Thanks so much for all the support surrounding my first story, "The struggles of a new King." Here in the sequel we find Legolas nearing his coming of age, at age 42, being around age 16-17 in elvish years. It is not neccessary to read "struggles" to read this story, but it would be easier to follow the characters and understand them. Regardless here's a rundown of those character's and a few new ones. Please review!
Earien- Thranduil's wife, queen of Mirkwood, mother of Legolas.
Luin- Earien's younger brother and Legolas' uncle. Foreign rep of Mirkwood.
Salias- Thranduil's cousin and captain of the Southern Patrol, father of Calis.
Alonnen- Salias' wife and mother of Calis. Earien's closest friend.
Calis- Son of Salias and Alonnen.
Faroth- Thranduil's Captain of Defense and a close family friend.
Amandil- Thranduil's captain of the guard.
Pelior- Thranduil's servant.
Iellwen- Earien's servant.
Thangannas- Thranduil's personal guard.
Adanion- Earien's guard.
Unwe- Royal healer.
Huldion- high ranking captain of Mirkwood, Sentinel Captain.
August 9 TA 1636
It was not a good day for paperwork. It was warm. Delightfully warm in Mirkwood, and it was always difficult for Thranduil to remain indoors on warm summer days. He wished to join his family outdoors in the light. After the length of time it took Salias and Alonnen to marry, he enjoyed the sound of their childrens' laughter and their company. He heard steps, and raised his head.
"Sir, you asked for me?" Amandil said and bowed.
Thranduil sat on his throne, writing out a report in his lap. "Yes, where is the queen?"
"With Lady Alonnen, sir. In the garden." Thranduil watched him thoughtfully, his ice blue eyes piercing Amandil's. "Could you ask her to meet me in our quarters please?"
"Of course, my king." He said quietly. "And Amandil?"
He turned, "yes, my lord?"
"Have you seen my son?"
Legolas dashed across the path, ducking into a bush, unable to hide his smile. He tethered in his giggling, and waited silently for his cousin to run by. He couldn't hear his steps, so he quickly scaled the tree next to him, laying on his stomach on the lowest branch. He reached for an arrow on his back, stringing his training bow. His cousin ran by, stopping a little further down the path.
He giggled, "I can hear you breathing Legolas!" He laughed, and Legolas shot an arrow near his feet. His cousin flinched, and laughed. "Where are you, you cheat?"
Legolas slid, and hung from the branch by his arms. "Looking for me?" He laughed and dropped to his feet, and the two drew their training swords. They always sparred, and Legolas' hands were covered in scars to prove it. Although the swords were blunted, they were rough enough with them to make them hurt. Calis ran away, and Legolas pursued him, giggling. Calis ran straight into Amandil, and Legolas tripped over a root, skinning his knee. He looked guiltily up at his father's captain of the guard.
"What did your father tell you about the forest Legolas?" He asked quietly.
"He said not to go out in the forest unless we asked him or nana or Faroth or you."
"Did you ask?"
"No." He said quietly. "Ada and nana will be angry."
"They have a good reason to be do they not?"
"Yes." He said guiltily and Amandil smiled despite himself. Legolas' large blue eyes were fearful, and Calis looked equally guilty. "Let's go see your Ada. He was worried about you." Amandil led Legolas and Calis up the stairs to the throne, where Thranduil looked up from his paperwork, relief and annoyance in his face.
Amandil stood behind Legolas and Calis, and the two looked guiltily at the King.
"Will you not tell the king where you were?" Amandil asked.
"In the forest," Legolas mumbled.
Thranduil's eyebrows rose, "whom did you ask permission?"
"No one Ada."
"Why not?" He asked, and looked at Calis. "Go find your Ada." He nodded, and ran down the stairs. Tears gathered in Legolas' eyes, and Thranduil sighed with an amused wink at Amandil, who took the paperwork from his hand. Thranduil stood and put his hands on Legolas' shoulders. "Legolas, this is not something that can go unpunished. You have been warned many times."
"I know Ada." He said quietly. Earien approached them, and Thranduil smirked at her.
"Legolas, what is the matter?" Earien asked, wiping hair from his face. She glanced at Thranduil from behind Legolas' shoulder and he laughed.
"Legolas was in the forest without permission." He said.
"What? Legolas. You know you cannot leave the stronghold alone."
"I know Nana. I am sorry."
Earien exchanged knowing looks with Thranduil, and Earien cleared her throat, "I think this means two weeks confinement, and I'll be taking your training weapons."
"Two weeks! Nana-"
"Legolas," Thranduil growled, and he backed down instantly.
"Yes, Nana. My apologies," he corrected himself quickly, "may I be excused?"
"Yes. After you give me your bow and your sword," Thranduil said, and he reluctantly handed them over and walked off.
Earien sighed, and her and Thranduil linked arms and walked down the corridor followed by Thangannas and Adanion, Earien's guard. "That may have been harsh," she said.
"No, I would have been harder on him. He is nearly of age and the forest is getting more and more dangerous by the day. He is not an elfling and needs to grow up before he finds himself on a patrol and learns the way far too many learn."
"You are right, of course. I just know he wishes to please you so."
Thranduil sighed and squeezed her arm gently, "he knows I am proud of him."
"Yes, but he wishes to show you his worth, as a warrior. He has heard the stories of your valor and sacrifice of old."
"You are right," he said, and they entered their quarters, Thangannas and Adanion took their places at either side of the door. Thranduil sighed and collapsed onto the bed, his back sore from sitting hunched over. Earien crawled into the bed beside him and planted kisses along his jawline. He hummed in approval and rolled over to face her and return the affection, "I do not have another meeting until later in the evening, we could spend some time together," he murmured and pulled her into his arms.
"Sounds wonderful to me," she said quietly and he smiled- and there was a knock at the door.
Thranduil groaned audibly, and rolled off the bed and straightened his robes. "Enter."
Faroth entered, and greeted Thranduil and Earien, "I hope I was not disturbing anything."
"You were, actually. Is something wrong?"
Faroth smiled knowingly, "Lorn has arrived, sir."
"Lorn?" Earien asked.
"Yes, a man that rules a town outside of Gondor arrive today. They wish to speak to me of a fugitive."
"A fugitive? What do they mean of that?" She asked.
"I do not know, but I agreed to meet with them."
"Do they speak sindarin?"
"No." He said quietly. His westron was weak, and he disliked speaking it.
"Can you translate for me if I do not know a word or two?"
"Yes of course." She smiled "perhaps it is time for you to learn westron properly." She said, rising.
"I have tried, you remember my father trying to teach me." He said, sighing. "Languages are very difficult for me."
"I will teach you if you'd like. A little at a time, and I will not hit you for making mistakes." She said, referencing Oropher.
"I think it may be time, but I tell you it will not be well found."
"Do not fret. We will work together." They got dressed, and Faroth told him the men were ready. They walked down to the Royal Council room, and two guards opened the doors for them.
"All rise for the king and queen." The guard called, and the men rose along with Luin and Faroth. It was a small table, two men sitting on one side, a younger and an older, and on the other side sat Thranduil and Earien. Luin and Faroth sat on opposite ends, and Earien studied the men closely.
"It is nice to meet you, your majesty." The older man said kindly. "My name is Lorn and this is my son, Erron." He said gesturing to the younger man sitting next to him.
"My name is Thranduil, and this is my wife, Earien," Thranduil said quietly.
Lorn smiled, "I am rusty with my sindarin, but I am sure I can manage." He said in sindarin, and thranduil couldn't hide his surprised grin. Thranduil had never really been exposed to men, and the man's age was abrupt to him.
"Thank you, but westron is acceptable here. What is it you needed council for?" Thranduil said.
"There are two elves, a couple, walking my village. They've killed three of my guards, and stolen from the treasury. I have done all I could to catch them but I admit defeat."
"These elves are from Mirkwood?" Earien asked.
"I believe so, your majesty. I found this patch in the hands of one of the dead. He must have torn it off before they got away." He opened his hand, a red sentinel patch.
"What would you like me to do?" Thranduil asked.
"Anything you see fit, your majesty. We are a small village, keep to ourselves. We cannot afford such loss and fear."
Thranduil looked at Earien. "We could afford a small group of sentinel warriors to catch them and return them. 5 or 6 could do," she said.
Thranduil nodded "I agree."
Lorn smiled. He had a kind face, warm dark eyes and dark hair streaked with grey. His son looked terrified, but had the same kind face. "I will send a half dozen warriors to search your village and find the criminals. They will be tried and punished for their actions as well."
"Thank you very much, your highness. I know I am no king, but I am sure you can relate in how important my people are to me."
Thranduil grinned "of course I do. We will find them." Lorn spoke to his son quickly about his conversation with the king and the boy smiled nervously. "Thank you." He said, and Thranduil glanced at Earien.
"You are welcome," He said and Earien smiled. The boy grinned at Thranduil's heavily accented response.
"Do you have children, your majesty?"
"Just one, a son named Legolas."
Lorn smiled "that's wonderful. Erron was asking me if you had a child. Could he meet him?"
"Of course." Earien smiled.
"My son, he's wanted to meet elves since he was a boy."
"Luin, if you could retrieve Legolas," Earien asked and he rose and stalked after his nephew.
"He is older than you are now, but you will find you are close in age,"
"How old is he? I did not hear of your having a son your majesty."
"He is forty two," Thranduil said, and Lorn laughed.
"I did not hear of his birth because your son is older than I."
Thranduil restrained an amused eyebrow rise, and Erron's eyes widened.
"Elves do no mature as quickly as men, Penneth." Thranduil said quietly, "that would make the two of you about the same."
Luin entered followed by Legolas, who was in his training gear. He looked calm, but nervous only to his parents. He stood before Erron, who was slightly shorter than him. Legolas evaluated him carefully, and looked up at his father.
Legolas looked back at Erron, "Êl síla erin lû e-govaned vîn. I eneth nîn Legolas. "
Erron's head snapped back to his father, who smiled, "my son has not yet learned Sindarin, your majesty."
Thranduil smiled, "nor has mine learned any mannish language as of yet," Legolas watched his father's mouth form the odd sounding words, and stared, "my son greets you, and says his name is Legolas."
Erron stared at him a moment and swallowed nervously, "it is nice to meet him as well."
Legolas turned to his father, "He does not speak Sindarin and I do not speak westron, Ada," he said disappointed.
"It is alright. Take him to the training barracks and take him to your uncle, he speaks westron and you can show him how you shoot."
Legolas nodded with a small smile. His father always knew how to solve problems for the best result.
"My son would like to take you to the training barracks, and there you can meet Mirkwood's finest warriors. Would you care to join him?"
Erron looked back at his father, who nodded. "Yes, thank you," he said quietly, and he followed Legolas from the council room.
Legolas was nervous. He'd never met a man before, and this one seemed particularly close to his age. He knew very little westron. His tutor tried but Legolas could not remember the words for the life of him, or what order they went in. He turned to him, and Erron's eyes met his. Erron had dark eyes, a trait he had only ever seen on his mother and his uncle. Erron looked scared, and Legolas wished to reassure him that there was nothing for him to be afraid of here in his father's realm, but did not know the words. He pointed to himself, "Legolas."
Erron did the same, and smiled. He put out his hand in the traditional elvish warriors' greeting, and Legolas took it with a small smile.
They got to the barracks, where his cousin was talking to a new recruit. He was back from the southern patrol and helping Amandil for a short time with new recruits and warriors done with training. He turned, "hello Legolas, who is this?"
"The son of a man that is meeting with Ada. He does not speak elvish."
Salias smiled kindly to Erron, "my name is Salias, I am the King's cousin. It is very nice to meet you."
"It is nice to meet you as well, my name is Erron."
"Well Erron, have you ever been in elvish barracks before?"
"No, sir. Although I must say I've always wished to."
"Do you fight?"
"I have done some training, but not to the caliber of your soldiers, of course," he said quickly.
"Would you like to give it a try? Here in Mirkwood we start training very early and it stops at 60. Ten years after coming of age. No one expects you to have such training at your age."
"I can try," he said nervously and Salias smiled.
"Perhaps you can learn some things."
Salias handed Erron his bow, and Erron eyed it with wonderment in his eyes. It was carved with incredible precision, care. Salias unclipped his quiver from his back and handed it to him, and helped him get it onto his back. Legolas watched and wished to join, but did not know what to say to him.
"Legolas, why don't you come over here?" Legolas approached, and his cousin turned to Erron. "Legolas is going to shoot with you for a while, I have to speak with someone quickly."
Erron nodded nervously and watched Salias walk away, and turned to Legolas, who nodded at him. He strung his arrow, and his hands were shaking with strain and nervousness. He released it, and it clipped the edge of the target and fell. He looked over at Legolas with color in his cheek. Legolas smiled kindly, and strung his bow. He released it, and it buried itself in the center of the target.
Erron looked impressed, and Legolas walked over to him. Erron understood the motion and strung the bow again, and drew it. Legolas gently adjusted his fingers, and adjusted his position.
"Caro," he said, and Erron understood what he meant and released.
The arrow wedged itself in the inner circle of the target, and Erron's wide smile was infectious.
"Ma!" Legolas smiled, and stopped, "good!" he said uncertainly.
Erron nodded, "thank you!"
"My son is quite shy," Thranduil said, the westron still felt strange on his tongue.
"As is mine. But he has heard the many tales of old and wished to see your warriors while he was here." Lorn said. "Thank you for your assistance, your majesty."
"It is of course no problem. If it is our own terrorizing your village, we will not leave your people to suffer."
"May I ask your age?" Lorn asked.
Thranduil nodded, "I am 5,323."
Lorn laughed, "my, you look incredible for your age. I am 40."
Thranduil smiled. This man was different. "If you would like to stay, you would be our guest." Thranduil said.
"You want me to stay?"
"I enjoy your company, and you are welcome to stay here as our guests."
Lorn smiled "I would be honored, your majesty. My son, he will be ecstatic."
"I am glad. Would you like a tour?" Lorn smiled, and Thranduil stood. They walked through the doors, and there were two guards behind them. Lorn seemed heavily impressed by everything, and Thranduil was delighted. Something about this man was so pleasant. "Mirkwood pleases you?" He asked.
"Yes. Thank you." Lorn smiled. Thranduil nodded, and they got to the royal wing. "This is the royal wing?" Lorn asked.
Thranduil nodded. "Yes. You and your son will stay here."
"Where has your son taken mine?"
"The barrack. He is very safe. I promise." Thranduil said. He opened the door to a room with an ornate gold door. Lorn gasped. There was a large sitting room with a roaring fire. It had lush carpet and large couches with fine fabrics. Everything was of the finest metals, and Thranduil entered. He pushed open double doors, and a large bedroom with two beds was within, each the largest size available with wardrobes and fine silks.
"My lord, I do not know what to say."
"Say nothing. We are friends." Thranduil said, and Lorn smiled.
"My son, he has heard stories about your skills, my lord. He was hoping you would show him."
Thranduil laughed. "He will not be disappointed then."
They walked down to the barracks, where a half dozen soldiers stood around as one of them tried to teach Erron how to shoot. They spotted the king and all bowed in unison, startling Erron. Thranduil smiled, taking the bow from the soldiers hand as the soldier bowed and backed away.
"I see you have distracted my soldiers from their duty." He said, smirking.
"I am sorry I-"
"it is alright. They mean well." He winked. "Your father tells me you learned of me in your lessons?"
"Yes my lord." He smiled.
"What is it you learned?"
"All about how you fought the orcs in the second age and you and your father led the elves of Mirkwood and-"
"Erron." Lorn said warningly.
"It is alright. Would you like me to teach you to shoot?" Erron nodded excitedly. Thranduil pulled an arrow from Legolas' quiver, and strung his bow. Without looking away from Erron, he released the arrow, and it flew silently into the center of the target, the arrow only anchored from going through the target entirely by the careful feathers at the end.
Erron's mouth fell open, and Thranduil handed him the bow. Erron shook his head, and blushed. "I do not shoot well your majesty."
"I am not to judge your ability. I wish to help improve your skills, but you do not have to do anything you do not wish to."
Erron glanced at Legolas, whose face was unreadable. "I- I cannot your majesty. I am sorry."
"It is alright," Thranduil said, and Erron walked back to his father. "If you would like to rest, I am sure you are exhausted."
"Yes, thank you your majesty. Thank you."
"Thangannas could you lead our guests back to the royal wing?"
Thangannas bowed, and Lorn and his son followed him. Thranduil and Legolas began to walk back to the Stronghold. "Do you like them?"
Legolas nodded, "they interest me, these men. I wish I could speak with Erron."
"You have your westron books, maybe you could study a little each day. Even a few basic words will ease the silence."
"You are right, Ada. Thank you."
"I will see you at dinner, I have to put together a small sentinel to send to Lorn's village," he said with a sigh.
Legolas nodded and walked toward the stronghold, and Thranduil off toward the barracks to talk to Salias.