Chapter 10
It was five weeks later that the first mentionable thing happened within the kingdom of Mirkwood. There had been five weeks of quiet mourning, and everyone had been subdued. It was another such day when Thranduil sat at his desk, eyes perusing the paper in front of him that spelled out the new trade agreements with Laketown. When he had finished reading and crossed out one section that was completely ridiculous, he signed his name at the bottom, moving it to the growing pile of finished work.
A knock came at the door.
"Enter!" he called, picking up the next paper and reading the first paragraph quickly before looking up to see who it was.
Anomeda stepped in, a stack of papers in her hands. She smiled warmly at him.
"Hello, Thranduil," she said, and he smiled back for the first time in almost a month.
"Hello, Anomeda. What brings you here?"
"Well," she said, placing the small pile of papers on his desk and pulling up a chair from the corner of the room. She sat in her usual perch on the edge of it. "The council has been talking, my lord. They are squabbling amongst themselves about why you have not chosen a new heir yet."
"A new heir?" Thranduil said, the words hitting him like a blow to the face.
"Yes. Now that Prince Legolas has left, they think you need to choose a new heir, in case anything happens to you, or when you eventually follow in his footsteps, which everyone knows you will," she said, cutting off his indignant 'how do you know I am even going to leave?'
"I suppose," he said, and Anomeda smiled, pointing at the papers.
"These are updated copies of the old version of the papers that are needed to change your heir to someone else."
"How am I going to choose someone, though?" Thranduil said, putting his head in his hands and sighing.
"Well, it could be anyone, really, but I would recommend someone with political experience who is well-liked by the people."
"Alright," he said, sighing. "Thank you, Anomeda."
Anomeda stood up, taking this as dismissal, and walked to the door. She turned back to him, wearing a sad smile.
"And Thranduil?" she said. "I'm sorry about your son."
And then she was gone.
Thranduil looked at the paper and scanned it. He just had to put a person and their relation to him and sign.
Who could he put? Someone with political experience, she said. So…one of the council members? He thought of each of them, one by one, in his mind. None of them seemed to fit the bill.
Then he remembered. Anomeda was part of the council, was she not? What better a person to fill in for him, if need be? He wrote her name on the line and wrote "councilor" on the relationship line.
He paused before he signed. Putting his name on that line would be accepting that Legolas was really not going to come back. It would mean admitting that his son was lost.
With a shaking hand and a deep breath, he signed the paper.
O:o:O
"I should have brought a horse," Legolas murmured, walking through the trees. If he had been smart enough to think ahead, he would have brought a horse, food, and other clothes, and then he would not have had to stop so often.
As an elf, he could travel for about three or four days without stopping, but at that point even he had to stop. Especially because receiving the images from the trees had been a constant drain of his energy since he had left, but there was no way to avoid it. He needed to see.
'There is a town,' the tree he was standing in whispered to him, and he felt relief wash over him and his tired body relaxed slightly.
"How far is it?" he asked the tree.
'About a mile and quarter west,' the tree said, pointing him in the right direction by making a part of the image flicker slightly.
"Hannon le," said Legolas, turning to face that direction. With a whispered goodbye to the tree, he left and began to make his way to the town.
He arrived several minutes later. The smell of civilization, consisting mostly of hot food and sweat, reached him before the sounds did. When he was within a mile, the sounds of the bustling people could be heard.
He jumped lightly from the tree, and the sudden loss of his sight stunned him for a moment. The snow that had fallen over the last few days was barely marked where he had landed.
He closed his eyes, listening. There was a clink of armor. Guards? He kept listening. Yes, they were guards. He assumed they were surrounding a gate, so that was the direction that he went in.
"Who goes there?" a gruff voice asked, and he turned slightly and deliberately so it wouldn't look like he was surprised at all.
"Who wants to know?" he asked, trying his best to make it look like he was looking the man over.
"I am Hayden. I am the head guard. It is my job to decide who may and may not enter this town."
"I am Legolas Thranduilion," he said, bowing his head slightly and imagining the shock that always registered in the eyes of men when they heard his name. "I am the Crown Prince of Eryn Lasgalen, and I am merely passing through on my way to another destination."
The clinking of armor once again told him that all the guards around him were kneeling before him, and for the first time in many days he chuckled earnestly.
"Rise," he said, using the professional language he always used with his subjects. "I am not a prince here, merely another elf."
"There have been a lot of elves coming through here lately, your Majesty," Hayden said, and Legolas had to resist the urge to laugh again at the formality. He could practically feel the awe coming in waves off of the man, who he could tell was actually a lot larger than himself.
"Really? How many?"
"Well, only two, but that is a lot for our town. They were travelling together. They are staying at the inn, I think. They arrived yesterday."
This information whirling around in Legolas's mind.
"Well, thank you Hayden, but have I been deemed good enough to enter your town?"
"Of course, of course!" Hayden said hurriedly, and Legolas's tinkling laughter sounded once more.
Most people in the vicinity looked up and let their ears be blessed with the sound, but two figures in particular were drawn to it. They shared a glance, and smiles grew on their faces as they saw the golden-haired elf entering the town, and the stares that followed him. They themselves looked more like the people of this town, with dark hair and eyes, but Legolas was the opposite, and he stood out far more.
They shared another look when Legolas walked right by them, not even recognizing them. Even with their cloaks on, Legolas should have been able to tell it was them.
Deciding to follow him, they saw his movements were slow and careful, and not as fluid as they usually were. He paused before entering the inn, and his hand seemed to search for the doorknob. They looked at one another in horror. What if he was injured?
He got a key from the innkeeper and began to go towards the stairs, his hand trailing the wall to help him. They were really getting worried now.
He entered his room, the third on the right, and the door closed gently behind him.
"What do we do?" the older elf murmured to the younger, and the younger looked at the closed door, eyes swimming with indecision.
"I think…we should go in," said the younger, and the older nodded in confirmation. They walked soundlessly to the door, and the older opened it, wincing as the hinges squealed.
Hearing the door being opened, Legolas was immediately on the alert. He drew his knives, getting into a fighting stance. His unseeing eyes narrowed.
"Legolas?" the younger said, entering the room and throwing his hood back. The older followed suit.
"Who are you?" Legolas spat, still gripping his knives with white knuckles as he realized how difficult it would be to defend himself from whoever it was. Another voice spoke up. Two of them? He had no hope.
"Legolas, it's us!" the second voice said, and Legolas continued to scowl. He could not show weakness to his enemies.
"Tell me your names," he said, and his glare hardened. "Now."
"Legolas, it's us!" one voice said, and the other joined it to say their names in unison.
"It's Elladan and Elrohir!"
A/N: Oh snap.
Sorry for the long time no update. I was sick and I spent a few days on a Loki (from the Avengers and Thor) craze. I am still on that craze, but I am back in Legolas mode now, too. Updates should be more frequent this week.
Please review!