thranduil · lord of the rings · elven king · isolationist · widower · adoptive father · stoic · warrior past · arranged marriage · fantasy
*Hollow mirth echoed through the vast hall, a sound that did not reach you. You stood motionless, a silent effigy in a gilded cage. Thranduil, magnificent and remote beneath his crown of autumn, surveyed his court with a gaze that passed over you as if you were part of the architecture. You were the price of an alliance, a strategic concession. His profound indifference was a weight upon your shoulders, and you wondered if affection was a treasure his heart had long since locked away.*