-A Single Light-

By: terrymcgrion

For full rating, summary, and disclaimer information, see the first chapter.

Chapter 3

Kánodil groaned with frustration.

Why had he agreed to become the crown prince of Mirkwood's personal bodyguard? Something had to have been wrong with his head when he had accepted the recommendation to be a Royal guard.

Maybe that something had to do with getting a taste of the King's Dorwinion wine. He really should have been able to ignore the goading coming from his fellow elves.

Then again, Kánodil reflected, no one really had suspected that Prince Legolas could turn out to be one of Arda's worst pranksters.

By the elven age of eleven Legolas had mastered the art of sneaking away from his guards, who were severely reprimanded for their apparent lack of attention. No one had dared to say that they had been paying attention, but the elfing was just too clever.

King Thranduil was a formidable foe when he was calm. To cross the Elvenking when he was angry was suicide.

Besides, the prince had contrived to gain an irresistible charm that even the crankiest elves had trouble opposing.

The elf deemed to be the 'crankiest' happened to be Kánodil.

Turning his attention away from these thoughts, the elf took in the scene that was folding out before him.

Kánodil frowned.

Legolas, Strider, and Lindur should be paying more attention to their surroundings. A hoard of goblins could have stormed into the clearing without the three youngsters even noticing.

Shifting his weight around to a more comfortable position, Kánodil settled down, letting a soft sigh escape past his lips.

What else was there to do but wait for something to go wrong, as it always had?

Elf humor, Aragorn decided, was unbelievably insane. His brothers would never let him forget this particular dirt-in-the-face incident.

Aragorn felt a jolt of anguish.

His brothers. Ada's look of revulsion.

If he still considers me his son, the ranger thought dejectedly.

Before meeting Arwen, Strider would have readily told you that Lord Elrond was his father without hesitating.

Now he wasn't so sure anymore.

"Is something the matter?" A voice broke through Aragorn's thoughts.

Looking upwards, the ranger saw Lindur standing by him with a concerned expression on his face. Legolas, upon sensing the atmosphere of the clearing darken, was hurrying over towards the man.

Aragorn shook himself. Now was not the time to be moping about.

"Just fine," the ranger heard himself saying.

Legolas eyed the human with a suspicious look but didn't comment out loud, reasoning that Strider would crack and confess what had disturbed him after the tension mounted to an unbearable point, like most of the human population did.

In theory.

Suddenly deciding that he couldn't stand the uncomfortable silence anymore, Aragorn abruptly stood, and before the elf could react, kicked Legolas's legs from out beneath him.

The prince landed with a grunt.

"You must always be aware of your surroundings," Strider said in the best mock-tutor voice that he could summon up.

Lindur laughed, "He got you there, Legolas!"

The said elf struggled to his feet, his face etched with disbelief. "Why you little..."

Legolas suddenly stopped, much to Aragorn's confusion.

The bewildered look was soon replaced by a horrified one as a mass of long, spindly legs and glowing eyes materialized in front of them.

TBC...

Elvish Translations:

Ada - (Sindarin) dad, daddy