Here you go guys, sorry for the delay but life have caught up with me and rendered me busy!
My apologies.
In the next chapter I will if needed, write a little note explaining any queries but in this chapter it'll explain what you guys have been asking about!
Don't owe anything to do with Tolkien or LOTR
Warrior's Code Two – Always take a second look at things – they're not always what they seem.
Legolas hardly ate anything that lunch, he looked over at the lady called Nerwen with heavy confusion upon his heart. Everyone addressed her as Nerwen yet she was Isil……she must be………..
He watched the elleth stood up as the servants took away the plates and excused herself. Seeing a chance as he watched her walk away, he turned to ask his father to be excused but saw he was distracted by the lords who too were leaving the table.
He hurried out the hall and turned the corner to see the elleth walking towards the courtyard.
"Isil!" he called out and the elleth halted and turned, her grey eyes like frozen ice as she regarded him with silent contempt.
"Do not speak that name here." She softly said, making his confusion
"But you are Isil…..aren't you?" Legolas asked, struggling to reclaim some sense of normality as the elleth looked around her uneasily.
"I was. Sorry Legolas, I'm needed elsewhere." She shrugged his hand off her arm and walked away, leaving him to stare after her, his mind whirling as he struggled to come to terms with what he found out. He sagged against the wall in weariness but saw Glorfindel standing in the corridor, having watched the exchanged between the prince and the take a walk with me." Glorfindel smiled though his eyes showed no humour.
"What's going on?" Legolas breathed as he walked alongside the golden haired elf.
"Let me say it in brief for it's not my story to tell." The elder trailed off as Legolas halted in his walking; he carried on speaking knowing that Legolas needed to hear what he had to say. "As you know, when you left home to begin your epic quest…." Glorfindel smiled, "….Mirkwood was not a safe place was it? Though you and your soldiers pushed the orcs far from your borders, they regrouped and grew in strength and size. It was in mid winter and I was riding with a force of several hundred strong of Lothlorien's best men, for we tracked a large party of a thousand or so orcs and they were heading to attack your father. We arrived too late, for they have infiltrated your father's palace walls and have even stormed the lower grounds. After the battle, we went into the palace to see the damage and to find any survivors……I found Isil. She had managed to, during the attack hide half the palace staff in a secret chamber and locked herself out to make sure they would be undiscovered till after the battle. But the orcs got too close and she wielded Horthe's sword as a last means of defence to save herself and those lives she hidden. She attacked them Legolas…..but not without sustaining serious injuries herself. When I found her……she was dead."
Legolas was silent as he lowered himself to a low wall surrounding a patch where grew roses. He lifted his head from his sorrow to ask, "But how does she live?"
"T'is was the intervention of the Valar himself Legolas, like me, Isil was restored her gift of life. She awoke from her deathbed in the halls of rest to much shock and surprise, I saw it myself. Death changes people Legolas. Her hair which was once gold was now white and where as before was a maid with her own insecurities and weaknesses was a lady with strength and determination."
"But her name…….." Legolas spoke again after a long moment's silence in which he took inboard what Glorfindel revealed.
"Ah yes, Isil gained the name Nerwen via a great battle. Isil you see, wielded the sword of Horthe and at her deathbed, many soldiers saw that she could have commanded the armies of Mirkwood. After her resurrection, she took up command under the sword and made herself a very powerful member of this court as well as a leader. I believe it was the same time Gondor fell under attack; Sauron ordered Lothlorien and Mirkwood to be attacked as well so he could in one go, reclaim much land. Isil commanded her armies along with your father and they launched a final attack. The attack that was to be all and if they failed, then your kingdom would cease to exist. Unbeknown to them Celeborn lead his army out and attack from his side. Isil rode forward to launch an ambush from Lothlorien's trees but came across Celeborn and they fought and won. It was in the after maths of the battle stepped forth Galadriel, she had watched the battle nearby, and would have intervened for the fate of her husband if he fell, and her people who she ordered to leave during the battle. Galadriel gave Isil the name Nerwen, meaning "man-maiden." It was the name Galadriel herself was honoured by her mother for the battles she fought when younger." Glorfindel rested his head against the wall he sat against; he looked over at Legolas who had his eyes closed. The prince's face was a troubled one and Glorfindel knew that he was in much turmoil.
"They called her white wraith, is she he? And why did you lie to me out at the Lakemen's town?" Legolas sighed, those his words were of anger he said them in a way one says with no hope.
"Legolas, let me warn you that there are far greater forces at work then what appears. Isil doesn't wish for you to know a lot of things……much to my objection. Telling you what I've told you now, I have already broken my word. Isil knew by revealing her identity to you by the lake would mean much explanation she has no heart to tell." Glorfindel sat forward; he looked out at the grounds of the palace watching the sun set, feeling the hard stare of Legolas as he watched him.
"What is she hiding from me? Why does she act as if she doesn't know me?" Legolas asked.
"There are scars that lie deep Legolas, I can't reveal them to you but perhaps I could push you on the correct path and let you find out. You know of the Dissention Ritual and how blood is used to mark the contract?"
"Yes….hang on, you want me to find Isil's piece of paper?" Legolas guessed, noticing the hard stare of his friend as he tried to convey a silent message to him, at his words a smile broke out on his lips, signalling he was correct in his guess.
"I don't want you to do anything but since when did the prince of Mirkwood listen to me?" Glorfindel smiled, Legolas rose to his feet and walked from his friend in the direction of the servant quarters.
He stepped down the stairs to see Rowan enter the kitchen, leaving the door to her office open. With a glance around he stepped inside and closed the door with a soft click. The room was naturally lit by a small window framed by curtains for privacy of the dissention ritual. The smell of healing herbs hung in the air and Legolas looked around to see a trunk he guessed held things of importance. Quietly moving over to it, he opened it and peered into its dark cavity to see it lined with a large pile of dissention contracts. He flicked through them, mentally reading off the names, many faces looming in his memories till he came to the end of the pile.
No Isil.
He looked hard at the trunk but it offered no secrets. With an exasperated sigh, he dropped his hand with annoyance at coming so far but gained little. His knuckles connecting to the bottom of the trunk giving off a hollow echo.
He halted his actions to look at the bottom of the trunk and rapped it, realising that the hollow knock was due to the fact that the trunk had a secret compartment. He ran his fingers along each edge and found a small cut which he lifted the bottom panel of the trunk out to see lying there coated in a thin film of dust was a dissention contract with Isil's name upon.
Pulling it out, he saw that where other servant's blood was a dark red upon the page of their contract. Isil's have turned black, signalling that something was broken and Legolas swallowed with a guilty feeling eating away at the bottom of his heart. He looked upon a fair line of writing across the bottom of the page that could only have been written in recently as the ink of the contract was different in colour. He read it once then twice with a rising horror…..
"Punished on order of the King."
Punished?
What were her punishments?
Why….hang on, was she punished for what he dread to think of?
Hearing the sounds of maids chattering made him quickly replace the false bottom of the trunk and put back the papers except Isil's which he rolled and hid in his pocket. Closing the trunk, he walked to the door and opened it to see the quiet, empty corridor and hurried out.
He paused to look once more at the contract in the clear light of day in a small courtyard leading to the stables. Feeling his knees buckle, he slumped down on a small wall framing a well tended garden; his fingers raked his hair in frustration at not knowing what happened to Isil to make her change. Somehow, the discovery of the darkened contract made things worst, not better. He knew Isil was punished, an order rarely given out to criminals unless they broke a serious law…..and the only law he could think worthy of such punishments would be that they were discovered.
He sat there for a long time, thinking through all scenarios that could have happened to Isil.
What happened?
Did she feel pain at her death?
Did she ever think of him?
Only when the clear melody of bells alerted him to his surroundings to signal the calling home of the guards for that night did he realised how long he had been sitting there. Rising to his feet, he headed to his room, passing milling lords and their ladies who bowed to him, servants who looked up from their laughter to scuttle away from his presence and his father walking down the corridor smiling broadly.
"Where have you been? You're still in your riding gear!" He laughed as he took in the sight of his son in his garments stained from travelling and battle.
Not waiting for an answer, he shooed Legolas into his room and ordered the servants to run his bath, "You're expected tonight at a special banquet I've organised as part of your homecoming. Lady Sana will be honoured for you to accompany her. I've made sure she was seated next to you." Thranduil smiled as Legolas yielded his clothes to the servants and wrapped a towel round his waist whilst he undid his braids.
"Ada, you don't need to go through so much trouble for me." Legolas weakly smiled.
"Milord, you left this in your pocket." A maid handed him the dissention contract which he foolishly forgotten about. His father recognised the seal at the top of the page took it from the maid's hand. He silently looked at it then ordered the servants to leave them for a moment.
"What's this Legolas?" He asked, his voice was tight in restrained anger.
"What did you do to her?" Legolas narrowed his eyes, despite the sun's last bright rays illuminating the room, it could have been snowing in the bleakest winter as the auras of both elves fused together a deep, sickly atmosphere.
"I did nothing Legolas, her deeds are what made it worst for her. Now I ask you, what were you doing sneaking around and stealing this?" Thranduil waved the paper at him but the Legolas he knew who would have backed down and relented existed no more. War and death have done much to his son, and his heart stronger for it. The threats of his father were now empty to him and Thranduil knew that he was losing his grip of the very thing he has tried to hide from his son.
"The kingdom knows of Isil bedding you my son. And they cried for justice for a maid who rose above her station. Your letters were handed to me and I learnt all from your own fair hand. I did what my court and people require of me." Thranduil spoke.
Legolas said nothing, he couldn't as he realised that his worst fears have been true and that Isil had to face his father's wrath on her own.
He clamped his lips tightly together as he stared at his father, looking within his eyes for the clues he wanted but ever the soldier, his father's eyes revealed nothing and Legolas turned to looked out the window. He heard the soft click of the door closing as his father left and with unbridled fury, swiped his hand down the table laden with writing pens, inks and books, sending them sprawling across the room as he clenched his teeth to suppress a yell of anger.
He cursed as he blindly ignored the damage of his own anger, he wrenched open the door where he knew his servants awaited him to call them back in and he hissed, "I will ask only once and I want to hear the truth! What happened to Isil."
The servants looked at him, frozen with respectable fear as they gulped and eyed each other. A little girl was the first to make a sound but not what he wanted to hear. Tears swelled up in her eyes as she gulped nosily.
"We employ someone so young?" Legolas looked at her, shame filling his heart as he watched a maid comfort the young child.
"Thranduil gave her the job milord." The maid replied as she wiped the girl's tears away.
Legolas knelt before the girl and smiled, "I am sorry young one, my anger was uncalled for. Forgive me?"
The girl looked at him between her own fingers then wiped away a tear and weakly nodded.
Legolas rose to his feet, aware of his servants watching him in fearful respect rather than the fact he was almost fully naked.
"I'll take my bath now and my apologies." He smiled and left the room. He eyed the mess he made in his living room and guiltily hung his head and walked to the bathroom. There was always someone to clear up after the mess he made but he's the one left to clear up the mystery that eluded him at every turn. Isil was that mystery, and everyone seemed to be helping her.
He plunged into the tub, allowing the heated water to sooth away the ache in his muscles and the weariness of his day so far. He must have closed his eyes because the next time he opened them, the maid who comforted the little child stood uneasily by the closed door.
"Are you alright?" Legolas asked as he stirred in the water.
"They don't know I'm here, so keep your voice down milord." The maid knelt by the tub, ignoring Legolas's nudity in favour of the urgent words she had to say.
"You want to know what happened to Isil. Let me tell you that justice was most unfair to her. Thranduil lost it with her, he decreed the very worst of the punishments upon her despite the blame falling upon your shoulders too. And then tell his people that, that was what we wanted. We wanted her freed as for she was one of us but Thranduil's court voiced their own opinions rather than the true voice of the people.
Legolas, at Isil's downfall, we rebelled to try and free her but the orc attack came too soon. Don't listen to them Legolas, listen to your people. They will tell you what happened." The maid whispered, she kept looking over her shoulder at the door to make sure no one would barge in.
"Why are you telling me this?" Legolas whispered back, feeling he was now tantalisingly close to learning something.
"Because I promised Glorfindel I would help you and I promised Isil I would look after you. Two masters but with two different commands and I uphold them equally." The maid smiled then rose to her feet and asked loudly, "Shampoo my lord?"
Signalling that she would reveal no more, Legolas nodded a thank you and reached for a towel whilst the maid left the room. He climbed out the tub, ignoring the slight chill of the air against his wet, bare skin as he walked over to the window and looked out at the view.
Through sparse gaps in the tree line he could see fragments of his kingdom with elves milling around, living their daily lives…..all hiding something from him he so desperately needs to know.
