Hello mellon nin - due to increased stress in my personal life I have made the hard decision to hold off posting for about two weeks. Please just know that I will be back I just need a little bit of time to figure some things out in my life. Thanks for hanging in there with me! I write this from my heart and it makes my day when I know you all enjoy it like I do...
Thank you to elvenmaia for sticking with me through all of life's dramas.
In Times of Trouble
Scribbles-on-Parchment
May 8, 2021
Chapter 8 – An Act of Revenge
Kélion said nothing as he and Meldir strode quickly down the brightly light passageways towards the Welcoming Hall. The crown prince was trying his best to keep his frustrations from spilling over. Who was his adar to suddenly start caring about everything after so many months of him having to take charge of everything? Why had the Sinda only just now decided to come out of the dark hole he had been in and begin giving him orders? If Meldir had not been there to quickly guide him out of Legolas's room then Kélion was sure that he would have gotten into a heated argument with his adar.
Both eldar continued to walk in silence down the hallway neither noticing the questioning glances that two passing guards gave them as they walked by. The entire palace had by now heard of their youngest prince's collapse and assumed that the royal family would not venture far from Legolas's bedside until he recovered.
As they neared the great hall where his adar had reported the disturbance Kélion began to hear the sound of many elven voices arguing amongst one another. The prince's brow wrinkled and he quickened his pace. It was rare for such a commotion to be heard in the palace and he felt a stab of worry grow in his heart as to what had happened. Kélion paused at the door that led into the Welcoming Hall and glanced at Meldir who simply sighed deeply and a look of worry appeared in his eyes as well. The Sinda then turned and flung the door open before striding into the large room followed closely by the Silvan commander.
No one seemed to notice the telltale golden hair of their crown prince as the Sinda made his way across the room towards the palace gates that stood open. A large crowd of guards and soldiers stood by the entrance. Many were arguing loudly while some stood in silence glancing down at something that lay on the ground just outside of the gates. Kélion could not see what it was, but he felt a horrible feeling rise in his chest at the almost frightened sound that could be heard in the voices that were arguing. The prince drew close the group before calling out,
"What is the meaning of this?"
Kélion gritted his teeth as the words came thundering out of his mouth. Valar, he sounded exactly like his adar. The prince watched as the Silvan soldiers in front of him jumped at the sound of his call before quickly turning around to see who had just spoken. As many pairs of the eyes landed on Kélion and Meldir the conversation in the room died away instantly.
"I will ask you again, what is the meaning of this? Why have I been taken away from my brother's bedside to come down here to deal with a disturbance amongst you all? I expected better," the prince's tone had taken on an irritated tone and his dark blue eyes were boring into anyone who dared make eye contact with him, "What is so important that it would have you all bickering amongst yourselves like elfling?"
The silence in the room persisted as the ellyn cast glances at one another obviously hesitant to say anything that would upset the already irate Sinda more.
"Well?" Kélion's voice rang out again as he crossed his arms over his chest, "Who is going to be the first to be brave enough to speak up?"
"Hîr nín," the Silvan lieutenant that came forward bowed his head in respect to the crown prince, "It was not our intention to cause you worry or to force you to leave Prince Legolas's chambers. Forgive us."
"I will consider when you tell me what in Eru's name is the reason behind this."
Kélion was not in the mood for pleasantries and wished that they would tell him what had happened already. The lieutenant cast an almost desperate glance at Meldir, his commander. It was a look so full of worry that it caused the prince's breath to catch briefly in his throat. And with that his patience snapped.
The Sinda pushed forward and forced his way through the crowd of eldar until he reached the entrance to the gate. As Kélion set eyes on the scene before him he could not help but let out a gasp as his heart plummeted. There before him lay the seven scouts who had been sent out to patrol the barrier earlier that day. They were all dead, their bodies littered with arrows and gruesome sword slashes.
Kélion sunk to his knees beside the mangled bodies trying to comprehend what he was seeing. He felt Meldir's hand come to rest on his back as his friend demand,
"What happened and why was I not alerted of this incident right away?"
But the crown prince did not hear the response that was given for he was too busy staring that three arrows that were sticking grotesquely out of the chest of the closest scout's abdomen. They were not orch arrows, they were elven made.
Meldir noted how Kélion's body went suddenly tense as he himself tried to listen to the lieutenant attempt to stutter out the explanation for what had happened.
"What is it mellon nín?" the Silvan commander turned his attention to the prince; he frowned as he saw the prince's hands tighten into fists at his side, "What do you see?"
"They were not killed by yrch," the anger in Kélion's voice caused the entire room to go utterly still as though the Greenwood herself was waiting for the prince's next words, "They were slain at the hands of their own kin. These arrows were crafted by Noldor."
Two Hours Earlier outside the palace gate…
"Anno dulu enni!"
The desperate cry echoed around the clearing startled the two guards who stood watch over the gate. Their eyes widened to see a lone figure stumbling out from the trees, his telltale brown and green scouting uniform now stained red with blood.
"Anno dulu enni!"
The strangled call came again from the ellon's mouth as his legs suddenly crumpled beneath him causing him to collapse to the forest floor. In an instant both guards were calling for a healer as they ran towards the limp body of their fallen comrade. As the Silvan elves reached the wounded scout one of the guards let out a cry of despair as he all but threw himself down beside the body.
"Muindor, what has happened to you?" the soldier gently lifted the head of his only sibling into his lap, "Naer please open your eyes! Look at me!"
The fear that laced the frantic words cut at the hearts of all who heard it. Naer was a well-respected member of the royal guard who had only been selected to accompany the scouting group this morning because of his expertise in tracking. The ellon was the only family his younger brother had left and seeing them like this was heartbreaking.
"Please open your eyes!" Faleon's now had tears streaming down his cheek, several of which fell on Naer's pale face, "Do not leave me!"
As this last cry left the younger elf's lips he was rewarded by the sight of Naer's eyelids fluttering open to reveal chestnut eyes. However instead of being bright and lively as they normally were they were now dull. Those who had gathered could already see that the light inside of them was quickly fading. He would not last long.
"Faleon…" the faint word whispered of the dying eldar caused everyone around to hold their breath waiting to hear what would be said next, "You must… go and get them."
"Who muindor? Who must I go and get?"
"The rest of…" Naer's face was growing paler with each passing second as the haunting red color of his tunic deepened, "They are… dead. I could not… save them. He was too strong…"
Tears were now visible in many of the eyes of the eldar as the realization sunk in. The entire scouting patrol was laying dead somewhere out in the forest.
"Who Naer? Who did this to you?" Faleon's voice was choked with desperation.
But the dying ellon did not seem to hear the question as his eyes began to lose focus.
"Be careful… he is coming. I… had to get back… I had to… warn you, muindor…"
The voice died away as he finished saying this leaving Faleon to cry, "No! Do not leave me!"
But his words were left unheeded for Naer's súlë fled his dying body, leaving his eyes to stare sightlessly up at his brother's tear stained face.
The entire clearing went deathly still, the only sound being Faleon's weeping as he mourned the loss of his beloved brother and best friend.
End of Flashback
Meldir was furious as he knelt down to examine the cold corpses of the scouts that had been found and brought back. These were brave ellyn whom he had known for many years, whom he had grown up with and trained with. They were now laying dead at his feet, their bodies riddled with ghastly wounds. How had a simple patrol ended in such a tragic manner as this? He needed to know.
"We found them not a league away from here. It appears as though they had been killed whilst leaving on their patrol as they appeared to have been killed several hours before. Whomever or whatever it was that killed them surprised them as only a few of our scouts' arrows were missing. They were not prepared for the attack."
"Or they were perhaps not prepared to fight those who killed them," Meldir said softly as he gently closed the eyes of one of the dead ellyn, "If it truly was the Noldor who did this then they may have halted their attack not wanting to become kinslayers."
"What do you mean if?" Kélion's voice was tinged with icy furry, "All of the evidence is there. It was the Noldor who did this. Perhaps it was even Elrond himself who carried out this heinous act. These are Noldor arrows Meldir, these sword strokes were made by Noldor blades. What more proof do you need?"
Meldir's eyes narrowed at the heated remarks that Kélion was throwing at him. This kind of anger and rash judgment was more akin to the king than to the crown prince. He turned to look his friend hard in the eyes,
"I mean only that we have no proof other than the wounds inflicted. What if this is actually the work of yrch? What if they are trying to trick us into thinking they were killed by elves? I just do not think we should jump to conclusions so quickly. The Noldor have done nothing to us in hundreds of years that would warrant our retaliation. I do not see why that would start now."
"Then tell me how exactly yrch got past the barrier and this close to the palace? They would not be able to. Not without…" Kélion's voice drifted off.
Meldir knew exactly what the Sinda was thinking. There would have been no way for the yrch to pass into the Greenwood if the barrier were still intact.
"Mellon nín," the Silvan commander said slowly, "We do not know if Legolas is even still in control of the barrier. For all we know it fell when he went into his coma. Maybe the darkness has even become so strong that it has …"
"Do not say another word," Kélion's voice was as hard as steel as he got quickly to his feet glaring furiously at his friend, "You know nothing."
The crown prince glanced around at the wide eyed and fearful looks that those around him were giving him before the Sinda turned and stormed away back towards the royal wing.
"Kélion?" Meldir cried out after the retreating form, "Where are you going?"
His question caused the prince to pause for a moment as he seemed to contemplate what he was about to say. A second later Kélion's voice echoed out around the Welcoming Hall,
"I am going to speak with my adar. You all may not believe that the Noldor could have done this, but I will not take the risk of leaving the palace open to another attack. Not again."
Kélion's icy gaze came to rest on Meldir forcing the Silvan commander to look away by the sheer intensity of it.
Elvish Translations:
adar – father
hîr nín – my lord
orch – orc
mellon nín – my friend
yrch - orcs
anno dulu enni – help me
muindor – brother
súlë – spirit
mellon nín – my friend