Disclaimer: see chapter 1

Chapter 2

All his escort could see that Thranduil was thinking. And, at that moment, he could only be thinking in one thing. Or in one elf. Legolas. The king and his heir had agreed that they would meet at the end of the forest, and they would ride together to Imladris. But the prince had not appeared. They had been waiting a whole day, and Legolas had not appeared.

"Maybe he forgot about the meeting and he is already in Imladris" the king had thought.

He was thinking that it was really strange that Legolas had forgotten about the appointment, because his son knew perfectly well how his father got when he was worried about him.

"I hope he is well. Yes, surely he is. He knows how to take care of himself"; suddenly, the sarcastic part of his brain said "does he?" he smiled.

It was not that he didn't trust his son. No. Legolas was a great warrior, and a clever one. But his son had shown during his life that he attracted problems like honey attracts bears.

"He is well, my king, I'm sure about that". That voice startled him. He looked around and found Voronda, the loyal captain of the company, and one of his dearest friends. Thranduil said: "I hope you're right, Voronda. I really hope you're right"

They arrived to Imladris some days later. Since the moment they had seen the city, Thranduil had rode faster and faster. The soldiers did not say anything, but they were smiling inwardly. The king was too worried.

The company stopped, and Elrond, Estel, Elrohir and Elladan appeared and walked towards them.

"Legolas is not with them" noticed Thranduil, and he winced.

The king approached them.

"Welcome, my old friend, to my house" said Elrond with a smile.

"Yes, yes, hello to you too Elrond. Well, where is my son?"

The smile on the face of the three elves and the human faded.

"What do you mean?" asked Estel. Thranduil's heart became faster.

"What do you mean with what do you mean?" they looked at him as if he was crazy "he is…he is here, isn't him?

Elrond looked at Thranduil.

"Here? We thought he was travelling with you" he said.

"He was in Deul, in a council, and we agreed to meet at the end of the forest, but when he didn't appear we went on, thinking that maybe he had forgotten and he was here. Oh Valar! What has he done now!? What have I done to deserve that!?"

"Well, Thranduil, maybe he has been delayed for some reason" said Elladan.

"We waited a whole day and he did not appear" Thranduil replied.

"Maybe a day is not enough. Maybe he has been delayed for more days"

"Maybe, and most probable, he is somewhere lost, hurt and captive" the king said.

"But surely he is with an escort" Elrohir asked.

"No, he is not. You know how he hates having an escort. He said that he was not a child anymore and that he would surely be able to ride in the forest alone without elves watching his every movement. Now I know that he is not"

"And you acceded and allowed him to go without an escort? I cannot believe Thranduil"

"He repeated it for days!"

"Maybe we should go into the house and talk in the chamber" said Elrond, noticing that a big number of elves were starting to approach them.

While they were walking along the corridor, they decided that if the prince didn't appear in two days, they would go to search him.

…

The soldiers pushed Legolas into a dark cell and locked the door behind them. The prince stood up and looked around. The cell was a small one, without windows. He tried to open the door, but it was impossible, it was strongly locked.

"It is made of iron, elf. If you try to open it you will be wasting your time… the little one you have until my king decide what to do with you!" The soldier's voice was followed by a laugh and by the noise of the dungeons' door closing.

"Ha ha, very funny…shut up." thought the prince. But he knew he was right. The door was impossible to open, at least from inside, and surely he couldn't convince any guard to open it from outside. No, his escape would not be so easy.

"It is…impossible your highness … I suppose you're king Thranduil or prince Legolas…are you not?"

Legolas jumped when he heard the voice. He looked around again, but he could not see anyone.

"Am I getting crazy? So soon? I've only been here for a few minutes!" he thought.

"Your highness?... are you there?" asked the voice again.

"Yes… yes…I'm here. Where are you?" said Legolas.

"In the next cell… are you king Thranduil?"

"No, I'm not. I'm prince Legolas. Who are you? And why are you in a cell?"

"I'm the king's counselor"

"What?! The king puts his counselors in cells?" asked a very surprised Legolas.

"Of course not!... I'm not the new and false king's counselor"

Legolas' eyes opened wide.

"What do you mean with false?"

"I mean exactly that, false… Oh, by the way… I'm here because I witnessed my king's murder"

…..

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