Chapter Four
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
Crumbling
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
The worst thing you could do to me
The cruelest thing that you could say
Is "leave me now" without regret
And watch me walk away
Part of me is crying and
Part of me is hurting
Part of me is dying and
Part of me
Won't believe
That this is really true
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
"Raiaor hated me! I too was stabbed, with a poisoned blade, and if Elrond's sons had not been at the palace I might not have survived! I had to do it him in self-defense, and you know that." Legolas eyes blazed a warning at his uncle as he slowly hissed these words through his teeth.
His uncle ignored warning and argument alike. "And do you know what the penalty is for harming one under the king's protection?"
Legolas was not at all sure he liked the way this conversation was going, and was not even sure there *was* a law for harming anyone under the kings' protection, But his face gave away no hint of his misgivings as he tried to hit his uncle's hand away from his shoulder. The grip just tightened even more, the cruel fingers digging into Legolas skin though his thin tunic.
"What do you want from me, Mahtan? This has nothing to do with Raiaor, does it?" Legolas seethed quietly.
Mahtan only laughed, shaking his head as if amused.
"You will kindly release me or regret it. I am the prince, and you will obey me." Legolas kept his voice low and deadly, the icy tone unmistakable as he stood with his unflinching gaze locked on the elf before him. Inside, Legolas was shaking. His father was powerless to stop his uncle from doing anything to him, and Mahtan knew this.
"You *were* the prince Legolas." Mahtan smirked wickedly. Confusion flitted across Legolas' pale features as he tried again to jerk away from his uncle.
Mahtan's next words hit Legolas like a slap in the face. Every word seemed to bring the older elf immense pleasure.
"The King has examined the laws of the Royal Court of Mirkwood and found you guilty. You are no longer welcome in Mirkwood, Legolas. If you ever venture into any realm of man or elf or other race, you will be hunted down and killed. You will have no kingdom, no place to call your home. Your name will never be spoken again in these halls and you will be counted as slain among the races of men and elves."
"In short-" Mahtan jeered, his eyes narrowing to cruel slits as he pulled a shocked Legolas forward by the throat of his shirt. "You are banished- prince."
Legolas struggled out of the elf's grasp, his eyes wide with now unconcealed fear and shock. "Mahtan, my Father would never do that to me!" Legolas prayed that his uncle was only playing with him, but his heart lurched sickeningly at the words nonetheless.
"And why not, may I ask?"
"Because he loves me!" Legolas whispered slowly as doubt tried to grip at his mind.
Mahtan laughed loudly. "You poor, pitiful elfling! So sheltered from the reality that is right before you eyes! Your father has never loved you!" Legolas stood frozen in pure horror as Mahtan spat the words contemptuously, in the tone one used on a small child. "He has only watched and waited to seize this moment so he could be rid of you forever!"
"That isn't true!" Legolas whirled to his father's bedside taking his hand and pleading earnestly with the lightly sleeping elf. "Father, wake up! Tell me this is not true."
Thranduil stirred and moaned. The king's eyes were dull and grey, as empty as the sky, and Legolas cold no longer see his father within their depths.
The prince's eyes widened in fear and shock. "Father!" He cried, "Tell me this is not true!"
Legolas did not see Mahtan scowl, closing his eyes and silently willing the king to answer in the right way, bending his mind to Mahtan's. Thranduil should never have come into this.
"Leave me now."
Legolas couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He felt as if he had been punched in the stomach and was helpless to do anything but watch. This was all a dream: A horrible, painful, living nightmare. He stared speechless for a full minute at the king, telling himself that his father had not just spoken those words to his son.
"Ada..." Legolas breathed, feeling sick to his stomach as his heart went strangely cold. It could not be. His father loved him, he knew it. Thranduil was ill; his mind was not saying what was in his heart.
Legolas bit back a sob as his father turned his face way and closed his eyes.
The prince let out his breath sharply as his head drooped forward onto his chest, and felt strong hands pull him back. He whirled, striking out at the guards savagely, desperation feeding his motions. The guards jumped back, but Mahtan growled in frustration and snaked out a hand, catching Legolas' wrist, twisting his arm behind his back and forcing him to his knees.
"You're not making this any easier for yourself, Legolas!" He growled into his ear. "New laws have been put into effect on order of the king. Striking out or defying the king's officials warrants public whippings or worse. I suggest you make the wise decision and proceed quietly."
"You're a filthy liar!" Legolas spat vehemently, struggling against a guard who had jerked his hands behind his back and was binding them tightly. "You have poisoned him, or worse! You want the throne and you would kill to get it!"
Mahtan's eyes flashed dangerously as he glared down at Legolas, now flanked by guards. He nodded curtly to one of them, and the guard slammed a fist into Legolas' stomach.
The blow caught him off guard and the wind was knocked from his lungs as he doubled over as far as the guard's grip would allow. Two more blows followed in rapid succession, allowing the prince no time to recover and leaving him gasping for air. He no longer resisted when the guards shoved him forward, half-dragging the elf towards the door.
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
You stabbed my heart straight to the core
Nothing matters anymore
Part of me is crying and
Part of me is falling
Part of my is dying and
Part of me
Won't believe
That this is really true
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
Thailden saw Legolas first. Two guards he did not recognize were pushing him up the passageway towards his room, where Thailden had just been looking for the young prince. His hands were held behind his back, probably tied. His jaw was set and his head held high in angry, cold defiance. The guards shoved him past a speechless Thailden into his room. Legolas glanced to the side at that moment, locking eyes with his old friend.
He was caught completely of guard by what he saw.
The defeated, hopeless, look in those strong eyes, glistening with the silver tears that trembled there, refusing to fall, tore Thailden's heart in two. Utter, weary purposelessness, sorrow, immeasurable pain all poured out of the prince's deep mournful gaze. But still he stood straight and tall, blocking his feelings from the world.
The guards let Legolas go as they noticed Thailden standing in the doorway and mistook him as one of Mahtan's soldiers. "He's all yours." They muttered, walking past him and down the hallway as if nothing had happened.
Legolas was down on his knees where his guards had let him fall, his head slightly down. He knelt there unmoving, eyes shut. Thailden quickly recovered himself and rushed forward, having no idea what was wrong with the prince. He grasped his shoulders and pulled him up, thinking he was hurt.
And indeed, Legolas was hurt. But on the inside. His heart was breaking as he relived, over and over again, his father's blank stare, cold eyes, and heartless words. Leave me now.
"Legolas!!"
Legolas opened his eyes as the voice jerked him back into reality. He was in his own room. How he had gotten there, he had no idea. He slowly looked around him, committing the features to memory. This was the last time he would ever see it. The shock of what had happened had numbed his full emotions for now, and he was surprised to find himself wondering who would reoccupy his rooms when he was gone.
He found himself being shaken by the shoulders by an elf he vaguely recognized. "Thailden?" In an instant, everything sank in. He was leaving Mirkwood. He had been rejected by his father. He had a home no longer. For a moment Legolas pulled back, wondering if his old friend would reject him too. He lost his balance and fell with his back against his bed. Thailden's eyes shone with tears.
"Legolas, don't you know who I am?" Legolas swallowed, the lost look he fought so hard to push aside only adding to Thailden's torment.
"I don't know anything anymore." The prince whispered, wincing slightly when Thailden reached out to cut his ropes. Thailden stopped and rocked back on his heels, surveying the young elf with mingled sorrow for the young prince and anger for whoever was responsible for it.
"Legolas, what happened to you? What is wrong?"
Legolas shook his head, trying to brush his eyes on the shoulder of his tunic. He bit his lip and forced his voice not to break. "My Father has banished me."
The elf's answer took Thailden's breath away. "What!?" His eyes grew wide. "But- How?! Why!?" His voice rose as he became angry, but he softened when he saw Legolas turn his gaze down and away.
"Legolas it's alright, let me cut the ropes." Before Legolas could respond Thailden leaned the prince towards him and sliced through the ropes, which had been tied far too tight.
"I thought he loved me..." Legolas closed his eyes again as the blood rushed suddenly back into his numb fingers. He painstakingly stood, flexing his hands. Willing himself to move, he crossed the room to where he kept his personal belongings.
Thailden watched him in silent horror. "Legolas, you're not serious!?"
Legolas turned back to the guard with a sad smile. "Yes, Thailden. I have never been more serious in my life. I will never stand here again, never talk to you, or my father, or the other men." Legolas felt his over- whelming sorrow numb down until it was simply a cold, aching fact. He must take this path, his reaction made little difference.
He quietly removed his bow and quiver from their hook on the wall, stuffing a small bag with some extra clothes.
"But what did you do!?" Thailden sputtered angrily after a moment as he watched as Legolas went about packing with an infuriating calmness, as if he were leaving for another visit to Imladris or a hunting trip.
"I'm not sure." Legolas bit back a hopeless sigh. "My father will not speak to me." The look of pain that flashed through Legolas' eyes with these words was not lost on the other elf, who knew how close Legolas and his father really were.
"He- he said it's because I murdered Raiaor."
Thailden ground his teeth. "Legolas, you did not murder Raiaor, it was he who tried to murder you! And that was years ago! Wouldn't he have done it long before this if he was going to do it at all?! And isn't your father ill? How could he even know what he was doing if he's as sick as they say he is!? How? How then could-..."
Thailden stormed on and on, stopping suddenly as his own words began to sink in.
"It's Mahtan, isn't it?" Thailden's voice seethed with quiet anger. Legolas nodded slowly and reluctantly as he swung his quiver over his shoulder and grasped his bow, his lips pressed tight in a determined line.
He felt suddenly exhausted, and closed his eyes briefly. "Will you walk with me to the gates, my friend?" Legolas asked softly, a hesitancy to his voice that was unfamiliar to Thailden's ears.
"Of course my prince."
Legolas looked up quietly. "Do not call me that, Thailden. That title will never again be mine to bear."
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
The courtyard was as empty as Legolas' heart. Thailden walked as close to Legolas as he could get, but the guards made it nearly impossible. Did they think Legolas was going to run? Thailden clenched his fists and forced himself not to strangle the guards in front of him as they roughly pushed the prince forward when he paused to look around him for the last time at his home.
No matter what that tyrant Mahtan said, Legolas was still Thailden's prince, as he was the prince of every elf in Mirkwood. The only ones who hated him were the ones in power. The shock was plain on the guard's faces as they saw their prince being escorted towards the gates between half-a- dozen armed soldiers.
"Open the gates!" Came the shout of the guard in front of Legolas. That was another thing Thailden had noticed. All of a sudden almost four dozen guards that no-one had seen before had shown up, and obviously took their orders from Mahtan. No-one moved to do his bidding, and the leader was forced to mount the steps himself, cursing fiercely under his breath as he cranked the handle that drew on the gate chains.
Mahtan stood above the gates, watching as the prince stepped forward, never to return to the palace he had called home for so many centuries.
"Legolas Greenleaf, I herewith banish you, by the word of the King Of Greenwood the Great, from this elven realm and all others. These laws which you have been shown apply now and forever. Go now, and do not return- Under pain of death."
Something inside of Legolas crumbled. He had known, but something about these words finalized it. He was doomed forever to a living death, cut off from his people and everything he held dear. He was alone.
Legolas fought his anger. It would do no good. Turning to Thailden, he clasped his friend's forearm in silent farewell. Their gaze met and held and the tears in the soldier's eyes touched Legolas deep inside.
"You'd better take good care of my troops, Thail." Legolas tried to lift his friends spirits, but Thailden only looked down.
Legolas sighed raggedly. "I'll never forget you, my friend." He whispered earnestly.
Thailden shook his head. "This won't last forever- my prince."
Legolas wanted to believe him more than anything. Wanted to believe this wasn't true, that none of this had ever happened.
He nodded, and squeezed Thailden's arm reassuringly before he stepped away. Looking up, he caught Mahtan's gloating, triumphant gaze. No, this wasn't over.
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
Thanks for the reviews all! Unfortunately, this is the last chapter you'll be getting until May 14! Why? Because computers are the root of all evil, that's why. :P lol, but I have to go now, so I'll answer everyone's reviews in the next chapter! But in the meantime, thanks a ton! Especially to Aura Carina! (a.k.a. Aranel!) I'll be waiting for your story!
~Tev
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
Crumbling
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
The worst thing you could do to me
The cruelest thing that you could say
Is "leave me now" without regret
And watch me walk away
Part of me is crying and
Part of me is hurting
Part of me is dying and
Part of me
Won't believe
That this is really true
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
"Raiaor hated me! I too was stabbed, with a poisoned blade, and if Elrond's sons had not been at the palace I might not have survived! I had to do it him in self-defense, and you know that." Legolas eyes blazed a warning at his uncle as he slowly hissed these words through his teeth.
His uncle ignored warning and argument alike. "And do you know what the penalty is for harming one under the king's protection?"
Legolas was not at all sure he liked the way this conversation was going, and was not even sure there *was* a law for harming anyone under the kings' protection, But his face gave away no hint of his misgivings as he tried to hit his uncle's hand away from his shoulder. The grip just tightened even more, the cruel fingers digging into Legolas skin though his thin tunic.
"What do you want from me, Mahtan? This has nothing to do with Raiaor, does it?" Legolas seethed quietly.
Mahtan only laughed, shaking his head as if amused.
"You will kindly release me or regret it. I am the prince, and you will obey me." Legolas kept his voice low and deadly, the icy tone unmistakable as he stood with his unflinching gaze locked on the elf before him. Inside, Legolas was shaking. His father was powerless to stop his uncle from doing anything to him, and Mahtan knew this.
"You *were* the prince Legolas." Mahtan smirked wickedly. Confusion flitted across Legolas' pale features as he tried again to jerk away from his uncle.
Mahtan's next words hit Legolas like a slap in the face. Every word seemed to bring the older elf immense pleasure.
"The King has examined the laws of the Royal Court of Mirkwood and found you guilty. You are no longer welcome in Mirkwood, Legolas. If you ever venture into any realm of man or elf or other race, you will be hunted down and killed. You will have no kingdom, no place to call your home. Your name will never be spoken again in these halls and you will be counted as slain among the races of men and elves."
"In short-" Mahtan jeered, his eyes narrowing to cruel slits as he pulled a shocked Legolas forward by the throat of his shirt. "You are banished- prince."
Legolas struggled out of the elf's grasp, his eyes wide with now unconcealed fear and shock. "Mahtan, my Father would never do that to me!" Legolas prayed that his uncle was only playing with him, but his heart lurched sickeningly at the words nonetheless.
"And why not, may I ask?"
"Because he loves me!" Legolas whispered slowly as doubt tried to grip at his mind.
Mahtan laughed loudly. "You poor, pitiful elfling! So sheltered from the reality that is right before you eyes! Your father has never loved you!" Legolas stood frozen in pure horror as Mahtan spat the words contemptuously, in the tone one used on a small child. "He has only watched and waited to seize this moment so he could be rid of you forever!"
"That isn't true!" Legolas whirled to his father's bedside taking his hand and pleading earnestly with the lightly sleeping elf. "Father, wake up! Tell me this is not true."
Thranduil stirred and moaned. The king's eyes were dull and grey, as empty as the sky, and Legolas cold no longer see his father within their depths.
The prince's eyes widened in fear and shock. "Father!" He cried, "Tell me this is not true!"
Legolas did not see Mahtan scowl, closing his eyes and silently willing the king to answer in the right way, bending his mind to Mahtan's. Thranduil should never have come into this.
"Leave me now."
Legolas couldn't move. He couldn't breathe. He felt as if he had been punched in the stomach and was helpless to do anything but watch. This was all a dream: A horrible, painful, living nightmare. He stared speechless for a full minute at the king, telling himself that his father had not just spoken those words to his son.
"Ada..." Legolas breathed, feeling sick to his stomach as his heart went strangely cold. It could not be. His father loved him, he knew it. Thranduil was ill; his mind was not saying what was in his heart.
Legolas bit back a sob as his father turned his face way and closed his eyes.
The prince let out his breath sharply as his head drooped forward onto his chest, and felt strong hands pull him back. He whirled, striking out at the guards savagely, desperation feeding his motions. The guards jumped back, but Mahtan growled in frustration and snaked out a hand, catching Legolas' wrist, twisting his arm behind his back and forcing him to his knees.
"You're not making this any easier for yourself, Legolas!" He growled into his ear. "New laws have been put into effect on order of the king. Striking out or defying the king's officials warrants public whippings or worse. I suggest you make the wise decision and proceed quietly."
"You're a filthy liar!" Legolas spat vehemently, struggling against a guard who had jerked his hands behind his back and was binding them tightly. "You have poisoned him, or worse! You want the throne and you would kill to get it!"
Mahtan's eyes flashed dangerously as he glared down at Legolas, now flanked by guards. He nodded curtly to one of them, and the guard slammed a fist into Legolas' stomach.
The blow caught him off guard and the wind was knocked from his lungs as he doubled over as far as the guard's grip would allow. Two more blows followed in rapid succession, allowing the prince no time to recover and leaving him gasping for air. He no longer resisted when the guards shoved him forward, half-dragging the elf towards the door.
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
You stabbed my heart straight to the core
Nothing matters anymore
Part of me is crying and
Part of me is falling
Part of my is dying and
Part of me
Won't believe
That this is really true
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
Thailden saw Legolas first. Two guards he did not recognize were pushing him up the passageway towards his room, where Thailden had just been looking for the young prince. His hands were held behind his back, probably tied. His jaw was set and his head held high in angry, cold defiance. The guards shoved him past a speechless Thailden into his room. Legolas glanced to the side at that moment, locking eyes with his old friend.
He was caught completely of guard by what he saw.
The defeated, hopeless, look in those strong eyes, glistening with the silver tears that trembled there, refusing to fall, tore Thailden's heart in two. Utter, weary purposelessness, sorrow, immeasurable pain all poured out of the prince's deep mournful gaze. But still he stood straight and tall, blocking his feelings from the world.
The guards let Legolas go as they noticed Thailden standing in the doorway and mistook him as one of Mahtan's soldiers. "He's all yours." They muttered, walking past him and down the hallway as if nothing had happened.
Legolas was down on his knees where his guards had let him fall, his head slightly down. He knelt there unmoving, eyes shut. Thailden quickly recovered himself and rushed forward, having no idea what was wrong with the prince. He grasped his shoulders and pulled him up, thinking he was hurt.
And indeed, Legolas was hurt. But on the inside. His heart was breaking as he relived, over and over again, his father's blank stare, cold eyes, and heartless words. Leave me now.
"Legolas!!"
Legolas opened his eyes as the voice jerked him back into reality. He was in his own room. How he had gotten there, he had no idea. He slowly looked around him, committing the features to memory. This was the last time he would ever see it. The shock of what had happened had numbed his full emotions for now, and he was surprised to find himself wondering who would reoccupy his rooms when he was gone.
He found himself being shaken by the shoulders by an elf he vaguely recognized. "Thailden?" In an instant, everything sank in. He was leaving Mirkwood. He had been rejected by his father. He had a home no longer. For a moment Legolas pulled back, wondering if his old friend would reject him too. He lost his balance and fell with his back against his bed. Thailden's eyes shone with tears.
"Legolas, don't you know who I am?" Legolas swallowed, the lost look he fought so hard to push aside only adding to Thailden's torment.
"I don't know anything anymore." The prince whispered, wincing slightly when Thailden reached out to cut his ropes. Thailden stopped and rocked back on his heels, surveying the young elf with mingled sorrow for the young prince and anger for whoever was responsible for it.
"Legolas, what happened to you? What is wrong?"
Legolas shook his head, trying to brush his eyes on the shoulder of his tunic. He bit his lip and forced his voice not to break. "My Father has banished me."
The elf's answer took Thailden's breath away. "What!?" His eyes grew wide. "But- How?! Why!?" His voice rose as he became angry, but he softened when he saw Legolas turn his gaze down and away.
"Legolas it's alright, let me cut the ropes." Before Legolas could respond Thailden leaned the prince towards him and sliced through the ropes, which had been tied far too tight.
"I thought he loved me..." Legolas closed his eyes again as the blood rushed suddenly back into his numb fingers. He painstakingly stood, flexing his hands. Willing himself to move, he crossed the room to where he kept his personal belongings.
Thailden watched him in silent horror. "Legolas, you're not serious!?"
Legolas turned back to the guard with a sad smile. "Yes, Thailden. I have never been more serious in my life. I will never stand here again, never talk to you, or my father, or the other men." Legolas felt his over- whelming sorrow numb down until it was simply a cold, aching fact. He must take this path, his reaction made little difference.
He quietly removed his bow and quiver from their hook on the wall, stuffing a small bag with some extra clothes.
"But what did you do!?" Thailden sputtered angrily after a moment as he watched as Legolas went about packing with an infuriating calmness, as if he were leaving for another visit to Imladris or a hunting trip.
"I'm not sure." Legolas bit back a hopeless sigh. "My father will not speak to me." The look of pain that flashed through Legolas' eyes with these words was not lost on the other elf, who knew how close Legolas and his father really were.
"He- he said it's because I murdered Raiaor."
Thailden ground his teeth. "Legolas, you did not murder Raiaor, it was he who tried to murder you! And that was years ago! Wouldn't he have done it long before this if he was going to do it at all?! And isn't your father ill? How could he even know what he was doing if he's as sick as they say he is!? How? How then could-..."
Thailden stormed on and on, stopping suddenly as his own words began to sink in.
"It's Mahtan, isn't it?" Thailden's voice seethed with quiet anger. Legolas nodded slowly and reluctantly as he swung his quiver over his shoulder and grasped his bow, his lips pressed tight in a determined line.
He felt suddenly exhausted, and closed his eyes briefly. "Will you walk with me to the gates, my friend?" Legolas asked softly, a hesitancy to his voice that was unfamiliar to Thailden's ears.
"Of course my prince."
Legolas looked up quietly. "Do not call me that, Thailden. That title will never again be mine to bear."
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
The courtyard was as empty as Legolas' heart. Thailden walked as close to Legolas as he could get, but the guards made it nearly impossible. Did they think Legolas was going to run? Thailden clenched his fists and forced himself not to strangle the guards in front of him as they roughly pushed the prince forward when he paused to look around him for the last time at his home.
No matter what that tyrant Mahtan said, Legolas was still Thailden's prince, as he was the prince of every elf in Mirkwood. The only ones who hated him were the ones in power. The shock was plain on the guard's faces as they saw their prince being escorted towards the gates between half-a- dozen armed soldiers.
"Open the gates!" Came the shout of the guard in front of Legolas. That was another thing Thailden had noticed. All of a sudden almost four dozen guards that no-one had seen before had shown up, and obviously took their orders from Mahtan. No-one moved to do his bidding, and the leader was forced to mount the steps himself, cursing fiercely under his breath as he cranked the handle that drew on the gate chains.
Mahtan stood above the gates, watching as the prince stepped forward, never to return to the palace he had called home for so many centuries.
"Legolas Greenleaf, I herewith banish you, by the word of the King Of Greenwood the Great, from this elven realm and all others. These laws which you have been shown apply now and forever. Go now, and do not return- Under pain of death."
Something inside of Legolas crumbled. He had known, but something about these words finalized it. He was doomed forever to a living death, cut off from his people and everything he held dear. He was alone.
Legolas fought his anger. It would do no good. Turning to Thailden, he clasped his friend's forearm in silent farewell. Their gaze met and held and the tears in the soldier's eyes touched Legolas deep inside.
"You'd better take good care of my troops, Thail." Legolas tried to lift his friends spirits, but Thailden only looked down.
Legolas sighed raggedly. "I'll never forget you, my friend." He whispered earnestly.
Thailden shook his head. "This won't last forever- my prince."
Legolas wanted to believe him more than anything. Wanted to believe this wasn't true, that none of this had ever happened.
He nodded, and squeezed Thailden's arm reassuringly before he stepped away. Looking up, he caught Mahtan's gloating, triumphant gaze. No, this wasn't over.
~ -*~ * ~*- ~
Thanks for the reviews all! Unfortunately, this is the last chapter you'll be getting until May 14! Why? Because computers are the root of all evil, that's why. :P lol, but I have to go now, so I'll answer everyone's reviews in the next chapter! But in the meantime, thanks a ton! Especially to Aura Carina! (a.k.a. Aranel!) I'll be waiting for your story!
~Tev