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Chapter 13

Where Has Hope Gone

Lord Elrond was again standing on the balcony of his youngest son's bedroom thinking over the events of that day. During the luncheon hour, a message bird had arrived from Mirkwood bearing a strange message from the Mirkwood King and he chuckled to himself as he remembered the message bird's arrival.

The twins, Glorfindel and he had been eating lunch on the balcony when the bird had arrived. Everyone at the table visibly winced and prepared for the worst as they glanced to where the black falcon was sitting not too far away. There was not a soul at the table that didn't wonder if a tasty tidbit carrying a message scroll might prove to be too much of a temptation for a continuously hungry falcon. Their fears turned out to be unfounded as Shakir did not so much as ruffle a feather or move from his perch on the balcony's railing and paid little or no attention to the bird. Sometime later in the day however, the twins had noticed the railing was empty and quickly told Lord Elrond, who checked and was much relieved to find that the message bird was still, in fact, very much alive.

All the necessary preparations for the king's arrival had been completed and there was nothing more to do except wait for the arrival of the Mirkwood King. If he was correct, and the King made good time, he would probably arrive about dawn, two days from this one.

He could still not rid himself of his dark mood and though he still had no tangible proof that what he felt held any merit whatsoever, he had finally, at the insistence of Glorfindel, sent a message to Mithrandir, seeking his counsel. Perhaps the wizard would be able to make some sense of this.

Now, as he stood on the balcony of his human son's bedroom, he heard two identical sets of feet approaching, and smiled. Elladan and Elrohir joined their father as he gazed at the night sky and for some time, the three stood there, each gathering comfort from the other. The oldest twin was the first to speak.

"We miss him also, Ada."

Elrond put his arms around his twins and pulled them closer to him, each gathering what comfort they could from the other. Then Elrohir asked the question that his father had asked himself many times over the past few days since Aragorn had left.

"Ada, why do you think that we are worrying about our brother? He has left us before and though we have worried for his safety, never before now have all of us become so obsessed with the idea, of its wrongness, of the dark danger. Is it perhaps because of our sister's vision that we all worry for him?"

Elrond just sighed.

Then Elladan looked sharply at his father as an idea came to him.

"Or could it be that the reason for our worry is that you are the one who has not had the vision?" The eldest twin stopped for a moment to gather his thoughts. "Ada, is it possible that you have only sensed what Anayah experienced in her vision yet worry because the vision came to her and not to you?"

Elladan put his hands on his head, trying hard to think of how to express what he was thinking without sounding like an idiot.

"Perhaps you are ... merely someone who has been caught in the wake of a wave?"

"You may be right, my son, but that fact does not serve to make the burden any less difficult to bear." When he saw the disappointment on the face of his eldest, he tried to comfort him.

"I have sent a message to Mithrandir asking him to come here. It is not often that I seek the counsel of the Grey Wizard but I feel that he may be able to shed some light on the matter."

Elrohir decided to try to steer his father's mood in another direction. "So King Thranduil is coming for a visit. Did he mention what his purpose for such a visit might be?"

Elrond looked at the youngest twin. Ever since his twins had been young elflings, they had been taught that some matters were to be considered private and were not to be questioned. Though it was known that the King was on his way, no mention had been made as to the purpose of his visit and for his son to inquire could almost be interpreted as being unseemly behavior. He could easily forgive the behavior of his youngest, after all, hadn't he, the young elf's father and Lord, been the one walking around for days enveloping himself in a dark cloud of despair? He knew why Elrohir had asked the question.

Neither Elrohir nor his twin was prepared for the answer their father was about to give them.

"King Thranduil has had a very disturbing vision concerning Legolas."

Both twins turned wide eyes toward their father.

"Now this is getting scary, Ada." Elrohir put his hand on his father's shoulder. "Was his vision similar at all to what our sister experienced?"

"I do not know, Elrohir. We shall find that out when the king arrives."

Elladan was starting to get a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Ada, what new evil might be so powerful that it could be sensed by Imladris and Mirkwood?"

"I have no answer for that, Elladan. I am just hoping that Mithrandir can shed some light on the matter."

TBC