The Secret Room
Aranel; 2004
"Come, my son," urged Thranduil. "There is something I must show you." Legolas went after his father to a sturdy wooden door set in the crook of a deep room. The young prince had seldom ventured into this particular room, and when he did, he had departed speedily. He had not noticed the door before. Thranduil produced a silver key and deliberately fit it into the lock. It turned like magic. He grasped the highly wrought handle and heaved the door to, revealing a winding stairwell veiled in substantial darkness.
Legolas felt at once a surprising dismay at these black steps, but he endeavored not to convey it.
Thranduil seized a torch out of a bronze bracket on the gray stone wall and proceeded down the steps without hesitation.
Legolas wordlessly went after him.
The torchlight set an eerie glow upon the walls that flickered to and fro as the king descended. Legolas tried to count the steps, but after a hundred, he lost his reckoning. He kept close to the trailing end of his father's draping cloak; this place frightened him. The further he descended, the greater grew his terror. He could make out nothing, save the black silhouette of Thranduil up ahead, illuminated by the flaring brand. And nothing could he hear but the steady footfalls of his father in front, the timid pattering of his own feet, and his anxious and inconsistent breathing. He thought the echoing din far too loud and feared that whatever prowled in the ongoing gloom could easily mark them. But still they went on, longer than Legolas could remember.
Presently, the king halted. The young prince nearly stumbled upon him. Thranduil turned. He changed the torch to his left hand and took Legolas' hand in his right. They were in a diminutive chamber filled with a few oddities and elven decorations. The light of the torch in here was even more startling as it cast odd shapes and shadows upon the walls of the chamber that bore a resemblance to strange and fierce creatures from another age. A rather sizeable golden box rested up against the far wall and seemed to be to where the king was bearing.
Legolas glanced up apprehensively at his father's elven fair face. What was he going to show him? When they reached the large oblong box, Legolas thought it very beautiful and yet ominous at the same time. Into the shining gold was inlaid silver gossamer threads that curled around and around in an elegant spiral all over the length of the box. A few faded flowers lay scattered over the top. Thranduil placed the torch into a bracket on the wall and knelt beside the box, gingerly brushing a layer of dust away with a corner of his stately robe. Legolas stood staring, a look of mingled fear and wonder and curiosity in his eyes.
"What is it, Atar?" he whispered. His father turned and regarded him. Legolas thought he saw an almost undetectable tear in the king's eye, but Thranduil quickly blinked it away.
"In this casket are the remains of your mother," he answered steadily.
"But," said Legolas, his voice wavering, "I thought Elves didn't ever die."
"Your mother died in childbirth," said Thranduil. "It grieved me so that I almost passed on as well. But I kept going because I had a son that needed me." Legolas felt a silent tear run down his cheek in the darkness. The king rose and laid a consoling hand on his shoulder.
"So," said Legolas, bringing his tear-filled eyes up to look at his father's solemn face, "it was my fault? I killed her."
"No," disagreed Thranduil. "You were not to blame. There was naught that you could have done." He turned Legolas around and enveloped him in a strong embrace.
"Son, you mean more to me than anyone else in Endorenna," he continued emphatically. "I do not know what I would do without you."
Legolas finally nodded and met tearful eyes with his father. "Thank-you for bringing me here," he whispered as the torchlight danced upon the surface of the wall. "I feel better now that I know."
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Legolas no longer feared the dark chamber or the passage that led to it. He never forgot the first time he ventured down the mysterious steps into the Secret Room, as he called it afterward. Although he has since increased in age and stature, he often visits his mother's final resting place, sometimes bringing a garland of flowers that he has picked or something else with which to remember her. In some way, he felt nearer to her when in that chamber than anywhere else.