The Probability Factor

Chapter Twenty-An Ace Beats A King

(Dialogue in italics is spoken Sindarin)

The welcome dinner was subdued compared to the standards set by the feasts thrown by the mortals. Thranduil had not bothered to pull out one of the stops to put on this tepid fete. No garlands of fresh flora, no copious amounts of wine flowing, and the food portions were worthy of a fine french restaurant, being so tiny you needed to hit a McDonalds after dinner. Thranduil was barely civil to Elrond, and just a tiny bit warmer with Galadriel. Celeborn was seated beside the King, and he seemed to hold the most favour, as Thranduil spoke only to him, but even then the King hardly spoke. Haldir and I were seated among Thranduil’s subjects. Even Mithrandir did not receive preferential treatment. He was seated beside me on the floor, while Thranduil suffered only Elrond, Galadriel and Celeborn on the dais.

Glorfindel was seated at a table behind ours, and throughout the meal he’d lean back and crack jokes with Mithrandir, Haldir and I. It made the meal bearable as the elves we were seated with only spoke with us if we spoke first. A tangible arctic chill had swept the palace, and I hoped Galadriel would cut our visit short, as I don’t care to stay where I’m not wanted.

Glorfindel leaned back during dessert and touched my back with his hand. “I am sure the Lady Galadriel will not suffer Thranduil’s foolishness more than absolutely necessary my lady. She is much too wise to endure his fit of pique without putting a stop to it,” he told me as his mind brushed mine.

I reached behind me and grabbed his retreating hand, “I hope it is soon. The King is doing his best to see to our discomfiture.”

I heard Glorfindel laugh as he let go of my hand, returning to the paltry dessert. Haldir leaned over to me and kissed my cheek.

“I am sorry you are not having a good time. I do not understand why the King is acting this way. Normally he loves to show of his wealth and power. Something must be wrong,” he whispered in my ear.

“What could it be?” I asked, keeping my voice low, so it would be hard to hear over the voices of the other elves from our delegation who were freely speaking at their tables.

“I do not know, but I am sure the Lady will find out. Nothing happens without her knowledge,” he clasped my hand in his, “We will retire after this so you can rest. I have a feeling our visit will not be as long as the Lady had hoped for.”

The meal was finally over, and much to our shock, Thranduil had no plans for dancing. The elves of Eryn Lasgalen left the hall without so much as a ‘by-your-leave’ the moment Thranduil had left the hall to return to his chambers. Galadriel was quite surprised by this turn, judging by the look on her face. She stood and nodded to us as she and Celeborn left. After that, the rest of us left the hall, with many of our contingent speaking softly to each other as we exited.

Not long after we left the hall and had returned to our room, there was a knock at our door. Haldir answered it, and Galadriel and Celeborn glided in with serious looks on their faces.

“Susan, I am afraid we are the bearers of ill news,” Celeborn said, as he reached for my hand.

As I gave him my hand I asked, “What are you talking about? What bad news?”

Galadriel stood next to me, and put her arm around my shoulders, “King Thranduil is quite upset that we brought a mortal into his realm without first advising him. He has asked Celeborn to have you removed.”

“What? Why on earth would he do that?” I was perplexed and upset by this demand.

“Susan,” Celeborn hugged my hand, “Thranduil has not trusted the Race of Men for many millennia. He trades with the people of Esgaroth, but he keeps contact with them to a minimum. He advised me that he cannot trust someone he has not previously vetted, and wants you to leave tonight.”

Haldir immediately spoke up, anger lacing his words, “My wife is going nowhere tonight. It is too dangerous to travel at this hour. We will leave in the morning.”

“Haldir,” Galadriel looked upset as she spoke, “Susan is to leave alone. Thranduil has specifically said that Susan may not have any elven guide.”

Haldir sputtered with fury, “NO! I will not tolerate my wife travelling alone in a land she does not know. I will not tolerate this, my Lady. If I have to confront the King myself, I will. Susan goes nowhere without me!”

Celeborn smiled, “You do not have to mellon-nîn. Galadriel and I are in agreement. Thranduil has insulted us grievously and we will not tolerate such egregious behaviour. We will tell Thranduil that we are leaving tonight. All of us.”

Galadriel nodded, “You are one of us, Susan. You are bonded to an ellon I personally value greatly. If Thranduil cannot see past the fact that you are human, then we will not tolerate his company or his questionable hospitality.”

Tears had formed in my eyes as I looked up at them with gratitude, “Thank you. You didn’t have to do this, but thank you for taking my security and comfort so seriously.”

Celeborn nodded, “I think of you as a daughter. Thranduil has overstepped his bounds by demanding you leave.”

Celeborn’s admission was the catalyst that opened the damn of tears I had been blinking back. I hugged him and Galadriel, as I cried huge body-wracking sobs. I hadn’t known how much stress I had been holding on to until I let go and had the ‘ugly cry’. I cried into Celeborn’s shoulder as Galadriel rubbed large circles into my back. When I ran out of steam, I let Galadriel lead me back to the bed and make me lie down.

“It is a good thing Celeborn has many changes of clothes with him, as I believe you have made your mark on that tunic,” she laughed softly, “You are free with your emotions and have resilience to withstand this. Do not worry any longer, as you have many on your side.”

I nodded, too wrung out to reply.

“Sleep, for we will leave in an hour,” with that, Galadriel smoothed my brow and as I dozed off into a light snooze, she and Celeborn left.

I was shaken awake by Haldir, as he whispered in my ear, “Susan, wake up. Susan, I have news.”

I opened my eyes and let out a big yawn. “Yeah?” I asked sleepily.

“Thranduil is in an uproar about everyone leaving. He is demanding you leave and the rest of us stay. When Galadriel and Celeborn informed him that it was not up for debate, he became livid. Elrond has agreed with the Lord and Lady, and we are readying the horses now.”

I sat up slowly, “Thranduil is still trying to get me to leave?”

Haldir nodded, “Yes, and with you, we are all going. He will not bully us. He does not have that right.”

Haldir helped me up, and undid the ties to my dress. My riding dress was lying on the trunk at the foot of the bed, as were my riding cloak, gloves and boots. It took a few minutes, but Haldir had me in my travelling gear and was tying the last ribbon on my cloak as a knock at the door sounded. Without waiting for it to be answered, it opened and an angry king strode in, and with that, sucked out all the air in the room.

“You. You mortal! You have disrupted my visit. You owe me an explanation,” he stood in the middle of the room, tapping his foot impatiently, his hair loose around his shoulders and looking as though it had been recently tossed about.

“I am sorry your Majesty?” I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about.

“My visit with the others. You have ruined my visit. Why?” The room seethed with his fury.

I had no idea where to go with this odd line of questioning, so I decided to wing it. “Sire, I had no intention to ruin your visit. I have been bonded to Haldir for almost two years and the Lord and Lady of the Golden Wood have accepted me into their clan. I did not know that you did not wish a mortal to enter your woods. However, my husband would not approve of me travelling alone, nor would he leave me for a protracted period, so I travel with him. I go where he goes,” I explained.

Thranduil gave me a cold look, “I am now aware of your standing within the Galadhrim. It is irrelevant. I cannot have them leave. You must stop them.”

“So I am allowed to stay?” I asked.

“Of course not. No mortal is allowed within the auspices of Eryn Lasgalen ever again. Your kind are not to be trusted,” he retorted.

“No deal,” I sniffed.

Haldir bit back a laugh as he took my arm and we walked to the door.

“I would say it has been pleasant, except it has not. So all I will say is good day, sire. I hope you sleep well,” I told him haughtily. And with that, Haldir and I swept out the door.

We hurried out of the palace, and found Galadriel, Celeborn and Elrond waiting on their steeds. Everyone else was either mounting up or checking the supply carts. As Haldir helped me onto my horse, the King strode out onto the terrace.

“I demand that you not leave!” he angrily shouted at Galadriel.

“Does that include the Lady Susan?” she asked, with a steely glint in her eye.

“No!” he bellowed, completely out of control.

“Then we will not stay,” Galadriel calmly informed him.

Once everyone was on their horses, Galadriel gave the silent command and we turned and began to ride out of the settlement. Thranduil was now incensed. He ran down the stairs and tried to catch up with our retinue.

“No! No! Do not leave!” his pleas took on a desperate tone. He was losing face and he knew it, but allies were hard to find when one isolated themselves to the extent that Thranduil had; so he took a risk and said, “Fine! She stays. Lady Susan may stay!”

Galadriel winked at me and turned her horse, “No conditions?”

“No conditions,” he grumbled.

“We will stay,” Galadriel announced, looking pleased as punch. “See to my luggage, please?”

Thranduil growled his assent and a few elves from the palace hurried out and started taking trunks from the carts.

“However, we will not stay long. We do not wish to overtax our host,” Galadriel called out over the throng.

Thranduil just smouldered and stalked back into the palace. I got off my horse as a stable hand rushed out to take the reins. I walked up to Galadriel as she was handing off her steed to another stable hand, and smiled at her.

“You had this planned,” I alleged.

Galadriel simply smiled, “I did no such thing.”

“Oh please. You totally had his number,” I continued.

Galadriel gave me a stare, “His Majesty has had a deep need to be reminded of who his friends are.” As she turned to walk to her husband, she shot me a quick wink.

I bit back a laugh as I strolled back to Haldir. He kissed me and we walked back into the palace, so we could go to our rooms and retire.

“Let us annoy his majesty further,” he whispered in my ear. “I want to try again for that baby.”

I grinned as we sped up our pace to get back to our room. We waited impatiently for our trunks to be placed in our room before we bolted the door and promptly stripped each other naked. Haldir tossed me back on to the bed, and promptly buried his face between my legs. It was not long before I was writhing underneath his arm, and just before I reached my climax, he pulled away and slid himself up in alignment with me. He parted my legs further, and I felt him at my entrance, poking my thigh and opening. Positioning himself, he plunged inside me and I groaned with the intrusion. He began a hard pump, looking at me intently as he thrust into me.

“I love you Susan,” he panted.

“Oh god, I love you too, Haldir,” I groaned back.

My hips thrust up to meet his and I wrapped my legs around his back to help him go deeper. Our groans and pants filled the room as he thrust with urgency. I quickly fell into a climax, but Haldir kept thrusting. Just when I thought I was losing my mind, Haldir began to climax. His thrusting became erratic and his breathing took on a ragged rhythm. I slid my fingers between my legs and fell back into another climax as Haldir kept thrusting and groaning my name. After he collapsed on me, I clenched my pelvic muscles around his softening erection, garnering a moan from his lips.

“Oh Susan, I need a rest. You have worn me out, my love,” he panted as he rolled off me and pulled up the covers.

“I love you Haldir,” I whispered back.

We fell asleep, all smelly and sweaty, but sated and happy to not be taken from each others arms.