Author's Note: I know, I am quite mean in that last chapter, leaving it as I did so I have spent time today working to get this posted. I hope you enjoy and will take a moment to review!
Chapter 22: Confronting the Truth
Together, Faye, Legolas and Silkel began the trek back to the heart of the Elven land of Mirkwood. They journeyed in silence due to the fact that Legolas' heart could bear no more sorrowful news at the moment, anymore right now could jeopardize his health.
The Prince feared what he would see upon their return, for Faye had said that the palace had been rebuilt. Would it at all reflect his former home, or would it be a twisted shell?
As the ventured, they began to come into the heart of the population. Again, flashes from the past returned to Legolas as he saw Elves he had known in his former youth and innocence. Being immortal, they did not age with the years he had been away, and it was eerie how they looked. More so if you counted how they looked at him.
Usually composed beings, the Elves of Mirkwood were quite stunned by the appearance of one lost, but not forgotten, in their ranks. Legolas heard a gasp from a woman and then the sound of a water bucket being dropped and the splashing of its former contents. His acute Elven hearing allowed him to hear the words being whispered by those around him.
"It's the Prince!"
"He did survive that night!"
"Legolas has finally returned!"
"You owe me one afternoon of help in my home!"
Legolas could not be distracted right now, for he had a great fight in front of him. The fight of and for his life, the fight he had been fighting in his mind for ages. A fight he needed to wage if his soul would ever be free once more.
Ahead lay his objective, and the palace at last came into view. Legolas halted to take it all in.
The palace had been rebuilt upon the stone foundation, but it was not like the home that had stood there prior.
The wood used was a dark wood, cut from the oldest trees in the heart of the wood, trees that any normal Elf would never dream in using to create a house for one's self for the crime of harming those eldest of all living beings would be seen in every hallway, every room. The last light of the setting sun dared not touch this place, and the darkness of night embraced it. The wood made the palace seem almost black, and the pillars on each corner looked almost like giant spears reaching for the heavens. The tips on each were so sharp; they gave to palace the look, not of a welcoming home, but of a fortress of war. It made a mockery of the place that had once stood of those stones. The giant doors in front loomed overhead in a vicious pointed arc, the thin windows on either side almost gave the entrance the look of an evil, and pointed face staring out at all that would dare enter here.
Mustering up all his strength and power, Legolas took a step towards the doors, pausing to turn to Faye.
"This is something I must do alone. I thank you for everything and will see you again soon."
"I shall see you again, when you are not a Prince, but a King. You will be a good king, for I see so much of your dear father in you."
Confronted by those words, the Prince of Mirkwood resumed his steps towards those who would seek to destroy him. Those that sought to destroy him so long ago, and for many nights since.
As he approached the gate, the giant doors swung open, with no one there standing guard and no one that could be seen operating the doors. Still wary, but unfaltering in his determination, Legolas kept his feet going and passed through the doors. Upon his entry, the doors once again slammed shut.
The room had no giant windows and the only light was front large touches on the walls. The flame's light bounced across the room in every direction, leaving great shadows and dark places for beings of evil to hide.
There was only one place for Legolas to venture, the throne room and he knew; somehow he already knew that it would lie in the center of the foreboding structure.
His steps were quiet and shallow against the cold stone floor. Every aspect of the palace, even the temperate itself, very terribly cold including the feeling of a cold wind blowing through his thin body.
The hallway in front of him was completely dark, except for the small stream of light coming from cracked doors at the end of the hallway. He was there; Kayrel was just beyond there.
Waiting for him, as the monster had done every night for all these long years.
Legolas finally arrived at the doors and stood still. Finally, he peered through the crack. He could see the throne room, the only place of light he had found in the entire hallway. There were a ton of lanterns and torches illuminating the room as though it was in the midday sun.
He took a deep breath and steeled his nerves.
He opened the doors in front of him.
A figure rose from a menacing looking throne.
The figure had short, spiked, black hair, very unusual for any Elf in any realm. Its eyes were even blacker, the portal, and the view into a wicked, twisted soul. This Elf who would rule was large and imposing, not able to be missed among all the other, thinner and smaller Elves of the court. A deep voice rang over the giant hall.
"I've been expecting you, coward of Mirkwood. You who ran all those years ago while your father's blood ran over the floors."
The words chilled the Prince to the very core of his immortal soul.
"No reply, little Princeling? I knew it. You are just as weak and unworthy to rule as the rest of your pitiful family. Their deaths were the greatest thing ever to happen and my doing it was for the good of the people."
Legolas stood firm. "You are nothing but a thief and a deceiver. One who claims to be loyal and then stabs those in the back that you swear allegiance to. You say you did it for the people, fine. Then look at the state of your people, cut off and without basic rights inherit to every freeborn Elf. You are nothing but a dictator and I have returned to see that justice is served and that is it your blood that paints the floors red."
Kayrel stepped down from his platform, coming onto the same level as Legolas.
"So, you have come to fight me then, very well. I will fight you, but say you actually, by some miracle, defeat me. Then what? Are you going to fight all my supporters? Mirkwood has chosen its new ruler and I have a hint for you, child. It's not you."
"Mirkwood has fallen in shadow, into darkness!" Legolas advanced, not able to hold back his rage or his voice. "You have allowed this, you have doomed this magnificent wood and I would not only fight for the Elves, but also for the wood itself. I think Mirkwood will choose its leader and will gladly have your body rot under its floor!"
A shallow breath calmed the young Elf, taking one moment before continuing.
"I need not fight your supporters, or any army you may claim. By cutting off this land, you have made many enemies, Kayrel, and the army of Lord Elrond supports me; they are right behind me and will fight with me. I know your fighters are no match for the greatest Elven army in all Middle-Earth!"
An evil laugh echoed from the stonewalls, a low laugh that vibrated in Legolas' chest.
"Foolish child. Do you honestly think that is any kind of a threat?"
Legolas tried to hide his confusion and remain impassive.
"How do you think I was able to kill your brothers on so many fronts across the lands? How do you think I've been able to hold this kingdom all this time? Have you seen this 'army' that stands with you? Why do you think you stand alone now, handed to me on a silver platter?"
'Breathe.' Legolas thought 'Just breathe.'
Kayrel walked up to Legolas, and in that tense moment, the Prince did not move and Kayrel whispered into his ear. Legolas could not contain his shock from the words that followed.
"Lord Elrond has been my ally all along."