Disclaimer: See Chapter One.
A/N: Hey there people and thank you so much for your lovely reviews. Sorry about the slow updating but I am doing to best I can between work, the play I'm in, and my beta being ill right after I was. Many thanks to enb2004 who has two great Harry Potter stories. Here is Chapter Sixteen as promised. And did I not tell you that I would update soon? Enjoy!
Elrond frowned as he carried Estel to the House of Healing. He could feel the heat radiating off Estel and could easily hear the shortness of breathe. The poison was acting fast, faster than he had originally thought.
"Elladan, Elrohir, did either of you or Legolas do anything to try to help stop the poison?" Elrond asked, as he walked toward the House of Healing.
"Oh we forgot to tell you Ada. You need not worry about the poison anymore," Elladan said.
"Before we found them, apparently, Estel talked Legolas through the steps in draining a poison and what to do afterwards. The poison had been drained from his system though he still very weak," Elrohir said frowning, while shifting Legolas in his arms. Legolas father having handed Legolas to Elrohir before going to find his elder sons.
Elrond looked at them as though they had lost their minds.
"Are you positive? Can you not feel the heat that comes of his body?" Elrond asked truly confused as to how his son's could have missed such an obvious symptom of poisoning.
The twins broke out in to relieved laughter when they realized what their father was talking about.
"Fear not Ada. True, he burns with fever but not from poisoning," Elrohir said.
"Aye, he burns from illness, and fear not, we checked. It is truly illness this time along with other injuries," Elladan said reassuringly.
"Somehow, that does not reassure me," Elrond said dryly, noticing that Estel's leg and arm still bled despite the tight bandages wrapped around the wounds.
"You shall tell me what has happened since you left Imladris while I care for these two poor souls. Afterwards, you to go directly to sleep. I care not where, just go to sleep. You have probably over exhausted yourselves as Legolas apparently did," Elrond continued to say, motioning to Legolas's passed out form in Elrohir's arms.
The twins shifted a bit guilty for they had indeed over exhausted themselves, not that they would admit that to their father. Saying nothing, the twins followed their father into the House of Healing.
Once inside, Elrond gently put Estel down on one of the various healing beds while Elrohir did the same to Legolas.
The first thing that Elrond did was to check the previously poisoned leg wound. It was not that he did not trust Legolas, quite the contrary actually. It was only that orc poisons tended to be tricky and many a warrior he had seen that he had thought had been cleared of poison only to have it return with a vengeance.
He checked Estel's leg wound thoroughly, making sure that he did not miss anything. He did not want to overlook anything for fear that there could still be poison running rampant and unchecked in Estel's system.
To his pleasure though, he found that Legolas had indeed drained all of the poison. All the leg needed now was to be cleaned, stitched, and wrapped with athelas.
From the corner of his eye, Elrond saw Thranduil along with Delelen and Thilloth come in.
"Ah good, just in time. Delelen, Thilloth, would you please care for your brother? I believe that he has a rather badly fractured arm and is suffering from exhaustion. Thranduil, if you could help Elladan and Elrohir hold Estel down while I stitch his wounds closed, I would be much obliged," Elrond said.
Thranduil looked surprised but complied. "Of course mellon nin, what do need me to do?" he asked.
"Just be prepared to hold Estel down. I am unsure if he will regain consciousness during the procedure. Should he, he will probably thrash around and I need him to be kept still," Elrond said.
Thranduil nodded in understanding and gently kept his hand on Estel's good arm, ready to hold him down if it came to it.
"Elladan, Elrohir, has Estel regained consciousness at all?" Elrond asked, berating himself for not having asked that earlier.
"Oh, aye, but very briefly," Elrohir answered, not looking forward to the next question that he was sure was coming.
Elrohir was not disappointed.
"When did he regain consciousness?" Elrond asked.
For a moment, Elladan and Elrohir held a silent debate with their eyes, for neither wished to tell their father how it was Estel became conscious.
Elrond sighed. He knew that look. Whatever the answer was, it was not going to be one that he would like.
Thranduil too saw the looks that the twins were exchanging and recognized it for what it was. He has seen the very same look among his own children when they were trying to figure out whom should tell their Adar what had happened.
The silent battle raged for a moment until Elladan rolled his eyes disgustedly and turned to Elrond.
"He was unconscious most of the time, but he did regain consciousness when we ran into a party of orcs. We had hidden him in the bushes before the battle had begun, seeing as he was unconscious. Sometime during the battle, an orc stumbled upon him. At the last moment, Estel regained his senses, and managed to kill the orc. During the battle he was wounded yet again, and the rest you know," Elladan said all in one breathe.
For a moment, Elrond and Thranduil looked at each other and then back at the twins.
"I am positive that there is more to the story than that, but we shall have to wait for Legolas to awaken before we can here the rest of it. For now, we shall take of Estel and Legolas," Elrond said with one eyebrow raised, giving the twins the look.
The twins gulped, and nervously backed away from Elrond and Thranduil. They were in deep trouble now. The look, was never a good thing to have received.
Rolling his eyes, Elrond turned back to Estel. He was worried that his youngest had only regained consciousness for such a short period of time, but then the poison had probably sapped much of Estel's strength which may have something to do with it.
Elrond gently cleaned the wound, and was about to start stitching the wound closed. "Are you ready mellon nin?" he asked Thranduil.
Thranduil nodded that he was, and braced himself should he need to hold Estel down. He was quite glad that the poor boy was unconscious. Stitches were not a fun thing to experience and were quite painful, even with the help of numbing herbs.
Elrond started to stitch the leg wound closed and was both relieved and worried that Estel had not regained consciousness during the procedure. He did not wish for his son to feel the pain of the stitches, but at the same time, some indication of consciousness would greatly ease his mind.
Sighing, Elrond turned to clean the arm wound. From the looks of it, the warg had actually pierced through to the bone. It was wonder Estel had lasted in battle at all with a wound like that. Elrond began to stitch the wound closed and was relieved to see that Estel recoiled somewhat from the pain of the needle. It wasn't much, but it was something.
The twins watched grimly as their little brother's wounds were being stitched up. They could not help but grimace with sympathy as they watched. They too had had a fair number of injuries that had needed to be stitched and it was never pleasant.
Reluctantly, they turned away from their little brother to see how Legolas was doing.
"Delelen,Thilloth, do you need any help setting Legolas's arm?" Elladan asked, eager to be of some help since his father was not allowing him to help heal Estel.
Delelen and Thilloth looked up with relief at Elladan's offer. They were warriors, not healers, although they had some experience. They could set their little brothers arm, but they would much rather have the twins help.
"Of course you may help! Thank you mellon nin. We could do it, but you are much more skilled in the art of healing that we," Thilloth said.
"It is no problem. We may be beyond exhausted, but we are still able to help," Elrohir said.
"Aye, if father will not let us help him to heal Estel, then the least we could do is to help heal Legolas," Elladan added.
"Alright, Dellen, Elrohir, hold Legolas down while we Thilloth and I set the arm. If this does not wake Legolas up, I do not know what will," Elladan said grimly.
The others nodded and moved to their various places.
"Okay, Thilloth, do you have the splint ready?" Elladan asked.
At Thilloth's affirmative response, Elladan nodded and continued to speak.
"Elrohir, Delelen, hold onto Legolas tightly. The more he moves, the more painful this is going to be. Now, once I have the bone set, Thilloth, I need you to quickly hand me the splint and I'll hold it, while you bandage it in place, okay?" Elladan said.
"Let us do this then," Delelen said anxiously. He just wanted to get this done and over with. The sooner, the better. He was not looking forward to causing his little brother pain.
"On three. One, two, three!" Elladan said.
When Elladan said three, several things happened at once. Elladan quickly snapped the bone into place, with Thilloth hurriedly tying the splint into place. Legolas had woken up and screamed from the sudden pain of his arm being set, while Elrohir and Delelen had to restrain Legolas to keep the youngest prince from hurting himself.
Several seconds later, things had calmed down. Legolas had passed out from the pain and his arm was currently in a splint, while the twins, Delelen and Thilloth all slumped against the be and were currently facing Thranduil and Elrond, both of whom did not look happy at all.
"You four could have at least had the decency to warn us that you were going to set Legolas's arm!" Thranduil exclaimed exasperatedly.
"That was highly irresponsible of you, all of you. I could have been working on Estel and seriously injured him had that happened when I was working. Also, Elladan, Elrohir, you are supposed to be resting, not helping to set broken bones," Elrond said, scolding all four of the young elves.
"We are sorry Ada, but Delelen and Thilloth asked for our help, and we wanted too," Elrohir said, with his twin nodding in agreement in the background.
Elrond and Thranduil sighed together.
"What are we going to do with you? Never mind that now. Elladan, Elrohir, rest, now, before you pass out from exhaustion," Elrond told the twins, giving them the look once more.
"Yes Adar," the twins said meekly. Hurriedly, they climbed into two of the beds that were near Legolas and Estel. That way, they would awaken should anything change with the two.
Seeing that twins had indeed listened to him, for perhaps the first times in their lives, Elrond turned to Thranduil.
"You know mellon nin, I know not how you do it," Elrond said, looking at Thranduil with respect.
Thranduil looked at Elrond in puzzlement. What in Arda was Elrond talking about?
"How do I do what mellon nin?" he asked, truly puzzled as to what it was that Elrond was talking about.
"Your children Thranduil. How in the name of the Valar do you handle four sons and three daughters! I only have three sons and one daughter and they are all enough to have driven me insane a long time ago. In fact, I often wonder why my hair has not turned gray, despite the fact that I have chosen the path of the Eldar," Elrond said.
Thranduil chuckled. "You get used to it mellon nin. I admit, it is not easy, but it is always worth it, and I know that you feel the same," Thranduil said, eyeing his two elder sons.
Elrond sighed and nodded. It was indeed worth it. No matter how much grief his sons and daughter had caused him over the years, it had and still was worth it.
Thranduil grinned at Elrond and turned to his middle sons.
"Delelen, Thilloth, you should rest as well my sons. But, as you are not as exhausted as the twins, you may stay up and watch over your brother and Estel should you wish to. Elrond and I shall stay with you," Thranduil said.
"Aye Ada, we wish to remain awake," Thilloth said.
"Very well, but as soon as Estel and Legolas have awoken, you are to go to sleep. I know that you did not sleep one bit last night," Elrond said sternly.
"Alright, but only if you and father shall as well. Neither of you slept last night either," Delelen said.
Simultaneously, Thranduil and Elrond raised their eyebrows and looked at Delelen and Thilloth.
Seeing the two powerful elves looking at them with the exact identical look, Thilloth and Delelen wisely said nothing more on the subject and hastily pulled up chairs and situated them between Legolas and Estel's bed.
Thranduil and Elrond chuckled and both pulled up two chairs as well and joined Delelen and Thilloth in watching over Estel and Legolas, two of the worst trouble makers and finders Arda had ever seen.
Translations:
Ada: Dad/Daddy
Adar: Father
Mellon nin: My Friend
Arda: Middle Earth