Disclaimer: For full disclaimer, please see chapter 1.
A/N:
Awww, you guys are SO SWEET!!! *huggles readers* I missed you too!
Thanks so much for all the reviews, they just ... inspire me, I guess. They really do, _and_ they make me post faster! Yes they do! Really! Originally I wanted to post tomorrow, but because of the great feedback (and the fact that I have other things to do, but that's irrelevant *g*) I have decided to do it today! Yay!
I'm glad all of you liked Glorfindel, I love him myself, he's so cute! *huggles resisting elven warrior* But I fear the "golden haired beauty" (*shoots xsilicax odd look*) is not really going to be in this story. I don't know about the next yet. He might be there, perhaps with the twins... *shrugs* I'm not sure.
And about the "dark, mysterious, evil man" in the beginning: Well, I'm NOT telling who he is or what his motives are or anything, and you will have to wait quite a bit until it'll be revealed. Might even be in the next story, we'll see... *evil grin*
Okay, here's chapter 2, in which we see ... _very_ annoyed elven princes, learn Celylith's "spade's" name, more of the evil man and his probably evil plans and a little bit of Elrond's and Thranduil's youth (well, Elrond was 3300+ years old, so 'youth' is a very relative term... *g*). *giggles* Oh, they're so mad that I'm telling you that story... *evil grin*
Enjoy and review, please! (*readers groan in unison* Here we go again...)
Chapter 2
Aragorn was waking up slowly, far too slowly for his liking. That was another thing he hated about sleeping potions, he decided as he tried to force his brain to start working again, they always made waking an incredible struggle. Every time it took him ages to shake off the sleepiness and his thoughts wouldn't lose that certain fuzzy feeling for at least half an hour after he had finally managed to pry his eyelids open.
This time, however, it seemed to be easier to wake, and soon he discovered the reason for this: There were voices, voices that seemed to be conversing in volumes that could have woken a troll from hibernation.
The young human groaned inwardly. What was it with him and voices? To him it seemed that every other time he awoke, there were voices talking next to him, either telling him to wake up or interrupting his sleep by yelling at each other next to his head. Who needed voices anyway, he wondered grumpily, there was a perfectly adequate sign language that did just as well…
"And I still say it, Elladan, he must have put too much of the root in the draught; Estel's been asleep for more than fourteen hours now!" Elrohir's voice invaded his thoughts.
"I know, brother, and I absolutely agree with you. There is only the question if ada did it on purpose or if it was an accident…"
"Oh no, ada wouldn't overdose one of his patients knowingly, you know that as well as I do. There are some other people however who have no such scruples…"
Elladan sounded shocked.
"Just what are you implying, Elrohir?"
Estel slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room that was empty except for his two elven brothers. Elladan and Elrohir were sitting to his left side in a pair of armchairs and were so focused on their bickering that they didn't notice that their younger brother was awake.
Right now Elrohir gave his twin a wicked look.
"Well, I seem to remember an incident about, well, I think about three hundred years ago when a certain someone who shall remain nameless drugged me, without my knowledge I might add, for more than a day 'by accident'."
Elladan gave his younger brother an innocent smile that fooled neither Elrohir nor Aragorn.
"It was an accident, brother! It was merely a coincidence that it enabled me to carry you back home without you aggravating your wounds or driving me insane with your protestations what you were alright."
"I was alright!" the younger twin insisted exasperatedly. This was an argument they had about once a decade.
The other elf chuckled merrily.
"Oh, of course you were. An orc arrow in the shoulder, a complicatedly broken leg and half a dozen broken ribs count as perfectly alright, forgive my stupidity."
Elrohir rolled his eyes at his brother. He knew this was an argument he couldn't win, simply because Elladan was right. He had been in a bad shape after that arrow had propelled him over the cliff, and if one believed his twin, he had very nearly died on the way back to Rivendell almost causing his brother to go insane with worry, but he would be damned if he admitted that.
"You are forgiven, this time," he said haughtily, nodding at his brother. "I know it is not your fault. You are trying as hard as you can, and you can't change that you are a bit slow sometimes…" At this point he had to leave his armchair, quite hastily one might add, to avoid his brother's hand that had aimed a smack at his head.
Aragorn cleared his throat, deciding to let them know he was awake before they started chasing each other across the room and over his bed.
"I hope I am not disturbing the two of you?" he asked, noting their startled faces with some satisfaction. It was nearly impossible to surprise the two elves, and every time he managed to do so was worthy of remembrance. "If you want to continue with this, I can leave and get some more sleep elsewhere."
Elladan grinned at him, shooting his twin that had wisely moved out of his reach a dark glare.
"Oh, don't worry, little brother, Elrohir and I will finish this little discussion. Later."
Elrohir shuffled nervously and moved back a few steps. Elladan could bear a grudge for a long time indeed, and he would have to be on his guard for the next few days. He made a mental note to ask Legolas about a tree in which he could sleep comfortably this night. He knew his brother well enough to know what would happen should he give him a chance to avenge himself for those little comments, and he wasn't going to make it any easier on his twin by sleeping in an easily accessible room.
Aragorn grinned back, satisfied that for now they wouldn't try to kill each other.
"As long as you do it far away from me, I don't care. What time is it?"
Elrohir stepped closer, still keeping an eye on his elven brother.
"Almost midday, little brother. You need to get up now if you want to visit Seobryn before that mainkar arrives."
"Midday?" the human gasped, pushing back the covers and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. That rapid movement proved to be too much for his still healing head, and he closed his eyes and gripped the bedstead tightly until the room stopped spinning and the invisible maniac next to him got tired of jamming red-hot pokers into his head.
Quietly thanking Ilúvatar that his father wasn't here for he would surely drug him once more if he found out about this, he opened his eyes again and looked into the worried faces of his elven brothers.
"Estel?" Elrohir asked, placing a hand on the young ranger's forehead. "Are you alright? Has your vision gone blurry again? How many fingers am I holding up?"
Aragorn scowled at the younger twin, slapping his hand away from his forehead.
"Yes, no, and three. I am fine; I just tried to get up a little too fast, that's all."
He sighed as he saw the dubious look the two of them were exchanging.
"I am fine, really. Now would you please get out of here so I can change? I really would not want to visit Seobryn wearing only a robe; he would feel only worse than he already is."
The twins gave him a long look, but nodded and quickly left the room.
Estel was probably right, Elladan mused as they waited outside the now closed doors, the other human would feel even guiltier than he did now when he saw that Aragorn was still far from healed. The boy blamed himself for his inability to prevent most of the harm that had befallen the ranger, even though he knew in his heart that there had been nothing he could have done.
The older twin winced inwardly when he remembered the fearful look on Seobryn's face every time the human saw an elf, and especially them, their father or Legolas. The boy still couldn't believe that the elves wouldn't seek retribution for what the other mercenaries had done to Aragorn. Elladan forcefully suppressed the hate that welled up inside of him, hate for the people who had dared treat his little brother in such a fashion. When he had first laid eyes on his younger brother after they had finally found him, lying bleeding and broken in Elrohir's arms, the only thing he had wanted to do was kill all of those who had hurt him, and kill them slowly, if possible.
With a quick shake of his head he pushed these memories back down. Elrohir had been right when he had told him not to allow these dark feelings to consume him, that it would solve nothing.
'They have all paid one way or the other,' he thought grimly, remembering the many humans he had had to kill that day. He didn't feel sorry for them in the slightest, he decided after a few seconds, they had got what they deserved, and the survivors had been handed over to the men of Dale, which was far too lenient a fate in Elladan's opinion.
At that point he heard light footfall that quickly drew closer, and he and Elrohir turned to see the Prince of Mirkwood approach them, his fair hair shining in the sunlight.
His expression though, the older twin decided, was more than a bit sour, and right now he reminded Elladan strongly of the other's father.
'No,' he thought as he watched his friend come closer, 'Not even King Thranduil could look that terrifying, not even if he had just heard that a horde of dwarves had broken into his cellars and emptied every single one of his wine barrels.'
Elrohir either hadn't noticed Legolas' mood, or he chose to ignore it.
"Legolas! What is it, mellonamin? You look positively dreadful! What has happened? Has someone plundered your father's vaults?"
The older twin winced inwardly. It wasn't wise to taunt the fair haired elf about his father's well-known love for silver and precious gems on the best of days, but on one of his bad days it was widely considered suicidal.
'Valar,' Elladan thought as he watched Legolas' face darken even more, 'And he says I am stupid?!'
Elrohir opened his mouth to make another comment, but before he could say anything, the doors opened and a now fully dressed Estel stepped out, apparently not aware that he had just saved his elven brother's life, judging by Legolas' truly dangerous expression.
The elven prince shot the younger twin one last glare before turning his eyes on his human friend.
"Aragorn! How do you feel?"
The young ranger rolled his eyes. He just didn't understand that question; did he really look that bad so that he encouraged every single person to ask him that?
"I feel fine, mellonamin," he said in a long-suffering tone of voice, giving his elven brothers dark glares, "Really. I am fine. Can we go now? I would really like to see him before the trader arrives, I'm sure he could use some encouragement. I don't think he has got used to seeing that many elves every day."
Elrohir snorted softly. One could definitely say that, he thought dryly, the boy looked ready to die of fright every time he saw one of the firstborn. And, considering the fact that he had spent the past three weeks in an elven city and was surrounded by elves, he wore that expression almost constantly, something which just couldn't be healthy for a human.
Legolas nodded, smiling at the ranger and taking one of his arms.
"Of course. I came to see where you were, the tradesman will be here in half in hour."
The four of them made their way down the corridor, the twins discreetly making sure that they were in positions to catch their younger brother should he stumble.
"Where is Celylith?" Aragorn asked as they made their way down the marble staircase, carefully placing one foot in front of the other carefully. The last thing he needed was to tumble down the stairs, he thought darkly, Elrond wouldn't let him leave his room for weeks.
The young ranger was too concentrated on the stairs to notice his friend's face that took an expression of utmost annoyance once the other elf's name was spoken.
It was, however, not lost on the twins.
"Yes, where is he?" Elladan asked, gazing innocently at the prince. It was obvious that the silver haired elf was somehow responsible for Legolas' current mood, and he would make sure he learned all about what had happened.
The fair haired elf scowled at the empty hallway in front of them.
"He is visiting Wilwarin."
"Wilwarin?" Aragorn questioned, stopping and looking at him curiously. "Do I know her? Is there an elf maiden that has stolen his heart and he didn't tell us about her?"
To the surprise of the three brothers, Legolas just stared at them with wide eyes before letting go of the young human's arm and starting to roar with laughter. After a few seconds he couldn't keep his feet any longer, and he sank to the floor, laughing as if that had been the funniest thing he had ever heard in his over 2500 years of existence.
Aragorn raised an eyebrow and turned to his brothers, whose only answers were an identical pair of clueless shrugs. This wasn't like Legolas at all, but perhaps they were beginning to rub off on him. Who could say?
They waited a few more seconds for the prince to calm down, but when he showed no such inclination, the young human's patience finally ran out.
"Alright, my friend, what is it? I can't see what could possibly justify this amount of amusement," he said, folding his arms across his chest and giving his friend the best reproduction of the look he could manage.
Whether or not that had worked, Aragorn would never know, but Legolas finally managed to quieten down a bit. After a moment he shakily rose to his feet, wiping tears of mirth out of his eyes with the sleeve of his light green tunic.
"I am sorry, Strider. But … Wilwarin isn't an elf maid. She isn't a girl at all. Not really, anyway. I mean, she is female, yes, but…"
The three of them looked at each other, obviously at a loss.
After a heartbeat's pause, Elrohir voiced what all of them were thinking.
"You are not making any sense at all, Legolas."
The fair haired elf grinned at them, slowly resuming his walk into the direction of Seobryn's quarters.
"He's visiting the 'sweet, adorable, gorgeous, innocent, perfect little thing' he couldn't part with. Against my direct orders as I might add."
Elladan stared at the prince, disbelief on his face.
"You mean he called that abominable spider Wilwarin? But … but, Legolas, Wilwarin means…"
"Butterfly," Aragorn finished his brother's sentence, beginning to grin as well. Only Celylith would think of calling a giant spider "butterfly".
"He is insane," Elrohir said gravely and shook his head. "Completely, utterly, hopelessly mad. 'Butterfly', Valar save us…"
"How big is it now, four feet high?" Elladan asked, a look of barely concealed disgust on his face. "I have to admit, it was quite funny in the beginning, but now it's gone too far, if you ask me. And I think the increased spider activity all around the palace is somehow connected to the fact that he still hasn't set it free."
Legolas shrugged, shooting the broadly grinning Aragorn a withering glare.
"That's just what I've been telling him! It's a miracle that nobody has found out about it yet, and once my father does…"
He interrupted himself and shuddered. The three brothers looked at their friend in sympathy, no, it would indeed not be a good thing if King Thranduil found out about Celylith's little "butterfly".
The prince shook his head, a distant look in his eyes.
"And do you have any idea how hard it is to hide it and get the things a 'sweet little spider' needs to 'grow big and strong and beautiful'? Ha!" he exclaimed, ignoring the twins that were vainly trying to stifle their laughter, "Who wants it to become even bigger than it is? And now it's learning how to weave webs! It's a nightmare!!"
Aragorn swallowed the laughter that was beginning to rise inside of him and put a sympathetic hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I know, Legolas," he tried to soothe the fuming elven prince, "He will come to his senses. Sooner or later."
"The 'later' part is what is worrying me," Legolas grumbled as they stopped in front of Seobryn's room. "I really think the little 'butterfly's' mother is out there looking for it. And I don't think she's very happy right now."
The young ranger's grin faded quickly when he imagined the spider's family coming for their kidnapped baby. He quickly shook his head as a picture of dozens of fully-grown spiders started to build in his mind's eye, frowning slightly as one of the vision-spiders stopped right in front of him, clicking its pinchers and shrieking "Where is my sweet little butterfly??"
"…or what?"
Aragorn blinked as he heard Elrohir's voice interrupt that interesting little vision. Making sure with a quick look that there wasn't a single spider in sight, he turned to his brother and asked,
"Pardon me?"
Elrohir rolled his eyes, mumbling under his breath that stupidity seemed to be contagious.
"I said, do you want to stand here all day and stare at the really fascinating door or what?"
His human brother scowled at him before taking a step forward and gripping the door handle. When he was just about to knock, he turned back halfway and gave the three elves an apologetic smile.
"I think it's best if you stay here," he said, shrugging sheepishly. "I really think he's quite afraid of you."
Legolas grimaced slightly.
"Afraid is the wrong word, mellonamin. 'Terrified' might be more appropriate."
Aragorn grinned at them.
"Well, he is right, you know. Considering the way you three smell…"
Before any of them could say or do anything, the young ranger quickly slipped through the door and closed it firmly in their faces.
Elladan stared at the closed wooden door, knitting his brows.
"That impertinent little…" he began, but stopped quickly as a smile lit up his face, making his eyes shine brightly in his fair face. "He is mending," he added, his smile turning into a wide grin.
Legolas returned the grin, relief plain to see on his features as he settled down on a carved wooden bench to wait for the human.
"He is, my friend. He will be alright."
King Thranduil had retired from the throne room for a well-deserved break from this morning's council session. Sometimes those became too much even for him, and even though he would never admit it to someone else, he actually understood why Legolas hated attending them. The golden haired king suppressed a tired yawn. The condition of the Forest River's banks really wasn't that fascinating a topic.
He relaxed into the armchair that sat in front of the big picture window in his study. He still had more than half an hour until the council reconvened, and he fully intended to spend every second of it here, watching the royal gardens, drinking a glass of his favourite wine and doing absolutely nothing.
After a second he heard a timid knock on the door, closely followed by the sound of the royal butler, Galion, stepping into the room, careful not to move too stealthily. The king really didn't like to be startled.
Thranduil closed his eyes tightly and tried to ignore the other elf's presence. Perhaps he would leave him alone when he saw that he did not want to be disturbed?
"Sire?" Galion asked softly, eyeing his king warily.
He was not that lucky, it appeared. The elven king opened one eye with a tired sigh.
"Yes, Galion?"
"I am sorry to disturb you, your Majesty, but Lord Elrond wishes to speak with you."
With a silent curse that would surely have shocked his butler, Thranduil opened his other eye and used both of them to glare at the other. There it went, his half-hour of peace, quiet and tranquillity. He quickly remembered that this was hardly Galion's fault and gave him a forced smile.
"Very well, please send him in," he told him, running a hand over his face and sitting up a bit straighter in the chair.
A moment later Lord Elrond entered the room, and Thranduil's already fair coloured face paled even more.
'It cannot be,' he thought and quickly blinked twice to check his vision. He fixed his eyes on the dark haired elf lord's face, only to come to rest on the thing that had caused a strong feeling of dread to sweep through his entire body: There it was, a faintly throbbing vein under Elrond's left eye.
Thranduil resisted the urge to burrow his face in his hands, reminding himself just in time that it would hardly be proper behaviour for a king. To any other elf the fact that Lord Elrond had a pulsating vein under one of his eyes would seem unimportant, but, alas, he knew better…
He had learned a long time ago that that was never a good sign, in fact, more than 3200 years ago, on an evening he and his father had visited Imladris to discuss the growing might of the Lord of the Rings with Lord Elrond Half-elven and the High King …
"Do not tell me you hadn't noticed before, Prince Thranduil!"
The golden haired elf in question looked at the merry and, in his opinion, highly intoxicated face of one of Lord Elrond's advisors. Judging by the dark hair it was Erestor, he tried to remind himself, the golden haired one was Glorfindel, the first elf he had ever met who had returned from the Halls of Mandos. In his opinion that was because the other occupants of those Misty Halls couldn't stand his constantly merry behaviour anymore, a behaviour that was already bordering on being unnatural.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked, sipping at his own glass of truly excellent red wine. It was now his eighth glass … or his eleventh? He couldn't really remember, the only thing he knew for certain was that the banquet had started – and ended – quite a long time ago. And did it really matter? The wine was astonishing. Even if he didn't agree with the High King or his herald on how Sauron should be opposed, he was fair enough to grant Elrond a fine taste in wines.
"Of course he is sure, your Highness," another voice joined in, "We have had more than enough time to study the phenomenon at the closest proximity."
The Prince of Eryn Lasgalen turned and looked in the laughing face of Glorfindel. And, judging by the way said face was slightly flushed, he had had more wine than was good for him as well.
"Well, Lord Glorfindel," he said, noting with surprise that the words were quite hard to articulate, "You will understand that I cannot believe your words until I have seen proof."
The golden haired elf grinned at him, displaying a row of gleaming white teeth.
"Oh, my lord, you will see proof before the night is over," he said, still grinning madly. If he didn't stop that soon, Thranduil decided, it would split the golden haired elf's face in two for sure.
Glorfindel took another mouthful of the ruby liquid in his goblet before he continued.
"Believe me when I tell you that the master of this house will soon leave the company of your father, the revered King of Greenwood the Great, and Ereinion Gil-galad, our equally revered High King, to see what we are up to. And if I remember the amount of wine my dear friend Elrond has already consumed correctly, it will have caused him to come up with one of his infamous ideas and then you will certainly see more proof than you ever wished to!"
At Glorfindel's words Erestor began to giggle helplessly, and even though he highly disapproved such undignified behaviour, Thranduil found himself hard-pressed not to join in. To cover up his sudden inexplicable mirth, he emptied his glass with one gulp, only to have it quickly refilled by the other blonde elf's slightly shaking hand. A small voice inside his head told him insistently that he should stop drinking if he didn't want to end up like the dark haired advisor that was almost falling off the stone bench he occupied, but the prince quickly silenced it. That wine was just too good to miss.
"I wait can't … I mean, I can't wait for it," he said, realising with receding concern that he couldn't even speak correctly anymore. Ah well, he thought, gazing at the two other elves who were laughing loudly at his slip of the tongue, at least he wasn't the only drunk person here.
"And what is so very funny, my friends?" another also slightly slurred voice asked, causing the three of them to whirl round – well, at least they tried to. In the end Glorfindel and Thranduil turned while Erestor was still trying to get into a sitting position since that surprise had proven to be too much and caused him to lose what little control over his body he still possessed and to drop off the bench onto the grass.
With some difficulty the golden haired prince gathered all his remaining dignity and attempted to stand, which proved to be an unwise decision since Lord Elrond's figure seemed to multiply all of the sudden. Thranduil contented himself with staying were he was, blinking at the three identical faces in front of him. By the Valar, only a Noldo would dare do such a thing!
"My lord," he finally said, squinting at the other elf lord, "It is a really excellent wine. I mean feast."
Elrond's face broke into a wide smile.
"Thank you, Prince Thranduil. I see that you are enjoying yourselves?"
Thranduil nodded as seriously as he could, and Glorfindel said,
"Indeed, mellonamin, we are. Immensely so. The two of them are still discussing the fate of Middle-Earth, I presume?"
Something told Thranduil that he should be offended that that elf talked about his father like this, but somehow he just didn't seem to care. Just as well, he thought, and drank some more of the exceptionally good wine.
Elrond just laughed and nodded.
"They are. But we have agreed that all will fall into darkness if nothing is done."
"That is something," Erestor nodded, having finally picked himself off the floor to lean against a tall young pine tree. "What do you want to do now?"
Glorfindel nudged Thranduil in the ribs, and the prince snapped to attention: Really, there it was, so aptly named "The Harbinger of Doom" by the two other elves: A throbbing vein right under Elrond's left eye.
Erestor and Glorfindel had claimed that every time their lord had come up with one of his plans that would surely get all of them into trouble of one kind or another, or every time he wanted something from you, this vein would start to throb weakly.
And, considering the way the dark haired elf's eyes were gleaming, Thranduil was inclined to agree.
"Oh, something that will be much more fun than just sitting here getting drunk," the Lord of Imladris said, smiling innocently at them.
Glorfindel and Erestor exchanged a long-suffering look. Elrond's "ideas" usually promised a lot of fun, but a lot of serious repercussions as well.
"Lead the way then, my lord," Glorfindel said, sighing resignedly. "Are you coming too, my prince?"
Thranduil looked at the others for a moment, the ever-decreasing sensible part of his brain yelling at him to end this before it had even begun, reminding him of the face his father, King Oropher, would display if he ever found out about this. Whatever it was that the Lord of Rivendell was planning, it just couldn't be good.
Shrugging slightly, the prince emptied his glass and nodded.
"Of course, my lords. No wood-elf ever backed down from a challenge."
The three Noldor elves looked at each other, grinning wickedly. Oh, this was going to be so much fun…
"Very well then," Elrond said, turning a little unsteadily on his heel and heading for the direction of the main house, his still grinning advisors on his heels.
Thranduil looked after them for a second before carefully rising to his feet and following them, ignoring all of his senses that told him that he was about to do one of the stupidest things of all time. Before he left the little clearing next to one of the pearling falls that could be found nearly everywhere in Rivendell, he stopped to grab the still half-full wine decanter.
It was a truly astonishingly good wine.
King Thranduil almost chocked on the red liquid he had drunk to calm himself, remembering how that evening had ended. Looking at the exquisitely wrought silver goblet in his hand as if it had just turned into a spider, he hastily placed it back on his table. He still blamed Elrond's excellent wine for the whole incident, and he didn't intend to make the same mistake twice. He cringed as he remembered the look on Gil-galad's and his father's face when he, Glorfindel and Elrond…
No, he decided quickly, he would definitely not think of that now.
"Lord Thranduil? Are you feeling well?" Lord Elrond's voice interrupted his thoughts.
The elven king blinked and forced himself to look at his visitor's face, careful not to focus on the "Harbinger of Doom". He didn't know what it was that Elrond wanted from him, but he was rather sure that he didn't want to find out either.
"I am well, my lord," he said, folding his hands on top of his desk, forcing them to be still. "But, pray tell, how is Estel doing?"
Elrond looked at him sharply, trying to decide whether the king was referring to the unfortunate … incident yesterday or whether he asked out of real concern for the young human's welfare.
"He is well, my lord, considering the circumstances. He will be fully healed in less than three weeks, I think. And this is what I wanted to talk with you about."
The golden haired elf forced himself to remain calm; he really didn't like that feeling that was beginning to sneak up on him…
"Please explain, mellonamin," he said, his voice emotionless. "What do you mean?"
The other elf lord took a deep breath, the vein under his eye beginning to throb more strongly. Thranduil almost closed his eyes. Here it came.
"Well," Elrond began, "I received a letter from Lord Glorfindel yesterday. He tells me that my presence is much needed back in Imladris."
Thranduil nodded politely, not at all liking the way this was beginning to sound.
"As you well know will the High Pass be inaccessible to everyone who does not leave in ten to twelve days, if he doesn't want to be caught in the winter storms, that is. And storms there will be this year, of that I'm sure," Elrond said, looking at him calculatingly.
"So you…?" Thranduil prompted.
"So I thought Aragorn could winter with you this year. We will need to leave sooner than he will be hale again, and even if he were, I wouldn't want to travel over the mountains with him this time of year if he isn't back to full strength." Looking at the blonde elf's petrified face, he added, "Humans can be quite fragile sometimes. I fear for his health should we take him with us."
The King of Mirkwood smiled thinly, looking at his guest with quiet disbelief.
"So, Lord Elrond, you want me to allow my son and your youngest stay here, together, for more than three months? With nothing to occupy them but an occasional hunt? Did I understand that correctly?"
Elrond seemed to think about that and finally nodded.
"Yes, that would be the essence of it, yes."
Thranduil closed his eyes, wishing himself to be far, far away from here. Aragorn and Legolas, together … Aragorn and Legolas, together and with a lot of time at their hands … Aragorn and Legolas, together, with a lot of time on their hands and bored…
He shuddered; not a good combination, not a good combination at all…
He opened his eyes again to fix them on the Lord of Rivendell, who had sat down on a chair next to him, smirking and grey eyes twinkling.
"Do you know what you are asking?"
Elrond smiled and nodded.
"I know, my friend. I have seen all of its effects last winter, and believe me, it is a unique experience…" Noting the other elf's darkening face, he added, "I am sorry, but I can see no other way. I really would not want to take him with me unless I have absolutely no other choice, and the twins and I need to leave within the next ten days, if possible."
The golden haired king closed his eyes, defeated.
"Very well then, Estel will be welcome to stay. But," he opened his eyes and stared hard at the Lord of Imladris, "I do not guarantee for the shape he will be in once I can send him back to you." He shrugged. "He and my Legolas just seem to attract trouble, I don't know why either."
Elrond smiled at him again, a playful gleam in his eyes.
"Don't worry, my lord, they will be fine. As long as you keep them away from the wine they should be alright."
Thranduil glared at him, wincing at the memory of that evening more than 3000 years ago.
"They can't possibly get into as much trouble as we did, can they?"
The other elf shook his head, grimacing slightly when he remembered the lecture Gil-galad had given him, telling him that he was over 3000 years old and should know better than to go and try to get himself, his closest councillors and the heir to throne of Eryn Lasgalen killed. Well, the only good thing was that he couldn't remember much of it, except for his own inexplicable urge to giggle and the fact that Erestor had passed out about half an hour into it.
"No, they can't. It's just not possible."
The king sat back and looked at the dark trees in the gardens.
"We should hold on to that thought."
His dark haired companion looked at him, grinning slightly.
"Yes, my lord," he replied, turning his eyes on the gardens as well, "We definitely should."
Aragorn quietly entered Seobryn's quarters, grinning when he heard Elladan's muttered curses. Sometimes it was just too easy to taunt the twins, he thought as he looked around the spacious suite for the other human, they were beginning to become quite predictable in their old age. The young ranger snickered when he imagined what his brothers would say to that expression…
He took some steps into the room, wondering if the boy hadn't heard him knock. It wouldn't surprise him in the slightest, he thought sarcastically, Seobryn was one of the clumsiest and un-stealthiest beings he had ever seen. Well, maybe that wasn't really fair considering that he had lived with the elves ever since he could remember, but…
Aragorn's internal musing was cut short when he saw the boy in question stand in front of a large, silver-framed mirror, fiddling with the clothing he had been given. It was obvious that the young human felt anything but comfortable in the elven garments, but since his own were hardly appropriate for such an important meeting, he had no choice but to wear the clothes he had received.
'And he looks much better than he did the last time I saw him,' the young ranger decided, his eyes wandering about Seobryn's dark green and brown attire and his freshly brushed wavy brown hair. 'Much better, and not nearly as afraid.'
He leaned against one of the high bed posts, wondering how long it would take the other to notice that he wasn't alone in the room. After a long while in which Seobryn did nothing but fiddle with his clothing, he finally glanced up and saw the grinning ranger's image reflected in the looking glass.
"Eru!" he gasped, whirling around, one of his hands going to his heart. "Strider! What do you … how are you?"
Aragorn laughed, noting with satisfaction that his ribs hurt only a little bit at that action.
"Forgive me, Seobryn, I didn't mean to startle you. And thank you, I am fine."
Seobryn nodded slowly, still trying to calm his racing heart. He sat down heavily on a chair, staring at the other human. He really looked a lot better than the last time he had seen him, but, after all, that had been shortly after they had arrived in Mirkwood. Two weeks ago he had looked terrible indeed, but now the cuts and bruises on his face had healed, and some colour had returned to his cheeks that didn't look quite as hollow anymore.
The boy shook his head, saying the first thing that came to his mind.
"I am sorry, Strider," he said, casting his eyes to the floor. "You were right, I had a choice, I just decided not to seize it. I should have stopped my uncle and the others from hurting you like they did, I should have done something, but I was too afraid to…"
"There was nothing you could have done and lived," Aragorn interrupted him firmly, sitting down on the bed. "You had an obligation to Addramyr, I understand that, and the fact that you did break with him in the end saved my life. If you had given him that sword, he would have killed me before my brothers would have been able to reach us. I am in your debt."
Seobryn stared at him with wide eyes.
"You are not! I did the only thing I could, and it was far too late and not enough. Forgive me."
The ranger smiled at the other man, inclining his head.
"There is no need for that, Seobryn, but if you wish, I will forgive you."
The young man looked at him hesitantly and, after a while, returned the smile.
"Thank you, Strider. It is I who is in your debt and that of the elf lords for giving me this chance."
Aragorn's smile widened when he saw the awe and fear that flashed over the youngster's face when he mentioned Elrond and Legolas' father.
"So you would like to become a trader?"
"Of course I would!" Seobryn exclaimed, excitement replacing the other feelings. "It would be so wonderful to travel and actually get paid for it! And I would see different races and places…" He frowned slightly and added as an afterthought, "Although I think I will not come here for quite some time if I can help it."
When the young ranger laughed and raised an eyebrow at that, he hurried to explain, "I mean no disrespect of course, and the elves are treating me with kindness, but they … they are still elves. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yes, Seobryn," he nodded earnestly, "I know what you mean. But you have nothing to fear from them, believe me. No one here will harm you."
The other man dropped his eyes once more.
"I know Strider, but they are so … odd! I mean, one moment they are wise and serious and terrible, and the next they are laughing and joking like children! And some of them are over a thousand years old, did you know that? And they are still so beautiful!"
Aragorn couldn't hide the grin that formed on his face. He probably shouldn't tell him that his adopted grandmother was well over 7000 years old, that would probably give the lad a heart attack.
"Yes," he smiled, "I did indeed know that. But still, you don't have to be afraid. Tradesmen from Lake-town are honoured and always welcome here in Mirkwood. I am sure you will be accepted as an apprentice, Seobryn, don't worry. And just ignore Lord Elrond's sons. They mean you no harm, they are just a little overprotective at times, that's all."
"You could say that," Seobryn mumbled, remembering the faces of the two dark haired elves when he had first seen them, after his own uncle had knocked him out for his refusal to help him kill the ranger. "Overprotective" was quite a mild term, he would choose something along the lines of "overcome with fury". He had had a hard time accepting that a human was really referring to the fair folk as his family, but he had seen so many strange things during the last month that that wasn't really surprising him anymore either.
A knock sounded at the door and he raised his head, preparing to rise to his feet.
"That is my escort," he explained. "They are coming to make sure I don't get lost on my way to the meeting in this … maze of caves."
To his surprise, the ranger's eyes grew wide and he began to laugh heartily. Still chuckling, Aragorn gained his feet and slowly walked him over to the door.
"Oh, Seobryn, you still have much to learn," he grinned, placing a hand on his shoulder as the boy began to once again fiddle with his garments. "Stop it, you look fine. Just be yourself, and everything will be alright. Every tradesman can count himself lucky to gain you as an employee."
The younger man looked at him gratefully and took a deep breath.
"Thank you, Strider. For everything."
Aragorn smiled at him.
"You are welcome. And my friends call me Estel."
"Do you mean that … that I am your friend?" Seobryn asked, flabbergasted. He had expected much, but certainly not to be offered the hand of friendship by a man who had been the captive of him and his companions only a month ago.
"If you want to," Aragorn replied, nodding his head.
"Then I am your friend, Estel," Seobryn replied, his tongue nearly stumbling over the unfamiliar name, grasping the ranger's offered hand.
The other human grinned and took the last steps into the direction of the door.
"Well, my friend, here is my first piece of advice: Never, and I mean never, under no circumstances tell a wood-elf that his home resembles a cave. Never. The reactions can range from mere indignation to disbelief to murderous intentions."
Seobryn only stared at him with wide eyes, asking himself if all rangers were as strange as this one. He was still pondering this when the door opened and an elf showed him the way to his meeting with the merchant from Lake-town.
As they were just nearing the courtyard where his – hopefully – future employer was overseeing the unloading of his merchandise, he decided that Stri… Estel was probably a special case.
But, after all, it wasn't his fault. The ranger had lived most of his life with the elves, and judging by what he had seen from his adopted family and friends, that was more than enough to turn anyone strange.
Adruran shook his head as he left his lord's quarters. This was most displeasing; he hadn't wanted another assignment, and in his opinion the whole matter sounded more than a little bit risky. The whole operation was a lot too close to the wood-elves' realm, and their king wasn't known for looking kindly on things such as they had planned.
The tall man straightened his shoulders and walked swiftly down the corridor, barely noticing how the servants flattened themselves to the walls to avoid getting caught in his path.
He couldn't change his liege's mind on this matter. This was something the other had dreamt about for far too long, for so long that successfully carrying out his ancestors' plans had become an obsession to him. And even if it had been a possibility, he knew that he was neither brave nor insane enough to challenge his lord's plans.
'Well,' he thought as he entered the busy courtyard, 'I might as well make the best of it.'
"Sir?" one of his men had spotted him and was approaching him, curiosity on his face. "Are we leaving again?"
He nodded absent-mindedly, not slowing his purposeful walk.
"Aye, we are. Get the others ready. We leave in three hours."
"Where to, sir?" the other asked.
Adruran stopped and looked the other in the eye, suppressing a tired sigh.
"West," he finally said. "To the Long Lake and beyond, if we are successful."
The man looked at his superior in confusion before he nodded carefully and ran off to find his companions.
The tall man looked after the other, wondering for a moment why he had said that. Of course they would be successful, and if not, they would die in the attempt to get what their liege wanted.
That was the way things were, Adruran thought as he made his way towards the stables to prepare his horse, and the way things had always been around here.
And that certainly wouldn't change in the near future.
TBC...
ada - father (daddy)
mainkar - trader, tradesman
mellonamin - my friend
*points proudly* As you can see, this is NO cliffy! But, dear friends, do not despair, for the next chapter is fast approaching, and there we have a nice little... Uhm, I didn't say anything! Really! So: I will write NO cliffies, none whatsoever, and ch 3 won't have one either. Promise! *cackles evilly* Mhahaha, I'm evil.... *g* But still: Would you please review? It would make me so unbelievably happy! And it just _might_ prompt me to post the next chapter on Wednesday... *winning smile* So, please?
Additional A/N:
Coreinha - *squeals* Thanks! You're my first reviewer! Thanks so much! So you want torture? _Why_ does everybody just assume that I'm going to write torture? *sighs* I have no idea... *g* And no, Elladan has already out that behind him, I think. I mean, it's been over 1 1/2 months now, and he DID dye Estel's hunting shirts, didn't he? *envious look* School's out? NOT FAIR!! Well, my term ends soon, too - I think mid-July... *grumbles*
TrinityTheSheDevil - *huggles her* I'm so glad you like it! And well, yes, poor Estel. But, as I like to say, you just wait - things can always get worse, and, usually, they do. Uhm, okay, I'll leave you to your dancing, then.. *g* Thanks for the review!
Halo - *trying to extricate herself from Halo* Thanks - me - glad - too... Well, I have to admit, Legolas has a point there - after all, you are dangerous and evil... *g* Well, co-writing a fic sounds at least interesting! But hey, I mean, we would have killed off everybody after a few chapters... *evil grin* Oh, you're evil, telling Elrond where they're hiding - that's definitely not nice! Now, I am so happy you like the beginning, all this is still new for me, so... Btw, did you get any autographs? If yes, I WANT TO SEE THEM!!! Please? Thanks for reviewing! *huggles her*
Reginabean - *gives her weird look* Well - glad you like it so much when they get into trouble - you should love the rest, then... *evil cackle* Ah, we are evil... Well, I'm glad you like it so far - thanks for the review!
Germstone - Oh, I wouldn't call it melancholy - ch 5 and ch 3 are melancholier I think (does that word even exist?)! *evil grin* Oh, and don't worry about not reviewing, as long as you send me MANY reviews now, I will forgive you! J/k, never fear... *g* Well, I will try to update frequently, but I can make no promises of course. But I still think every four days or so should be possible for the next few weeks... Thanks for de-lurking and reviewing! *huggles her*
Nilbrethiliel - Mae govannen yourself! *g* Awww... danke! Aber an Thundera Tiger, Ilthilien, Jocelyn oder Littlefish kaeme ich nie ran, auf jeden Fall nicht in Englisch. Da fehlt einfach das richtige 'feeling', ist nicht zu machen... *g* Oh, und keine Angst wegen der Plotbunnies, die haben sich schon zur Genuege hier versammelt... zurueck, ihr Biester! Sind ganz schon hartnaeckig... *g* Du GEHST wirklich zu VL? Wow, da bist du aber emsiger als ich, ich meine, einmal eintragen und das war's dann... *g* Oh, und das mit dem suffering laesst sich sicher irgendwie manchen... *evil grin*
Xsilicax - *jumps for joy too* I missed you guys so much! All this is _so much_ fun!! Uhm, 'nasty things'? In my stories? Why, miss, I'm hurt! Never! I only write nice, fluffy fics, never something 'nasty'... *g* Well, as I say in the A/N, there will probably no golden haired beauties in here (well, except Tranduil and Legolas of course!), but perhaps in the next fic. We'll see. I'm so glad you like it! Thanks!
Mbali - Yay! Another review from Mbali! *g* Awww... *blushes* Thanks! I really hope the rest of the chapters will be as good as the first, I'll do my best! Thank you so much for the review!
Lizeth - Oh, you're not the only one - I love writing the 'family interaction', really. Elrond, the twins and Estel are just adorable, aren't they? Yay, I'm one of your favourites? Thanks so much! *huggles her*
Kirsten - Yeah, I like Elrond too! I would love to a father like that, but, alas, RL interfered... But somhow I always thought Elrond would be like this. But hey, he IS a powerful, millennia old elf lord after all... *g* Well, for the angst: We'll only have a little bit here and there for the next few chapters, but there'll be more in the future, I promise!
E - E! Hey, great to see you again! *huggles her* Yes, I agree, Estel is a horrible patient. But hey, he's young and impatient and bored out of his skull... *g* Great you like the beginning, thanks for reviewing again!
Nell Marie - Uhm, thanks! I mean, there was no real action - and that will only start in ch 3 - but I'm glad you like it! Besides, Estel & Co. need a little rest once in while... *g* Thanks for reviewing!
Sr - AMEN! You are absolutely right, of course - but you know Estel and his guilt trips and all that... Sometimes I really think the boy needs a psychiatrist... *g* And he will talk about them - not in the near future though, but he will. Don't worry. But thanks for telling him! *g*
Firnsarnien - Glad you like 'sequel'-sequels, 'cause that's what I love best, too! I always want to see as little time in between stories as humanly possible... *g* Yes, you could definitely add "Poor Hithrawyn" to "Poor Elrond" and "Poor Thranduil" for having to put up with all four of them! Well, yes, _of course_ the character will cause some trouble, but you're right, it would be very boring indeed otherwise, wouldn't it? Oh, I'm glad to have you back, too! *huggles her*
Alilacia - Hi! *hugs her* Great to 'see' you! Well, I don't think Estel will be very impressed by you shaking a fist at him when he wasn't impressed by Elrond's look! *g* Oh no, Hithrawyn isn't nuts! He's merely a little bit stressed, nothing more! As would YOU be if you had to put up with Estel, Elladan, Elrohir _and_ Legolas... Well, _he_ is of course the mysterious villain/evil overlord/resident megalomaniac-who-tries-to-take-over-ME. *shrugs* No one special, really... *g* Thanks for reviewing again!
Mouse - Hello! The insane Aussie is back again! J/k! Great to 'see' you! *huggles Mouse* *grins* Ah well, let's just say that poor Hithrawyn is a little bit stressed right now, shall we? I really hope you'll enjoy the rest! Thanks for not forgetting all about me!
Ciria - *grins sheepishly* I guess you are right, it makes him even more adorable! So, after the insane Aussie there comes the insane Finn, huh? Great to see you! *huggles Ciria* Even after I killed your Nólad, which I still regret, really. But it had to be done. *g* Yeah, I love Glorfindel as well, our mighty balrog-slayer. So, perhaps I'll put him into the next fic. We'll see. Oh, Glor threatened to do the usual ... dismemberment ... leaving Elrond alone with an angry balrog ... the usual, really. Oh, and btw, it's "glad" if you mean somebody's happy about something. If you write "clad" you usually mean you are wearing something like clothes, so e.g. "clad in a red blouse" or something. Yupp, I agree, never make an elven lord angry. That was the one mistake Cornallar and Donyc made. *shrugs* Serves them right. And, last but not least, a spade is a shovel. The one you use to break up the earth before starting to dig. Okay, thanks for reviewing!!
Lina - LINA! *huggles her* I missed you! And hey, it wasn't long! Only a month! But I'm so glad you're happy now... *eyes her dance fearfully* Very glad... ROTFL! Elrond's 'erotic' behaviour, huh? Shame on you for thinking such thoughts! *backs away* Jamaican braids? Just what kind of pills did you take? And where can I get some? *g* LOL!!! Smilrond!!!!! That is _the_ word creation of the century!!! *pulls Lina off of Estel* Lina! He is still weak! Do you want to kill him? You can't just walk around jumping into his arms! Not for at least ... three more chapters, okay? *sighs* Éomer!! ÉOMER!!!! She is doing it again! KEEP HER AWAY FROM MY VILLAINS, FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!! *shakes head* That useless excuse for a Rohir...
Cicci - *grins evilly* Yes, you might be correct there. You know, some people have even claimed that I'm obsessed with cliffies. Which I am not. Not really. Besides, it's all my alter ego's fault. She makes me write them, and the torture scenes and all that ... other stuff. The evil bits are all her doing... *g* Thanks so much for your kind words!
Zam - Wohooo! Another orc horde party! Thanks so much! *huggles Zam and orc horde* *accusing look* You too? I mena, come on! A month is hardly long!! *giggles* No, Hithrawyn (see, I types that in a second! It's not so hard, really! *g*) isn't crazy - only incredibly annoyed... *huggles Celylith* No, I wouldn't forget about him! I love him! *raises eyebrow* Celly? Oh, that sound so-not-right... Curse you! *grabs Halo's hammer of doom and chases after Zam* You just squashed my characters with an eighteen wheeler! Come back here! Uhm, the bad guy hasn't done anything yet! You _cannot_ hate him without reason! Oh, and: The last review was ... special? LOL, it was great, really! I had almost forgotten how nuts you really are. Thanks for reminding me!! *g*
ManuKu - Manu! *umarmt sie* Na, schoen dich zu sehen! Und danke der Nachfrage, ich habe mich schon ganz gut eingewoehnt - obwohl ich immer noch einen Mitbewohner suche. Ist ganz schoen schwierig, jemanden zu finden, der sich mit meinen Macken abgibt... *g* Oh ja, DSL isg schon was schoenes - anders ginge es eh nicht, ich waere Pleite innerhalb von ner Woche... *guckt beschaemt zu Boden* Ach, es war doch gar nicht so viel Drama das letzte Mal, oder? Ich meine, nicht wirklich, und das mit Nólad tut mir ja auch leid... Ihr wollte Elrond weh tun? Wann? Wann? Will ich sehen!! *auf und ab huepf* Okay, das war jetzt nicht normal... *g* Ich versuche natuerlich, wie immer so schnell wie moeglich zu updaten, dessen sei versichert! Danke vielmals fuer die review!
Kaeera - Uhm das mit dem Fesseln - ich bin irre? Ich glaube, das hilft... *die vor Glueck strampelnde Kaeera anguck* Nun ja, das kommt aber alles erst in ch 4 und 5, ok? Also musst du noch ein kleines bisschen warten... Oh bitte, du nicht auch noch! Bitte schreib keine die-Zwillinge-treffen-die-Frau/Elbin/Hobbit- ihrer-Traeume! Das waere zu viel fuer mich, fuerchte ich... *g* 5 LKs? Ich hatte nur 2+2 Pruefungsfacher, und das hat auch gereicht, danke! *umarmt Kaeera* Danke fuer die review!! Und update mal bald!
ThE iNsAnE oNe - Uhm, they all sound very happy to see me, don't they? *evil cackle* *ready the review* Are you alright? You sound kind of ... stressed, somehow. I don't knowm it's just a thought... *g* Well, if "Gwannath Annaeth" is for a future fic, then you shouldn't mention it now! It's evil and sadistic! BUT I could forgive you if you update ITB or TMAATB OR posted the next story NOW! Think about it!
Miss Understood - *shakes head* How could I ever forget you!? I mean, really! You are the only Seobryn-fan out there, I think! Well, don't hyperventilate here, breathe in ... breathe out ... breathe in ... breathe out .... *g* *evil laugh* Ah well, I love evil little mysterious endings! They (and cliffies) are so much fun! Well, I'm glad you like it so much, and yes, Seobryn will be in this quite a lot. He is in this chapter, yay!!
Aratfeniel - *grins back* Well, that is the logical choice, isn't it? Hiding where no one would be stupid enough to look? I will definitely keep writing, I really jope you will like the rest as well! Thanks for reviewing!
CrazyLOTRfan - You too! It's not 'finally'! I mean, it's been only a month! That's not long, is it? *g* Not too long, anyway... Great you like it though, thanks so much for reviewing again!
CalliTrakand - *blushes* Thanks a lot. It was my very first story and I love if if poeple say they love it - huh? What kind of sentence was that? Just ignore me, will you... Thanks so much for your kind words, and I really hope you'll enjoy the rest as well!
Arwen-Evenstar - Well, I hope you'll like this story as much as the last one, but you never know. *hits herself* Gotta stop being so pessimistic! Anyway, I'm glad you like it thus far! Thanks for the review!
Marbienl - *nods* See? This is the length a chapter should have, not 1 1/2 pages! That's just plain cruel! *giggles* Well, can't you understand Hithrawyn? I mena, really, Estel AND the twins AND Legolas AND Celylith? That's just too much! Well, the spider doesn't exactlly like elves or men or ANYONE, but we'll elran more about that in the next chapter. LOL! You're right, wargs just _might_ ne right ones for the job... About the nightmares: We'll see later what they are about, but let me give you a tip: Three weeks ago = fun time with Donyc and Cornallar = tiny little caves = general feeling of unhappiness? That's more than enough for nightmares, I think... And he _will_ talk about them, but not now. He's stubborn, you know... *g* Thanks for the long review!
NaughtyNat - *blushes* Thanks for saying that! It was my first fic, and so it makes me very happy if you like it. *evil grin* You're right, I like to see him tortured as well - we are sick people, aren't we...Well, I definitely like the ranger better, but Legolas is cute too! Well, C&S didn't really stela him, we just happened to use the same name, which in turn was because we use the same name generator. Not all my names are generated, but this one unfortunately was. And no, I donÄt feel angry, it's not as if I have a copyright or anything! What elf? You mean Glónduil? Goodness no! Of course not! I mean, Glónduil may be an idiot, but he isn't evil! Don't worry, it's not him! Thanks so much for the review!
Salara - *rot werd* Na ja, wir werden ja sehen, wie das alles so wird. Das ist ja das Interessante, wenn man eine Story posted, bevor man sie ganz fertig hat, man weiss nie, wie das ganze ausgehen wird... *g* Ja, ich liebe mysterioese Hints usw., da kann ich einfach nicht widerstehen... *seufz* Ich weiss, ich bin krank. Ach, und was Celylith angeht: Er ist die Ausnahme, die die Regel bestaetigt, nehme ich an. Ein schwarzes Schaf sozusagen... *g* Und mit dem Futter: Wird alles im neachsten Kapitel behandelt, in dem man eine ganze Menge von unserer Lieblingsspinne sieht! DANKE fuer die review! *umarmt Salara*
Gwyn - *grins* This soon enough? Thanks for reviewing!
Alexa - Hi! Nice to 'see' you! Well, to be perfectly honest: I don't know yet. Perhaps your elfling, if you go by the frequency and numbers of injuries, but I'm not sure yet about the severity... *evil cackle* You are right, It IS an interesting picture: Legolas jumping out of the window to escape the Lord of Imladris' wrath... *giggles* Funny. More Legolas coming up, but there will be much more of him in the next chappie. Thank you for the review!
Aurienia - Hey! I was just about to post this when I saw your review! Thanks! *huggles her* Well, the evil guy ... I'm not telling! No I'm not! You have your exams now? Poor you! I do hope this chapter cheers you up a little... *grins at Elrond* Moi? I'm not doing anything to them, it's always the bad guys - and my alter ego...
*huggles all reviewers* Thanks so much! You inspire and encourage me and and and... *takes a deep breath* Thank you.
A/N:
Awww, you guys are SO SWEET!!! *huggles readers* I missed you too!
Thanks so much for all the reviews, they just ... inspire me, I guess. They really do, _and_ they make me post faster! Yes they do! Really! Originally I wanted to post tomorrow, but because of the great feedback (and the fact that I have other things to do, but that's irrelevant *g*) I have decided to do it today! Yay!
I'm glad all of you liked Glorfindel, I love him myself, he's so cute! *huggles resisting elven warrior* But I fear the "golden haired beauty" (*shoots xsilicax odd look*) is not really going to be in this story. I don't know about the next yet. He might be there, perhaps with the twins... *shrugs* I'm not sure.
And about the "dark, mysterious, evil man" in the beginning: Well, I'm NOT telling who he is or what his motives are or anything, and you will have to wait quite a bit until it'll be revealed. Might even be in the next story, we'll see... *evil grin*
Okay, here's chapter 2, in which we see ... _very_ annoyed elven princes, learn Celylith's "spade's" name, more of the evil man and his probably evil plans and a little bit of Elrond's and Thranduil's youth (well, Elrond was 3300+ years old, so 'youth' is a very relative term... *g*). *giggles* Oh, they're so mad that I'm telling you that story... *evil grin*
Enjoy and review, please! (*readers groan in unison* Here we go again...)
Chapter 2
Aragorn was waking up slowly, far too slowly for his liking. That was another thing he hated about sleeping potions, he decided as he tried to force his brain to start working again, they always made waking an incredible struggle. Every time it took him ages to shake off the sleepiness and his thoughts wouldn't lose that certain fuzzy feeling for at least half an hour after he had finally managed to pry his eyelids open.
This time, however, it seemed to be easier to wake, and soon he discovered the reason for this: There were voices, voices that seemed to be conversing in volumes that could have woken a troll from hibernation.
The young human groaned inwardly. What was it with him and voices? To him it seemed that every other time he awoke, there were voices talking next to him, either telling him to wake up or interrupting his sleep by yelling at each other next to his head. Who needed voices anyway, he wondered grumpily, there was a perfectly adequate sign language that did just as well…
"And I still say it, Elladan, he must have put too much of the root in the draught; Estel's been asleep for more than fourteen hours now!" Elrohir's voice invaded his thoughts.
"I know, brother, and I absolutely agree with you. There is only the question if ada did it on purpose or if it was an accident…"
"Oh no, ada wouldn't overdose one of his patients knowingly, you know that as well as I do. There are some other people however who have no such scruples…"
Elladan sounded shocked.
"Just what are you implying, Elrohir?"
Estel slowly opened his eyes and looked around the room that was empty except for his two elven brothers. Elladan and Elrohir were sitting to his left side in a pair of armchairs and were so focused on their bickering that they didn't notice that their younger brother was awake.
Right now Elrohir gave his twin a wicked look.
"Well, I seem to remember an incident about, well, I think about three hundred years ago when a certain someone who shall remain nameless drugged me, without my knowledge I might add, for more than a day 'by accident'."
Elladan gave his younger brother an innocent smile that fooled neither Elrohir nor Aragorn.
"It was an accident, brother! It was merely a coincidence that it enabled me to carry you back home without you aggravating your wounds or driving me insane with your protestations what you were alright."
"I was alright!" the younger twin insisted exasperatedly. This was an argument they had about once a decade.
The other elf chuckled merrily.
"Oh, of course you were. An orc arrow in the shoulder, a complicatedly broken leg and half a dozen broken ribs count as perfectly alright, forgive my stupidity."
Elrohir rolled his eyes at his brother. He knew this was an argument he couldn't win, simply because Elladan was right. He had been in a bad shape after that arrow had propelled him over the cliff, and if one believed his twin, he had very nearly died on the way back to Rivendell almost causing his brother to go insane with worry, but he would be damned if he admitted that.
"You are forgiven, this time," he said haughtily, nodding at his brother. "I know it is not your fault. You are trying as hard as you can, and you can't change that you are a bit slow sometimes…" At this point he had to leave his armchair, quite hastily one might add, to avoid his brother's hand that had aimed a smack at his head.
Aragorn cleared his throat, deciding to let them know he was awake before they started chasing each other across the room and over his bed.
"I hope I am not disturbing the two of you?" he asked, noting their startled faces with some satisfaction. It was nearly impossible to surprise the two elves, and every time he managed to do so was worthy of remembrance. "If you want to continue with this, I can leave and get some more sleep elsewhere."
Elladan grinned at him, shooting his twin that had wisely moved out of his reach a dark glare.
"Oh, don't worry, little brother, Elrohir and I will finish this little discussion. Later."
Elrohir shuffled nervously and moved back a few steps. Elladan could bear a grudge for a long time indeed, and he would have to be on his guard for the next few days. He made a mental note to ask Legolas about a tree in which he could sleep comfortably this night. He knew his brother well enough to know what would happen should he give him a chance to avenge himself for those little comments, and he wasn't going to make it any easier on his twin by sleeping in an easily accessible room.
Aragorn grinned back, satisfied that for now they wouldn't try to kill each other.
"As long as you do it far away from me, I don't care. What time is it?"
Elrohir stepped closer, still keeping an eye on his elven brother.
"Almost midday, little brother. You need to get up now if you want to visit Seobryn before that mainkar arrives."
"Midday?" the human gasped, pushing back the covers and swinging his legs over the edge of the bed. That rapid movement proved to be too much for his still healing head, and he closed his eyes and gripped the bedstead tightly until the room stopped spinning and the invisible maniac next to him got tired of jamming red-hot pokers into his head.
Quietly thanking Ilúvatar that his father wasn't here for he would surely drug him once more if he found out about this, he opened his eyes again and looked into the worried faces of his elven brothers.
"Estel?" Elrohir asked, placing a hand on the young ranger's forehead. "Are you alright? Has your vision gone blurry again? How many fingers am I holding up?"
Aragorn scowled at the younger twin, slapping his hand away from his forehead.
"Yes, no, and three. I am fine; I just tried to get up a little too fast, that's all."
He sighed as he saw the dubious look the two of them were exchanging.
"I am fine, really. Now would you please get out of here so I can change? I really would not want to visit Seobryn wearing only a robe; he would feel only worse than he already is."
The twins gave him a long look, but nodded and quickly left the room.
Estel was probably right, Elladan mused as they waited outside the now closed doors, the other human would feel even guiltier than he did now when he saw that Aragorn was still far from healed. The boy blamed himself for his inability to prevent most of the harm that had befallen the ranger, even though he knew in his heart that there had been nothing he could have done.
The older twin winced inwardly when he remembered the fearful look on Seobryn's face every time the human saw an elf, and especially them, their father or Legolas. The boy still couldn't believe that the elves wouldn't seek retribution for what the other mercenaries had done to Aragorn. Elladan forcefully suppressed the hate that welled up inside of him, hate for the people who had dared treat his little brother in such a fashion. When he had first laid eyes on his younger brother after they had finally found him, lying bleeding and broken in Elrohir's arms, the only thing he had wanted to do was kill all of those who had hurt him, and kill them slowly, if possible.
With a quick shake of his head he pushed these memories back down. Elrohir had been right when he had told him not to allow these dark feelings to consume him, that it would solve nothing.
'They have all paid one way or the other,' he thought grimly, remembering the many humans he had had to kill that day. He didn't feel sorry for them in the slightest, he decided after a few seconds, they had got what they deserved, and the survivors had been handed over to the men of Dale, which was far too lenient a fate in Elladan's opinion.
At that point he heard light footfall that quickly drew closer, and he and Elrohir turned to see the Prince of Mirkwood approach them, his fair hair shining in the sunlight.
His expression though, the older twin decided, was more than a bit sour, and right now he reminded Elladan strongly of the other's father.
'No,' he thought as he watched his friend come closer, 'Not even King Thranduil could look that terrifying, not even if he had just heard that a horde of dwarves had broken into his cellars and emptied every single one of his wine barrels.'
Elrohir either hadn't noticed Legolas' mood, or he chose to ignore it.
"Legolas! What is it, mellonamin? You look positively dreadful! What has happened? Has someone plundered your father's vaults?"
The older twin winced inwardly. It wasn't wise to taunt the fair haired elf about his father's well-known love for silver and precious gems on the best of days, but on one of his bad days it was widely considered suicidal.
'Valar,' Elladan thought as he watched Legolas' face darken even more, 'And he says I am stupid?!'
Elrohir opened his mouth to make another comment, but before he could say anything, the doors opened and a now fully dressed Estel stepped out, apparently not aware that he had just saved his elven brother's life, judging by Legolas' truly dangerous expression.
The elven prince shot the younger twin one last glare before turning his eyes on his human friend.
"Aragorn! How do you feel?"
The young ranger rolled his eyes. He just didn't understand that question; did he really look that bad so that he encouraged every single person to ask him that?
"I feel fine, mellonamin," he said in a long-suffering tone of voice, giving his elven brothers dark glares, "Really. I am fine. Can we go now? I would really like to see him before the trader arrives, I'm sure he could use some encouragement. I don't think he has got used to seeing that many elves every day."
Elrohir snorted softly. One could definitely say that, he thought dryly, the boy looked ready to die of fright every time he saw one of the firstborn. And, considering the fact that he had spent the past three weeks in an elven city and was surrounded by elves, he wore that expression almost constantly, something which just couldn't be healthy for a human.
Legolas nodded, smiling at the ranger and taking one of his arms.
"Of course. I came to see where you were, the tradesman will be here in half in hour."
The four of them made their way down the corridor, the twins discreetly making sure that they were in positions to catch their younger brother should he stumble.
"Where is Celylith?" Aragorn asked as they made their way down the marble staircase, carefully placing one foot in front of the other carefully. The last thing he needed was to tumble down the stairs, he thought darkly, Elrond wouldn't let him leave his room for weeks.
The young ranger was too concentrated on the stairs to notice his friend's face that took an expression of utmost annoyance once the other elf's name was spoken.
It was, however, not lost on the twins.
"Yes, where is he?" Elladan asked, gazing innocently at the prince. It was obvious that the silver haired elf was somehow responsible for Legolas' current mood, and he would make sure he learned all about what had happened.
The fair haired elf scowled at the empty hallway in front of them.
"He is visiting Wilwarin."
"Wilwarin?" Aragorn questioned, stopping and looking at him curiously. "Do I know her? Is there an elf maiden that has stolen his heart and he didn't tell us about her?"
To the surprise of the three brothers, Legolas just stared at them with wide eyes before letting go of the young human's arm and starting to roar with laughter. After a few seconds he couldn't keep his feet any longer, and he sank to the floor, laughing as if that had been the funniest thing he had ever heard in his over 2500 years of existence.
Aragorn raised an eyebrow and turned to his brothers, whose only answers were an identical pair of clueless shrugs. This wasn't like Legolas at all, but perhaps they were beginning to rub off on him. Who could say?
They waited a few more seconds for the prince to calm down, but when he showed no such inclination, the young human's patience finally ran out.
"Alright, my friend, what is it? I can't see what could possibly justify this amount of amusement," he said, folding his arms across his chest and giving his friend the best reproduction of the look he could manage.
Whether or not that had worked, Aragorn would never know, but Legolas finally managed to quieten down a bit. After a moment he shakily rose to his feet, wiping tears of mirth out of his eyes with the sleeve of his light green tunic.
"I am sorry, Strider. But … Wilwarin isn't an elf maid. She isn't a girl at all. Not really, anyway. I mean, she is female, yes, but…"
The three of them looked at each other, obviously at a loss.
After a heartbeat's pause, Elrohir voiced what all of them were thinking.
"You are not making any sense at all, Legolas."
The fair haired elf grinned at them, slowly resuming his walk into the direction of Seobryn's quarters.
"He's visiting the 'sweet, adorable, gorgeous, innocent, perfect little thing' he couldn't part with. Against my direct orders as I might add."
Elladan stared at the prince, disbelief on his face.
"You mean he called that abominable spider Wilwarin? But … but, Legolas, Wilwarin means…"
"Butterfly," Aragorn finished his brother's sentence, beginning to grin as well. Only Celylith would think of calling a giant spider "butterfly".
"He is insane," Elrohir said gravely and shook his head. "Completely, utterly, hopelessly mad. 'Butterfly', Valar save us…"
"How big is it now, four feet high?" Elladan asked, a look of barely concealed disgust on his face. "I have to admit, it was quite funny in the beginning, but now it's gone too far, if you ask me. And I think the increased spider activity all around the palace is somehow connected to the fact that he still hasn't set it free."
Legolas shrugged, shooting the broadly grinning Aragorn a withering glare.
"That's just what I've been telling him! It's a miracle that nobody has found out about it yet, and once my father does…"
He interrupted himself and shuddered. The three brothers looked at their friend in sympathy, no, it would indeed not be a good thing if King Thranduil found out about Celylith's little "butterfly".
The prince shook his head, a distant look in his eyes.
"And do you have any idea how hard it is to hide it and get the things a 'sweet little spider' needs to 'grow big and strong and beautiful'? Ha!" he exclaimed, ignoring the twins that were vainly trying to stifle their laughter, "Who wants it to become even bigger than it is? And now it's learning how to weave webs! It's a nightmare!!"
Aragorn swallowed the laughter that was beginning to rise inside of him and put a sympathetic hand on his friend's shoulder.
"I know, Legolas," he tried to soothe the fuming elven prince, "He will come to his senses. Sooner or later."
"The 'later' part is what is worrying me," Legolas grumbled as they stopped in front of Seobryn's room. "I really think the little 'butterfly's' mother is out there looking for it. And I don't think she's very happy right now."
The young ranger's grin faded quickly when he imagined the spider's family coming for their kidnapped baby. He quickly shook his head as a picture of dozens of fully-grown spiders started to build in his mind's eye, frowning slightly as one of the vision-spiders stopped right in front of him, clicking its pinchers and shrieking "Where is my sweet little butterfly??"
"…or what?"
Aragorn blinked as he heard Elrohir's voice interrupt that interesting little vision. Making sure with a quick look that there wasn't a single spider in sight, he turned to his brother and asked,
"Pardon me?"
Elrohir rolled his eyes, mumbling under his breath that stupidity seemed to be contagious.
"I said, do you want to stand here all day and stare at the really fascinating door or what?"
His human brother scowled at him before taking a step forward and gripping the door handle. When he was just about to knock, he turned back halfway and gave the three elves an apologetic smile.
"I think it's best if you stay here," he said, shrugging sheepishly. "I really think he's quite afraid of you."
Legolas grimaced slightly.
"Afraid is the wrong word, mellonamin. 'Terrified' might be more appropriate."
Aragorn grinned at them.
"Well, he is right, you know. Considering the way you three smell…"
Before any of them could say or do anything, the young ranger quickly slipped through the door and closed it firmly in their faces.
Elladan stared at the closed wooden door, knitting his brows.
"That impertinent little…" he began, but stopped quickly as a smile lit up his face, making his eyes shine brightly in his fair face. "He is mending," he added, his smile turning into a wide grin.
Legolas returned the grin, relief plain to see on his features as he settled down on a carved wooden bench to wait for the human.
"He is, my friend. He will be alright."
King Thranduil had retired from the throne room for a well-deserved break from this morning's council session. Sometimes those became too much even for him, and even though he would never admit it to someone else, he actually understood why Legolas hated attending them. The golden haired king suppressed a tired yawn. The condition of the Forest River's banks really wasn't that fascinating a topic.
He relaxed into the armchair that sat in front of the big picture window in his study. He still had more than half an hour until the council reconvened, and he fully intended to spend every second of it here, watching the royal gardens, drinking a glass of his favourite wine and doing absolutely nothing.
After a second he heard a timid knock on the door, closely followed by the sound of the royal butler, Galion, stepping into the room, careful not to move too stealthily. The king really didn't like to be startled.
Thranduil closed his eyes tightly and tried to ignore the other elf's presence. Perhaps he would leave him alone when he saw that he did not want to be disturbed?
"Sire?" Galion asked softly, eyeing his king warily.
He was not that lucky, it appeared. The elven king opened one eye with a tired sigh.
"Yes, Galion?"
"I am sorry to disturb you, your Majesty, but Lord Elrond wishes to speak with you."
With a silent curse that would surely have shocked his butler, Thranduil opened his other eye and used both of them to glare at the other. There it went, his half-hour of peace, quiet and tranquillity. He quickly remembered that this was hardly Galion's fault and gave him a forced smile.
"Very well, please send him in," he told him, running a hand over his face and sitting up a bit straighter in the chair.
A moment later Lord Elrond entered the room, and Thranduil's already fair coloured face paled even more.
'It cannot be,' he thought and quickly blinked twice to check his vision. He fixed his eyes on the dark haired elf lord's face, only to come to rest on the thing that had caused a strong feeling of dread to sweep through his entire body: There it was, a faintly throbbing vein under Elrond's left eye.
Thranduil resisted the urge to burrow his face in his hands, reminding himself just in time that it would hardly be proper behaviour for a king. To any other elf the fact that Lord Elrond had a pulsating vein under one of his eyes would seem unimportant, but, alas, he knew better…
He had learned a long time ago that that was never a good sign, in fact, more than 3200 years ago, on an evening he and his father had visited Imladris to discuss the growing might of the Lord of the Rings with Lord Elrond Half-elven and the High King …
"Do not tell me you hadn't noticed before, Prince Thranduil!"
The golden haired elf in question looked at the merry and, in his opinion, highly intoxicated face of one of Lord Elrond's advisors. Judging by the dark hair it was Erestor, he tried to remind himself, the golden haired one was Glorfindel, the first elf he had ever met who had returned from the Halls of Mandos. In his opinion that was because the other occupants of those Misty Halls couldn't stand his constantly merry behaviour anymore, a behaviour that was already bordering on being unnatural.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked, sipping at his own glass of truly excellent red wine. It was now his eighth glass … or his eleventh? He couldn't really remember, the only thing he knew for certain was that the banquet had started – and ended – quite a long time ago. And did it really matter? The wine was astonishing. Even if he didn't agree with the High King or his herald on how Sauron should be opposed, he was fair enough to grant Elrond a fine taste in wines.
"Of course he is sure, your Highness," another voice joined in, "We have had more than enough time to study the phenomenon at the closest proximity."
The Prince of Eryn Lasgalen turned and looked in the laughing face of Glorfindel. And, judging by the way said face was slightly flushed, he had had more wine than was good for him as well.
"Well, Lord Glorfindel," he said, noting with surprise that the words were quite hard to articulate, "You will understand that I cannot believe your words until I have seen proof."
The golden haired elf grinned at him, displaying a row of gleaming white teeth.
"Oh, my lord, you will see proof before the night is over," he said, still grinning madly. If he didn't stop that soon, Thranduil decided, it would split the golden haired elf's face in two for sure.
Glorfindel took another mouthful of the ruby liquid in his goblet before he continued.
"Believe me when I tell you that the master of this house will soon leave the company of your father, the revered King of Greenwood the Great, and Ereinion Gil-galad, our equally revered High King, to see what we are up to. And if I remember the amount of wine my dear friend Elrond has already consumed correctly, it will have caused him to come up with one of his infamous ideas and then you will certainly see more proof than you ever wished to!"
At Glorfindel's words Erestor began to giggle helplessly, and even though he highly disapproved such undignified behaviour, Thranduil found himself hard-pressed not to join in. To cover up his sudden inexplicable mirth, he emptied his glass with one gulp, only to have it quickly refilled by the other blonde elf's slightly shaking hand. A small voice inside his head told him insistently that he should stop drinking if he didn't want to end up like the dark haired advisor that was almost falling off the stone bench he occupied, but the prince quickly silenced it. That wine was just too good to miss.
"I wait can't … I mean, I can't wait for it," he said, realising with receding concern that he couldn't even speak correctly anymore. Ah well, he thought, gazing at the two other elves who were laughing loudly at his slip of the tongue, at least he wasn't the only drunk person here.
"And what is so very funny, my friends?" another also slightly slurred voice asked, causing the three of them to whirl round – well, at least they tried to. In the end Glorfindel and Thranduil turned while Erestor was still trying to get into a sitting position since that surprise had proven to be too much and caused him to lose what little control over his body he still possessed and to drop off the bench onto the grass.
With some difficulty the golden haired prince gathered all his remaining dignity and attempted to stand, which proved to be an unwise decision since Lord Elrond's figure seemed to multiply all of the sudden. Thranduil contented himself with staying were he was, blinking at the three identical faces in front of him. By the Valar, only a Noldo would dare do such a thing!
"My lord," he finally said, squinting at the other elf lord, "It is a really excellent wine. I mean feast."
Elrond's face broke into a wide smile.
"Thank you, Prince Thranduil. I see that you are enjoying yourselves?"
Thranduil nodded as seriously as he could, and Glorfindel said,
"Indeed, mellonamin, we are. Immensely so. The two of them are still discussing the fate of Middle-Earth, I presume?"
Something told Thranduil that he should be offended that that elf talked about his father like this, but somehow he just didn't seem to care. Just as well, he thought, and drank some more of the exceptionally good wine.
Elrond just laughed and nodded.
"They are. But we have agreed that all will fall into darkness if nothing is done."
"That is something," Erestor nodded, having finally picked himself off the floor to lean against a tall young pine tree. "What do you want to do now?"
Glorfindel nudged Thranduil in the ribs, and the prince snapped to attention: Really, there it was, so aptly named "The Harbinger of Doom" by the two other elves: A throbbing vein right under Elrond's left eye.
Erestor and Glorfindel had claimed that every time their lord had come up with one of his plans that would surely get all of them into trouble of one kind or another, or every time he wanted something from you, this vein would start to throb weakly.
And, considering the way the dark haired elf's eyes were gleaming, Thranduil was inclined to agree.
"Oh, something that will be much more fun than just sitting here getting drunk," the Lord of Imladris said, smiling innocently at them.
Glorfindel and Erestor exchanged a long-suffering look. Elrond's "ideas" usually promised a lot of fun, but a lot of serious repercussions as well.
"Lead the way then, my lord," Glorfindel said, sighing resignedly. "Are you coming too, my prince?"
Thranduil looked at the others for a moment, the ever-decreasing sensible part of his brain yelling at him to end this before it had even begun, reminding him of the face his father, King Oropher, would display if he ever found out about this. Whatever it was that the Lord of Rivendell was planning, it just couldn't be good.
Shrugging slightly, the prince emptied his glass and nodded.
"Of course, my lords. No wood-elf ever backed down from a challenge."
The three Noldor elves looked at each other, grinning wickedly. Oh, this was going to be so much fun…
"Very well then," Elrond said, turning a little unsteadily on his heel and heading for the direction of the main house, his still grinning advisors on his heels.
Thranduil looked after them for a second before carefully rising to his feet and following them, ignoring all of his senses that told him that he was about to do one of the stupidest things of all time. Before he left the little clearing next to one of the pearling falls that could be found nearly everywhere in Rivendell, he stopped to grab the still half-full wine decanter.
It was a truly astonishingly good wine.
King Thranduil almost chocked on the red liquid he had drunk to calm himself, remembering how that evening had ended. Looking at the exquisitely wrought silver goblet in his hand as if it had just turned into a spider, he hastily placed it back on his table. He still blamed Elrond's excellent wine for the whole incident, and he didn't intend to make the same mistake twice. He cringed as he remembered the look on Gil-galad's and his father's face when he, Glorfindel and Elrond…
No, he decided quickly, he would definitely not think of that now.
"Lord Thranduil? Are you feeling well?" Lord Elrond's voice interrupted his thoughts.
The elven king blinked and forced himself to look at his visitor's face, careful not to focus on the "Harbinger of Doom". He didn't know what it was that Elrond wanted from him, but he was rather sure that he didn't want to find out either.
"I am well, my lord," he said, folding his hands on top of his desk, forcing them to be still. "But, pray tell, how is Estel doing?"
Elrond looked at him sharply, trying to decide whether the king was referring to the unfortunate … incident yesterday or whether he asked out of real concern for the young human's welfare.
"He is well, my lord, considering the circumstances. He will be fully healed in less than three weeks, I think. And this is what I wanted to talk with you about."
The golden haired elf forced himself to remain calm; he really didn't like that feeling that was beginning to sneak up on him…
"Please explain, mellonamin," he said, his voice emotionless. "What do you mean?"
The other elf lord took a deep breath, the vein under his eye beginning to throb more strongly. Thranduil almost closed his eyes. Here it came.
"Well," Elrond began, "I received a letter from Lord Glorfindel yesterday. He tells me that my presence is much needed back in Imladris."
Thranduil nodded politely, not at all liking the way this was beginning to sound.
"As you well know will the High Pass be inaccessible to everyone who does not leave in ten to twelve days, if he doesn't want to be caught in the winter storms, that is. And storms there will be this year, of that I'm sure," Elrond said, looking at him calculatingly.
"So you…?" Thranduil prompted.
"So I thought Aragorn could winter with you this year. We will need to leave sooner than he will be hale again, and even if he were, I wouldn't want to travel over the mountains with him this time of year if he isn't back to full strength." Looking at the blonde elf's petrified face, he added, "Humans can be quite fragile sometimes. I fear for his health should we take him with us."
The King of Mirkwood smiled thinly, looking at his guest with quiet disbelief.
"So, Lord Elrond, you want me to allow my son and your youngest stay here, together, for more than three months? With nothing to occupy them but an occasional hunt? Did I understand that correctly?"
Elrond seemed to think about that and finally nodded.
"Yes, that would be the essence of it, yes."
Thranduil closed his eyes, wishing himself to be far, far away from here. Aragorn and Legolas, together … Aragorn and Legolas, together and with a lot of time at their hands … Aragorn and Legolas, together, with a lot of time on their hands and bored…
He shuddered; not a good combination, not a good combination at all…
He opened his eyes again to fix them on the Lord of Rivendell, who had sat down on a chair next to him, smirking and grey eyes twinkling.
"Do you know what you are asking?"
Elrond smiled and nodded.
"I know, my friend. I have seen all of its effects last winter, and believe me, it is a unique experience…" Noting the other elf's darkening face, he added, "I am sorry, but I can see no other way. I really would not want to take him with me unless I have absolutely no other choice, and the twins and I need to leave within the next ten days, if possible."
The golden haired king closed his eyes, defeated.
"Very well then, Estel will be welcome to stay. But," he opened his eyes and stared hard at the Lord of Imladris, "I do not guarantee for the shape he will be in once I can send him back to you." He shrugged. "He and my Legolas just seem to attract trouble, I don't know why either."
Elrond smiled at him again, a playful gleam in his eyes.
"Don't worry, my lord, they will be fine. As long as you keep them away from the wine they should be alright."
Thranduil glared at him, wincing at the memory of that evening more than 3000 years ago.
"They can't possibly get into as much trouble as we did, can they?"
The other elf shook his head, grimacing slightly when he remembered the lecture Gil-galad had given him, telling him that he was over 3000 years old and should know better than to go and try to get himself, his closest councillors and the heir to throne of Eryn Lasgalen killed. Well, the only good thing was that he couldn't remember much of it, except for his own inexplicable urge to giggle and the fact that Erestor had passed out about half an hour into it.
"No, they can't. It's just not possible."
The king sat back and looked at the dark trees in the gardens.
"We should hold on to that thought."
His dark haired companion looked at him, grinning slightly.
"Yes, my lord," he replied, turning his eyes on the gardens as well, "We definitely should."
Aragorn quietly entered Seobryn's quarters, grinning when he heard Elladan's muttered curses. Sometimes it was just too easy to taunt the twins, he thought as he looked around the spacious suite for the other human, they were beginning to become quite predictable in their old age. The young ranger snickered when he imagined what his brothers would say to that expression…
He took some steps into the room, wondering if the boy hadn't heard him knock. It wouldn't surprise him in the slightest, he thought sarcastically, Seobryn was one of the clumsiest and un-stealthiest beings he had ever seen. Well, maybe that wasn't really fair considering that he had lived with the elves ever since he could remember, but…
Aragorn's internal musing was cut short when he saw the boy in question stand in front of a large, silver-framed mirror, fiddling with the clothing he had been given. It was obvious that the young human felt anything but comfortable in the elven garments, but since his own were hardly appropriate for such an important meeting, he had no choice but to wear the clothes he had received.
'And he looks much better than he did the last time I saw him,' the young ranger decided, his eyes wandering about Seobryn's dark green and brown attire and his freshly brushed wavy brown hair. 'Much better, and not nearly as afraid.'
He leaned against one of the high bed posts, wondering how long it would take the other to notice that he wasn't alone in the room. After a long while in which Seobryn did nothing but fiddle with his clothing, he finally glanced up and saw the grinning ranger's image reflected in the looking glass.
"Eru!" he gasped, whirling around, one of his hands going to his heart. "Strider! What do you … how are you?"
Aragorn laughed, noting with satisfaction that his ribs hurt only a little bit at that action.
"Forgive me, Seobryn, I didn't mean to startle you. And thank you, I am fine."
Seobryn nodded slowly, still trying to calm his racing heart. He sat down heavily on a chair, staring at the other human. He really looked a lot better than the last time he had seen him, but, after all, that had been shortly after they had arrived in Mirkwood. Two weeks ago he had looked terrible indeed, but now the cuts and bruises on his face had healed, and some colour had returned to his cheeks that didn't look quite as hollow anymore.
The boy shook his head, saying the first thing that came to his mind.
"I am sorry, Strider," he said, casting his eyes to the floor. "You were right, I had a choice, I just decided not to seize it. I should have stopped my uncle and the others from hurting you like they did, I should have done something, but I was too afraid to…"
"There was nothing you could have done and lived," Aragorn interrupted him firmly, sitting down on the bed. "You had an obligation to Addramyr, I understand that, and the fact that you did break with him in the end saved my life. If you had given him that sword, he would have killed me before my brothers would have been able to reach us. I am in your debt."
Seobryn stared at him with wide eyes.
"You are not! I did the only thing I could, and it was far too late and not enough. Forgive me."
The ranger smiled at the other man, inclining his head.
"There is no need for that, Seobryn, but if you wish, I will forgive you."
The young man looked at him hesitantly and, after a while, returned the smile.
"Thank you, Strider. It is I who is in your debt and that of the elf lords for giving me this chance."
Aragorn's smile widened when he saw the awe and fear that flashed over the youngster's face when he mentioned Elrond and Legolas' father.
"So you would like to become a trader?"
"Of course I would!" Seobryn exclaimed, excitement replacing the other feelings. "It would be so wonderful to travel and actually get paid for it! And I would see different races and places…" He frowned slightly and added as an afterthought, "Although I think I will not come here for quite some time if I can help it."
When the young ranger laughed and raised an eyebrow at that, he hurried to explain, "I mean no disrespect of course, and the elves are treating me with kindness, but they … they are still elves. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yes, Seobryn," he nodded earnestly, "I know what you mean. But you have nothing to fear from them, believe me. No one here will harm you."
The other man dropped his eyes once more.
"I know Strider, but they are so … odd! I mean, one moment they are wise and serious and terrible, and the next they are laughing and joking like children! And some of them are over a thousand years old, did you know that? And they are still so beautiful!"
Aragorn couldn't hide the grin that formed on his face. He probably shouldn't tell him that his adopted grandmother was well over 7000 years old, that would probably give the lad a heart attack.
"Yes," he smiled, "I did indeed know that. But still, you don't have to be afraid. Tradesmen from Lake-town are honoured and always welcome here in Mirkwood. I am sure you will be accepted as an apprentice, Seobryn, don't worry. And just ignore Lord Elrond's sons. They mean you no harm, they are just a little overprotective at times, that's all."
"You could say that," Seobryn mumbled, remembering the faces of the two dark haired elves when he had first seen them, after his own uncle had knocked him out for his refusal to help him kill the ranger. "Overprotective" was quite a mild term, he would choose something along the lines of "overcome with fury". He had had a hard time accepting that a human was really referring to the fair folk as his family, but he had seen so many strange things during the last month that that wasn't really surprising him anymore either.
A knock sounded at the door and he raised his head, preparing to rise to his feet.
"That is my escort," he explained. "They are coming to make sure I don't get lost on my way to the meeting in this … maze of caves."
To his surprise, the ranger's eyes grew wide and he began to laugh heartily. Still chuckling, Aragorn gained his feet and slowly walked him over to the door.
"Oh, Seobryn, you still have much to learn," he grinned, placing a hand on his shoulder as the boy began to once again fiddle with his garments. "Stop it, you look fine. Just be yourself, and everything will be alright. Every tradesman can count himself lucky to gain you as an employee."
The younger man looked at him gratefully and took a deep breath.
"Thank you, Strider. For everything."
Aragorn smiled at him.
"You are welcome. And my friends call me Estel."
"Do you mean that … that I am your friend?" Seobryn asked, flabbergasted. He had expected much, but certainly not to be offered the hand of friendship by a man who had been the captive of him and his companions only a month ago.
"If you want to," Aragorn replied, nodding his head.
"Then I am your friend, Estel," Seobryn replied, his tongue nearly stumbling over the unfamiliar name, grasping the ranger's offered hand.
The other human grinned and took the last steps into the direction of the door.
"Well, my friend, here is my first piece of advice: Never, and I mean never, under no circumstances tell a wood-elf that his home resembles a cave. Never. The reactions can range from mere indignation to disbelief to murderous intentions."
Seobryn only stared at him with wide eyes, asking himself if all rangers were as strange as this one. He was still pondering this when the door opened and an elf showed him the way to his meeting with the merchant from Lake-town.
As they were just nearing the courtyard where his – hopefully – future employer was overseeing the unloading of his merchandise, he decided that Stri… Estel was probably a special case.
But, after all, it wasn't his fault. The ranger had lived most of his life with the elves, and judging by what he had seen from his adopted family and friends, that was more than enough to turn anyone strange.
Adruran shook his head as he left his lord's quarters. This was most displeasing; he hadn't wanted another assignment, and in his opinion the whole matter sounded more than a little bit risky. The whole operation was a lot too close to the wood-elves' realm, and their king wasn't known for looking kindly on things such as they had planned.
The tall man straightened his shoulders and walked swiftly down the corridor, barely noticing how the servants flattened themselves to the walls to avoid getting caught in his path.
He couldn't change his liege's mind on this matter. This was something the other had dreamt about for far too long, for so long that successfully carrying out his ancestors' plans had become an obsession to him. And even if it had been a possibility, he knew that he was neither brave nor insane enough to challenge his lord's plans.
'Well,' he thought as he entered the busy courtyard, 'I might as well make the best of it.'
"Sir?" one of his men had spotted him and was approaching him, curiosity on his face. "Are we leaving again?"
He nodded absent-mindedly, not slowing his purposeful walk.
"Aye, we are. Get the others ready. We leave in three hours."
"Where to, sir?" the other asked.
Adruran stopped and looked the other in the eye, suppressing a tired sigh.
"West," he finally said. "To the Long Lake and beyond, if we are successful."
The man looked at his superior in confusion before he nodded carefully and ran off to find his companions.
The tall man looked after the other, wondering for a moment why he had said that. Of course they would be successful, and if not, they would die in the attempt to get what their liege wanted.
That was the way things were, Adruran thought as he made his way towards the stables to prepare his horse, and the way things had always been around here.
And that certainly wouldn't change in the near future.
TBC...
ada - father (daddy)
mainkar - trader, tradesman
mellonamin - my friend
*points proudly* As you can see, this is NO cliffy! But, dear friends, do not despair, for the next chapter is fast approaching, and there we have a nice little... Uhm, I didn't say anything! Really! So: I will write NO cliffies, none whatsoever, and ch 3 won't have one either. Promise! *cackles evilly* Mhahaha, I'm evil.... *g* But still: Would you please review? It would make me so unbelievably happy! And it just _might_ prompt me to post the next chapter on Wednesday... *winning smile* So, please?
Additional A/N:
Coreinha - *squeals* Thanks! You're my first reviewer! Thanks so much! So you want torture? _Why_ does everybody just assume that I'm going to write torture? *sighs* I have no idea... *g* And no, Elladan has already out that behind him, I think. I mean, it's been over 1 1/2 months now, and he DID dye Estel's hunting shirts, didn't he? *envious look* School's out? NOT FAIR!! Well, my term ends soon, too - I think mid-July... *grumbles*
TrinityTheSheDevil - *huggles her* I'm so glad you like it! And well, yes, poor Estel. But, as I like to say, you just wait - things can always get worse, and, usually, they do. Uhm, okay, I'll leave you to your dancing, then.. *g* Thanks for the review!
Halo - *trying to extricate herself from Halo* Thanks - me - glad - too... Well, I have to admit, Legolas has a point there - after all, you are dangerous and evil... *g* Well, co-writing a fic sounds at least interesting! But hey, I mean, we would have killed off everybody after a few chapters... *evil grin* Oh, you're evil, telling Elrond where they're hiding - that's definitely not nice! Now, I am so happy you like the beginning, all this is still new for me, so... Btw, did you get any autographs? If yes, I WANT TO SEE THEM!!! Please? Thanks for reviewing! *huggles her*
Reginabean - *gives her weird look* Well - glad you like it so much when they get into trouble - you should love the rest, then... *evil cackle* Ah, we are evil... Well, I'm glad you like it so far - thanks for the review!
Germstone - Oh, I wouldn't call it melancholy - ch 5 and ch 3 are melancholier I think (does that word even exist?)! *evil grin* Oh, and don't worry about not reviewing, as long as you send me MANY reviews now, I will forgive you! J/k, never fear... *g* Well, I will try to update frequently, but I can make no promises of course. But I still think every four days or so should be possible for the next few weeks... Thanks for de-lurking and reviewing! *huggles her*
Nilbrethiliel - Mae govannen yourself! *g* Awww... danke! Aber an Thundera Tiger, Ilthilien, Jocelyn oder Littlefish kaeme ich nie ran, auf jeden Fall nicht in Englisch. Da fehlt einfach das richtige 'feeling', ist nicht zu machen... *g* Oh, und keine Angst wegen der Plotbunnies, die haben sich schon zur Genuege hier versammelt... zurueck, ihr Biester! Sind ganz schon hartnaeckig... *g* Du GEHST wirklich zu VL? Wow, da bist du aber emsiger als ich, ich meine, einmal eintragen und das war's dann... *g* Oh, und das mit dem suffering laesst sich sicher irgendwie manchen... *evil grin*
Xsilicax - *jumps for joy too* I missed you guys so much! All this is _so much_ fun!! Uhm, 'nasty things'? In my stories? Why, miss, I'm hurt! Never! I only write nice, fluffy fics, never something 'nasty'... *g* Well, as I say in the A/N, there will probably no golden haired beauties in here (well, except Tranduil and Legolas of course!), but perhaps in the next fic. We'll see. I'm so glad you like it! Thanks!
Mbali - Yay! Another review from Mbali! *g* Awww... *blushes* Thanks! I really hope the rest of the chapters will be as good as the first, I'll do my best! Thank you so much for the review!
Lizeth - Oh, you're not the only one - I love writing the 'family interaction', really. Elrond, the twins and Estel are just adorable, aren't they? Yay, I'm one of your favourites? Thanks so much! *huggles her*
Kirsten - Yeah, I like Elrond too! I would love to a father like that, but, alas, RL interfered... But somhow I always thought Elrond would be like this. But hey, he IS a powerful, millennia old elf lord after all... *g* Well, for the angst: We'll only have a little bit here and there for the next few chapters, but there'll be more in the future, I promise!
E - E! Hey, great to see you again! *huggles her* Yes, I agree, Estel is a horrible patient. But hey, he's young and impatient and bored out of his skull... *g* Great you like the beginning, thanks for reviewing again!
Nell Marie - Uhm, thanks! I mean, there was no real action - and that will only start in ch 3 - but I'm glad you like it! Besides, Estel & Co. need a little rest once in while... *g* Thanks for reviewing!
Sr - AMEN! You are absolutely right, of course - but you know Estel and his guilt trips and all that... Sometimes I really think the boy needs a psychiatrist... *g* And he will talk about them - not in the near future though, but he will. Don't worry. But thanks for telling him! *g*
Firnsarnien - Glad you like 'sequel'-sequels, 'cause that's what I love best, too! I always want to see as little time in between stories as humanly possible... *g* Yes, you could definitely add "Poor Hithrawyn" to "Poor Elrond" and "Poor Thranduil" for having to put up with all four of them! Well, yes, _of course_ the character will cause some trouble, but you're right, it would be very boring indeed otherwise, wouldn't it? Oh, I'm glad to have you back, too! *huggles her*
Alilacia - Hi! *hugs her* Great to 'see' you! Well, I don't think Estel will be very impressed by you shaking a fist at him when he wasn't impressed by Elrond's look! *g* Oh no, Hithrawyn isn't nuts! He's merely a little bit stressed, nothing more! As would YOU be if you had to put up with Estel, Elladan, Elrohir _and_ Legolas... Well, _he_ is of course the mysterious villain/evil overlord/resident megalomaniac-who-tries-to-take-over-ME. *shrugs* No one special, really... *g* Thanks for reviewing again!
Mouse - Hello! The insane Aussie is back again! J/k! Great to 'see' you! *huggles Mouse* *grins* Ah well, let's just say that poor Hithrawyn is a little bit stressed right now, shall we? I really hope you'll enjoy the rest! Thanks for not forgetting all about me!
Ciria - *grins sheepishly* I guess you are right, it makes him even more adorable! So, after the insane Aussie there comes the insane Finn, huh? Great to see you! *huggles Ciria* Even after I killed your Nólad, which I still regret, really. But it had to be done. *g* Yeah, I love Glorfindel as well, our mighty balrog-slayer. So, perhaps I'll put him into the next fic. We'll see. Oh, Glor threatened to do the usual ... dismemberment ... leaving Elrond alone with an angry balrog ... the usual, really. Oh, and btw, it's "glad" if you mean somebody's happy about something. If you write "clad" you usually mean you are wearing something like clothes, so e.g. "clad in a red blouse" or something. Yupp, I agree, never make an elven lord angry. That was the one mistake Cornallar and Donyc made. *shrugs* Serves them right. And, last but not least, a spade is a shovel. The one you use to break up the earth before starting to dig. Okay, thanks for reviewing!!
Lina - LINA! *huggles her* I missed you! And hey, it wasn't long! Only a month! But I'm so glad you're happy now... *eyes her dance fearfully* Very glad... ROTFL! Elrond's 'erotic' behaviour, huh? Shame on you for thinking such thoughts! *backs away* Jamaican braids? Just what kind of pills did you take? And where can I get some? *g* LOL!!! Smilrond!!!!! That is _the_ word creation of the century!!! *pulls Lina off of Estel* Lina! He is still weak! Do you want to kill him? You can't just walk around jumping into his arms! Not for at least ... three more chapters, okay? *sighs* Éomer!! ÉOMER!!!! She is doing it again! KEEP HER AWAY FROM MY VILLAINS, FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!!! *shakes head* That useless excuse for a Rohir...
Cicci - *grins evilly* Yes, you might be correct there. You know, some people have even claimed that I'm obsessed with cliffies. Which I am not. Not really. Besides, it's all my alter ego's fault. She makes me write them, and the torture scenes and all that ... other stuff. The evil bits are all her doing... *g* Thanks so much for your kind words!
Zam - Wohooo! Another orc horde party! Thanks so much! *huggles Zam and orc horde* *accusing look* You too? I mena, come on! A month is hardly long!! *giggles* No, Hithrawyn (see, I types that in a second! It's not so hard, really! *g*) isn't crazy - only incredibly annoyed... *huggles Celylith* No, I wouldn't forget about him! I love him! *raises eyebrow* Celly? Oh, that sound so-not-right... Curse you! *grabs Halo's hammer of doom and chases after Zam* You just squashed my characters with an eighteen wheeler! Come back here! Uhm, the bad guy hasn't done anything yet! You _cannot_ hate him without reason! Oh, and: The last review was ... special? LOL, it was great, really! I had almost forgotten how nuts you really are. Thanks for reminding me!! *g*
ManuKu - Manu! *umarmt sie* Na, schoen dich zu sehen! Und danke der Nachfrage, ich habe mich schon ganz gut eingewoehnt - obwohl ich immer noch einen Mitbewohner suche. Ist ganz schoen schwierig, jemanden zu finden, der sich mit meinen Macken abgibt... *g* Oh ja, DSL isg schon was schoenes - anders ginge es eh nicht, ich waere Pleite innerhalb von ner Woche... *guckt beschaemt zu Boden* Ach, es war doch gar nicht so viel Drama das letzte Mal, oder? Ich meine, nicht wirklich, und das mit Nólad tut mir ja auch leid... Ihr wollte Elrond weh tun? Wann? Wann? Will ich sehen!! *auf und ab huepf* Okay, das war jetzt nicht normal... *g* Ich versuche natuerlich, wie immer so schnell wie moeglich zu updaten, dessen sei versichert! Danke vielmals fuer die review!
Kaeera - Uhm das mit dem Fesseln - ich bin irre? Ich glaube, das hilft... *die vor Glueck strampelnde Kaeera anguck* Nun ja, das kommt aber alles erst in ch 4 und 5, ok? Also musst du noch ein kleines bisschen warten... Oh bitte, du nicht auch noch! Bitte schreib keine die-Zwillinge-treffen-die-Frau/Elbin/Hobbit- ihrer-Traeume! Das waere zu viel fuer mich, fuerchte ich... *g* 5 LKs? Ich hatte nur 2+2 Pruefungsfacher, und das hat auch gereicht, danke! *umarmt Kaeera* Danke fuer die review!! Und update mal bald!
ThE iNsAnE oNe - Uhm, they all sound very happy to see me, don't they? *evil cackle* *ready the review* Are you alright? You sound kind of ... stressed, somehow. I don't knowm it's just a thought... *g* Well, if "Gwannath Annaeth" is for a future fic, then you shouldn't mention it now! It's evil and sadistic! BUT I could forgive you if you update ITB or TMAATB OR posted the next story NOW! Think about it!
Miss Understood - *shakes head* How could I ever forget you!? I mean, really! You are the only Seobryn-fan out there, I think! Well, don't hyperventilate here, breathe in ... breathe out ... breathe in ... breathe out .... *g* *evil laugh* Ah well, I love evil little mysterious endings! They (and cliffies) are so much fun! Well, I'm glad you like it so much, and yes, Seobryn will be in this quite a lot. He is in this chapter, yay!!
Aratfeniel - *grins back* Well, that is the logical choice, isn't it? Hiding where no one would be stupid enough to look? I will definitely keep writing, I really jope you will like the rest as well! Thanks for reviewing!
CrazyLOTRfan - You too! It's not 'finally'! I mean, it's been only a month! That's not long, is it? *g* Not too long, anyway... Great you like it though, thanks so much for reviewing again!
CalliTrakand - *blushes* Thanks a lot. It was my very first story and I love if if poeple say they love it - huh? What kind of sentence was that? Just ignore me, will you... Thanks so much for your kind words, and I really hope you'll enjoy the rest as well!
Arwen-Evenstar - Well, I hope you'll like this story as much as the last one, but you never know. *hits herself* Gotta stop being so pessimistic! Anyway, I'm glad you like it thus far! Thanks for the review!
Marbienl - *nods* See? This is the length a chapter should have, not 1 1/2 pages! That's just plain cruel! *giggles* Well, can't you understand Hithrawyn? I mena, really, Estel AND the twins AND Legolas AND Celylith? That's just too much! Well, the spider doesn't exactlly like elves or men or ANYONE, but we'll elran more about that in the next chapter. LOL! You're right, wargs just _might_ ne right ones for the job... About the nightmares: We'll see later what they are about, but let me give you a tip: Three weeks ago = fun time with Donyc and Cornallar = tiny little caves = general feeling of unhappiness? That's more than enough for nightmares, I think... And he _will_ talk about them, but not now. He's stubborn, you know... *g* Thanks for the long review!
NaughtyNat - *blushes* Thanks for saying that! It was my first fic, and so it makes me very happy if you like it. *evil grin* You're right, I like to see him tortured as well - we are sick people, aren't we...Well, I definitely like the ranger better, but Legolas is cute too! Well, C&S didn't really stela him, we just happened to use the same name, which in turn was because we use the same name generator. Not all my names are generated, but this one unfortunately was. And no, I donÄt feel angry, it's not as if I have a copyright or anything! What elf? You mean Glónduil? Goodness no! Of course not! I mean, Glónduil may be an idiot, but he isn't evil! Don't worry, it's not him! Thanks so much for the review!
Salara - *rot werd* Na ja, wir werden ja sehen, wie das alles so wird. Das ist ja das Interessante, wenn man eine Story posted, bevor man sie ganz fertig hat, man weiss nie, wie das ganze ausgehen wird... *g* Ja, ich liebe mysterioese Hints usw., da kann ich einfach nicht widerstehen... *seufz* Ich weiss, ich bin krank. Ach, und was Celylith angeht: Er ist die Ausnahme, die die Regel bestaetigt, nehme ich an. Ein schwarzes Schaf sozusagen... *g* Und mit dem Futter: Wird alles im neachsten Kapitel behandelt, in dem man eine ganze Menge von unserer Lieblingsspinne sieht! DANKE fuer die review! *umarmt Salara*
Gwyn - *grins* This soon enough? Thanks for reviewing!
Alexa - Hi! Nice to 'see' you! Well, to be perfectly honest: I don't know yet. Perhaps your elfling, if you go by the frequency and numbers of injuries, but I'm not sure yet about the severity... *evil cackle* You are right, It IS an interesting picture: Legolas jumping out of the window to escape the Lord of Imladris' wrath... *giggles* Funny. More Legolas coming up, but there will be much more of him in the next chappie. Thank you for the review!
Aurienia - Hey! I was just about to post this when I saw your review! Thanks! *huggles her* Well, the evil guy ... I'm not telling! No I'm not! You have your exams now? Poor you! I do hope this chapter cheers you up a little... *grins at Elrond* Moi? I'm not doing anything to them, it's always the bad guys - and my alter ego...
*huggles all reviewers* Thanks so much! You inspire and encourage me and and and... *takes a deep breath* Thank you.