Chap 6
A/N - Just a warning, this chapter is a bit slow, but the next one will be more exciting (I hope!)
Legolas pulled the last fake web from the throne, the tidying had taking longer than he'd thought it would. He sighed and shook his head, staring at the bundle of fake webs on the floor. They had put so much work into them, so much time and effort. Just then Legolas remembered that his father had said they would discuss his punishment once he had cleaned up the throne room, as if that hadn't been a punishment in itself, being so boring without anyone to talk to. So, the young prince hurried from the room and ran down the corridor till he reached his father's formal study.
King Thranduil had two studies, a formal one for all the kingly stuff he did, like paper work, meeting people for discussions about things, and one for personal study, and reading, etc. Legolas now entered the formal study and stood in front of his father's desk, there was a large table with several chairs around it to his left and a set of shelves standing next to a small bookcase and a set of filing drawers on his right. Thranduil himself sat behind the desk, elbows leaning on it with the tips of his finger together, tops of his index's just touching his lips. When Legolas came in, his father had stared hard at him for a while, but before he could say anything to his son, the young prince interrupted with a plea.
"Please Adar, if you haven't already told Aros', Balar's and Earelen's parents about us Spider Baiting, please, please don't tell them!"
"Legolas, your friends parents have a right to know what you've been doing, don't you understand how serious this is?" Thranduil said with a sigh.
"But Adar," Legolas begged, "They might not let my friends see me again."
"It might keep you all out of trouble for a while," the king replied, feeling a smile tug at his lips at the thought of Legolas staying out of trouble, "And that would be a bit of a relief for most and good for everyone I think."
At this Thranduil glanced over at Arhival and Dimrost who stood at the side of the room.
"I doubt you've ever been more right nin Aran." Dimrost said with a smile pulling threateningly at his lip even though the situation was so serious.
"But Adar!" Legolas cried out, distress showing clearly in his voice, "Please, Adar I need them! I need them." The last sentence was said in barely more then a whisper as the little prince bowed his head.
"Legolas." Thranduil said, and catching his son's attention, signalled him to come round the desk to where he sat.
Legolas came, and Thranduil took his youngest son's small hands in his own and looked into the little elf's pure, crystal blue eyes, 'so much like Ailiel's eyes' Thranduil couldn't help thinking, then he asked,
"What do you min nin ion? How is it that you need them?"
"When," Legolas swallowed at the lump in his throat. Even now, after he had put it all behind him, and found comfort in the thought that his mother could live a life free of sorrow in the Halls of Mandos, he still found it hard to talk about her, he still found it painful. The young prince swallowed again and continued, "When Naneth died. When she died, I no close friends, no one to lean on. I knew you had many burdens being Aran and everything, and I didn't want to give you another burden to carry. So I had no one, but Aros, Balar and Earelen, they took pity on me, and a while after Naneth's, Naneth's death, they asked if I wanted them as friends, so they could help me. They are now taur tol that I may fall back on in troubled times."
As Thranduil gazed at his son he realised the bond that the young prince shared with his friends, a bond that could only come from relying on each other fully, from sharing their hearts, and their souls. Legolas had friends with like-souls to his own, Thranduil knew he could not separate them, no caring person would.
"Alright," Thranduil conceded, "I will not tell your friends' parents about the Spider Baiting, but what else could merit such a punishment that I will be forced to give you?"
Arhival cleared her throat and stepped forward slightly before saying, "If I may make a suggestion your majesty."
Thranduil nodded so she continued.
"Before I discovered en tithen caun and his friends Spider Baited, they tricked me into following them into the forest where they made a show of Spider Baiting and one of their friends came along dressed up as a spider. So, you could say they pretended to Spider Bait and then they set up that fake spider in your throne room."
"Very well, I shall roll the punishments into one, for those were two very serious crimes. Arhival, would you please fetch Legolas' friends, their parents may come if they wish."
So Arhival walked swiftly from the room to fetch the little prince's three friends.
Arhival quickly came to the side entrance of the palace where there was a lovely avenue, a sort of indoors outdoors place. There were quite a few paths like this around this side of the palace, the paths were generally paved with stone or wood, but some had no paving and were simply grass paths. Each path was lined with beautifully carved pillars of stone and wood, many stories were depicted by symbols along these paths upon the pillars. The pillars, in their turn, supported the roofs of the paths. The coverings were beautiful painted canvas and wood carved with designs of animals, trees, plants and elves, and draped with various flowers and leaves. This outside bit of the palace showed the nature of the woodland elves beautifully. It had been designed to join the tree houses (that the silvan folk had lived in before Oropher had come over from the westenlands of Middle-Earth and become king of their land) to each other and to the palace. The palace had originally been built to resemble the halls of some great elven lord in Beleriand, but also to provide a safe stronghold against the evil creatures of Morgoth. The strength of the palace was appreciated now more than ever, because of the evil that had invaded Southern Mirkwood, the Necromancer, in his tower of Dol Guldor on the hill Amon Lanc. Most of the elves of Mirkwood lived in the palace now, but there were some that still lived in their treetop homes. All however ate in the palace, even those who lived outside it, but even they came into the palace at winter, when darkness was longer and evil wondered more freely. But there was plenty of room, often new rooms were built, delved deeper into the earth, for the levels above ground were made of stone and could not be reshaped. The tree houses were very different to the palace, built high aloft in the branches of great trees, made completely out of wood, designed and shaped for secrecy, this was there best defence. These houses were not entirely unlike those of Lorien, curved and slanting walls and ceilings, with a large hole in the centre of a room for the main entrance, with rope ladders coming down from them for entry. The ladders could be withdrawn into the house if it came under attack and that meant no enemy could enter that way. Each house also had a couple of larger windows that could be used to climb out onto the tree to exit that way; none of the windows had any glass in though. Both Balar's and Earelen's families lives outside, being of Silvan families they preferred it to the palace. Aros' family lived within however. Aros' grandfather was a Noldorian exile from Valinor, and when he had returned to Middle-Earth he had fallen in love with a Sindarin maiden and together they had come with Oropher to Greenwood (as Mirkwood had been called in those days). They had had a son, who in his turn had fallen in love with a Silvan, but she had agreed to live in the palace with him, for that was where he had been born and lived out his childhood.
So, Arhival headed for Balar's home first (as it was nearer to the palace than Earelen's), quickly scaled the ladder, and poked her head though the hole.
"Sorry to interrupt Serni, but is Balar around at all?" Arhival asked as Balar's mother turned around to look at her.
"Yes he is," Serni answered, "But am I correct in making the assumption that if you wish to see Balar, you wish to see Earelen and Aros as well?"
"Yes, you are. Thranduil would like a word."
Two more elves entered from another room then, laughing,
"Why does that not surprise me?" Quellecristiel, Earelen's mother, asked merrily.
"Seeing as you're looking for those three, Arhival, which I must say you were quite often while Thranduil was away, you've come to the right place, as they're all here." Indis, Aros' mother, added with a smile.
At that moment the three elflings in question walked in, but stopped dead at the sight of Arhival, who merely smiled knowingly at them.
"Um, Naneth," Earelen began, eyes lingering on Arhival for a moment before turning to her mother, "We were, we were just going out to get Legolas. We'll see you later."
"I think not nin palantir mir, Thranduil wishes to speak with you," Quellecristiel replied lightly, "and undoubtedly, that means Legolas too."
Earelen swallowed, but she couldn't see a way out of it, and by the looks on the boys' faces, neither could they.
"Ok." Balar said simply, "We're coming."
"Oh, just before I forget," Arhival said quickly to the three mothers, "en Aran said you may join us if you wish."
"Thank you but I think I'll decline," said Serni, "Personally, I don't want to see the king in a bad mood."
"Me neither thanks," agreed Indis, "I've heard a bit about Thranduil's shouting, and if it's as loud as described, I'd rather not gain first-hand experience."
"You've already had it though," Quellecristiel pointed out, "when Thranduil's shouts carry and when he yells outside. I think I'll come, I'd like to see how Thranduil deals with little pests such as these."
So the three young ones and Quellecristiel followed Arhival back to the palace. The three little ones kept glancing at each other with worried expressions, not daring to say anything. What if Thranduil had some how found out about the Spider Baiting? What would happen to them if he had? Would they be separated? What would their parents say when they found out? Questions like these were racing round the trio's heads until the reached Thranduil's formal study.
When they entered, just as always, they found the that the room seemed foreboding, with its dark wood furniture, its deep green walls, carpet and curtains. Quellecristiel's first impression however, was how lush the room seemed, but then again, she wasn't there to be punished.
Arhival returned to her place at the side of the room next to Dimrost, and Quellecristiel joined them at Thranduil's indication. Thranduil himself was seated at his desk and Legolas came to join his friends before his father, from the shadows beside the bookcase.
Thranduil leaned back into his chair and sighed, studying the four young elves before him. It really was hard to stay angry with them for long, the king shook his head and began,
"You realise, that due to the reports of your behaviour while I was away in Imladris, you four are going to end up with several punishments of varying degrees of severity."
The four little elves nodded glumly.
"First, let us take into the A.A attack, I believe you got, what was it, thirty five people-"
Before he could stop himself Legolas interrupted, "Thirty six actually! We-" He stopped short, realising what he was doing.
"Tells you their aim and ability not to get caught is getting better," Quellecristiel said with a small smile, "Well done Dimrost, your archery lessons must working."
Dimrost had to work very hard to stifle a chuckle, but he couldn't help a small smile. Thranduil shook his head again with a small sigh and glanced over at the three elves standing at the side before continuing.
"Ok, the A.A attack, you got thirty six people and you managed to get away with it at the time, for my part, I'm surprised some of them didn't try and strangle you. But anyway," Thranduil cleared his throat, "your punishment for that. Let me see, what will keep you four out of trouble?"
"Not much." Came Arhival's voice from the side.
Thranduil shot her a glance before Quellecristiel stepped forward slightly, "If I may your majesty?" Thranduil nodded so she continued, "I couldn't help but notice that some of the silverware looked although it needed a polish, the only thing is, I can't remember which set or pieces need it. Maybe the young ones could help us there."
"Good idea," Thranduil complimented the maiden before turning to the little ones, "You four can polish all the sets of silverware. That should keep you out of trouble for a while. Now, on to the fixed games and the tricks."
"They were only little tricks Adar, just trivial things. Surely you can't mean to punish us for having a little bit of fun a livening things up a bit, it was getting really dull with all the rain." Legolas pleaded, his face working to complete the effect beautifully.
"Legolas, I do mean to punish you, and I will. I believe Dimrost was looking for some helpers for clearing up after the archery lessons, were you not my friend?"
"Indeed I was sire."
"You four may help your archery teacher. Thirdly, I believe that you tricked Arhival into following you into the forest by pretending you went Spider Baiting."
Aros swallowed hard, Balar bit his lip, willing himself to remain calm, Earelen stared fearfully from Thranduil to her mother and Legolas merely stared miserably at his feet.
"Spider Baiting!" Quellecristiel gasped, "They don't really, do they?"
"Not that I know of, though I believe they have more sense than that." Thranduil replied giving the four a pointed look that plainly meant, 'I know what you did and I wont tell but if you do it again, your dead', "However, I not quite finished. When they had Arhival in the wood, they kept up their little act, and made a show of baiting a spider to them by singing something. One of their friends then arrived in a spider costume. When Arhival found out it was a ploy, she returned to the palace. So, for that, you four are not allowed into the forest to play until further notice. And to make sure you don't, you will have an adult supervisor looking after you until I feel you've been punished enough. Also, every night after the evening meal for a month, you are on dishwashing duty."
The four pairs of eyes that had been on the king while he gave the sentence dropped to stare at the ground when the judgement had been passed. Polishing the silver, helping Dimrost after lessons and now this? Not allowed into the forest at all! But there was more coming.
"Fourth, and thankfully finally, for my return, you decided to have some fun and redecorate the throne room for me, with spider webs."
Once more, Legolas interrupted before he could stop himself; "They weren't real spider webs Adar!"
Thranduil cleared his throat, effectively silencing the young prince, before saying, "Legolas, do you want this to be worse than it has to be?"
"No Adar." Legolas replied quietly with his head bowed once more.
"Good, would you mind letting me continue then?" The king paused for a moment and then continued, "So, as I'm sure all of you know how dangerous that could have been, and even if you didn't think about then that you realise it now, I believe I have a fitting punishment for you."
The four young ones turned their eyes upon the king once more, silently pleading with him not to be too harsh on them.
"And that punishment will be, stable duty. For a fortnight."
The last sentence seemed to hang in the air. A fortnight on stable duty! It wouldn't have been too bad had they had no other punishments, but that combined with the other three. It looked like they weren't going to have any fun for a very long time.
The four young ones filed out after Dimrost and Arhival, but Thranduil wanted to talk to Quellecristiel, who was amazed at how bold the little prince had been, answering back to his father.
"Quellecristiel," he began with a sigh, "Have you noticed anything strange about what Legolas, Aros, Balar and Earelen share in their friendship?"
"No, is there something wrong nin Aran?" Quellecristiel said with an edge of worry in her voice.
"No, nothing is wrong. But you are wondering why I didn't keep them apart for a time, as many other parents would have."
"True, I did wonder at your decision sire. Why was it you chose not to?"
"They share a strange friendship Quellecristiel, deeper and stronger than most. They have like-souls Quellecristiel, they have come to rely on each other and share their hearts. I could not part them; I could not see them fall into misery with the loss of each other. They need each other."
A/N - Ta da! What do you think? I know there wasn't that much of the pesky foursome in this chapter, sorry. The next chapter should be more exciting. Don't forget to review!
A/N- I've thought up an age system for the elves. This is to do with growing up. (see after translations)
Translations
Adar - father
Nin Aran - my king
Nin ion - my son
Naneth - mother
Taur tol - forest rock
En tithen caun - the little prince
En Aran - the king
Nin palantir mir - my farsighted jewel
Years Lived - Equivalent Human Age
0 - 0
3 - 1
6 - 2
9 - 3
12 - 4
15 - 5
20 - 6
25 - 7
30 - 8
35 - 9
40 - 10
50 - 11
60 - 12
70 - 13
80 - 14
90 - 15
100 - 16
110 - 17
120 - 18
130 - 19
140 - 20
150 - 21
So, elves in my verse come of age and are fully-grown at the equivalent to 21, or at 150.