Chapter 13 – Why?
"So you don't know what happened?"
Ithilas was standing by Thranduil's bed, talking to a healer, while Legolas hovered awkwardly in the background.
"No," Ithilas told the healer. "Like I said, I went in to check up on him, he was physically fine, I went to get Legolas, and he was on the floor."
"Is he going to be all right?" asked Legolas.
"At this point… it's still too early to say. He might wake up and be perfectly fine, he might wake up and end up with amnesia, temporary or permanent paralysis, a form of dementia, or any one of millions of other conditions, or he might…" The healer's voice trailed off, noticing the discomfort of both princes.
"…Not wake up at all…" finished Ithilas.
The healer nodded slowly.
"I think you two had better take some time alone…" muttered the healer. Ithilas and Legolas understood that they were dismissed.
As they left the room, Ithilas turned to Legolas. "This is your fault!" he snapped.
Legolas stared, hurt, at his brother. "How is it my fault?"
"If you hadn't wrecked his mind, he wouldn't have done this to himself!"
"Hold on," Legolas said angrily. "Who said anything about him doing this?"
"Oh, just look at the facts! Ada goes insane after last night, I come and find you and when we come back, he's on the floor!"
"Yes, but if Ada wanted to die, he would have waited to fade!"
"What if he couldn't?"
"Well, I know that he wouldn't have done this to himself!"
"Why not?"
"Because you know just as well as I do that there is a huge amount of shame associated with trying to do that."
"Well, what are you suggesting?"
"Maybe this was an attempt at assassination."
"Assassination?" Ithilas asked Legolas skeptically.
"Why not?"
"Because this palace is probably the safest place in Greenwood. Anyone trying to get in without going through the proper procedures would be shot dead before they reached the courtyard."
"But people have been known to get in."
"Ok, let's assume just for a second that hypothetically, somebody did get in, in broad daylight, on a day where visitors were banned, and broke into probably one of the most secure rooms in the palace. How would they have got in, attacked Ada, and got out again undetected in the time between when I left to come and find you and the time when we returned?"
"How long were you away for?"
"About five minutes, maximum."
"Well they wait on the windowsill, open the window when you leave, attack Ada, and leave via the windowsill."
"You've thought this out very carefully."
"It's what I always used to do."
"Really?" Ithilas asked. He wanted to ask why exactly Legolas had cause to sit on Thranduil's study's windowsill for any length on time, but thought better of it. If there was a story it would have to wait. "And how long would that person have to wait?"
"About ten minutes, to see if anyone entered."
"And what motive would they have to assassinate the king?"
"Well, Ada sold me to Sauron for the sake of keeping his kingdom, who's to say he wouldn't do that to somebody else? Our people don't want somebody like that in charge."
"Ok, but my initial point still stands." Ithilas was getting bored. "It is far more likely that Ada just lost his mind because of you than somebody went to the trouble of breaking into the palace to assassinate the king and escaped without getting shot."
"Well maybe they did get shot."
"Ok, well let's ask Paradhil about it," Ithilas said, referring to the captain of the guards.
"Fine."
"Okay then."
At that point, Paradhil came running over to the two princes. "My lords," he panted. "I've been looking everywhere for you after somebody told me about the king."
"We were just about to come and find you," Legolas said.
"Yes, I need to prove my baby brother wrong," Ithilas said lightly. "Was somebody loitering on the king's windowsill, possibly with a knife, waiting to assassinate the king?"
Paradhil looked horrified, and wished he could give any answer other than the one he was about to give.
"I wouldn't know, your highness." He looked scared. "All the guards, even those who were meant to protect the palace exclusively, have been out in the city."
"What? Why?" Legolas asked.
"There are riots in the streets."