MCross The horse is all right, thank god.
Astalder27 Actually, the two will have some booboos to cry over. In the end, Arwen might even give Legolas a big wet kiss!
Cierah Keep on giggling, even if this chapter makes you want to hit at someone.
Yami Tai : Yep. That's my job—killing you softly with my cliffies! Ha ha ha! Err…you…you want to translate my fics into German? Are you kidding me? That's so sweet! Go ahead, mellon! You're now officially appointed as my German translator!
Beginning-end-314 : HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!
Ceyxa 'Twin Terrors'. Ha ha. So fitting!
Sailor Elf : Now you make me want to go watch 'Lion King' again. (But where the blazes did I put the dvd?)
Legosgurl Sorry, mate. You just lost your 50 bucks.
Fire Breathing Ferret : Hey, nice rhyme!
Sesshynagel Well, what did you expect? Leggy learned how to brag from his own father! Like they said, good traits should start early from home. LOL!
Nessa Thranduiliel I don't know if I can shake off that cliffie habit. It's already in my blood.
Jedi Gollum : You go girl! Don't ever give up!
Tbiris And here's the biggest catch.
Rutu He he he. You got it all correct, mellon! Especially the elven bellowing. LOL! And, no, this won't be like 'Too Much' at all. The horse will be fine, don't worry. Really, I don't know why the plot-bunnies went to Siberia (Maybe because it's so cold there that they can freeze their butts off?). Hmmm. Come to think of it, yeah, I did use the name Galdor in 'Token of Love', and then I used it again in the previous fic. I just can't keep the elven names straight, can I? But I assure you those two Galdors are two different persons, no relations whatsoever. (Mumbling away as she jots down all the elven names she has used in her series…)
Okay. Now we come to the climax of this story—daddy's explosion. Some of you might hate Thranduil afterwards.
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In the grand parlour, the king of Mirkwood was still deep in conversation with his two special guests. He stopped in mid-sentence and bolted upright when he heard a loud crash coming from the courtyard. "What in Arda was that?"
And then he heard the children screaming.
Sitting next to Lord Elrond, Lady Celebrian turned as white as snow. Her maternal instinct instantly kicked in. "Arwen!"
The three parents jumped to their feet and ran out the door. Thranduil was at the front, dashing madly through the long hallways with his robes flying about him. Harried and worried, he was imagining the worst for he had also heard Legolas' scream. As he ran, his heart thudded loudly in his ears as his fear for his youngest child started to overwhelm him.
What has Legolas gotten into this time? Valar, let him be safe and that he's only playing around. Please, let him be safe.
They burst through the great doors and flew down the courtyard steps. There, on the left side of the front lawn where a row of pines stood like sentinels, they saw a growing crowd surrounding the wreckage. The crowd which consisted of the night guards and the palace staff quickly made way for their king when they saw him coming.
Followed closely by Elrond and his wife, Thranduil headed directly towards the two small figures sitting on the ground, not far from the remains of the buggy. Legolas was gently holding Arwen's left arm, which was bent at an awkward angle. Pale and shaken himself, the young prince was putting his healing skill at work as everyone watched in silent dismay.
The frightful jump from the runaway buggy did not injure Legolas much, except for some minor scrapes and bruises. Unfortunately, Arwen had landed hard on her side, breaking her arm. She was silently sobbing now from the pain as Legolas tended to her, her eyes large and tearful as she stared beseechingly at her parents.
"You will be fine, my dear. You will be all right," Celebrian crooned, sitting next to her daughter and pulling her close without jarring the injured arm. "Legolas will heal you."
Arwen only sobbed harder. After kissing her head, Elrond looked around for explanation. "Did anyone see what exactly happened?"
His hands fisted at his side, Thranduil glared down at his son's bent head, saying not a word. He could already figure out what had happened.
A guard stepped forward and related what he had seen. "The buggy was moving very fast, my lords, too fast for Prince Legolas to control," he said. "He and Lady Arwen had to jump, mere seconds before it crashed into the trees."
Both Arwen and Legolas opened their mouth to speak but Thranduil beat them to it. "Is the arm still broken?" he curtly asked.
The two children only blinked at first. And then, with tears still streaming down her cheeks, Arwen replied. "Not anymore, my lord. Legolas has completely healed it."
"I'm sorry, father," Legolas spoke softly, daring not to meet his father's eyes. "I…I know we shouldn't have taken the buggy…"
"NO, YOU SHOULDN'T!" Thranduil shouted, finally losing hold on his temper. He was so angry his entire frame shook with it. "What were you thinking, Legolas? Have you totally lost your mind?"
"I…I was just…uh…taking it out for a… a short ride," Legolas stuttered as he nervously stood and faced his father. "I thought it…it would be fun…"
"Fun?" The king fumed. With one angry move, he yanked his son's left ear and gave it a vicious twist. "You think this is fun? You are lucky Arwen only broke her arm! What if she had broken her neck? What then, Legolas? Do you still think it is fun!"
"No…" Legolas sobbed, wincing as his father gave his ear another painful twist. "Father, please…I'm sorry…"
Thranduil continued to rant, the volume of his voice growing higher by the minute. No one wanted to be anywhere near the Mirkwood king when he was in that kind of vile mood, so some of the servants quickly dispersed while the rest of them hastened to clean up the wreckage. The guards also ran away to capture the fleeing mare.
In the background, Arwen was wailing. Legolas himself tried hard to stop crying, but pain, and fear of his father caused his tears to fall unchecked.
"This is intolerable, Legolas!" Thranduil finally released his son. The prince stumbled backwards, holding his reddening ear. "Arwen could have been killed just now, do you realise that? You leave me with no choice but to punish you for what you've done. You are grounded for a week and you are not allowed to attend the fun-fair carnival. So now, I want you to head back to your room—where you belong—and wait for me there. It's time your backside learnt the taste of my belt so you won't forget not to make such deadly mistake again."
Lady Celebrian gasped. Pushing her daughter into her husband's arms, she rose and tried to push Legolas behind her. Lord Elrond yanked her back. "Stay out of it, my dear," he softly said.
"But he…"
"It's his son. We shouldn't interfere."
Celebrian glared daggers back at him. "Why ever not?"
Elrond shook his head. "It's his right to discipline his child."
"It is wrong."
"So why did you smack Elrohir's palms with your ladle after he burnt down half the kitchen when he was Legolas' age?"
"That's different," she hissed back.
"Oh?" Elrond dryly cocked an eyebrow at that but said no more.
Meanwhile, Legolas was standing as still as a statue as he gaped at his father. He couldn't believe what he had just heard. Father wants to belt me?
"Well? Why are you still here? Get to your room now!" Thranduil snapped, and began to unfasten the leather belt from around his waist. "Or do you want to have it right here?"
His tears streaming down his face, Legolas fled.
Gritting his teeth, Thranduil stared hard at his son's progress before turning to survey the servants who were still cleaning up the debris. "Bring me the person responsible for leaving this buggy unattended," he barked to the nearest guard. "Such negligence must not go unpunished."
The guard bowed and hastened to do the king's order. His face forbidding, Thranduil whirled and marched determinedly back into the palace, heading directly towards Legolas' bedroom.
Let's get this over and done with, he grimly mused. That silly boy has gone too far. Arwen could have been killed, Rivendell and Mirkwood might have turned to war, and…
"My lord, no! Please, no!"
That caused Thranduil to stop in his tracks. As he turned around, he was startled when little Arwen launched herself into his arms, sobbing uncontrollably as if her heart was breaking. Elrond and Celebrian were following not very far behind her. The Lady of Rivendell opened her mouth to speak but her husband held her back, his head shaking and his eyes sharp with warning.
Frowning at the silent pair, the Mirkwood king looked down at the weeping young maiden in front of him. He knelt so that their eyes were at the same level. "Arwen? What…?"
"Please don't hurt Legolas. It's not his fault that we crashed the buggy," she said between hiccups. "It's my fault, my lord. Not his."
Thranduil stared uncomprehendingly. "What are you talking about?"
Arwen sniffled as she explained, "It was I who drove the buggy. Legolas was just…just teaching me how. He told me not to go fast, and not to take the buggy outside the square. But…but I didn't listen to him. I drove the buggy up front, and I made the horse go very fast. Legolas was only trying to help when the mare went out of control, but he couldn't manage so we had to jump."
As Thranduil grew visibly pale, Arwen continued, "We know what we did was wrong, my lord. But please don't blame Legolas. If you really have to hit someone, then hit me. I caused the crash. I won't have anybody else take the blame, especially not Legolas. He is my best friend so please don't hurt him."
Thranduil's felt as if he had been hit by lightning. He stared in dumbstruck awe at the little daughter of Elrond and Celebrian, having difficulty taking it all in.
Arwen didn't take that as a good sign. She started crying again in earnest, tugging at Thranduil's belt. "Hit me, my lord! I'll take the punishment in Legolas' stead. You may do what you want with me but don't harm your son…"
Seeing that his daughter was getting a bit overdramatic, Elrond quickly intervened. "Arwen, that's enough. I think Lord Thranduil gets the point now."
Celebrian bent over and scooped her daughter up into her arms. "There, there, baby. Lord Thranduil is not going to hurt anyone."
She said the last sentence with a sharp glare in Thranduil's way. Avoiding the lady's gaze, the king straightened and looked straight at her daughter. "I'm not going to hurt anyone, my dear. I promise."
The girl blinked the tears out of her eyes, biting her lips. "I'm so sorry, my lord. I should have told you sooner before you twisted Legolas' ear."
Thranduil winced as if he was bodily attacked. He gulped uneasily before saying, "Why didn't Legolas tell me all of this himself?"
Chuckling weakly, Elrond clapped a hand on Thranduil's shoulder. "I believe your noble son was trying to protect my daughter. Quite chivalrous of him, don't you think?"
That only made Thranduil felt a lot worse than before. He briefly closed his eyes with a sigh, Legolas' tearful face playing in his mind.
"You must think I am a terrible father," he said in a voice so low that Celebrian and Elrond had to strain their ears to hear him.
Celebrian stepped closer and gently placed a palm on Thranduil's cheek. She tenderly smiled. "You're not a terrible father, my lord. You are a very good one, but you are not perfect. You make mistakes sometime. And this is one of them."
Thranduil wearily shook his head. "I had better go see Legolas. Valar knows how he is feeling right now."
"I'll come with you!" Arwen announced and started to wiggle out of her mother's arms.
Celebrian was having none of it. "Oh no, young lady. You are coming with me. Just because you escape Lord Thranduil's punishment, doesn't mean you're going to escape mine."
"But, mother…" her daughter whined. Celebrian sent another smile towards Thranduil before she went up the stairs with Arwen squirming in her arms. The two elven lords proceeded to follow after them.
"I think I had better join my two ladies. Knowing those two, they will need a referee," Elrond said with a grin when they reached the upper floor. Then he softly added, "Go see to your son, Thranduil. The boy is hurting."
Thranduil nodded and went the other way. When he reached Legolas' door, he paused and worked up the courage to apologize to his son, and to admit that he was wrong for hastily jumping to a conclusion. He also wanted Legolas to know that Thranduil's recent anger with him had nothing to do with spite. It was sheer terror that had made him lose control on the rein of his temper. Legolas needed to see that his father still loved him dearly, no matter what happened.
Taking a deep breath, Thranduil pushed open the door. But as he stepped inside, he immediately knew something was not right.
Legolas was not in his room.
In fact, he was nowhere to be found.
TBC…
NOTE : Being a parent is a very interesting job, don't you think?
