Thank you for those nice reviews, everyone! Here's the next chapter!
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"Hello, Legolas! Why, elfling, you came early," Haldir commented. The Lothlorien Captain had just returned from an excursion into the woods with his younger brother, Rumil. On their way back to their quarters, they stumbled upon the manyan prince, who looked as if he was being chased by something.
As he kept glancing over his shoulder, Legolas replied, "Oh, hello Haldir, Rumil. Where's Orophin?"
"He is on patrol." Rumil frowned at the prince's obvious anxiety. "Is something wrong, Legolas?"
"GET BACK HERE, YOU STUPID INSOLENT BRAT!!!!!!!!!" suddenly came Keldarion's roar. His face looked thunderous as he strode swiftly towards them.
"O-oh." Legolas blanched and started to take off.
"Haldir! Rumil! SEIZE HIM!!!"
The other pair of brothers glanced at each other and proceeded to do as Keldarion's orders. They instantly grabbed Legolas' arms before the younger prince could escape.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" Legolas shouted as he struggled to get free. "Let me go!"
"I'm sorry, your highness. We just can't," Haldir said, smiling widely. "He's a crown prince. We have to obey him."
Keldarion glared at his brother. "You are in for it, you imp!!"
"Aw, see here, Kel…" Legolas tried to plead.
His brother wouldn't listen. Instead, Keldarion reached down and grabbed both of Legolas' legs, picking them off the ground. "To the river," he said shortly to Haldir and Rumil.
Rumil's eyes widened while Haldir laughed out loud. Legolas screamed in enrage as they carried him away. He squirmed and struggled but the three warriors were a lot stronger than him. Still, he didn't stop pleading with Keldarion. "Please, Kel! I won't do it again! I promise!"
"Say, Kel, what exactly has he done?" Haldir asked as they came near to the bank of the river.
Through gritted teeth, Keldarion told them what had happened in the garden just now. Haldir and Rumil broke into laughter. Keldarion glared. "It's NOT funny!"
"Whatever you say, Kel. But I think what Legolas did just now was brilliant!" Rumil exclaimed.
"Oh, really? Then let's throw you into the river after him, shall we?"
Rumil immediately shut his mouth.
Legolas was cursing now. "Blast it, Kel! If you throw me in I will…"
"Or you will what? Run to father and tell?" Keldarion taunted. He signaled to the two brothers. "Ready? On three. One, two…three!!!"
Legolas went flying…and hit the water with a loud splash.
"Serves you right, you brat! Now come back up here so I can throw you in again!!!" Keldarion yelled as he waited for Legolas to resurface.
…and waited…and waited!
When Legolas did not appear after a full minute later, Keldarion began to worry. "Legolas!!" he called out anxiously. Rumil and Haldir were also starting to get nervous. Without waiting any longer, Keldarion dived into the water. He looked frantically for Legolas, hoping that nothing terrible had happened to his brother.
Keldarion swam to the very bottom of the river, afraid that Legolas might have accidentally hit his head somehow and was rendered senseless, but there was no sign of him. At this, the prince started to panic. Valar! What have I done? Where is he?
Then suddenly, he heard the muffled sound of laughter. A very familiar laughter. Keldarion quickly broke the surface. He gasped in great relief when he saw Legolas standing in the water near to the bank, laughing like crazy. Then Keldarion saw red.
Haldir and Rumil noticed the fury on Keldarion's face so they prepared to escape. "Let's go, Rumil," said Haldir, trying hard not to laugh. "We better not get caught in the crossfire!"
Legolas was still laughing when his brother grabbed him around the throat and dragged him up the bank. "Erk! Kel! Let…go!!!"
Keldarion dumped his brother onto the ground. When Legolas made a move to rise, the elder prince yelled, "STAY THERE!!!"
Legolas blinked. He stared wide-eyed at his brother's red face. Oh, no. He's really angry! "Err…Kel?"
"That was stupid! I thought you had drown!"
"I…I'm sorry. I didn't think…"
"That's right. You never think!"
Everything went awfully silent. Keldarion turned away abruptly and stared at the calmly flowing water. The whispering breeze hit the drenched forms of the two brothers but they were oblivious to the cold.
Legolas looked down at the ground and recalled his brother's words. You never think. There was some truth in that, he knew. He always liked to jump into one scrape after another before looking where he would land. And that was indeed a stupid stunt he pulled on his brother just now. He should have considered Keldarion's reaction. His brother was very scared of losing him.
Legolas slowly got to his feet. He stepped forward and placed one hand on Keldarion's stiff shoulder. "Kel? Look, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to frighten you just now. I'll never do that again, I swear."
The other prince was so still and silent. Legolas feared that he had gone too far to be forgiven. "Please, Kel. I'm sorry! That was thoughtless of me and…and stupid! What can I do to make it up to you?"
Legolas grew desperate when Keldarion didn't reply. "All right. How about if I sharpen your sword for a month? Or I can make more arrows for your quiver. Or, what if I give you a back rub? You would like that, won't you?"
Keldarion could stand it no more. He whirled around and grabbed Legolas into his arms. "Shut up, brat. Just shut up."
Legolas felt his brother trembled and he was instantly assailed with guilt. "I'm sorry I scared you. I didn't mean it." Keldarion pulled away and Legolas was startled to see the tears in his brother's cobalt blue eyes.
"I know, Legolas. I guess I got overreacted." Keldarion stared deeply into Legolas' silver ones. "Look. I also didn't mean it when I said that you never think. That's not true, and we both know it. I'm sorry for that."
Keldarion was still mad at himself for blurting out those harsh words. Legolas was the most thoughtful person he knew. His younger brother was a manyan, a mystical healer. The one with the biggest heart and strongest empathy. To say that Legolas was thoughtless about others was not only wrong but also downright cruel.
"Are you still mad at me about…you know…your hair and Arwen's?" Legolas asked tentatively.
Keldarion broke into a huge grin. "Well, to tell you the truth, I think it was brilliant! I never saw her so livid before! When I tried to hack her hair off with my dagger, she had screamed bloody murder!"
Legolas joined his brother in laughter. "Oh, I love to see her reaction! That would be priceless!"
"And then, father and Lord Celeborn entered the picture. They saw the whole thing!"
Legolas' eyes bulged. "They didn't!" He laughed harder and collapsed to the ground, almost hysterical. Keldarion dropped down beside his brother. "Oh, yes. That was priceless."
The two brothers looked at each other and broke into another round of wild mirth all over again.
It was several minutes later after their laughter had died down that Legolas remembered something. "I almost forgot! Look what I've found!" He took out something from inside his tunic. "Look at this! This is why I was late to resurface. I found this thing lying at the bottom of the river."
Keldarion stared at the object placed on Legolas' palm. It was a small bottle of some kind, made of dark smooth glass and round in shape. There was a stopper at the mouth of the bottle, also made of strong glass. "That's interesting." Keldarion took the bottle and looked at it closely. "How did it come to be in the water?"
"My thought exactly," said Legolas. "It's quite beautiful too. Maybe it's a lady's bottle of scent water."
"But I detect no smell." Keldarion took a sniff. He pulled out the stopper, and a dark red mist flew out of the bottle and engulfed him. Keldarion coughed, fanning his hand to get the mist away from his face while Legolas exclaimed, "What in the world was that?"
"I have no idea," Keldarion said, gasping for breath.
Legolas was worried as he stared at his brother's flushed face. "Are you all right?"
Keldarion nodded. He put the stopper back onto the bottle and gave it to Legolas. "Yes, I'm fine. Here. You might need this bottle to woo a lady you fancy!"
The younger prince gave his brother a dirty look. "Why would I need a bottle to woo the ladies when I have my good looks to charm them?"
Keldarion laughed out loud. "You wish, you imp! Come on! Let's get back to the palace and get out of these wet clothes!"
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I'm free!!! Completely free! After thousands of years imprisoned in that blasted glass underneath the water, my long wait has finally paid off! And Lord, look at him! Look at the young elf in the mirror, the form that I've taken. He's so splendid! So strong and powerful.
Just you wait, Celeborn. I will get my revenge.
TBC….
