Mirkwood's Ring: Chapter One
Author's Notes: Keep in mind that I'm an artist and make absolutely no
claims of any writing talent whatsoever! This is my first attempt at LOTR
fanfiction and my first attempt at fanfiction at all for several years. ^^;
; It's been at least four years since I've even attempted anything but an
academic paper. You've been warned. Also, this in an AU. I've read LOTR,
Hobbit, Silm. UT, LT, and some of HoME, but it's been quite a while on all
of them but LOTR. Feel free to correct me on any obscure things I get wrong
cannon-wise, but I'm not trying horribly hard here. =) Fanfiction is
fanfiction, not cannon and I have no delusions of living up to Tolkien's
work. I will occasionally use elvish because I'm a linguist at heart and
it's easier sometimes than reaching for a thesaurus, but I'll put the
definitions at the bottom of the fic. =) Okay, I'm done. You can read the
fic now.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It was a late and truly beautiful night in a picturesque valley
along the Bruinen River. Within his halls, Elrond peredhel, lord of
Imladris, paced endlessly before the fire of his study. An uneasy feeling
had pervaded his senses for the past few weeks, and yet, he knew with a
certainty born of long familiarity that nothing was amiss with his own realm
He had received no ill premonitions of impending doom, not a dreamed
glimpse of a new arriving evil, not so much as a cold shiver down his spine,
and yet he was haunted by some shadow he could feel growing over—well, he
knew not what.
"You are wearing a trail in your flagstones." A golden voice broke through
his troubled musings.
Ah Glorfindel, always there to point out the most useful bits of information
"I thank you, my friend. That's intensely helpful." The stately elven
lord quipped.
A soft chuckle answered his appraisal, "Perhaps if you would enlighten me to
what is troubling you so thoroughly, instead of abusing the poor stonework,
I could offer some further bit of wisdom?" The ancient warrior's brilliant
eyes sparkled as he easily pressed a warm goblet of wine into his Lord's
hands, "Drink this, it will help. You need to relax."
Elrond sighed and ran his free hand over his tired storm-hued eyes.
Whatever was bothering him had not allowed him to rest well these past few
nights. "I would that I could tell you what bothers me, Glorfindel, but
truly, I cannot discern that, even for myself."
"Ah, so it is a lack of something being wrong that is bothering you? Has
life in the Valley been too peaceful lately? I'm sure your sons could
happily remedy that for you. They have a knack for it." He replied wryly.
The twins were once again in residence after their latest orc hunt, and they
had yet to get bored enough to start up their mischief, but it was only a
matter of time.
Elrond threw him a glare. "I wish it were something that easy, but perhaps
you're right. Perhaps I am merely not used to things being moderately quite
for once." He rolled his tense shoulders and forced himself to relax.
Indeed, now that he had found a rational explanation of his misgivings he
was able to push some of the foreboding from his mind. Had he truly been
brooding merely over when the other shoe would drop? It seemed unlikely;
his intuition was seldom so wrong, but he was tired and willing to at least
let the matter rest for now.
He sighed and plopped himself down in a comfortable and well worn chair
before the fire and gestured for his most loyal advisor and best friend to
do the same. Glorfindel gracefully folded himself into his chair's mate
situated diagonally on the other side of the hearth, and for a moment Elrond
envied him his ease and grace. The Lord of Imladris had been feeling old
recently. Too much heartache and too much evil seen in his long years for
his partially human heart. He sometimes felt as if the ages would one day
catch up with his body, as they already weighed on his mind. Intellectually
he knew he was as he had been under mighty Gil-galad's banner, but when he
looked into the mirror lately, especially since Celebrian had left, he
thought he could see his age in the loneliness of his eyes and the furrow of
worries on his brow, yet his raven hair remained as dark and luxurious as
ever and his skin as smooth as weathering would allow. His eyes would never
tire from the long use of old age, and his mind would ever be as sharp as it
had always been. He felt a pang of sorrow that quickly dissipated, for it
was easy to picture himself ravaged by time since he had watched his own
dear twin brother choose mortality and eventually fall to its clutches, but
such wounds were old, and he had made his peace with Elros's choice long ago
He and Glorfindel settled into the companionable silence achievable only to
the best and longest of friends as they both let the cares and toils of the
day be washed away in the comfort of the plush burgundy chairs and the fire
s warmth. The sweet tang of the wine further helped to settle Rivendell's
lord's nerves until he was able to nearly forget the threat he had been
worrying over moments ago, and he looked over at his golden haired companion
in much better spirits. "What brought you to my chambers so late,
Glorfindel? Surely not to bring me wine and help sooth an old elf's nerves,
though both were greatly appreciated."
"What? Hmm...Oh, yes. The monthly messenger arrived from Mirkwood, and that
seemed as good an excuse as any to intrude on your endless circuit of your
rooms." He smiled gently, "and if you are old, I am certainly beyond ancient
" He carefully extracted a folded letter from within his outer robes and
handed it across the small gap of the chair's arms.
Elrond accepted the proffered papers and examined the seal for a moment.
The livery of Mirkwood always brought back images of the banners of Orophor
and times when things were much different. It had been long indeed since
his own lord and Thranduil's father had quarreled, but he could still recall
the raised voices of the disagreement that had led to the folly of Greenwood
s king in that Last Alliance. So many lives lost over such a petty thing.
He sighed, as a half-elf, he had more than his share of bigotry in those
days. Relations were better now of course. To keep such things from
occurring again, the monthly messages went from kingdom to kingdom, from
Mirkwood to Lorien and Rivendell, and from each of those kingdoms to the
other two. Mirkwood would always be more greatly estranged from the other
elven realms, it had not the advantage of a Ring or of an alliance through
marriage as Lorien and Rivendell had, but they did their best to stay on
civil terms with the son of Orophor. His woodland kin could hardly be
faulted for the darkness at their borders in these evil times.
Thranduil's reports had been more and more foreboding of late, though the
careful words of his scribes did much to hide it. He seemed to be
struggling on several fronts to keep his realm intact. The stubborn fool
would never ask for help of course, but it was becoming more and more
apparent that intercession would be needed in the future. Mirkwood simply
did not have the resources of the other two realms for its defense against
evil. Elrond sighed. He would have to read carefully the next few reports.
Mirkwood's king was proud and noble, but like his father, he often
underestimated the danger of a situation, or at least under reported the
threat to his allies so when one was given reason to worry, one had to
carefully read between the lines. Thranduil was rightfully proud of his
ability to keep back the shadows without the use of sorcery which he knew
the other two realms possessed, though he was unaware of just where their
power came from. Very few knew who the bearers of the elven rings were. He
was not one of them; he defended his people with the power inborn in them
and through the oddly deep connection many of them seemed to have with the
woods and with nature itself. Even Mithrandir had once admitted to Elrond
that he was unaware of exactly how deeply Mirkwood's populous in general,
and its royal family in particular, shared a connection with its woodland
home and just what it made them capable of.
"Are you going to open it, or just stare at it all day?" Glorfindel's voice
broke into his reverie. "The contents aren't going to get better for ageing
them, mellon-nin."
He caught a sigh before it could leave his lips. He had been sighing far
too often tonight. Carefully he broke the seal and was a bit surprised to
see atop the usual stack of very carefully worded reports a single page in
Thranduil's bold script which appeared to be a personal letter.
~ ~ ~
'Peredhel,
I am aware of the irregularity of this kind of correspondence between us,
but I felt it was necessary. If all goes well, you will receive my scribe's
usual reports on our border patrols and our prospects of this season's
harvest in next month's package and you will know to disregard this missive.
You will no doubt we gladdened to hear that my pride has finally failed me.
I am forced to admit that my people and my land may indeed be in dire
straights. I have lost two patrols in the past fortnight, and three more in
as many months preceding those. Orcs, trolls, spiders, all the dark ilk
that has ever plagued us, but in greater abundance than ever.
I do not write you begging for your aid in this. Not yet. I merely wanted
you to be aware. I have been keeping in safety a thing of great power,
which I feel may be able to drive away the darkness. I will do what I can,
and I have reason to think it will be enough. Before you go mad with
irrational musings as you are so wont to do, I shall tell you now, it is not
the One Ring. Even I am not so arrogant or prideful as to think I could
wield that with impunity even if I knew where that worthless Man had dropped
it.
Never the less, I am either saving my kingdom, or doing something immensely
foolish. Should something go amiss, I do not wish to leave my people
without help and at the mercy of the spiders. I am neither blind, nor deaf
to what you and Lorien think of me, but know this, I have always, and ever
will, put the good of my people before my own.
Should you hear no word from me by the time of the next reports, I am lost
and my son will need your help to drive the evil from our borders. You will
be happy to hear that he is a good and humble lad who probably takes after
his mother, and certainly not me. I have a feeling you two will get along
very well.'
~ ~ ~
It was signed simply and bluntly as the king tended to do all things that
did not involve wine or riches, with a plain "Thranduil" scrolled across the
bottom of the parchment. Immediately, Elrond felt his shadow of doom rise
up from the corner of his mind where he had shoved it. "What has that fool
done now?" He whispered as he once more took up his pacing before the fire
and the worried countenance of Glorfindel.
"My Lord?" Wordlessly he handed the letter to his advisor who quickly
skimmed it, the worried frown growing on his fair face as he read. "What do
you think he means to do?"
"We shall find out in a month I suppose." The half-elf raked his fingers
through his dark hair and removed his circlet before heading towards his bed
chambers for much needed rest.
"You aren't going to do anything about this now?" His friend sounded
slightly baffled as he rose a bit awkwardly from his chair and turned to
follow Elrond's progress through the room.
"No. It is late, and I am exhausted. Besides, what could I do? Send
legions of my best men into Mirkwood uninvited and break Ages worth of
treaties only to discover whatever half-thought-through plot of Thranduil's
has actually succeeded? It would take a month to reach the forest and we
must add to that whatever time it would take me to marshal and equip a large
enough force to confidently deal with Mirkwood's problems, perhaps without
the help of her own armies. By that time, next month's report would be
sitting on my desk. On top of that, I would be sending them into only the
Valar knows what! No, Thranduil is a big boy. He has been ruling his
kingdom unaided for a very long time and would not gladly accept my barging
in. He's shown at least some forethought in whatever he's engaged in by
sending me that missive. We will simply have to trust he truly does know
what he is doing, and pray that if that is not so, we will be able to
discover it in a month's time and take care of the issues more easily for
having been forewarned."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Elvish:
Peredhel -- half-elf
mellon-nin -- my friend