Only 8 chapters to go... this part of the story begins to come to a close. For now ;)
For Nymiriel: Du bist so nett mellon nín! Ich bin glücklich, dass mein schlechtes Deutsch dich zum Lächeln bringen kann! I am so glad you are still enjoying the story! And yes Rívorn is a piece of work! He may come into play at a later point... ;)
For silverarrow: Mellon nín, your reviews are so kind! I greatly appreciate all of the time you put into each one! To answer your question Kélion felt anger because Legolas has just appeared with out anything seeming to be wrong. i sure have felt some anger at times when I am also feeling relieved! But that might just be me :) I am glad that you still care about my OCs and the way I have portrayed everyone even with all of my cliffies! I am quite mean ;)
And the biggest thank you of all to my kind beta elvenmaia who has been with me through thick and thin! This part of the journey is almost over mellon nín ;) But you know all to well what is to come!
Out of Mirkwood
Scribbles-on-Parchment
November 14, 2020
Chapter 67 – The Pride of Elves
Kélion felt as though a fire had been lit in his very súlë. Anger burned in his veins as the elfling's words began to sink in. These elves, these Noldor, had held his brother captive. All across the clearing the other Silvan ellyn seemed to be having the same reaction to the news and the sons of Elrond were now receiving many angry glances and mutterings from their Greenwood kin.
Behind him the prince could hear Legolas trying to say something above the noise that had erupted in the clearing, but his words were lost. The din continued on for several minutes with Kélion glaring daggers at the Noldor twins. He had met them only once before and that had been briefly when he had still been an elfling; it had been before the great battle had taken place. He had never really liked the twins and now these feelings were being solidified in his heart. They had taken his younger brother from him for Valars' sake. They had kidnapped him.
"Dîn!"
Thranduil's voice thundered through the clearing and instantly everything went quiet once more.
"Adar, you must let me finish what I was going to say," Kélion heard the frustration in Legolas's voice as he said this, but the elven king did not pay him any heed.
"I will not have this kind of chaos going on at this time," the king's face was emotionless but his tone conveyed his great displeasure, "You are all elves of the Woodland Realm and I would have you act worthy of respect. Do not fall down to the level of the Noldor or you disgrace yourselves."
There were murmurs around the clearing from the Silvan ellyn present and offended looks from the Imladris eldar.
"Adar," Legolas's voice came again, this time the elfling had come around side of the Sinda to get his attention.
"Quiet ion nín," the king's voice was harsh, "There will be time enough to talk of this matter later."
Kélion watched the frustrated and hurt look appear in his brother's eyes and he visibly bristled. The poor ellon had not even been back for a day and already Thranduil was beginning to disregard him once more.
"No, you will listen to me!" the young prince's voice had risen now and Kélion was painfully aware of all the ellyn who watched them intently, "Let me finish what I was going to say…"
Thranduil cut the elfling off as he spoke through his teeth,
"Legolas you will obey me when I command you to do something. Do not let another word pass out of your lips or Eru help me you will receive the brunt of my anger."
The young Sinda's eyes went wide and he quickly backed away from the elven king.
"Now Elrondion," Thranduil looked back at the twins, "You have now succeeded in bringing about the wrath of my people. Is there anything that you have to say in defense of yourselves? For holding either one of my sons captive is nothing short of open hostility towards me."
The crown prince was hardly listening to his adar's words now. Instead he was eyeing the edan. The human's face displayed his feelings as clear as day and it was obvious he was not happy with the way that the elven king had just spoken to his youngest son. Estel's eyes were resting on Legolas who stood dejectedly next to Thranduil's side.
Kélion's brow furrowed. It was clear that this human had some kind of compassion or love for his younger brother and that surprised him; but what the Sinda wondered now was how far the man would go to prove it. No doubt he would find out soon enough.
Tamír watched Thranduil speak harshly to Legolas from the other side of the clearing where he had been taken with the rest of the Noldor. His brown eyes filled with sorrow and regret. This was not the elf lord he had loved and respected. This was a Sinda who's temper controlled him and who's longing to protect his sons and his kingdom had blinded him to reality. What had happened to Thranduil? Surely the queen was as distressed as he was to see her husband's anger.
The Sinda king had never been one to bow to the wishes of others or to have anyone check his will, but this… this was too much. Paranoia, anger, pride, regret, these were all displayed in Thranduil's look and posture and spoke more about the desires of his heart than his words ever could.
Tamír heard Elladan begin to stutter out an explanation of what had really taken place and that the prince had never been a captive; but it was clear that the elven lord was having none of it.
"You speak brave words Noldo," Thranduil's voice came clearly across the field, "But you have nothing with which to back up your claims. You stutter and seem at a loss of what to say. A shame really, but exactly what I would have expected from any offspring of Elrond. You speak only lies and nothing more."
Beside the fuming Sinda, Tamír could see Legolas standing unhappily and downcast. The elfling's head was bowed and the Silvan could see his hands were clenched in either anger or frustration. If only Thranduil had let his young son finish what he wished to say, perhaps then all would have been clear.
The elf sighed and closed his eyes as he heard more harsh words pouring from the king's lips. He put his hand to his chest and felt the thick paper of the letter that Elrond had given him still secured in the pocket in his tunic. He had hoped this would have been a happier reunion, one in which he would have been able to give the king the letter in good spirits, but it was not to be.
Half of Tamír wondered if he should give the letter to the elven king at all, yet he knew he should, as had given a promise to Elrond. How far away and distant Imladris felt at this moment. The peaceful valley was so different then what the Greenwood had turned out to be. For the first time the ellon felt a great sense of relief that he would not be staying much longer under the dark boughs. His oldest and dearest mellon had changed so much that he barely even knew him anymore and his beautiful Narril was not here. There was nothing left. He truly had no reason to stay.
Tamír opened his eyes once more and glanced at Legolas. He felt bad for the princeling, he had never had the freedom to explore or experience the outside world, he was essentially captive in his own land.
To his surprise the elfling was looking up and straight at him, a strange look playing across his face. However, Tamír did not have long to think of what it meant as a moment later Legolas inner light erupted from the ellon's body flashing so brightly in the clearing that it forced all to look away from him.
"Be quiet! All of you!" The young ellon's voice rang out loudly as each of the ellyn present went deathly silent, "I will not be silent while you punish these Noldor for something that they did not do. You did not let me finish my explanation."
The elfling paused for a moment as the light around him faded away. The elven king turned to look at his son, surprise written all over his face.
"Had you let me finish what I was going to say," Legolas continued, "You would have heard me say that Estel has proven faithful to me whilst I was held captive by them, or at least that is what I thought at the time. But I was not. I was not tied up, I was not treated unfairly by them, I was not even interrogated by them about where the Greenwood was. They did not come here to attack you. They came here because they chose to escort me back to you. Elrond could have forced me to travel back to Imladris with him or even have killed me, but he chose not to."
The young Sinda paused, his chest heaving with all of the pent of emotions he was feeling,
"So adar, do not do anything to them. Just let them help and use the skills that they have so no more eldar need to die here today. After that I am sure they will gladly leave the forest for you are not making a very good impression as king."
Legolas's voice died out and no one in the clearing moved as they waited to see what would happen next. Thranduil looked down on his youngest son trying to decide what he should do next.
All of the blood had drained from Legolas's face after his explosion at his adar, but his eyes remained as hard as steel. He did not regret one word of what he had said. At last the elven king said softly,
"Êmand take Prince Legolas and remove him from my sight."
Kélion could not believe what his younger brother had just done. He saw Êmand gently leading the elfling away from Thranduil and the shocked gazes of the other ellyn. The crown prince longed to run after his brother, but he stopped himself.
He glanced towards the three sons of Elrond and saw the distress in Estel's grey eyes. He believed every word Legolas had spoken and stepped forward to address the Noldor.
"If my brother's words are true, which I believe that they are, then I would like to apologize on my behalf for speaking and acting in such anger towards you," Kélion spoke loudly, not looking at his adar, "You have brought Prince Legolas back to us and for that I am grateful. I will accept your aid to help with our wounded and dead. After that I will discuss things further. Now if you will please excuse me."
The Sinda turned around and roughly pushed past his adar. He did not care what the king thought of his words, all he wanted to do was see his younger brother. That was it. The sons of Elrond and his adar could stand there all day if they had to. Kélion walked away, his head still held high, he did not wait to hear Elladan's response.
"Muindor," The crown prince kneeled down in front of his brother, "Adar has been going through much stress and he does not think very clearly about what he says. You must push aside his words, penneth, for I know he does not mean them."
Legolas raised frustrated blue eyes,
"Yet it seems that every time I am around him we both end up becoming angry at one another. I wonder if it would have actually been better had I never come back."
"You do not mean that. You speak only out of the emotions that fill your heart," Êmand's gentle voice came from beside the princes, "And you will come to see this in time."
Kélion glanced at his brother's mentor before adding,
"Legolas, you do not belong with the Noldor. You belong here in the Greenwood. You belong here at my side and nowhere else. It is only adar's pride that, at this moment, blinds him to all else."
Elvish Translations:
súlë – spirit
dîn – silence
adar – father
penneth – young one
ion nín – my son
mellon – friend
muindor – brother (Sindarin)
