A Birthday Fit For A King

A Birthday Fit For A King

Posted: October 2005
Title: A Birthday Fit for a King
Author: Alex
Fandom: Tolkien
Genre: FCGen
Characters: King Oropher
Rating: G
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Author's Notes: For Jenny. Happy Birthday!

Summary: Oropher wonders what his birthday present will be.

*****

It was King Oropher's birthday and as always, he was curious what his wife and young son would give him this year. They always made a great show of keeping it all secret, but he always found out anyway. Not this year. Try as he might, he could not find the present.

He found his young son in his room, playing with his toy soldiers.

"Thranduil, do you know what I am getting for my birthday this year?"

Big green eyes turned to him and the elfling smiled. "I know but Mama said not to tell you."

"Can you give me a hint?"

"Mama says its something you always wanted."

He nodded. But he couldn't think of anything he always wanted that he didn't have. He sat down and played soldier with Thranduil for awhile, thinking what a good leader the young one would make someday as they placed soldiers here and there on a mock battlefield.

He knew that if he asked his wife, she would just smile and refuse to tell him. He knew the house staff would not tell him because they never paid him as much attention as they did his wife and he was the *king*.

After playing with his son, it was time for the noon meal. They had soup for it was a cool autumn day. Both wife and son smiled at him through the meal but said nothing about the day or about his gift.

He spent the afternoon napping and playing chess with one of his counselors until finally, it was time for dinner.

They had a feast for dinner with all the elves of the Green Wood invited. Most came too. There were roasted pigs and birds, sweet potatoes baked with sweet spicy toppings, beans and corn and all the many vegetables that were harvested in the fall. Oropher had a birthday cake made of fresh apples and walnuts that his wife had made herself.

But there was no sign of the birthday gift.

After dinner, his wife called for everyone's attention. And she told this story.

"Many years ago, there was a young elfling. He lived with his mother in a small house and though they had much love, they were poor and had little more than enough to keep them alive. The elfling had one dream. He wanted a pony to ride. He had seen the soldiers in the city with their huge horses and this was all he wanted in life but alas, his mother had no money to buy him a pony."

"She gathered all their old clothes and a broomstick and fashioned her young son a horse made of cloth and stuffed with hay. When his birthday came, she presented her son with his own 'pony.' While it was not the pony he dreamed of, it was a pony made with love from his loving mother."

"He rode the pony until he was so big that the stick wouldn't touch the ground anymore and then he retired it to a trunk in his room. Years passed and he forgot the pony."

"But he never forgot his dreams and this young elf grew up to be our own King Oropher."

She reached behind her and brought out a stick pony, newly cleaned and repaired. Oropher's eyes were teary as he reached for the pony.

But this was not all.

Young Thranduil had slipped away while his mother talked and he came back into the room, leading a small brown pony. He walked up to his father and handed him the rope.

"Happy Birthday, Papa. Mama said every elfling needs a pony, no matter how old he is. He is a little small for you to ride, though."

"Will you ride him for me then, son?"

The elfling nodded.

It was the happiest birthday he ever had.

*****

THE END

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