Hah, wow, I wish all of my stories were as popular as this one was off the back XD Thanks for the reviews!


Chapter Two: On the Way Home

He did not know what evil demon had taken a hold on his sister. He had no idea what possessed her and what had made her pick up an abandoned orcling and care for it as if it were an elf. An elf, a human, even a dwarf; he could understand that. But an orc? And there she was in front of him with her consistent coos. Ai Elbereth!

"Legolas?"

He had to get rid of it, somehow. Even the horse knew that something was wrong with this demented creature. Horses had a sixth sense, almost; her horse knew the smell of an orc, and orcs equaled Bad. Yes, Bad. With the capital.

"Legolas, mellon nin?"

And now here they were, he and his sister and his friend and an orc, trotting along with three nervous horses to the palace. If the guards didn't kill them on sight, thinking them enemies with that horrid smell, his father surely would. Ai, his father…

"Legolas!"

Legolas shook himself out of his dark thoughts. "Yes, Estel?"

"That's the third time I called you."

"Indeed?"

"Aye."

"I see… is there any particular reason as to why you were calling me out of my thoughts?"

"You were sending death glares to Laerwen."

"As if that is different from any other time?"

"You have your hands on your knives."

Legolas hastily removed them. "Oh."

Aragorn sighed, and gave his friend a small smile. "Worry not. I'm sure King Thranduil will put some sense into her."

"I hope so."

"Legolas, I have never seen your father lose in a battle of wills."

"You have not seen him argue against my sister."

"… That bad?"

"Worse than you can possibly imagine."

Aragorn suddenly felt very sorry for the elf.

"Take that look off your face."

"What look, Legolas?"

"The 'I feel so sorry for you' look."

"I assure you, I do not feel any remorse for you. None whatsoever."

Silence. Finally, "Thanks, Estel. That makes me feel much better."

"Anytime."

They rode in silence for a bit longer, with only Laerwen's sweet talk and the orc's high squeals breaking the peace.

Suddenly, two elves dropped from the trees above, arrows nocked and bows taut. Once they saw whom their arrows were pointed at, they immediately went slack. However, their gazes went straight to Laerwen and the little 'bundle of joy' in her arms. She seemed not to notice that her horse had stopped, nor the two elves that stood in front of her.

"Greetings Malgalad, Lasgal," spoke Legolas.

The two sentinels looked from Laerwen to Legolas. One of them finally found his voice. "Greetings, my lord prince," he said with a small bow. "We were… not expecting you back so soon."

"We… found something along the way," said Legolas tersely, glancing at his sibling. "Laerwen."

"… Yes you are my darling, little Arloth, yes you are, yes you are my beautiful young man, yes you are-"

"Laerwen!"

She abruptly looked up from the orcling to her brother. She finally realized that they had stopped and noticed the two elves in front of her. "Oh. Good day, master elves." Forgetting all rules of courtesy she was taught over the years, she turned back to the orcling, who was currently playing with a lock of her long hair and giving loud, delighted squeals.

The two elves were staring at her openly when Legolas lightly cleared his throat. They slightly jumped and turned their attention back to the prince. There was a moment of uncomfortable silence.

"My lord…" started one hesitantly. "Forgive me for being so bold, but… is that…?"

"Yes, it is, Lasgal. It is."

Lasgal nodded, suddenly very silent and unsure how to reveal his thoughts. Malgalad did it for him.

"My lord, I am not sure if King Thranduil would allow that… creature inside his halls," stated Malgalad uncomfortably.

"I know, I know. I have already tried to convince her to let it go, and she refuses." Legolas sighed. "Malgalad, I would have you alert my father of the… situation. We shall meet him at the front gates, where hopefully he can… persuade her to abandon it."

Malgalad bowed, gave one last glance at Laerwen, and went off into the trees to make his way to the Wood-king's halls. Lasgal looked to the prince for instruction.

"You shall return to your duties, Lasgal. I bid you good evening." Lasgal bowed and followed Malgalad, disappearing from sight.

Laerwen seemed once more oblivious to her surroundings and what had just taken place. Currently, she was allowing the orc to nibble at her finger; she giggled, and it squealed.

"Come, Laerwen," said Legolas, starting on the path home once more. Though she did not seem to hear, her horse did, and gladly obeyed.

She was now whispering something else to the orcling, and Aragorn looked at the young elf-maiden with amusement. Legolas was far too distracted by pessimistic thoughts to bother with her. Aragorn rode up beside his friend and the elf could see that his eyes were laughing.

"Mellon nin," the man said, "she's teaching him Sindarin."

Legolas blinked in disbelief and shot her a look. He caught a whispered, "No, no, Arloth. Naneth. Say naneth," before its squeals drowned out her voice.

Legolas didn't bother to hold back a groan, and looked at his friend. The man's eyes were twinkling and it was obvious that he fought hard to hold back a smile. Legolas glared.

"I'm glad you find this situation amusing, Estel."

"I'm glad you're glad, Legolas."

A moment of silence. "Estel, wipe that smile off your face."

"As you wish, my lord prince."

Legolas growled. This day just kept on getting worse and worse, and he doubted it was going to get any better.


Elbereth: Varda, the Vala who is Queen of the Stars and highly revered amoung the Eldar.
Mellon nin: 'my friend'
Naneth: 'mother'