my Lord." The princess softly said as she slightly bended her knees for a bow, eyes still on Faeryn.

"Ahh, the precious daughter of King Glindaeron, how come I did not catch your name?" In the same polite manners, Anglor concerned the princess.

And she smiled sweetly at the question as if her name was something full of mysteries and riddles while her eyes were still following Faeryn's every move. Thranduil was discomforted for his friend's sake, despite how much of a beauty she was, the princess of the Eastern Ocean looked no more than trouble.

"I was named after the first sound I heard and the first thing I saw when I was born into this world by my mother. It's-"

"Aerondess."

And for a time as long as forever, Faeryn finally spoke. The word was weak and shaken as it was voiced but although when it was small, Thranduil still found it audible. A name. A name that from the back of his mind, he heard it too right at the same time Faeryn said it. The king spun to where the honor guests were and he knew it was not hallucination he just heard. The princess had given her name, a name Faeryn knew.

"Faeryn? Look at me, my friend." Strucked with questions and strange feelings which had been a mess since that morning, Thranduil tried to shake some sense out of the elleth.

Finally, she turned. In her beautiful forest green eyes, the king saw disbelief and fear, it broke his heart to see Faeryn like that, so little and so weak. The maiden elf had become one thing that she did not wish to turn into: a broken.

"Look at me, Faeryn. Look at me." Forcefully, Thranduil said. For that the elleth had been pushing him away and made herself look anywhere but him, he held her tightly in his grip, not giving a care about the odd looks given by some of the Members to had taken notice.

"Aerondess... It's Aerondess... No wonder why she's here..." Mumbled Faeryn under her breath frantically.

She looked wild, her mesmerizing green orbs kept darting here and there and she sounded as if she was on the verge of crying.

"Faeryn. Look at me, my friend." Struggle Thranduil was as he was trying to bring back the black haired's rationality or even what was left of it. "Look. Into. My. Eyes."

Faeryn was startled by the demand, slowly, like how the first light of spring would rise above the trees and shine above Woodland Realm, she met Thranduil's steady blue eyes staring down at her, wide and strong.

She blinked a few times and he let out a tiring sigh, hesitantly loosen his grip. "Are you alright now?" The handsome elf asked, although he had let her go, Thranduil's voice was visibly stiff and his shoulders were all tensed up under the layer of fabric.

"Is there anything I should know?" He asked, searching for an answer in Faeryn's eyes.

The elleth looked away, she gazed down at Princess Aerondess, a painful, distraught and emotionless gaze it was. Right then, as Aerondess started to move closer to them, step by step, her blue eyes did not leave Faeryn neither.

But before Thranduil was satisfied with Faeryn's response, Aerondess decided to join in the conversation.

"King Thranduil, it is a pleasure to have finally met you."

Thranduil nodded. "Please, you are the honour guest of Woodland Realm. Make yourself at home, I insist." With the same polite tone, he answered.

Thranduil found it funny how the royals were so predictable. Perhaps it was because how they were raised to become heirs and heiresses. Same attitude, same manners, same way of acting, Thranduil sometimes felt suffocated in such soceity of which he was born into.

Elegantly she moved toward Faeryn and exclaimed. "Faeryn dear! I did not expect to see you here!"

The green eyed elleth shifted into a more relaxing position as she tried to be more welcoming.

"Neither did I, my Lady. How inappropriate I was in our first meeting, I hope for your understanding."

The scene playing between the females confused the king. Obviously that they had known each other before this. "You never told me you two are acquaintances." He questioned the Silvan elleth with surprise.

"I haven't?" Faeryn replied in puzzle. She was faking it and Thranduil could tell it in one blink. He had known the maiden for ages, and the time was long enough to understand someone like a part of himself.

The king wondered what was happening to his dear friend - She had seemed to be out of herself lately - and it made him worry "Not that I could recall, no."

They stood there for a while with an awkward silence hanging in the air. The atmosphere became heavy, and Thranduil was sure Lord Anglor was eyeing the trio in secrecy.

Faeryn coughed and smiled forcefully, bowing to the duo. "Please excuse me. I believe my father is calling for me." She said, and started making her way out of the room. But not before whispering into Thranduil's ear.

"Manners, my king."

Then, she waltzed away from sight and started blending in the crowd of Elves. The blonde elf's eyes lingered on his friend's retreating figure until it went out of sight, and only one thought occupied his mind, making him sigh.

And she left. Again