Chapter Eight

Elrond quickly took in the sight before him. He let his sons and Glorfindel begin to duke it out with each other, but he could not ignore the young prince who stood mortified behind the twins, obviously frightened by the reaction they had received from Glorfindel. Elrond knelt down in front of him, taking in the slight pallor that had settled upon the young one's face.

"Legolas?" Elrond called quietly. "It is all right, penneth," he whispered, reaching a hand out to clasp onto one of Legolas's own small ones.

Instantly, the twins' laughter died down and Glorfindel's air of anger burnt away, leaving three rather worried elves looking on to the scene in guilt. Elrond brought a hand up to brush a stray lock of golden pale hair from Legolas' face. "What frightens you?" Elrond asked quietly, looking deep into Legolas' eyes. But the young princeling could say nothing.

"What happened?" Came the anxious voice of Thrandruil as he came around the corner, followed by Kelderas who had a blade drawn. When they took in the scene around them, Kelderas put his blade away, glaring evilly at the twins. Thrandruil came forward and knelt in front of Legolas as well. "What happened?" He repeated.

"My sons pulled a prank on Glorfindel and I'm afraid the screaming must have scared him," Elrond said, unable to keep the irritation from his voice. Thrandruil looked to the twins before looking back down at Legolas. Behind them, Idrial and Luthin came up. They both looked worried.

"That is not usual," Thrandruil whispered to himself. He had yet to touch his son in reassurance. Legolas suddenly seemed to snap out of it and looked between the two elves kneeled down in front of him. Then he looked behind them towards Glorfindel. His eyes widened as he seemed to remember what happened.

"I told you it would make him angry!" He suddenly exploded, now glaring at the twins. Both looked shocked at the young one's outburst. Guilt spread through their faces as they looked towards Elrond to see what they should do. But before Elrond could say anything to anyone, Idrial came forward and scooped the elfling into her arms. "It wasn't my idea!" He squealed at her, as though he were expecting to be punished.

"It's all right," she whispered, brushing his head with her hand. "They were only joking, Lord Glorfindel truly isn't angry." She turned to Glorfindel, widening her eyes to get him to agree.

Glorfindel seemed to shake out of a stupor and nodded. "I'm not angry, Prince Legolas," he said confidently. He gave the twins a look that said he was annoyed with them, but instantly took it back when he saw the look of shame on their faces. Serves them right, he thought to himself. Though I did not expect such a reaction out of him, or I would have warned them against pulling their pranks. After all, that is why we brought them here in the first place, was it not?

"I'm sorry!" Legolas called out as tears began to fall. Glorfindel frowned and took a step forward, but Legolas buried his face into Idrial's shoulder. "I'm sorry! Please don't be angry! I'm sorry naneth, I'm sorry!"

At the small words everyone in the room froze. Thrandruil's mouth tightened into a thin line before he stood up, looking at a spot on the wall. "Take him to his room, Idrial." This only caused Legolas to cry harder, for he thought it was a punishment. Idrial gave her father a horrid look before carrying Legolas off, all the while cooing to him. Luthin followed closely behind, rubbing the young elfling's back. Thrandruil stalked off in the opposite direction.

Kelderas looked towards the twins. "These are not the times for foolish games," he spat, making both the twins cringe and look to their feet. Kelderas then looked to Glorfindel, his fierce gaze lightening softly. "Did you emit such a scream?" He asked, suddenly less angry.

Glorfindel blushed slightly, but held his chin up. "It was a scream of surprise, not fear." He made clear.

Kelderas' mouth twitched to a smile and he turned back to the twins. "Well done," he said before turning around and walking quickly after his father. The twins watched him go then turned to each other.

"Well done?" Elrohir asked. "Does that mean he approved?"

"I don't know. Maybe he was being sarcastic…" Elladan mused thoughtfully.

"He enjoyed your prank," Elrond informed them, "but not your timing." Elrond sighed and looked on as his sons again looked at their feet. "I'm not sure whether I should disapprove of your prank or thank you for trying to include Legolas."

"He didn't want to do it in the first place," Elrohir admitted. "He was afraid Glorfindel would get mad." Glorfindel snorted but said nothing. "I think he fears you."

At this, the blonde elf lord raised an eyebrow. "It seems we have gotten off to a rather bad start." At Elrond's questioning glance, Glorfindel explained, "Earlier, he asked me about the balrog. I got impatient and snapped at him. It was wrong of me to do so."

Elrond looked at the warrior standing in front of him and thought of Celebrian's earlier words. "This will be a healing process for all." And so it would be.

"Keep trying," Elrond said, clapping his friend on the shoulder. "I think the young prince is infatuated with you." Elrond laughed as Glorfindel rolled his eyes. He turned to his sons. "And I think that when Legolas calms down a bit, you should go and apologize to him." Both of his sons nodded before heading to their rooms. Elrond caught Glorfindel looking towards the direction Legolas had been carried off. "Are you all right?" He asked good-naturedly.

"I hate snakes," Glorfindel shivered and then smiled at Elrond, who chuckled slightly before they both turned to head back to their own rooms.

Night fell and Legolas had fallen asleep as soon as Idrial had brought him to his room. Now, Idrial sat next to his bed, gently stroking the blonde head and singing a soft lullaby that she had learned from her mother. The tears had long since stopped and now Idrial felt nothing but anger. Anger towards their guests, anger towards her father, and anger towards life itself. Cruelty had reared its ugly head into the lives of the Mirkwood royal family and she knew not how to rid themselves of it. All she could think of was to make her youngest brother as comfortable as possible. With every passing day, she lost a little bit of the tiny hope which still flickered of ever seeing her brother return to normal. She had thought that with the coming of Elrond and the others, Legolas would have a chance to look pass the death of their mother. But now, she didn't know if she had thought right.

So she continued to sing the soft lullaby in Sindarian:

May quiet dreams seek you

As the stars fight away the darkness

May silent nights surround you

As the forests watch you sleep

May all the Valar bless you

As you struggle through this world

And may you walk in peace

As this world guides you through,

Oh Greenleaf, Oh Greenleaf..

As she finished, the door to Legolas' room opened quietly and Luthin slipped in. He came up next to his sister and looked down at the sleeping elfling. The two sat quietly before Luthin put a hand on Idrial's shoulder, nodding that they should go. Idrial nodded, kissed Legolas' forehead and left with her brother. They ran into the twins as they exited the room. Idrial gave them a dirty look, but Luthin smiled to them in greeting.

"Is he asleep?" Elladan asked quietly, not wanting to wake the young princeling.

"Yes," Idrial said stubbornly. "And do not wake him."

The twins nodded, but Elrohir spoke up. "We did not mean to scare him today," he admitted, his voice racked with guilt. Idrial just glared still. "We're so used to Glorfindel's rampages that I guess we didn't even think that it would effect him like that."

Idrial contemplated this statement for a moment before sighing. She looked down and shook her head, trying to shake away her anger. It worked a little. "It's all right," she finally said, looking up and giving them a wan smile. "That is why I asked you to come in the first place, I suppose I have no right to be angry."

"Just the opposite," Elladan said, smiling sympathetically. "You have every right to be angry. You've suffered a great loss. It's trying to get around the anger that becomes the task."

Idrial swallowed hard, trying to bite back the tears that threatened to spill. "I know," she whispered quietly, feeling Luthin's hand on her arm for comfort. "It's just that, when I see Legolas so upset and think about what he must have endured, I can't help but feel angry. What kind of world do we live in where a child should have to go through such a thing?"

"The same world that allows them to get over it," Elrohir answered.

"But it will be hard," Elladan added. "And he can't do it by himself."

Idrial spoke up quickly. "He's not alone. I am with him, and Luthin…"

"As much as that should be enough, it's not," Elladan said quietly, taking her hand. He looked at both her and Luthin. "You both are good to him. You're there when he needs you. But he needs Kelderas and King Thrandruil as well. He needs to know they are there too."

"They are stubborn!" Luthin hissed. "They cannot deal with the pain so they choose to ignore it by ignoring Legolas."

"Kelderas is leaving for patrol in a few days," Idrial added. "I'm afraid of what he may do while he's gone."

"Have you talked to him about this fear?" Elrohir asked. "You and Luthin seem very close, but I have yet to see you and Kelderas say one word to each other."

Idrial was about to protest, but she closed her mouth with a clack. She thought back to the past few months. Her relationship with Kelderas had dwindled. They barely said a word to each other anymore. For a while, she had blamed it entirely on Kelderas, thinking he was too lost in his own grief to speak with her. But now, once it was said by someone outside the family, she could see that she could be blamed just as easily as Kelderas. She would sometimes sneak into Luthin's room to talk to him about her feelings, or would test Legolas to see if he was ready to talk. But never, never had she gone to Kelderas, or her father for that matter. No one had gone to him, so he had come to no one.

"I must speak with him," she said suddenly and turned to leave.

"He's in with Adar," Luthin said, still holding her arm. "It will have to wait until morning."

Idrial nodded and turned to the twins. "I was wrong about you," she said, looking both of them in the eye. "I thought you were merely immature pranksters."

Elladan grinned. "That is the side we put off to hide our sophisticated inner layer."

Elrohir snickered a bit. "One of your layers may be sophisticated, but I don't think it's your inner…"

Elladan cuffed his brother on the side of the head and Elrohir cuffed him right back. A brawl would have broken out if it weren't for Idrial's soft voice breaking through to them. "Tell me how it is you know so much of life."

The twins thought for a moment and it was Elladan who finally answered. "We have many visitors in Rivendell," he began. "Most are just passing through, but some wish to stay and seek solace within our halls. We've learned much from speaking with them. We've learned much from humans who have reached the end of their times, and from elves who have seen the shadow and have been afflicted. It's taken years to think of the right words to say to elves who have given up their fight."

"Not to mention that our grandmother is Galadriel," Elrohir popped in, still snickering.

This brought a smile to both Luthin and Idrial's face. "I underestimated you, sons of Rivendell, and for that, I am sorry." She said nobly, bowing slightly.

The twins bowed back, but Elladan said quietly, "You underestimate yourself as well, Lady of Mirkwood." With that, the twins turned to head back to their rooms, leaving a pondering Luthin and a blushing Idrial.

Review Responses:

Sesshyangel: ::takes the club:: I'll save it for a later use. :-) Thank you for such kind words! I was actually thinking to myself earlier that I was writing this kind of poorly and not taking my usual time. I guess I'm just so anxious to get on with future stories I have planned that I want this one to quickly resolve itself. But there's still a lot that needs to happen yet. And your encouraging words will help me finish this. AND! I'll try to come up with some more original pranks. :-) I have one in mind that I may try a little later, but I think until things mellow over with Legolas, the twins' pranks will be few and far between.

Tinnuial: Thank you! And I'm glad you found this story too. I'll try to keep you happy hehe.

Forest Fox: Yes, the twins do pick on poor, dear Glorfindel rather often. But I don't think he minds it as much as he puts on. He loves the twins deeply and I'm sure that hearing them laugh and being around their mirth really helps with his inner demons. I'm trying to add quickly to this story. I'm going back to college tomorrow, so we'll see if I can keep up with it.

Magicians of the Yami: Thank you! I'm glad you're enjoying the story.

Moonshine44: Is this soon enough for you. ;-)