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Legolas heard the man climbing the tree behind him, but didn't react; his eyes focused on the two boys playing down below him. They looked remarkably similar, though the younger was more slight and the older more sure of himself, one with straight hair, the other with soft curls. The older put his finger to his lips and looked about conspiratorially, then - when they were sure the coast was clear - they put their heads together and started whispering.
"They are planning a prank on Mian. A big one, I would say, by the amount of whispering going on." Aragorn spoke from below him, where he had taken a seat in the boughs of the tree.
"Poor woman." Legolas was surprised to find his voice rough with tears.
"So, severing all ties, eh?"
"I've missed you too, Aragorn. And you know no one would have seen me here if you hadn't chosen to practice your ranger skills in the same tree. I know you didn't see me else you would have tried to sneak up on me." Legolas' attention was pulled back to the clearing as the younger boy whistled and two ponies came hurtling through the undergrowth, emerging with twigs and branches growing every-which-way from their manes.
"He has such a way with the horses. They listen to him like nothing I've ever seen. He would ride a larger horse if we let him and any horse would be more than happy to carry him."
"Is Eldarion not comfortable with the horses?"
"Oh he's a good rider, and quite skilled, but he rides with heels and reins man's style. I would almost say Riven treats the horses as an elf would, he rides with voice and heart though he has been brought up with a saddle and reins."
"Riven..." He repeated the name, sighing softly. "One of the ponies is his?"
"Yes, the skewbald, Tara. He hates to be parted from her. Sometimes we find Eldarion sneaking him into the stables in the night to visit her."
"Eldarion has his own pony?"
"Trini, the bay, is his."
"And together they pass the guards to visit them." Legolas sighed with a smile at the picture painted for him.
"Often it is Riven's idea. He knows well how to manipulate his brother. He could not do it alone, though, how ever often Eldarion might claim innocence."
"He is too young?" There was a hope in the elf's voice that Aragorn hated to shatter.
"He is near blind." Though he had been expecting something of the sort, the soft reply was like a kick in the teeth for Legolas. He turned back to the scene below him dejectedly. Riven was busy combing the tangles from Tara's mane with his fingers. "You cannot have been watching them for long if you have not noticed anything unusual about his actions." Aragorn observed.
"Or perhaps I just did not want to see." Came a soft reply. They sat together in silence for a while longer as Eldarion began piling ominous items into the saddlebags of the ponies. Legolas almost jumped when Aragorn spoke again, lost in thought as he was.
"Come back with me, meet him properly. There is no one here who doubts that he is my son, he is in no danger." His eyes widened.
"I do not think I could..." Aragorn's face changed, hardening, though there was nothing but sadness in his own eyes.
"Then I must ask you to leave, for though they might not see you the horses will, and they will not keep your presence a secret for long."
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The two boys stood before their father, eyes downcast as they were reprimanded for the intricately planned prank that had left the nursemaid coated with milk, flour and oats in the outer courtyard of the palace. Arwen stood silent to his right, saying nothing and trying quite hard to hide a smile as their charges were laid down before them. Legolas waited silently in the corner of the courtyard, arms crossed over his chest as he fought to contain his racing heart with Riven so close. He found he couldn't concentrate on Aragorn's words, his eyes fixed on the young boy's back as he listened to his punishment. As Aragorn finished he looked up at the elf and Legolas drew his attention away from the boy for a moment. A motion of the Ranger's head called him over and he moved to stand on Aragorn's left, greeting Arwen with a bow - on hand over his heart, the other sweeping outwards.
"Prince Legolas of Mirkwood, I would like to introduce my sons." Aragorn stated formally. "Eldarion, Crown Prince of Gondor."
"My Lord." Eldarion greeted formally, with a small bow.
"And Riven, younger Prince of Gondor." Riven bowed as his brother had, but remained silent. Aragorn lent over to add, "Riven does not like to speak to new people." Legolas silently thanked him for not using the word 'stranger'.
"I'm honoured to meet you, sons of Gondor." He returned a bow of his own trying to ignore his heart threatening to burst in his chest as Riven's eyes refused to seek out his own, remaining firmly fixed upon the ground.
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Seeking out the youngest Telcontar later that day, Legolas was reminded of Aragorn's words and turned his attentions to the stables. He quickly spotted the pretty little skewbald pony from the morning's activities and leant over the door to greet her.
"She is beautiful." He spoke into the muted quiet of the stables, and Riven looked up from where he sat at Tara's side in the stall. He was startled and took a moment to scan Legolas' face - a process that would have taken only a glance with any other pair of eyes - before he was reassured by the now-familiar face.
"I know that." He retorted, sounding offended. "I'm not blind you know, I just see less." Legolas frowned and let himself into the stable, taking a seat next to the boy, patting the horse on the neck as he did so to reassure her that he was a friend. Aragorn had tried to explain to him earlier in the day, but he had been too tied in knots from his introduction to pay much attention.
"Can you explain it to me? I want to understand." Riven hesitated.
"I do not often talk to people. My words are clumsy." He looked away, ashamed.
"I care not. No one else can tell me what you see."
"I see... less. Eldarion says that when he looks he can see all this." Riven drew a square around his face, stretching out to the limits of standard vision - almost a full length of his arms to either side and a little less above and below his face. "I can see only..." With one hand he reached out and drew a square in front of his face only as wide as the distance between his eyes and a similar height. "this. I see more further away than close, but always less."
Shod hoofbeats down the stable corridor alerted them to another's presence, and Riven sprang to the door to greet his brother and Trini as they rounded the corner.
"Where have you been?" He demanded as Eldarion slid back the bolt on the stall beside them, talking over the dividing half-wall as he walked Trini into her home.
"He kept me back for hours afterwards because I had not done the work he set." Eldarion untacked his mount quickly and - perching the tack on the dividing wall, used an overturned bucket to leap over himself. He dropped heavily into the hay and, ignoring Tara's snort of uncertainty at her new visitor, bowed to Legolas.
"My Lord." He greeted. Legolas waved the formalities off and he took a seat beside Riven, bringing a crumpled piece of paper from his pocket with a flourish, childish Gondorion covering the sheet.
"He said it was good, but still too big." Looking over Riven's shoulder, Legolas found that the page contained a simple poem, carefully transcribed. The script did seem needlessly large, filling both sides of the paper where a standard hand might only have filled half a page. Riven looked crestfallen.
"He knows I cannot write smaller, for I lose the words upon the page." He grumbled.
"Do you not go to school yourself?" Legolas asked, curious.
"No. Father and his advisors teach me here. But I do the work for the teacher in town. I am not allowed schooling in the schoolhouse. I 'hold back the other students'." He sneered at the phrase and Eldarion grasped his hand discreetly in silent reassurance.
"Aye, by doing better than the lot of us, and shamming us all." He teased, throwing his arm around Riven's shoulders.
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Aragorn found Legolas later that day sat in one of the open stalls in the stables with Arod and Tara nearby and the boys asleep on either side of him. He looked up and smiled helplessly as Aragorn came around the corner.
"This wasn't meant to happen." He sighed in a half-whisper. "I just wanted to see them, not become their friend."
Aragorn sat beside his friend, taking Eldarion into his own arms and allowing Legolas to change his grip on Riven to a more comfortable one.
"You cannot escape them now, you shall have to visit frequently else they will miss you. And you must come to their birthdays and the winter celebrations."
"You plan to kill me through parties." He replied dourly.
"You cannot hide from him any longer. Today has been an experience for him, it isn't often there are new elves in the palace. And we have all missed you. Gimli asks after you every time he is in the area. I hate telling him that I have heard nothing of you."
"It has been... hard. To be so alone after such a few years as we had. But it was for good reason, you know this." Riven stirred in his arms and Legolas muttered a soft word in Silvan as he settled himself again. Aragorn seemed to reach a decision, and grasped Legolas' shoulder to bring his attention back from the young one resting in his arms.
"I would have someone teach them Silvan. Mian's grasp of common is not good enough, and Arwen suggested that you would be the better teacher. Already they succeed in Rohirric and Sindarin, and they seem to enjoy the lessons."
"I cannot stay forever, Aragorn. I barely intended to stay more than a few days. I have duties back home."
"When you are here, that is all. I would demand no commitment from you." Legolas nearly flinched, for so like an insult had the last comment sounded.
"I will do what I can. But not this time, for I must return home for a time. When I have time to return I will do this."
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acuamaine, cami : thanks very much!
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confused : Sorry mate, think I might have lost you in that case. No A/L here. Aragorn is happy and married with two sons, you might have noticed. ;-) It was under Legolas and Aragorn as main characters because... funnily enough... they are going to be the main characters!
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Nevermind : I can tell you're going to be a hard one to satisfy! Not until September 3021 did the three keepers leave ME. Midsummer 3019 Arwen and Aragorn were reunited... if we say that now she's mortal she's going to have 9-months from conception to birth. 2 times 9 months is 18 months... darn, I'm sure this maths worked out when I thought about it before. (but we know that she didn't carry both children, so I could just as well say that their two pregnancies overlapped. sighI do TRY to stick to the details) As for your other questions... well I'm afraid you'll just have to wait see! :D
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LadyJanelly : Hmm... tying him down... drifts away... ahem! Ok, sorry. As you can see, they weren't too successful on that front. Maybe later ;-)