#PROLOGUE
Legolas leaned on the railing of his balcony and thought as he stared out at the beauty of Rivendell.
He wasn't the kind of person who wasted time thinking, normally he would be with his friends or his foster brothers Aragorn, Elladan and Elrohir causing trouble or drinking, or alone and trying to convince one of the serving girls to help him steal something from the kitchens. Today though, he needed to think, about his family, friends and about the fact that he could be dead in a month, or a week for that matter, so he thought about his family.
His father, so kind (if slightly scary at times) and smart. His half brothers, so alike and yet so different from each other. Adragas was the eldest, Legolas the middle child and Medrolas the youngest. There were 100 years and 1 month between their ages exactly. Him and Adragas were always teasing their little brother about being the youngest and clumsiest, and in turn he would tease Adragas about being the eldest and having responsibilities. The two of them just teased Legolas for his weakness towards the "charms of women" as he called it. Now though, Adragas was gone and Legolas was the eldest.
Grief for his older brother swept over him, making the painful memories surface and tears prick his silver-blue eyes. All their fights, all the teasing, the games, the pranks. All those times when one of them couldn't sleep so the three of them stayed up talking and laughing. The way that Adragas always used to get the three of them into and out of the worst kinds of trouble. A job which their father had long given up on due to the frequency in which it happened.
The fact that Legolas was now the crown prince, and couldn't live a carefree life anymore hadn't really sunk in yet.
His younger brother was in Mirkwood with their father, king Thranduil. Legolas had been sent to the council to warn of Gollum's escape…and his brother's, the crown prince's, death at the poisoned blade of an orc, but instead he found himself going on a quest to destroy the One Ring. The quest that could easily mean his life.
And so he thought again about the quest and his brother's death.
Suddenly he heard voices coming down the hall. Two of them were singing, but the last, deeper voice was just laughing. Legolas smiled, what was the point of dwelling on the past when he couldn't even understand the future? He went to the door of his chambers to greet his best friends, and brothers, Elladan, Elrohir and Aragorn. The four of them walked down to the feast where Aragorn started eating, Elrohir started drinking and Elladan and Legolas proceeded to torture various young elleths even if they weren't trying to…maybe. Legolas looked around himself, and decided to live in the present.
