"ADAAAAA!"
The scream rocketed through the halls of stone, reaching every ear of every elf. Half-consciously, everyone put their fingers in their ears and waited until the scream faded. They then continued their work.
Not so in the council room. The councilors gave the King sympathetic looks as he buried his face in his hands.
The great doors, carved in the likeness of leaves, swung open, revealing two faces: an apologetic (and rather embarrassed) one, and a panicked, out-of-his-mind one.
The Prince and his nurse.
The King stifled a sigh.
"What is it, greenleaf?" he said in a longsuffering tone.
His wife, sitting to his right, gave him a sharp jab to the ribs.
Thranduil clutched his side and scowled at her, then turned back to his son, who had run up to the table.
"Well?" He attempted to look cold and forbidding. The muffled snickers of five advisors told him he was not successful. "I told you not to interrupt any important meetings, Legolas. Why are you not playing outside with Aldariel?"
Cue pointed look at said nanny, who flushed red.
Legolas did not look at all daunted. In fact, he looked the opposite: downright cheery.
"I was just calling for you, Ada," he said innocently, his wide blue eyes blinking. "I have something to show you. And I didn't see you outside, so I shouted. And I ran inside, but Aldariel and Feren couldn't catch me. Lethuin says I am too fast."
That you are. Thranduil resisted the urge to bang his head on the table. Feren, who was supposed to be patrolling around in case little Legolas wandered inside, had grown soft.
Soft! That's what we all are. Soft from the smiles of a little blue-eyed elfling!
Thranduil raised his eyes to the ceiling, half-furious and half-amused.
So much for the "important meeting".
"What is this thing you desire so much to show me, little one?"
He'd better finish this soon. There were matters to discuss, and they could not be discussed whilst the prince pranced about distracting all the councilors.
"Um…" interrupted Aldariel. "Your Majesty, this may take a while." She gave the councilors a meaningful look. It clearly said, "You will have to cancel your meeting".
Thranduil gritted his teeth.
"Tell me now, quickly," he said.
Legolas grinned, and launched into a forty-five minute, one-sided tale.
"… and then Aldariel said, 'Look out!' and I said, 'I'm not scared' and she said, 'You should be!' but I wasn't. Is that wrong of me, Ada?" Without pausing, he continued, "So Wilwarinith and Silmewen helped me make a house for it out of twigs. Do you want to see?"
Thranduil had not been listening. He woke from his doze with a start, wondering what "it" was.
His wife evidently had not been listening either. Even the councilors were sound asleep; one was actually drooling on the table.
"Yes," said Thranduil, after he realized Legolas was still waiting for an answer. "Show me."
Triumphantly the elfling took a little cage from behind him put it on his ada's lap.
The King's sleepy eyes inspected it.
Hmm… twig cage, poorly made, he thought, feeling himself beginning to slide back into slumber. Not so small. About the size of a pie. Leaves at the bottom; trust Wilwarinith, that fool healer, to make a "bed" for… Wait a minute!
Thranduil swept the cage up to eye level.
"Is that what I think it is?" he said, and everyone promptly woke up.
His eyes finally focused, and he fought back a gasp of horror.
Everyone screamed, even the Majestic King Thranduil.
"GIANT SPIDER!"