It had been several centuries since Thranduil had come to this particular glade to the east of his stronghold, and the last time had been a much happier occasion. He had takin Legolas and his friends to a nearby pond for a swim, in an effort to cool them from the sweltering summer heat. That day had been nothing but laughter, and joy.
Today it was nothing but grim and angry.
Even from the distance that was left to reach the glade Thranduil could see the small amount of fortification that had been built around it, solid wooden beams had been driven into the ground all around it an makeshift wall. A few fires danced in their pits, casting harsh lights against the side of the few tents that had been erected and over the few elves that strode around the glade with large, purposeful strides.
The Woodland King felt the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end, doubtless in reaction to having weapons drawn on him even before the strong, confident voice rained down from above them. Probably from high up on a tree branch.
"Halt! Identify yourselves!"
Thranduil withheld a snort as he recognized the voice as one of the younger, less experienced archers under his command. One, he was fairly certain was probably trembling in his boots this very second at the prospect that those he was interrupting weren't his people. On the horse next to him Ferdan huffed and rolled his eyes skywards in a gesture of general exasperation.
"For Valar sake Arendale, put the bow away before you accidentally shoot the King"
"The King?" The formerly confident voice squeaked, quickly followed by a thumping noise as the young elf dropped from the tree's. Landing neatly next to his former instructors horse.
From whom he promptly received a less than light slap upside the head, "You forgot to ask for the password" Ferdan snarled, kicking his horse back into motion before the stunned youth could utter a word.
Thranduil spared him a small look of sympathy before kicking his own mount forwards and toward the hastily erected wooden walls. The other centuries must have already sent word forward to the camp, for as they drew nearer the gates were pushed aside to allow their small troop of horses to pass through him undisturbed.
Immediately there was a shadowy presence to Thranduils right, seemingly appearing out of thin air. The elf dark hair had been braided back from his face carefully, he stood tall and proud and impressively armed. But Thranduil didn't miss the awkward bulge located around his right shoulder, probably due to heavy bandages underneath the cloth of his shirt.
"My Lord" The elf greeted with a dip of his head and chest in a formal gesture, though he hand known the king literally all of his life and had been around him more than many. A side effect to being one of the Prince's closest companions.
"Tzipora" Thranduil grinned in, pulling the younger elf in for a relieved hug. Which the other elf reciprocated fiercely, clinging momentarily to the King before stepping back once more.
"When we asked for reinforcements, we were quite expecting, well, this" Tzipora gestured lazily to the King and the rest of his troop at least half composed of older, retired, elves that had taken to advising their King.
Thranduil winced, "Yes, well. With the Orcs attacking so relentlessly on almost all of our borders, this" he gestured to those that had come to him in an imitation of Tzipora, "Is all we have left"
"I wouldn't consider the king and his personal advisors and protects to be 'all that is left.' But you are the King, so I digress" The words were as energetic and eager as they always were, but his eyes were dull with exhaustion after nearly three months of constant battle. And the Kings heart clenched in sympathy as if he had been his own son standing before him.
Thranduil clapped his companion on the shoulder and squeezed reassuringly, "Not much longer, soon you will be able to rest. Could you take me to speak with Cirdan?"
"I could, but I'm afraid he wouldn't be much help to you. He was struck with a poisoned blade several weeks past. He's stable and with the healers, but he only fades in and out of awareness." Thranduil gave a curt nod, and followed the dark haired elf as he began walking calmly away from the horses "But I'll take you to our new and acting commander"
"Good, good" Mentally Thranduil tried to figure out exactly who was supposed to be second in command for Cirdan, but his second in command was on a north border. Leading his own battle currently, and for the life of him he couldn't remember who was third in command. "Who is the new commander? I seem to have forgotten"
"You'll see for yourself, in a few moments Sire" Called over his shoulder as he continued to lead the king through the camp, completely ignoring the glare now aimed directly between his shoulder blades.
Around him the camp continued though its lazy, midnight routine. Fires were fed and stew was stirred, doubtless for when the various warriors woke from where they had stumbled somewhere quiet and promptly fell asleep. It might have alarmed him, if he had not seen the same several other times before this.
With so much fighting and so little time for rest, when the opportunity presented itself it wasn't squandered. And soldiers under hard circumstances seemed to developed and almost supernatural ability to fall comfortably asleep anywhere. There exhaustion making it easy for them to simply lay down anywhere, and rest.
By the reports the few reports that had been sent back it was a wonder there was anybody awake in the camp at all. Much less feeding fires and stirring stew.
"Here we are" Tzipora called, striding headlong into a small tent in front of them, holding the flap open for Thranduil to follow him through.
And stop promptly in his tracks.
Speaking softly to an scout dressed in dark clothes and smelling of freshly disturbed leaves, was the commander. And his son.
Legolas' hair had been braided away from his face in its usually fashion, but where there was usually an easy smile on his face held only a frown, his eyebrows crinkling together above his eyes as he listened intently to whatever the scout was reporting.
Thranduil could sense Tzipora's smirk more than he could see it, clearly enjoying seeing the king as surprised as he was. But it was hard not to be, while his son may be over a thousand years old it wasn't an uncommon piece of information that Thranduil had a bit of trouble letting him go. And he still often saw him as his precious little leaf, his only son, rather than the strong and deadly warrior that he become.
But now, with his confidant stance and calculating eyes it was hard to disputed. He looked more like a prince than he ever had, doubtlessly terrified but showing nothing but calm and collected thoughts and logic. He even wore the silver circle on his head, probably more for the moral of his people rather than because he wanted too. He hated the wretched thing, but anything to help his people.
"Send another runner to Ava, tell her to hold ravine for as long as she can. But avoid all the casualties that she can, keep her people at a safe distance, don't leave the tree's. Don't engage them in open field." It was an effort to keep his mouth from dropping open in shock, and had Tzipora not been standing there assessing his reaction it might have already been resting on his toes. But he sounded so much his father, Oropher that it was alarming.
"Try to observe all that she can of them, we need to know what we're up against. Tell her to blow her horn upon her retreat, to give us a warning to prepare; keep to the tree's. We can't have any more Wargs carrying our people off. Oh, and tell her to send all of her wounded back, slightly or gravely. When she retreats I have a feeling it'll need to be swift or not at all"
The scout absorbed all of the information eagerly, eyes wide and mouth working silently repeating the words to himself. Once his Prince was finished speaking, he clapped a hand over his hear and bowed his head, "It will be done. And swiftly"
"Good, Thank you. See the runner off as swiftly as you can, and then eat some stew and get some rest." The sharp commanding tone that had reminded Thranduil so much of his father faded away with his son's last words, returning to his own kind and concerned tone that the King was more accustomed too.
The scout scrambled from the tent as if the very fires of Mordor were lit beneath his hind quarters, barley noticing the King enough to give him a respectful acknowledgment.
Legolas sighed, and leaned against the table behind him rubbing a hand over his tired eyes, and mumbled "What is it, Tz? Please tell me its good news, I don't think I can think over another crisis"
"Good news! You're father finally sent those reinforcements everyone's been moaning about"
That seemed to perk the sullen Prince up a tad and he finally removed the hand from his eyes "Oh?" His eyes snapped over to where Thrandul still stood by the doorway with Tzipora. His eyes bugged out of his head slightly, and his eyes brows nearly crawled directly vertical to join his hairline, "Ada! What are you doing here?"
"Your father is the reinforcements, its seems." Tzipora supplied helpfully, crunching into an apple that seemed to appear from thin air.
"But, you're the King!" Legolas spluttered
"And you are the Prince"
"Yes, but you are far more important than I! Ada, you should have stayed far away from here" The young prince scowled at his father, and judging by the firmness in his tone the king was fairly certain he had just been scolded by his son.
Thranduil let out a rather loud bark of laughter. Kids, it seemed, never stopped being a source of irrational entertainment.
His son's frowned deepened, he clearly didn't appreciate being laughed at, and Thranduil schooled him emotion into check once more. Clearing his throat of any reaming chuckles that lurked there, "Sorry, my son. I was just struck with an amusing thought, that is all"
Legolas continued to eye him suspiciously for a moment longer, before he sighed and rolled his eyes in a near perfect imitation of Ferdan. He sighed, and his scowl eased, "Its is good to see you again, Ada. It has been to long since the last time we have seen each other"
Not caring if it were proper for a King to embrace the commander of a battler, Thranduil crossed the short distance between him and his son and hugged him in a similar fashion as he had with Tzipora only a few minutes past. "It would appear you've been a tad busy"
"Just a little" The prince shrugged, offering his father a sly smile. "You should be glad you arrived when you did, this one of the few moments of piece we've had in the last few days. The orcs may not be as organized as us, but by the Valar are they stubborn"
Thranduil nodded grimly, "Indeed they are. It's a pity, that they've chosen here to attack of all places. I have such fond memories of this glade"
"As do I" Tzipora agreed, sharing a small grin with the Prince "That was an excellent day, Galion was in a fit by the time we made it back that night"
Legolas snorted, "I remember that. He was livid that Ada had insisted on leaving the guard behind and only taking us elflings. Galion was halfway through writing a speech to address the realms of your unfortunate demise when we finally road up"
"I think he's still a bit angry with you, Sire"
"Oh I wouldn't doubt it," Thranduil readily agreed with a shrug of his shoulders, "He isn't one that is well known for his quick forgiving."
"Looks who's talking" Legolas mumbled
"I'm sorry, what was that?"
"Nothing, Ada"
…
The fear and nerves of the elfs standing around him thrummed through the air, as the all listened intently to the crashing and breaking of leaves as the Orc mass approached them in full force. The horn sounding Ava's full retreat had been blown a few hours earlier, all of her soldiers nearly raining from the overhead tree's half an hour later. Only two of them wounded, as per her Prince's instructions.
Thranduil stood behind his soon, the reinforcements standing in a perfect ling on either side of him, bows drawn and arrows fitted snugly in preparation for the enemy that was coming steadily toward them. And behind them was the rest of what was left of those that had been here for the last several months, undoubtedly with their bows drawn and fitted as well.
Legolas stood at the head of the warrior with Tzipora to his left, and Ava to his right, weather to give the warriors more confidence of their Prince Thranduil didn't know. But was grateful that his son didn't have to stand alone nonetheless, no matter their reasons for being with him. Though, it wasn't as if he expected him to be alone in the first place. The three of them had been inseparable companions since before they could walk, sharing all of their joys and punishments together. It only seemed fitting that they stood together now.
Thranduil just wished they still stood together at the edge of the small ledge that had used to dive into the clear waters that summer so long past. Rather than at the front facing directly towards their enemies.
Legolas' expanded rapidly for a moment as he took a deep breath to steady himself, and probably fought the urge to turn around and glance at his father. He had been certain his father would have taken the command from him, and was still uneasy with the responsibility of leading the men. But after so long of being under the Prince's command, Thranduil didn't have the heart to take him away from them, then night before one of the largest assaults they had yet to face here. It wasn't fair.
Doesn't mean he was happy about sending his son off to stand passively in front of what could quite possibly be a fatal number of Orcs.
Ahead of him Ava's head titled to one side, clearly listening more intently a faint sound she had come across, and Legolas turned his head slightly to look at her out of the corner of his eye. While his eyesight might be better than hers, there was no denying that her hearing surpassed even that of the King. It was one of the reasons she had been sent ahead of the rest of the company, and was often used as a scout.
"In the tree's!" She cried, a moment later and there was a thunderclap of sound as nearly all of the arrows were released all at once from their bows and headed straight for the silent Orcs that had spread themselves up into the branches.
Bodies rained from the sky.
And then all hell broke loose.
Thranduil barley heard Legolas' call of "Fire at will!" before the sound of battle nearly defend him.
Orcs, Wargs, and Spiders alike burst forth from the tree's in a frantic charge towards the lines of the Elves. Showing less than a single care for the arrows that sailed their way, hitting each mark with deadly efficiency. Bodies dropped heavily to the earth with thuds, or splats and still the enemy didn't so much as slow half a step.
The stampede of feet and the steady 'twang' of a bow being released was the only sound heard for several moments, as the Orcs and there company struggled to race to make it to the front line of the Elves.
Then, steel rang on steel as twin blades and swords alike were pulled from there resting places and pulled into the hands that wielded them with disturbing efficiency. With a wordless war cry Legolas and his companions drover forward, meeting the Orcs halfway to their line, trusting those still firing arrows not to hit them.
Thranduil's hand itched to reach for his own sword and rush to his son's aid. But that wasn't his job, he was the second in command. His job was to observe the battle for the time being and tell the archers where to focus their arrows.
The three forms of his son and his two closest friends had been swarmed instantly and Thranduil could only catch glimpses of how their battle raged.
Legolas, throwing one of his arrows like a dagger and piercing and Orc solidly through the eye before it had the chance to swing its deadly axe against Ava's neck, who was busy fending off a snarling Warg.
"Get the spiders!" He bellowed, sending his warriors deadly arrows upwards towards the massive spiders that had begun to descend from the tree's and towards the first line of warriors that had joined their commander in combat.
Most of them were killed, or at least wounded, before they could drop to the ground and cause any real damage to the battle that raged before the Woodland King. And he had never before been so thankful for the constant shooting practices Ferdan insisted all of his pupils endure.
Tzipora intercepted and Orcs blade at shoulder level, leaving just the moment that was needed for Ava to spill his guts to the earth in one fluid movement. Seemingly giving it no more effort than one might use to tear a paper.
There was an anguished scream as a Warg clamped his jaws securely around the torso of one of the Elves and shook it like a rag doll until his neck snapped, and he went limp. "Leave the Orcs!" Thranduil bellowed, "Let the swords handle them, focus on the Wargs! Eyes and throats only!"
There were several grunts of acknowledgment, as the arrows changed courses once more. Focusing on the furry beasts that snapped and snarled in anger, just beyond the secure line the Elves in front of them held.
A spider shrieked as Tzipora engaged his fearsome mandibles, giving Ava and Legolas the opportunity to stick there knives through is more easily pierced underside. One pulling up towards its face, the other pulling down the other way. Effetely nearly cutting the giant spider in two. It dropped listlessly to the ground a moment later.
It wasn't a pretty way of fighting, and Thranduil was fairly certain he wouldn't be able to fight as the three did. But he had to admit, it was startlingly effect tactic. The growing litter of bodies around the trio a testament to his words.
"Ava, down!" Legolas bellowed, and she complied immediately, dropping to the forest floor quick enough that it almost appeared as if she were boneless. Due to the warning she received, she was able to drop out of range of a pair of strong jaws that had reached for her, finding empty air and the Princes dagger instead of his target. The blade struck through the Wargs eye with startling grace and back out again in time to fend off an attack from an advancing Orc. While Tzipora hauled Ava back onto her feet as if she weighed nothing more than a feather.
The secure line the warriors had formed wavered, as and Orcs axe struck home through an Elf's neck. Others rushed to fill the void left in the line, but were too slow.
The line broke.
"Draw weapons!" Thranduil ordered, finally pulling his sword free form its resting place on his hip, slightly comforted by the familiar metal. The others around him did the same, and they met the advancing Orcs head on.
…..
The hammer knocked solidly into his head from behind as he engaged two other orcs in front of him. The heavy blow knocked the King to his knee's, nearly sending him into a world of blackness, only sheer stubbornness allowed him to raise to his feet once more.
He neatly sidestepped a side stroke from one of the Orc's large axe's, and bringing his sword up in a quick flick he slit the owners throat. The blackish blood of the Orcs spilled solidly form the wound, and the Orce fell forward a moment later.
But Thranduil didn't have time to celebrate him small victory, he ducked under the next Orc advance and kicked the creature solidly in the knee. He heard a loud cracking sound as the bone broke, and the Orc fell sideways, the broken limb unable to hold its weight. It might have been able to stagger to its feet, but the King didn't give it the chance. With one powerful down stroke he neatly severed the head from the body, and turned to face his last attacker.
The Orc with the hammer seemed more than slightly taken aback that he had the nerve to not die after a hit to the head like that, but it bared its pointed teeth and came at him again. Like he had done with the axe, he sidestepped the blow allowing the heavy hammer to hit the earth instead of the target. Throwing the Orc off balance. Before he could so much as sneeze, Thranduil thrust his blade solidly into his chest and twisted, and judging by the amount of blood that poured out he was quite certain he had pierced its hearts.
He tore his sword free of the newly deceased Orc with a frown of disgust, and pushed the still struggling body over with his foot.
The King staggered to the right, seemingly unable to catch is balance now that the need to survive wasn't quite as prominent, and the blackness that had nearly taken him before returned with vengeance. Unable to stay upright, he fell to his knee's onto the soft earth of the forest floor, and stared forward in confusion.
It was hard to discern one sense form the next, and everything seemed to jumble togeather into one hectic, disturbing mess of noise and pain.
Except for the sun, the sun still show brightly overhead and warmed his face with its glow. He was feairly certain he had felt this sensation before, in this very spot, but his mind wasn't working well enough to figure out if he was correct or not.
He gave up trying and let the blackness fall over him.
…..
The sun was warm on his face as he gazed upwards into the tree's, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath of the fresh forest air. It seemed like it had been forever since he had done this, and it felt too good to finally enjoy the expanse of green woods he called his home.
He could hear the sound of laughter and splashing, as Legolas, Ava and Tzipora played whatever game they were playing in the crystal pond not that far away. Though, judging by the amount of splashing he was fairly certain they were probably just trying to drown one another again.
He sighed, he should probably put a stop to it.
He opened his eyes again, still satisfied with the feeling of the sun on his face even in the summer heat. Adult Elves felt the extreme temperatures less than the young elflings did, which is why he had taken them to go for a swim in the cool mountain spring.
He was glad the he did, as they seemed to be enjoying themselves immensely. Plus, it was nice to spend some time with them. Even if there were just trying to drown one another.
Thranduil climbed to his feet and wandered over to were the children, now halfway to adulthood, were indeed attempting to smother the life out of the other one's. He watched them play for a moment, silently wondering how all three of them could be trying to pull the other two under the water while trying to keep themselves from going under. It looked less like a game, and more like hysterical paddling to him.
"What are you three doing?" He inquired, using his best 'king voice' that he could, pouring all of his authority and stubbornness into the short sentence.
The words had the affect he had wished they would, and the three of them stopped presently, blinking up at him. He knew he ought to run the second three identical smirks appeared on the faces, but he wasn't quite swift enough to get away from the tidal wave they sent his way.
Spluttering he wiped the water from his face, and blinked it form his eyes.
…
There was something on his face, something wet and unpleasant. He re-opened his eyes blearily, wiping as the dampness on his face and then peering at his hand. That was now stained with blood.
Blood that he sincerely hoped wasn't his, but was fairly certain it was.
He wiped the blood onto his pants and staggered back to his feet, somehow keeping his sword grasped firmly in his hand. He glance around him, but still found himself unable to make heads or tails of the situation around him, he knew there different shapes and colors of things should have meant something to him, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.
He stumbled forward, determined to get back to the spring he had just been dreaming about, for whatever reason it seemed and important tastk. Though he didn't know why. More blood poured from his head, as he stubbornly continued forward through the mass of confusion around him.
It wasn't sure how long he walked alone, before there was a presence at his side. He nearly swiped his blade at it, but something told him that would be a bad idea. So instead he just glanced over and found a pair of terrified eyes peering up at him through several strands of disarrayed blonde hairs.
He stumbled on a root, but was somehow kept upright, he glanced down to find that one of his arms had been draped over the shoulder of the man next to him, while another arm had been wrapped around his ribs. Keeping his steady as he struggled forwards .
Thranduil looked back at the Elf beside him, surprised to find that they were in a different area than he thought they had been a minute ago. The couldn't have traveled that quickly, could they?
A voice at the back of his mind told him he should probably be vaguely concerned that he didn't know where they were travailing to.
But then his head began to slump forward of its own accord, ignoring his command to keep it upright and his eyes open.
"Ada? Ada!"
…..
"Ada!" Legolas shouted, several seconds before he hit the surface of the water and plunged underneath it, dropping out of earshot from his friends hysterical laughter.
The elfling came up spluttering, and frowned at his father. The look of such seriousness seemed completely out of place on the bright young face, and it reminded Thranduil vaguely of how is father would look at him when he had done something against his wishes.
And his son was just so earnest in his frown that Thranduil couldn't help but exploding with laughter as well, causing the other elflings to laugh even harder. If possible.
"I'm too old for you to toss me about like a sack of laundry!" The Prince protested, trying desperately to keep the scowl on his face despite the infectious laughter that rang around about him.
"Oh, my little leaf" Thranduil sighed, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye, "You will never be too old for me to toss you about like a sack of laundry. It's a fathers privilege, and there's nothing you can do about it"
"What about after the coming of age ceremony"
"I can still toss you about, if I'd like"
"What about a few years after that"
"My answer hasn't changed."
"What about when I'm as old as you are with kids of my own?" The prince demanded, clearly confidante he had won that particular battle.
"When you get to be as old as I am, with kids of your own, I will still retain the right to toss you about like a sack of laundry. It is the right of have achieved after being woken by so many midnight shrieking sessions, and having an array of mashed foods thrown at me"
The princes scowl returned to his face, and Thranduil had to struggle to keep from laughed again, "But one thing will have change, my little leaf"
"And whats that?" The prince asked bitterly
"You'll have your own kids to toss about like a sack of laundry" He straightened his tunic slight and then lunged for Ava and Tzipora who lazed on the grass nearby, seizing one slight being with each arm "Like this!"
With that he flung both of them into the water, just as he had his son.
….
A white hot flash of agony from his head ripped him back into consciousness with a snarl. He could feel hands probing the tender spot where the pain came from, and wanted nothing more than to leave him in piece. But when he tried to remove his head from them, more hands appear from somewhere and clamped down upon him. Holding him in place.
His eye finally obeyed his command to open, and instead of finding the sun and his sons clear blue eyes he was staring directly up into the roof of a tent. It was clear it was nighttime, as no light dacned through the canvas, but it was still plenty bright enough for him to make out a few blurry forms of those around him.
"Pleas, My lord. You have to stay still. You have a bad head injury and we're attempting to heal it, but you have to stay still"
Head injury? Is that why it hurt so much?
"Where.." He tried to ask them where he was, but his tongue felt like lead in his mouth and refused to pronounce more than one word before it laid dormant once more.
"You were wounded in battle sire, don't worry. You'll be safe"
The king would have glared at the elf, had it not taken every ounce of will to keep his eyes open in the first place. He didn't care if he was safe or not, he cared if his son, Ava and Tzipora were safe.
"Las.."
"Your son is fine, my Lord. But please, you must rest"
Resting sounded like a fairly pleasing option.
…
It was later than he probably should have allowed by the time he started leading the now tired threesome back towards home. He was certain Galion would have his head upon his return, but he was ready to face his butlers passive aggressive anger. He had contemplated leaving several times through the day, but had eventually decided against it and merely allowed the elfling to play until they finally tired themselves out and were ready for their beds.
The three of them walked ahead of him on the trial, talking and laughing with one another over on thing or another. Occasionally glancing back at him to ask which way to go, or to shout some particularly strange sentence that had arisen in their conversation just to see his reaction.
For his part, Thranduil was more than content to wander behind them and enjoy the forest and their cheerful voices.
During the last stretch home they finally grew quick, apparently too tired to continue one as energetically as they had been. Thranduil smiled to himself, while they might be growing older with every day they still a few of the same habits form when they were just able to walk.
The three of them had to speeds, full speed ahead and sleep.
Slowly, Legolas dropped away from his friends and fell back to walk in step with his father, who adjusted his stride in accordance of the smaller limbs of his son. They continued to walk in silcne for a stretch before the young prince spoke.
"Thank you, Ada. I had a lot of fun today" His sons eyes didn't meet his, and for a moment the king was glad for that when his throat tightened momentarily. Legolas was many things for a young elf, but free with his emotions was never one of them. Even as a baby, the only emotion he had showed clearly was his anger. But, according to several of Thranduils friends, it was only because he had inherited his father's tempter.
"You are very welcome, my little leaf. I enjoyed today very much as well. I'm sorry I do not have more time for days such as this"
"That's okay" Legolas assured him quickly, "It just means that when we do get to spend time together like today that its more special. That's all."
Thranduil smiled down at his son and placed a hand on his shoulder, the closest thing a hug he was allowed to get, since Legolas' was 'too old' for such open sighs of affection. " That is very wise of you"
"Must be from spending so much time with Grandesh" The prince muttered, sneaking another glance up at his father who stared at him with mocked shock and hurt.
"I take you our for a nice day, and then you make fun of me? How rude" The king sniffed
"Elflings these days" Legoals impersonated his father with a grin, and then bubbled with laughter when Thranduil narrowed his eyes at him.
"You are getting far too good at imitating me, I think"
The elfing shrugged, but kept smiling, "We should come back her again one day"
"We will"
"Promise?"
"Yes"
"Good" Then, Legoals stepped neatly over to his right and wrapped his arms around his father in a tight hug, before moving back up to walk with is friends.
…..
The fire in his scull had changed from a burning inferno to the small, manageable, smoulder of coals. Probably due the frantic work of the healers he had snarled at earlier.
Thranduil made a mental note to apologize to them later.
"Good morning" A soft voiced greeted from directly to his left, and Thranduil turned his head to look at the source of the noise, wincing slightly at the moving of his head.
Legolas sat on a chair beside his bed, armor still on and dirt stains still on his face, but his grin had slid back into is usual palace on his face. Making him look younger than he had yesterday night when Thranduil had first arrived into the camp.
"Good morning, little leaf" He answered, raising a hand to tuck a few stray strands of golden hair form his sons face and behind his ear. "How long have I been asleep"
The prince shrugged, "A little over a day, I thought about waking you. But you looked too happy to be woken."
"Oh?"
"You were smiling in your sleep"
"It was a good dream"