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The soft white light of morning filters in through the gossamer curtains, chasing away what shadows of night remain. You watch the rise and fall of his chest, though his back is to you; turned away from the rising sun. Even in slumber, he does not seem rested. And why would he, what with the fate of your people and that of all of Middle Earth seemingly hanging in the balance?
“I can feel your eyes on me,” he rumbles, the vibrations of his deep baritone penetrating your contemplative state.
A soft smile graces your lips though you say nothing in turn.
“Hold your tongue all you want,” he quips. “Your gaze is enough to wake a man from the deepest of sleep.” Slowly, he rolls onto his back before turning to look at you. “And yours is one I feel to the depths of my being.”
“Do you, now?”
He smiles and your heart swells. Very seldom do the lips of the High King curve up as of late; the deep crease on his brow softer now, though still prominent acting as a reminder of all he carries.
“It is a good feeling,” he responds, reaching forward to tuck a stray lock of hair behind the shell of your pointed ear. His hand stills on your cheek, cradling it. You lean into its warmth, closing your eyes and savoring the stolen moment.
The mattress sinks as he shifts his weight to prop himself up on his elbow; his keen eyes regarding you fondly. As he does so, the single long, dark braid you’d woven his hair into last night falls over his shoulder. You reach for it, toying with the end of the plait before working your fingers through it unraveling the silken strands. You slip your fingers through his hair, not one tangle to be found as you gently guide them through it. He closes his eyes and murmurs a sound of approval as you do so. You stay like that for a moment, quietly combing your fingers through his hair until it falls in a curtain of black waves about his shoulders and you swear he’s never looked more beautiful than he does now.
Tears well in your eyes and Gil-Galad’s open suddenly, shining with concern.
“What is it, my love?” he whispers as he wipes away a stray tear with the pad of his thumb.
You press your lips together into a semblance of a smile as you curve your fingers around his wrist. “Nothing, do not worry about me.”
His brow furrows as he regards you. “Now what kind of king, what kind of lover, would I be,” he pauses, shifting up into a sitting position. Gently, and with very little effort, he pulls you into his lap to sit between his legs. “If I did not stop that would cause tears to fall from these beautiful eyes.”
You lay your head against his bare chest and feel him drop his chin atop your head as he wraps his arms around you.
“I just,” you hesitate, searching for the words to articulate this feeling deep in your chest. “Are you certain we’re to trust in this strange new power?” You thread your fingers through his, your thumb skirting over the newest ring in his collection; the one crafted by Celebrimbor in Eregion.
“It brought life back to Lindon, did it not?” he answers softly with a kiss against your temple. “Protected our people?”
Tilting your chin to look up at him from beneath your lashes, you search his eyes for some sort of solace as the pit in your chest grows ever deeper. “I cannot help this feeling of dread, like something terrible will come with the rising sun; catching us all ill-prepared and unaware.”
Gil-Galad gently grasps your chin in his hand, turning your face toward the pale morning light. “The sun has already risen, my love.” He drops his hand to the exposed skin of your thigh from where your leg curls around the sheets. “Look at how it shines upon your skin even now; bright and nourishing. There are no horrors to be found lurking in its rays.”
A soft smile plays at the corners of your mouth as you find it harder and harder to dwell on these feelings of sorrow in his comforting embrace. “Have you always the right words to quell a fearful heart?”
He nuzzles in the crook of your neck, his nose skirting against your skin as he presses delicate kisses along the column of your throat before pausing at your ear. “So long as yours is the heart that I protect.”