Chapter 2
Legolas could feel all the eyes staring at him as he was lead across the entrance hall. They had entered the palace through the main gates and were making their way through the crowd towards a heavy iron door with a bolt. He kept his eyes downcast until he couldn't stand it any longer. He looked up to see one woman staring at him in shock, her mouth open and her hand covering her chest. She looked absolutely aghast.
But I didn't do anything! he thought.
Finally, they reached the door and Legolas stepped through silently. He didn't have to be in the room to know that people still were staring at them. They descended the stairwell ahead of them. The only sound Legolas heard was the clanking of the chains that imprisoned him. When they reached the lower landing Legolas sighed.
'I swear on my mother's grave I didn't kill anybody.' he said as they rounded a corner into a long hallway lined with cells.
'Either way, we have to take these precautions.' said the captain as he pulled a ring of keys from underneath his cloak. He unlocked the closest cell and let the others push Legolas in. Once he was inside, they took off the shackles.
'We'll get your father here as soon as possible.' said one of the guards as they closed the door and left Legolas alone in the dark.
*
Legolas was stirred awake by the sound of his father's voice. He didn't remember falling asleep, but found himself lying down on the cot in the corner of the dark cell. A soft but tarnished blanket was draped over his lower half. He sat straight up at the sound of footsteps. The cell was completely dark so it must've been late at night. The only light was in the corridor ahead of him where a torch crackled and glowed.
'I don't believe this!' muttered Thranduil as he appeared. 'Legolas!' they embraced each other through the bars. Legolas could feel the icy cold chill of the iron block between them.
'I didn't do it, father!' he insisted. Thranduil pulled away and looked into his eyes.
'I believe you, my son.' his hazel eyes twinkled with devastation and regret. 'I don't care what proof is there, I know you're as innocent as the day you were born.' he cast a glance towards the guards. 'Let him go, he didn't do anything!' he demanded. The captain of the guard was there as well, along with the two others who had seen the dagger be pulled from Legolas's hidden sheath.
'We can't do that my lord. Under your law-' he tried to explain, but Thranduil cut him off angrily.
'Forget the law! This is the prince of Mirkwood we're talking about! He is honorable and loyal and above suspicion if not anything else! This accusation is a threat to the Mirkwood Empire. It will not be tolerated while I rule this realm!' the captain was careful to be polite with his protest.
'Sir, under your laws, we are to arrest any suspects to murder. Legolas is prime and there is nothing proving his innocence.'
'What about Elenest?' asked Legolas through his cage. 'Elenest was there the whole time! She'll tell you I didn't do it!'
'You were the only ones in the courtyard.' argued the captain with a snarl. 'We're taking Elenest in for deep questioning. You plead your innocence so it may be that she framed you.' Legolas felt his face flush as his fists clenched on the bars. 'It is most likely since she is not of royal blood she may try to frame you for murder so that she could take the throne.' Legolas suddenly found his hand around the captain's neck.
'Don't talk about her like that!' he cried, glaring at the guard. 'EVER!'
'Legolas, let go of him!' Thranduil grabbed his wrist and twisted it off the captain's neck. Legolas grasped the bar with it, feeling the white- hot anger from his heart boiling into its powerful grasp. The captain breathed hard, leaning against a guard for support.
'This will not testify well for him, my lord.' he growled before turning and running from the dungeon. Thranduil clutched his fist and screwed his eyes shut. His sudden sense of kingship was gone and he just looked like a man in the middle of a raging wind. He cried out and punched the stone wall. He grunted for a moment before returning to Legolas's side. They were both full of unspeakable rage that threatened rash actions.
'I'll get you out of there, Legolas.' he said to him. 'I won't let you stay here longer then a day, no matter what it takes.' he turned and headed up the corridor to the staircase. The two guards followed. Legolas sat back down on the cot and leaned against the wall.
His thoughts were flushed with negative endearments. ~I'll never have the same reputation after this.~ he thought. ~People will always be looking over their shoulder at me. Their eyes will be filled with caution and worry and shame.~ Legolas had heard stories about kingdoms with murderers in the royal family. Their citizens were poor and their cities falling apart. The children grew up in filth and greed. Legolas couldn't stand seeing a helpless being under the fist of a grown man. He couldn't let that happen to his kingdom. How could this have happened?
He could already see the faces glaring at him from underneath dark hoods. He could see a child coughing and bleeding on a threshold. He would try to help them, but they would run away crying and screaming in terror. He would eye a scrawny woman with nothing but a filthy torn cloak covering her while she stood waiting for a desperate elf to come along and for her to make her move just to feed herself. A skeleton is hidden in a dark alley where rats infest the bins where thin meat and ugly fruit rot. The eyes stared angrily. All the people stopped walking. The just watched him.
Staring. Dark eyes piercing his mind and soul. Legolas felt their watch. He suddenly felt as though all his rights were gone. He wasn't free. He wasn't living in privacy. It was as though he wasn't anything but a filthy rag with no use or purpose.
Legolas awoke to himself perspiring. There was a small amount of light piercing the corridor. He was on the floor and breathing fast.
~Just a dream.~ he thought. ~Only a dream.~
'Prince Legolas?' Legolas's head turned towards the voice. It was a young elfling no higher than his waist with tear of parchment in his hand. His face was flushed and he was out of breath.
'Are you lost?' he asked. Children weren't meant to be working in the dungeon, so that was the only reason he could think of. The child shook his head, his locks swaying.
'No sir! I have a note from your father!' Legolas eyed him as he stood and reached through the bars. He could feel something heavy in the bundle of parchment.
'Why couldn't he come and tell me himself?' he asked as he opened the wad of paper and glanced over it. His eyes widened at the messiness of the characters, obviously hurried. A key was lying over them and he quickly removed it to read the words.
'He said it says in there! I have to go!' the young boy ran back out of the cellar as Legolas's eyes darted over the page.
~Legolas, there's no time to go into detail but you can leave now! There is a mob outside the palace ready to break in and kill you! Use this key to go out the back way and take the back allies out of town. There's a horse waiting for you by the palace gates along with provisions. When I manage to settle things down and prove you didn't kill anybody, I'll send for you. You can't stay in Mirkwood. Get out as fast as you can and stay in hiding until you hear word from me! It may take up to five years to convince everybody, but don't come back until it's all cleared up. Write letters and sign them as the name of Fermanir, a friend of mine in Rohan. I'll find some way to contact back but don't ever say where you are! That elf murdered was a prince from Eriador. I can only protect you by getting you out of here, so leave right away! Don't worry, we will see each other again, but on much better terms.
P.S. Don't stop for any farewells, not even Elenest. If she knows, then others will stop at nothing to give their justice and vengeance. Burn this note when you're safe.~
Legolas stared at the note, read it again, then looked at the key.
~It's advice, not a demand.~ he thought to himself. ~But he's never given a bad quote before.~
He shoved the key in the paddock and turned the key.
Legolas could feel all the eyes staring at him as he was lead across the entrance hall. They had entered the palace through the main gates and were making their way through the crowd towards a heavy iron door with a bolt. He kept his eyes downcast until he couldn't stand it any longer. He looked up to see one woman staring at him in shock, her mouth open and her hand covering her chest. She looked absolutely aghast.
But I didn't do anything! he thought.
Finally, they reached the door and Legolas stepped through silently. He didn't have to be in the room to know that people still were staring at them. They descended the stairwell ahead of them. The only sound Legolas heard was the clanking of the chains that imprisoned him. When they reached the lower landing Legolas sighed.
'I swear on my mother's grave I didn't kill anybody.' he said as they rounded a corner into a long hallway lined with cells.
'Either way, we have to take these precautions.' said the captain as he pulled a ring of keys from underneath his cloak. He unlocked the closest cell and let the others push Legolas in. Once he was inside, they took off the shackles.
'We'll get your father here as soon as possible.' said one of the guards as they closed the door and left Legolas alone in the dark.
*
Legolas was stirred awake by the sound of his father's voice. He didn't remember falling asleep, but found himself lying down on the cot in the corner of the dark cell. A soft but tarnished blanket was draped over his lower half. He sat straight up at the sound of footsteps. The cell was completely dark so it must've been late at night. The only light was in the corridor ahead of him where a torch crackled and glowed.
'I don't believe this!' muttered Thranduil as he appeared. 'Legolas!' they embraced each other through the bars. Legolas could feel the icy cold chill of the iron block between them.
'I didn't do it, father!' he insisted. Thranduil pulled away and looked into his eyes.
'I believe you, my son.' his hazel eyes twinkled with devastation and regret. 'I don't care what proof is there, I know you're as innocent as the day you were born.' he cast a glance towards the guards. 'Let him go, he didn't do anything!' he demanded. The captain of the guard was there as well, along with the two others who had seen the dagger be pulled from Legolas's hidden sheath.
'We can't do that my lord. Under your law-' he tried to explain, but Thranduil cut him off angrily.
'Forget the law! This is the prince of Mirkwood we're talking about! He is honorable and loyal and above suspicion if not anything else! This accusation is a threat to the Mirkwood Empire. It will not be tolerated while I rule this realm!' the captain was careful to be polite with his protest.
'Sir, under your laws, we are to arrest any suspects to murder. Legolas is prime and there is nothing proving his innocence.'
'What about Elenest?' asked Legolas through his cage. 'Elenest was there the whole time! She'll tell you I didn't do it!'
'You were the only ones in the courtyard.' argued the captain with a snarl. 'We're taking Elenest in for deep questioning. You plead your innocence so it may be that she framed you.' Legolas felt his face flush as his fists clenched on the bars. 'It is most likely since she is not of royal blood she may try to frame you for murder so that she could take the throne.' Legolas suddenly found his hand around the captain's neck.
'Don't talk about her like that!' he cried, glaring at the guard. 'EVER!'
'Legolas, let go of him!' Thranduil grabbed his wrist and twisted it off the captain's neck. Legolas grasped the bar with it, feeling the white- hot anger from his heart boiling into its powerful grasp. The captain breathed hard, leaning against a guard for support.
'This will not testify well for him, my lord.' he growled before turning and running from the dungeon. Thranduil clutched his fist and screwed his eyes shut. His sudden sense of kingship was gone and he just looked like a man in the middle of a raging wind. He cried out and punched the stone wall. He grunted for a moment before returning to Legolas's side. They were both full of unspeakable rage that threatened rash actions.
'I'll get you out of there, Legolas.' he said to him. 'I won't let you stay here longer then a day, no matter what it takes.' he turned and headed up the corridor to the staircase. The two guards followed. Legolas sat back down on the cot and leaned against the wall.
His thoughts were flushed with negative endearments. ~I'll never have the same reputation after this.~ he thought. ~People will always be looking over their shoulder at me. Their eyes will be filled with caution and worry and shame.~ Legolas had heard stories about kingdoms with murderers in the royal family. Their citizens were poor and their cities falling apart. The children grew up in filth and greed. Legolas couldn't stand seeing a helpless being under the fist of a grown man. He couldn't let that happen to his kingdom. How could this have happened?
He could already see the faces glaring at him from underneath dark hoods. He could see a child coughing and bleeding on a threshold. He would try to help them, but they would run away crying and screaming in terror. He would eye a scrawny woman with nothing but a filthy torn cloak covering her while she stood waiting for a desperate elf to come along and for her to make her move just to feed herself. A skeleton is hidden in a dark alley where rats infest the bins where thin meat and ugly fruit rot. The eyes stared angrily. All the people stopped walking. The just watched him.
Staring. Dark eyes piercing his mind and soul. Legolas felt their watch. He suddenly felt as though all his rights were gone. He wasn't free. He wasn't living in privacy. It was as though he wasn't anything but a filthy rag with no use or purpose.
Legolas awoke to himself perspiring. There was a small amount of light piercing the corridor. He was on the floor and breathing fast.
~Just a dream.~ he thought. ~Only a dream.~
'Prince Legolas?' Legolas's head turned towards the voice. It was a young elfling no higher than his waist with tear of parchment in his hand. His face was flushed and he was out of breath.
'Are you lost?' he asked. Children weren't meant to be working in the dungeon, so that was the only reason he could think of. The child shook his head, his locks swaying.
'No sir! I have a note from your father!' Legolas eyed him as he stood and reached through the bars. He could feel something heavy in the bundle of parchment.
'Why couldn't he come and tell me himself?' he asked as he opened the wad of paper and glanced over it. His eyes widened at the messiness of the characters, obviously hurried. A key was lying over them and he quickly removed it to read the words.
'He said it says in there! I have to go!' the young boy ran back out of the cellar as Legolas's eyes darted over the page.
~Legolas, there's no time to go into detail but you can leave now! There is a mob outside the palace ready to break in and kill you! Use this key to go out the back way and take the back allies out of town. There's a horse waiting for you by the palace gates along with provisions. When I manage to settle things down and prove you didn't kill anybody, I'll send for you. You can't stay in Mirkwood. Get out as fast as you can and stay in hiding until you hear word from me! It may take up to five years to convince everybody, but don't come back until it's all cleared up. Write letters and sign them as the name of Fermanir, a friend of mine in Rohan. I'll find some way to contact back but don't ever say where you are! That elf murdered was a prince from Eriador. I can only protect you by getting you out of here, so leave right away! Don't worry, we will see each other again, but on much better terms.
P.S. Don't stop for any farewells, not even Elenest. If she knows, then others will stop at nothing to give their justice and vengeance. Burn this note when you're safe.~
Legolas stared at the note, read it again, then looked at the key.
~It's advice, not a demand.~ he thought to himself. ~But he's never given a bad quote before.~
He shoved the key in the paddock and turned the key.