Quick note for MC fans: I don't know if you've ever been to the Many-Meetings MC fanlist network, but my sister Hannah has been doing a GREAT job with those, so you really should take a look, if you're a fan. Also, I just recently built the official "Doriflen fan listing" which, though sort of a goofy fanlist, was fun to piece together, if you're a fan of HIM (as a villain, of course). Anyway, the url is many-meetings . 5u . Com (minus the spaces) if you're interested. ANYWAYS! Back to the story…
Hello, all! Well, general consensus seems to be "it's confusing" and I'm terribly sorry about that. :D It DOES get better. ;)
Lady Laswen: Good idea, Laswen, sorry the Elvish names get so confusing. ;)
Firniswin: LOL! Yeah, poor Garaer suffers from "right thing wrong reason" syndrome, and I don't think it's even the right thing half the time. ;) "blushes" aw, you're so SWEET! Your reviews make me feel happy, Firn. "nod nod" ;)
LOTRfaith: Hola! Oh, yes, sorry about that- Meltha means "beloved" in Sindarin. I use Meltha as Thranduil's pet-name for Legolas' mother (since I did not come up with a name for her, for artistic sake). Thanks for the REVIEW!!!
LegolasLover: Yeah, I think you're right, LL. I imagined them putting the food on the bed, since you don't see it at all during this next scene. Either way, Legolas isn't interested in eating, so we don't find out how he'd of pulled it off, but I imagine he could have. ;) LOL! Sorry if I'm confusing you!
Elvingirl: Aw, thanks! :D
Daena: Yes, alas! Poor Legolas. I knew him, Haracio…:P
Sadie Elfgirl: I'm glad you're enjoying it! Yes, poor Thranduil. He's lost his marbles. I'm gonna see about getting them back, cause, it'd probably improve Legolas' life as well as the direction of the plot a great deal… ;) LOL! And what do you mean? "Gollum voice": SNEAK?! ;)
Maranwe: "sighs in relief" You never know when you're to overlook a ugly great grammar mistake, hm? ;) I'm glad you're still liking it! I know you're probably a WHOLE lot better with writing, considering how well you seem to know what you're doing with your grammar, at least, but I AM glad you like it. ;) It sticks at the beginning, I must say, but it'll pick up. :D
Laralonde: "blushes" THANKS SO MUCH! Yeah, Garaer is- not very nice, is he? We'll get more into him later, though. ;)
Helluin: Cruel? ME?! Oh come now, it wasn't THAT bad of a cliffy. :D really! LOL! Thanks, I'm glad you're liking it!!! "nod nod"
Arayelle Lynn: Thanks so much! I'll update every other day from here on out. :)
Thanks for all the feedback, guys! Encouraging feedback is ALWAYS such a great thing for me, because, I know I'm not the best writer, and that I'm still improving, and knowing what works and what doesn't REALLY helps me out. :) so Hannon Le for the help, all of you!
And on with the show!
"My Life as a Mirkwood Prince" Act 1, Scene 3, ACTION! :P
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Chapter 3
Not a Prisoner
And from on high
Somewhere in the distance
There's a voice that calls
Remember who you are
If you lose yourself
Your courage soon will follow
So be strong tonight
Remember who you are
"Sound the Bugle" , Brian Adams
dock dock dock…dock dock dock…dock dock dock
Legolas' eyes opened. His head was resting against a knot of rope. Turning slowly, he found himself face-to-face with his own bonds. Oh yes, he remembered now.
dock dock dock…dock dock dock
The elf turned his head gradually towards the door behind which the tapping was coming. It was booted feet on a wood floor. Pacing.
dock dock dock…dock dock dock
"How long?" came a quiet, familiar voice from on the other side of the door.
"Nigh on twenty minutes still. Estel, why don't you sit down? You shall wear a hole in the floor with your incessant pacing!"
Legolas nearly laughed. Sure enough, Aragorn had shown up early as possible to await his next visit with Legolas.
"You may as well let me in now, Tiris. It has been close enough to three hours, and anyway, Garaer just meant not too much at once. It isn't the letter of the law, sure enough, but the spirit is in there."
There was a sigh as Tiris considered. "Very well, Estel, hand your weapons off to- oh…you already did."
"Well, I had to do something while I waited," came the irritated reply. "Three hours, honestly! Does he really think Legolas will have a better chance of escape if he is only visited every three hours?"
"I know not, Estel, but do you wish to go in now or do you not?"
"Aye, thank you."
The door creaked open, and Legolas looked up expectantly. Aragorn stepped through, Tiris keeping a careful hand gripped to his shoulder. The human pressed forward as far as he could before Tiris put a hand to his chest, retraining him from further step. Aragorn looked down at the floor. "I was allowed a half of an inch closer last time."
Tiris sighed and moved forward roughly a half inch. "Hannon le," Aragorn replied, pushing the hand off his chest, which moved instead to his other shoulder. He sighed but bit back the urge to protest, in light of more important things. Tiris couldn't possibly be taking this so seriously in good conscience. Did he honestly think Legolas was so prone to escape?
"How are you?" the human asked with a sad smile.
"Mae ea im," Legolas nodded easily. "So tell me, Estel, what have you done in the almost three hours since we saw each other last?"
"Well," the other sighed quietly, "Edren and I both have been doing what we can for the king, but unfortunately, your father seems out of his wit, Legolas."
Legolas nodded and bit his lip. It wasn't news, and certainly wasn't good news. "But he is still alive," he said with an undercurrent of frustration that he was asking such pertinent questions about his own father…he should know the answers, he should be down there with the king!
Aragorn nodded. "He continues to call your name, but Garaer is unsure of why. He has not asked to see you, but he keeps ranting about how he doesn't see you. Truth be told, I think Garaer takes it as evidence against you. He seems terrified of seeing you again, I'm afraid."
Legolas pressed his head against the bedpost. Great. As long as Thranduil was drowned in visions fostered by Bengwiil, how would he ever make it back to reality? Legolas had to see him. He understood Bengwiil better than anyone…anyone except-
"Estel, only you can help my father now. You alone understand Bengwiil as I have begun to. You must promise to take care of him as well as you can until I am cleared."
Aragorn was nodding long before Legolas had finished talking. "Of course, Legolas. Anything I can help with." The request was practically pointless, seeing that Aragorn had done nothing but assist the king since Legolas' arrest. But he took his friend's command gratefully, knowing it made Legolas feel at least a little useful, giving orders.
"Thank you, mellon-nin."
It was quiet. Legolas shifted his eyes from Aragorn to the floor, to the window to Aragorn again, and back from Aragorn to the opposite wall. He was suddenly painfully aware of his position. On the floor of Mornaeg's room, under arrest, with Aragorn visiting him for a few precious moments. Moments that only came once every three hours. He was like a criminal, here. Kneeling on the wood floor, his hands tied around the wooden post of a four-poster bed. In his own home, he, Prince Legolas Greenleaf, was naught but a suspected murderer.
Ashamed, and ashamed of his shame, Legolas turned away from Aragorn, finding company in the back wall of the dark room instead. Go away, he thought desperately, surprised by his own thoughts, but almost proud of them. Know that I care, that I care for you dearly…but leave knowing that. Please leave me. Do not stand there and watch me. Here, tied to Mornaeg's bed. Here, kneeling in my own home. Here under lock and key. Not here, Aragorn, please, oh please go…
He felt the Ranger's eyes on the back of his head, and they seemed to burn warmth all over the other's senses. He wasn't going to leave till he absolutely had to.
Aragorn watched Legolas' blonde head for a long time. He knew what the elf was feeling, he knew all too well. The situation had been getting harder and harder ever since Aragorn had come back from his Bengwiil-induced sleep. Now Legolas was a prisoner in the halls of his father. What must it be like? Aragorn could only guess.
It didn't even make sense! Was Garaer such a fool that he thought Legolas' a traitor? To his own father?! Was Garaer perhaps on the side of someone other than the king? Perhaps his motive was to get Legolas out of the way so attack could be made on Thranduil…but then, why had he not acted yet? Thranduil could scream that he wanted Legolas any moment, couldn't he? And then all Garaer's plans wasted.
Aragorn's mind spun with questions and haphazard answers as he watched Legolas silently. What could he do? What could he possibly do? And what of the evidence that Garaer had just found…? He had to tell Legolas.
He turned a clear blue gaze on Tiris. "Please," he mouthed silently, imploring the elf with eyes more than mouth. For a moment, Tiris only stared at him, beginning to shake his head. But he stopped. His eyes took in Legolas' prone form, and something seemed to dawn on him. Prince Legolas Greenleaf dawned on him.
"Do you really trust Garaer so implicitly, my friend?" Aragorn whispered.
And without a word, but a heavy sigh, Tiris' hands slipped from the human's shoulders.
Legolas continued to press the side of his head hard against the wooden bedpost. His mind was too busy to focus his eyes very well, so swirling patterns were appearing on the wall he was gazing blankly at.
Everything had gone wrong. At least very nearly everything. What if Thranduil died? Legolas would not be there to say goodbye, and what would be the last thought in his father's mind then? Emotionally, this is what tore Legolas the most to think about.
Practically, what about after that? If Thranduil died, there would be no one left to clear Legolas' name, and no doubt Garaer would choose to kill or exile Legolas rather than go on the assumption that it was not he, the prince himself, who had caused the king's death. Besides, if both king and prince were gone, Garaer, as the king's right hand guard, would be the ruler, like-as-not, though it had of course never come up before. And although Legolas didn't believe law-abiding Garaer would base his decisions on that motive alone, it was indeed a temptation that would make things all the more difficult.
There was so much hanging in the balance of whether or not Thranduil would survive, and Legolas very much doubted there was hope he would, as long as the prince was kept locked up, out of sight from his Bengwiil-infected father. What would become of Mirkwood if the king died? What if's, though, were so tiring to think on, and Legolas tried to refocus his eyes on the wall instead.
His neck hurt. He tried to resituate his weight, moving his knee to the side a bit, but he could only move so far sideways with his hands bound, so he reconciled himself to sitting still. Shame burned in his head as he found himself in Mornaeg's room, tied to a bedpost once more. But Aragorn's eyes were no longer on him.
The elf was about to turn and look in spite of himself, but at that moment, the flutter of movement caught the corner of his eye, and he found himself looking into clear blue eyes. Aragorn's hand seemed to glide to the prince's face, smoothing unbraided blonde hair from his cheeks.
Legolas didn't move. Somehow, his proud heart did not resent the gentle care, and so he only stared back at the gaze that penetrated him. Say something, Estel. Say something to fix it, to make this change for the better.
When Aragorn spoke, his voice was as soft as his touch, with every ounce of sincerity he could put in it. "Legolas…if ever you cease to be prince, if you cease to laugh, if you never shed another tear, if you do not wake tomorrow…if they take your freedom, your pride or your life, remember. There is something…something they will never find and can never take without your consent."
Legolas nodded. "You?"
Aragorn smiled. "No," he whispered, touching the young elf's chin to raise it higher. "You. You will always be yourself, normalcy or no." He reached for Legolas' bound hands, grasping the soft elven cords tightly in his grip. "Bonds can hurt you, but as long as you don't let them change you…they cannot."
Legolas stared back in quiet response. The words were comforting, but unnerving. What's wrong?
Aragorn's own fingers closed around Legolas' numb ones which had turned a sickly gray color from lack of circulation. He said nothing more, but held the elf's hand and let his words sink in.
"Estel, tell me…why are you saying this? It is truth- it is wisdom, but why? Why now?"
Aragorn's voice was quiet as he moved closer to Legolas, and met his gaze hesitantly. "Legolas, Garaer has conducted a search of your room…Edren was there and…they found something in your room, Legolas. Something that Garaer was very upset about. He says he will be up to talk to you soon, but- according to Edren, it isn't good. I didn't have a chance to question him further, he took off to speak with someone, and said it was important, so I didn't ask who. But…" Aragorn's eyes dropped to the floor, his warm fingers still probing Legolas'.
"But what?" Legolas' voice was barely above a whisper. His heart was beginning to pound hard against his ribs.
"Edren said to come up here and tell you…to be ready with good explanation."
"Explanation for what?" Legolas demanded, almost angrily. "What did they find? What do they think I've done now?"
"I know not, my friend, just listen. No matter how they twist your words, as they are bound to do, no matter what they tell you or what evidence they bring against you, speak the truth."
Legolas' chest was beginning to ache from the beating of his heart. Aragorn looked worried. Very worried. The young elf bit his lip and nodded. "Of course…I only wish I knew what to expect."
Aragorn sighed, shaking his head. "As do I…"
"Your minutes are up, Estel," came the quiet voice of Tiris.
Aragorn turned uncertain eyes on the elf. "Please, Tiris…Garaer will be up here shortly, may I not stay with Legolas until he gets here?"
Tiris grappled with that a moment, then sighed. "Oh, very well, Estel. I doubt Garaer watches the time closely anyway."
Legolas and Aragorn sat in silence, nervously anticipating Garaer's arrival. It seemed like forever, though only a few minutes, till the door creaked open, and Garaer and Edren, as well as four other elves, stepped through into Mornaeg's room.
Legolas lifted his eyes steadily to meet Garaer's gaze. There was no pity in those dark eyes that stared back at him. No room for doubt. He thought he was looking at a traitor and a murderer. The intensity of the gaze looked through Legolas, trying to find his secrets, and it burned the young elf's heart to have those feelings pressed by sight into his own emotions. Your fault, Legolas. All your fault. The words were not his own, they did not belong in his thoughts. Garaer's eyes burned resentment into his emotions. Legolas couldn't help it. He dropped his eyes to the floor.
"How is my father?" he asked so quietly, it was hard to know the words from his breath.
"He is fading away, your highness." The title was a mockery of the elf, and Legolas knew it. Maybe he flinched. He couldn't tell. His hands were no longer the only thing numb. "I think he is dying." For the first time, an emotion could be detected in Garaer's voice: Grief.
"Of Bengwiil?" Legolas' mouth could now produce the word effortlessly now. Funny thing, once upon a time, he would flinch when anyone said it. Not anymore. Now it was just a very annoying word that had caused him a lot of trouble.
Somehow, the comment seemed to spark something in Garaer, and he nodded curtly to the two elves over his shoulder. They nodded back, and advanced towards Legolas. Before either of the friends could react, one elf had pressed Legolas down by his shoulders, holding him bent over his knees. The other smoothed the long, blonde hair from the prince's neck, and swiftly inserted a small dart.
Legolas gasped slightly at the sudden shock followed by immediate numbness that burned and disappeared. Salab dart. His numbing arms shocked with pain as his body was pressed closer to the floor, with his hand still bound to the bedpost, and a sob escaped his lips as he tried to breathe with his knees pressing into his chest. Neither of the elves paid it any heed, and the second one continued to hold the Salab dart in place.
"Hauta han!" Aragorn tried to wrestle the elf's hand off of the Salab dart, just as the elf inserted it, attempting to pull it from Legolas' neck. He could hear the pound of Edren's boots as he rushed to assist in the struggle, but the sound was halted to a scuffle as Edren was unwillingly held back.
"He will not fight you, leave him alone!" Aragorn shouted angrily, and then was pulled back by force from Legolas by an unexpectedly strong grip. He looked up and found Tiris clinging with an iron hand to the Ranger's shoulder, keeping Aragorn in a kneeling position on the floor, making it hard for him to maneuver out of the hold. He struggled only a little before the two elves stepped away from Legolas.
The prince's body had gone slack, and his head was resting limply against the bedpost. There was clearly very little feeling left in his body. His eyes were still open, but he didn't look around much, only tried to keep himself up, panting hard against the numbing dart.
"That was not necessary!" Edren yelled at Garaer, shoving the two surprised elves off of him. "He wasn't going to escape- how foolish do you think him?!"
Garaer made no response as he and the elf who had used the Salab dart, knelt beside Legolas and untied his hands. Once all the knots were out of the elven rope, the two elves brought the prince's arms around behind his back, and retied them with the same rope. Legolas barely moved.
"Garaer!" Edren's voice was getting about as shrill as a voice like Edren's could. "What do you think you are doing?!"
Garaer motioned the two elves who had held Legolas down towards the prince once more. Wordlessly, the they hoisted the young elf to his knees, though he was too weak to hold himself up. His head lolled back for a fraction of a second, and then fell forward, instantly hiding his features in a blonde curtain.
"Prince Legolas is not a prisoner, Garaer, he is still under suspicion!"
Garaer motioned Tiris off of Aragorn, though the human had pretty much dislodged him anyway. He then turned angry eyes, at last, on Edren. "And what of our search of his room, Edren? How will you explain that away? Tell me how!"
The human was all ready scrambling to Legolas' side once more, and pulled the dart from the back of his neck. As soon as it was cast aside, Aragorn's thumbs started massaging the prince's neck and shoulders. "Feel," he whispered softly, and wished seriously that he had an antidote on hand. "Feel again, Legolas…you're all right."
Edren shook his head, eyes full of gray fire. "Are you now only relying on circumstantial evidence? You have no proof-"
"I have all the proof one can get in a case such as this. I don't pretend to know what is happening, but I know that the prince is more than implicated now, and I have every reason to believe he is guilty."
"Reasons, very well, but what motive has he, Garaer? Perhaps it has slipped your mind that the king is Legolas' FATHER!"
"I know that, Edren," Garaer spat the other's name impatiently. "But do you not recall the night this very human was presumed dead?" He pointed an accusing finger at Aragorn, who continued to focus on Legolas' instead. "Do you remember what Legolas did, Edren, when our PRINCE did?"
Edren remained still, but his eyes were still talking a thousand words a moment.
"Do you?!"
"Of COURSE, I do, Garaer. I was there. You weren't even there, so I would know better," he added quietly, without resentment, but sadness.
"Yes, he went mad," Garaer answered quickly, his own voice dropping in volume.
"Mad with grief," Edren corrected imploringly. "You have no idea what he went through."
Leoglas' eyes focused on the floor, his whole body still numb, though he could now feel Aragorn's thumbs pressing vaguely against his neck. He didn't want to listen to this, to relive those memories. What was Garaer driving at, anyway?
"No, I don't," Garaer consented, with surprising grace, "but I know what happened. In a time of need, a time when our king was ill, our prince was locked in his room, giving no aid to his people."
Legolas was too numb to move, but inside, he flinched.
"What is your point, Garaer?" Edren demanded coldly.
"His emotions drive him, Edren, they have made him irresponsible and unstable in the past. And now, he finds Bengwiil, something he has been overtly against for these past weeks, in his own father's room, sets it on fire, and just afterwards, I find him poised over the king, with a knife. You tell me why I shouldn't believe he is guilty!"
Adda set the fire, and I DIDN'T try to kill him! Legolas wanted to scream.
"So you conducted a search of the king's room?" Edren responded softly.
Garaer seemed to think the answer to that question self-explanatory, because he didn't respond, but cocked his head to the elves behind him. "Bring him." And with that, they began to flow out of the room. Aragorn rose to his feet, and offered to help support Legolas, but neither of the elves complied nor did they even respond. So the human followed directly behind them instead.
Once at the foot of the stone staircase leading to Mornaeg's room, Garaer led the contingent of elves abruptly to the left where the door to Legolas' room was. The two elves forced Legolas to his knees beside his own bed, as Garaer went seamlessly from the doorway to the bedside table. "Prince Legolas Greenleaf, you have said yourself that you believe the king is dying of Bengwiil?"
"That is true," Legolas nodded, now that he had barely enough feeling to do so.
"And you have been ardently apposed to the plant, also true?"
"Yes."
"Then can you explain to me why we found this in your drawer?" Garaer pulled his hand from the depths of Legolas' bedside table's drawer, and opened his fingers to reveal… "What is this, Legolas?"
Legolas' throat went dry. "Bengwiil."
"That is all?" Aragorn demanded, stepping forward a few paces. "You find Bengwiil in Legolas' room so you assume he is poisoning the king?"
"No," Garaer said curtly. "If that was all, I would leave open the possibility that someone is attempting to frame our prince. But…that was not all." This time, Garaer moved to Legolas' bed, lifting the mattress and pulling out a piece of paper folded into fourths. Legolas closed his eyes and felt a jolt of pain rush up his body. He realized then that he was genuinely frightened. Scared to stone, it felt. Not that, not now…
Garaer unfolded the paper, and began to read aloud:
An mellon mi enyalie,
Time hurts. It burns. It freezes.
Fair it well then. Tonight. For this night it leaves.
This night time ceases, leaving a cold body in its wake.
The heir to folly. The king of none.
But no more.
Remember tonight in hope. This night. The night of surrender.
Remember…
-Legolas
Garaer looked up. "Is this not the write of your own hand?"
Legolas couldn't meet his gaze, fixing his eyes stoically ahead of him instead, trying to breathe slowly. "Yes."
Garaer reached into his pocket. "And this was wrapped inside it." He held up a small, silver key. A very familiar key. "Do you recognize it, Legolas?"
Legolas swallowed back his panic to make his voice work, surprised for the first time. "Well- it is the key to my father's room."
"And who knows where this key is hidden?"
"My father and I."
"No one else?"
"No. Just my father and I…but-"
"But what?"
…but where, then, is Aragorn's key?!
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Sorry, that was awful…I forgot how many PAINFULLY cut-short and left-with-questions parts there are in this one…:) I'm terribly sorry about that, but things'll get cleared up eventually, I promise! ;)