Happy February! It is hard for me to believe, but I have made it to over 50,000 words and over 100 pages on my laptop! Thank you all for the support in this story, it means so much to me :) And thank you to everyone who has encouraged me and gotten me to over 200 review! I never thought it would happen!

Not my longest chapter. Sorry mellyn! I actually have papers to write this semester :(

And as always, a special thank you to ElvenMaia for editing! You are amazing mellon nín…

Out of Mirkwood

Scribbles-on-Parchment

February 1, 2020

Chapter 28 – Questions and Answers

Tamír was lost in thought. As he stared up at the stars that glinted in the night sky, like sunlight reflected upon water, his mind kept drifting. He kept thinking about what Hethion had said to him as the ellon lay dying, cut down by his own hand.

"I will say hello to Narril for you. But I doubt you remember her either. You could not save her Tamír. Nor can you save him. My mission is complete."

Narril… even the name was enough to bring tears back to his eyes. His beloved wife – his starlight. He had always had a faint glimmer of hope that perhaps, through some miracle, his wife may have survived Thranduil's last stand. That perhaps he would see her again. But now that sliver of a dream had flickered and died out, taking a part of him with it.

"Tamír! Meleth nín, come here!"

The gentle voice of his wife floated through the warm summer evening's air. Tamír smiled and looked up the tree the elleth had climbed.

"And what will I get if I choose to follow? For it is a long way, and I have not the desire to climb to such a height for nothing."

Tamír heard his wife laugh. It was the sound that he always loved to hear. To him it was the most beautiful sound in all of arda. Fairer even then that of any song he had ever heard. Without a second thought the young ellon jumped gracefully into the branches and was soon standing beside his wife in the uppermost branches.

The elleth glanced over at him, grey eyes twinkling, "You came up. I thought it was too far of a climb for an ellon such as yourself. And I did not tell you what you would receive… if you ever made it up."

Tamír gave an offended look, "An ellon such as me? Meleth nín, you wound me with your words. For did you not once tell me that I was the bravest and strongest of all elves on arda?"

"I did, and I still mean every word, but do not let it go to your head. It does not suit you. Now would you like to receive your gift for climbing such a way?"

"Your laugh is a gift enough for me. Nin lithiach."

The elleth smiled, "Enough of this nonsense. Look."

Tamír followed her gaze and saw what she was had wanted him to see. The height of the tree allowed them to see over the top of the forest. The fading sunlight painting the sky with an array of pink and red. The first glimpses of stars were beginning to appear at the sun's retreat. It was breathtaking.

He looked over at his wife. The last rays of the sun seemed to catch in her auburn hair. She turned to look at him and said quietly,

"Le uivelin Tamír."

Tamír was torn from his elven dreams by the presence of someone sitting next to him. He blinked, trying to rid the last of his dream from his mind, and saw that the sun was starting to rise. He had not even realized he had been tired enough to fall asleep. Looking over he saw Elrond sitting next to him. The ellon smiled at him.

"I am sorry to wake you; it was not my intent."

Tamír shook his head, "I was never asleep mellon nín."

The elf lord raised an eyebrow, "And what was your dream about? You were smiling."

The Silvan looked away. He knew what his friend wanted, "What is it that is bothering you?"

"It is not what is bothering me, it is what is bothering you. You seem sad and distant. The guilt is eating at you," Tamír opened his mouth to protest, but Elrond continued, "I can see it. There is no use denying it."

The two ellyn sat in silence for a moment as the sky began to brighten.

"Have you ever done something that you deeply regret? That tears at your soul?" Tamír looked down at the grass, "If you have then you would know how I feel, and you would know that it is too great a burden to speak of."

"Then I shall wait for however long I need to mellon nín and you may tell me when you are ready."

The sun was soon above the horizon. Estel was helping his brothers pack the horses while Elrond tended to Maer. The elfling had still yet to wake from his deep, healing sleep; but his wound was finally starting to heal and had lost most of its red hue.

Tamír was kneeling by the Sinda, handing Elrond whatever he needed to rebind the ellon's arm. The Noldo tied the last of the clean bandages and sighed.

"His body is starting to heal though not as quickly as I would have liked. But it makes my heart be at peace that he should not be in pain either while he sleeps or when he awakes," the elf lord poured out the dirty water he had been using to irrigate the wound, "I will repack the herbs and we can be on our way."

"And how far do you expect to make it today? We were unable to get as far as you had wished yesterday."

"If we can make it to the Gap of Rohan before nightfall, I will be pleased with our progress."

Tamír watched his friend roll the clean bandages up and store them in the healing pouch, but a movement caught his eyes. The Sinda's hand that lay upon his breast twitched. Elrond noticed too and set down his bag of herbs. The elf lord laid his hand on the elf's brow which had several drops of sweat on it.

"His fever has not returned," the ellon muttered almost to himself.

But this did not make Tamír relieved. He frowned as the elfling's breathing rate speed up; his eye moving rapidly under the closed lids.

"He is in a dream," the words came out before Tamír knew he was saying them, "He is trapped in a nightmare."

For several minutes both ellyn watched as the young elf battled with the demons in his mind. Tamír had grabbed the elfling's hand as it twitched on his chest.

"Can you not wake him up?"

Elrond was surprised to see a look of sadness and pain in his friend's eye, "I cannot do that Tamír. He will come out of it when he is ready."

The elf lord watched closely as the Silvan looked back at the golden-haired elf almost as if he knew or could feel what the young ellon was going through.

"Mellon nín we cannot wait for him to awake. We must make hast. I desire to return to Imladris as quickly as possible," Elrond slowly got to his feet, "Maer will be fine as we ride."

He had seen this before. The dream would either be over in a minute and the elfling would awake or it would continue for several days. But either way, it was neither a good thing nor a bad thing. It just was.

As Elrond went to pick up his healing pouch the eyes of the Sinda snapped open and the ellon jerked upright with a gasp, breast heaving.

Startled at the concerned face peering down at him, Legolas bolted upright. He felt completely disoriented and confused. The dream was still fresh in his mind and seemed so real that he immediately looked around for the bodies of Êmand and his brother. But there was none. Instead he saw that he had been laying on several blankets in the middle of a grassy plain. Several horses were loaded with bags and stood stomping their feet impatiently.

Memories flashed across him mind, bringing back the things that had happened. The spider, the human, the pain, the darkness, the voice calling to him.

It was then that Legolas's realized that someone was holding his hand. The young prince jerked it back and out of the grasp of the ellon who had been holding it.

"Who are you?" Legolas demanded as he glanced around at the strange elven faces.

His gaze came to rest on the one face he recognized. It was that of the human. The one he had tried to kill, the one who had ended up saving his life.

"Peace mellon, you have been very ill" it was the Silvan elf that spoke, "My name is Tamír."

Tamír… the name sounded familiar to Legolas. But he could not place where he had heard it before. The young prince looked hard at Tamír as the ellon asked,

"And what is your name penneth?"

At the name penneth the young elf frowned. Did they not know who he was? No one ever called him this except for his closest family.

Legolas let his icy gaze land on all the ellyn and the human that surrounded him. Êmand's training immediately came to mind. He could almost hear his mentor coaching him about what to do if he was ever captured. He needed to keep his head and think before he spoke. He doubted they had no idea who he was, but he was not going to enlighten them if they genuinely did not.

"My name is my own," Legolas turned his gaze to the darker-haired elf standing on his other side, "What do you want?"

"We only wish to see you get well Maer," the Noldo looked at him intently, not fazed by the young prince's fierce gaze.

Maer? Legolas was confused at the name the ellon had called him. Was this a ploy to throw him off? And what kind of name was golden?

The elf seemed to know what he was thinking, "We have yet to learn your name mellon. So, we chose one for you. If you do not approve of it, you may offer up a different one."

Legolas did not like the knowing look in the older elf's eye and turned his gaze away. He did not like how the Noldo made him feel. It was almost as if the elf was looking into his soul.

"You may tell us when you are ready. We will not ask until then. But I do feel that it is right to tell you the rest of our names."

The next thing the ellon said made Legolas's blood freeze.

"My name is Elrond, and these are my sons. Elladan, Elrohir, and Estel. We are travelers from Imladris."

Estel stood behind his ada. He could not help but smile at the confused look on Maer's face at the name he had been given.

When his brothers had called to him that the elfling was waking, he had felt a burden life from his heart. The Sinda would be alright. He just hoped he would not be attacked again.

But Estel was confused as to why the elf would not tell them his name. Or why he looked at each one of them with such an angered, yet calculated look. Surely by know the stupid ellon would know they were not his enemies.

As Maer's intense gaze came to rest on him, Estel had to look away. The blue eyes were so cold and emotionless he wondered if the elf was capable of feeling anything at all.

As his ada told Maer their names, Estel looked back to the elfling's face. The eldar had gone white, a look of surprise filling his eyes.

Elvish Translations:

meleth nín – my love

mellon nín – my friend

nin lithiach – you enchant me

le uivelin – i will always love you

maer – golden

mellon – friend

penneth – young one

ada - dad