Legolas tensed as the door opened, but he did not turn around. "Who is it?" he asked softly.
"It is only me," Airëlus replied. "I am alone. If you were worried about speaking in front of Ada, then you can relax. He is in his study, and will not come up here. Like I said earlier, it does not matter if you only speak a few sentences to start off with. But I would much prefer it if this time, they were not sentences ordering me to get out and leave you alone."
A brief smile flitted across Legolas' face, but that was all it was: brief. "What do you want me to say?"
"You just did say something. That was perfect," Airëlus replied.
The younger Prince sighed as he sat up to face his brother. "You want me to talk about Calaen."
"I do not really mind what we speak of," Airëlus shrugged. "There is an upcoming archery tournament. It is only in a few weeks, I believe. We could start off with that. Or how about…?" He trailed off when the other Elf shook his head.
"We both know that you have not come up here to discuss archery tournaments," Legolas said sharply.
Airëlus sighed, and leaned against the side of the desk. "I will not lie to you. I came up here to try and get you to talk about your ordeal. And yes, I am fully aware that you believe no help is required from Ada or I. However, I do not think that is true."
"What do you mean?" Legolas snapped.
"I mean that you do need help. You need to talk about what happened. If you think that shutting yourself away will help you at all, then you are wrong," Airëlus replied. "It will only damage you further."
"You cannot force me to talk," Legolas said furiously.
Airëlus pushed himself off the desk, and sat in front of his brother on the bed. "I am not going to force you to do anything. No-one will. Do you understand that Ada and I are not the enemy? All that we want is to see you happy again."
"But I don't understand," Legolas said, desperation pushing the anger from his voice.
"What do you not understand?" Airëlus asked gently.
The young Prince shook his head, and drew his knees up to his chest. "Why…he cannot…It just does not make sense."
"No, you are the one who does not make sense." Airëlus smiled, and touched his brother's shoulder lightly. "What are you talking about?"
"I do not see why Ada should want to help me. You were not there, and you do not know what happened. He beat me, Airëlus, and all the while he was telling me how much I was hated, and how I was a failure and a disappointment." Tears had begun to flow, but Legolas did not even notice. "He accused me of…"
"What did he accuse you of?" Airëlus whispered, fighting hard to keep back his own tears.
"He…he accused me of…of…I'm sorry, I can't. Don't make me!" Legolas wrapped his arms around his knees, and buried his face. Grief overcame him – saying the words out loud was worse than thinking them.
Airëlus shook his head, and pulled his brother close. "I will make you do nothing," he said softly.
"He called me weak and pathetic, and I tried so hard not to be," Legolas whispered. "But I could not help it. I cried, and that was what he wanted. I proved that his accusations were true: I am weak, and I am pathetic. Even now I cry. He was right."
"No, that is not true," Airëlus replied, stroking his brother's hair. "Just because you cried then and you cry now, it does not make you weak. I can think of no-one who would not cry if they had been through the same ordeal. Feel no shame in your tears."
"But I don't know what's happening," Legolas breathed. "I don't know why Ada did that to me. I thought that…I don't know what I thought. But I did not know that he felt that way about me."
Airëlus sighed, and pulled away slightly from the embrace. "Ada did nothing to you, nothing at all. It was all Calaen."
"What…what do you mean?" Legolas asked quietly.
"Calaen was the one doing everything," the Crown Prince replied. "He adopted Ada's voice because…I do not know why he did it. We can only imagine his reasons. But that is why you were under the impression that Ada was the one hurting you."
Legolas shook his head, confusion flashing through his silver eyes. "No, that is not true. You are merely saying this so that I will stop…No. It is not true."
"You must believe that I am telling no lies," Airëlus said desperately. "I was with Ada the whole time."
"You were with him? Then you…No, not you too," Legolas whispered, jumping off the bed. He swayed slightly, but forced himself to regain his balance. "Tell me it is not true. You were not with him. Tell me, Airëlus!"
"What is it?" the Crown Prince asked, stunned.
Legolas shook his head and took an unsteady step backwards. "Just tell me."
"But I was with him. I rode to Rivendell to bring him back here. I have not left his side in the last few days," Airëlus replied.
"Then you were also part of it." Legolas closed his eyes in pain, but it was not his injuries that hurt him. He felt as though his heart was breaking. A shadow passed over his face, and he swayed once more. But this time, he did not regain his balance.
"No!" Airëlus jumped up and caught the younger Elf a split second before he hit the floor. He drew in a sharp breath as he looked into his brother's face. Legolas' eyes were closed, the rise and fall of his chest barely noticeable. Putting a hand to his forehead, the Crown Prince shuddered: it was stone cold.
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Thranduil looked up in surprise as his study door flew open and slammed against the wall. Airëlus ran in, unshed tears in his pale blue eyes, fear and worry written all over his now white face. The Elven-king immediately thought a prayer to the Valar, asking for help.
"Ada, you must come," the Crown Prince breathed. "It is Legolas."
Not even bothering to waste time finding out exactly what was happening, Thranduil jumped up from his chair and ran from the study. His heart pounded painfully against his chest as all sorts of terrible thoughts entered his mind. He could not rule any of them out though, considering the situation.
As he leapt up the stairs which led to his private rooms, he was dimly aware of Airëlus running right behind him, but all that he concentrated on was getting to his youngest son before anything more could happen.
When he reached the top of the stairs, Thranduil ran into his sleeping chamber, straight across to the large bed where Legolas lay. The young Prince's golden hair was spread across his shoulders, and his long lashes lay upon his pale cheeks. One would think that he was merely asleep.
"What happened?" Thranduil demanded.
"I don't know. He was standing up and we were talking. When I told him that I had been with you for the last few days, he said that I was also part of it. By 'it', I can only guess that he meant his ordeal," Airëlus said quickly, watching his father press one hand to Legolas' forehead, and the other to his heart. "And then he just….he just collapsed."
Tears sprung to Thranduil's eyes, and he took his youngest son's ice cold hand. "Valar, no. Spare him. Do not take my child."
"Ada, what…?"
"He is fading," Thranduil whispered, bowing his head. Silent tears flowed, but he did not bother to brush them away.
"No," Airëlus breathed. He knelt next to the bed and closed his eyes tightly. This could not happen. Legolas could not die.
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