Disclaimer: Wesley Scantlin owns what he owns, I own what I own. Get it? Got it? Good.

E/N: Don't start on at me about 'women's rights' crap. I don't care. It's fiction, so it doesn't matter. I don't support violence (believe it or not), but you can understand his reasoning. Well, I can…

Oh yeah, by the way, Midnight is a magicky Valinor horse, so he's immortal like everything else there.

One more thing. A few lines at the end will seem familiar to some people. Sorry couldn't help myself. *giggle* I'm so sad, but it works so well! =D

Translations:

Diolla lle, ada. Quel re = Thank you, father. Good day

Quel re, ion-nin = good day, my son

Legolas Thranduillion = Legolas, son of Thranduil

Teler = Elf

Chapter 57

   It all seems to quiet, so empty, so sad…

**

   "Legolas? Are you even listening to me?" Thranduil said irritably. Legolas turned his gaze on his father, where it should have anyway, but it was out of the window.

   "What?… oh, er, no, sorry ada."

   "You've been very preoccupied of late."

   "I just keep thinking… wondering… is she coming back?"

   "Don't be stupid. Of course she is. She would never leave you purposely. She may be gone for a long time, but she will contact you somehow."

   "…it's been nearly seven years, ada, she wasn't gone this long before."

   "But you know where she is this time. She was summoned back. Whatever it is, it's obviously serious."

   "Why weren't the other sisters called back?" Thranduil sighed.

   "I don't know, Legolas. I can't answer your questions. I'm just trying to reassure you and help you look on the positive side." Legolas' hand strayed absent-mindedly to his neck, where his wedding band permanently resided.

   "Yes," he eventually said. "Yes, you're right. She wouldn't just leave us. Any of us. She has family and friends here."

   "That's the spirit. You have to be optimistic."

   "I know. But everything just seems so dim. Silva's gone, Kemen's returned to Lórien again. It just seems like everybody's slowing slipping away."

   "Don't worry, Legolas. Everything will be fine. Look, forget about your duties for today. Someone else can do it, just this once." Legolas smiled briefly.

   "Diolla lle, ada. Quel re."

   "Quel re, ion-nin."

   Legolas let his feet do the guiding. He had no idea where he was going. There was no intention, no purpose. But he found his steps took him to the stable.

   "Hello there, Midnight," he said gently. The stallion whinnied. Since Silva's departure, he now suffered to be ridden by Legolas, but he'd become very insistent that Legolas, and Legolas alone, look after him. So now, twice daily, the Prince was to be found in the stables, talking to the horse of the one they loved the most.

   "What do you say we go for a ride? A day out?" Midnight stamped his hind leg in affirmation.

   "Legolas?" The voice startled him. He hadn't heard anyone enter, and midnight usually went crazy at anyone sneaking around. When he turned to put a face to the voice, he was even more shocked. Fëalindalë stood watching him nervously. Of course he'd seen her round the castle now and again, but those occasions were rare now because she'd moved to one of the Elven villages a little way out from the Elvenking's halls.

   "Fëa?! Oh my goodness, it has been ages since I last saw you!" He walked forward quickly and embraced his old best friend.

   "I know! How have you been?"

   "I've been better, if I'm honest."

   "Oh, er, well, yes, of course, sorry, stupid question…"  she shifted awkwardly for a moment. "… er… you know, we really should meet up properly at some point. It's been… probably, years since we last had a proper talk and catch-up on things."

   "What are you doing now?"

   "Now? I was actually about to go back home. I only came to deliver a parcel to a friend of mine."

   "Stay a while. Father has given me the day off, and I was about to take Silva's horse out for a ride. Why don't you come with me?" She was quiet for a moment.

   "Oh, all right then. It's not as though I've really got anything to do." She smiled.

   "Great. Come on then. Saddle up, if you have to. The quicker we get going, the longer we have to talk."

   They spent the day together, catching up and reminiscing. Many laughs were shared and Legolas felt light of heart as he hadn't done since the day Silva had left. He enjoyed the day with his old friend and seriously hoped that this could become a more regular event. It would give him a little bit of optimism and something to look forward to until his wife returned. They returned back tot eh castle, and he was going to put this idea to her.

   Well, that is, he was until she kissed him. For a spilt second, he responded. He imagined the feel of Silva's lips moving against his, a sensation he had longed for, for their entire estrangement. But when reality returned to him and he remembered who stood before him, he pushed her away hastily.

   "FËA! What are you doing?!" he cried. She looked horrified.

   "I'm sorry! I… I just thought… well… well, last time…"

   "Last time what?"

   "The last time she disappeared… you… well, you and me…"

   "That was a mistake. We had this conversation a very longtime ago!"

   "Yes, but… Legolas, it's been seven years. Do you really think she's coming back after all this time?"

   "Yes," he said forcefully.

   "But she's been gone so long! It was only 18 months last time!"

   "She wouldn't just not come back."

   "She's probably dead or something! Why else would she not have contacted you? What will you do if you get there and find out she's dead?!"

   "Follow her."

   "And you reckon she's actually worth that, do you?" A loud, stinging slap sounded throughout the stable.

   "Don't you ever insinuate that she's not!" He ran from the stable without a second glance back. Tears were welling in Fëa's eyes.

   Legolas' fury boiled within him. He may well have forgotten his love for Silva last time, but he was young and foolish then. He was married to her now, which had only secured their bond. He knew, in his heart of hearts, that she was still alive. And the underlying hurt that he'd been feeling - the one that could not be blamed on the sorrow of her being gone - told him something was wrong. He wasn't sure what it was, it may not even be to do with Silva, but he had a distinct inkling that it was.

   "Sire?" He was snapped out of his trance.

   "Yes? What is it?"

   "There is a letter for you, my lord. It is on your desk. The messenger that brought it was from the Grey Havens - it was a real messenger this time. He said it was brought to them by one of Manwë's great eagles."

   "Thank you!" He set off quickly in the direction of his office. When he got there, his heart soared at the confirmation of his guess. That fluid handwriting in which his title was written - he could picture the elegant hand writing 'Legolas Thranduillion of Mirkwood' - was so well-known to him.

   "Silvawen!" He tore the envelope open hastily and read the letter aloud to himself.

"Dear Legolas,

          I'm so sorry this has taken so long, but it really could not be helped. The Valar know about our marriage and our son. I was stripped of my powers two days after I arrived… and told I could never return to Middle Earth. Nor am I allowed to get in contact with any dweller of the Outer Lands. But Yavanna has taken pity on me. I have re-learnt most of my former abilities and am re-learning the last of them now. Metrion, Yavanna and I are trying to form some plan of escape for me to return home.

          Please can you tell my sisters what has happened, as much as you can (only Rath knows about Kemenhin, remember). Can you please also tell Arwen and Lady Galadriel. I would have them know I am well and will be back soon. Any others you feel should know, feel free to tell them also.

          Don't worry about me, nissëamin. Yavanna and Metrion are taking good care of me. We have thought up some possibilities so far, but none are possible, YET. I will be back as soon as I possibly can. I may appeal to the Valar again. It will all be in vain, but it's worth a try. Anything is worth a try if it means coming home.

'Everything's so blurry, everyone's so fake

Everybody's empty, everything is so messed up

Preoccupied without you, I cannot live at all

My whole world surrounds you, I stumble then I crawl

You could be my someone, you could be my scene

You know that I'll protect you from all of the obscene

I wonder what you're doing, imagine where you are

There's oceans in between us, but that's not very far…'

          It's not very far at all. I'll come back to you soon, nissëhon, I promise. Please do not give up on me, there is still hope.

          I love you with all my heart.

          Forever yours.

Silvawen xxx"

   Legolas began standing, but by the end, he was sitting. He was in shock. He didn't understand. Why had she been exiled from here? Why had she been forbidden from her family and friends?

   "No, don't think of the bad. She's alive. She's safe. She's as well as can be expected. And she's trying to get back home." He let it sink in, then leapt to his feet and bolted from the room, clutching the letter still. He had so many people to tell, and he had to leave for Lórien as soon as possible. That meant today.

**

   "Rath, calm down," Arian said anxiously. The four remaining sister, Kemen and Legolas were now all in Lórien. Before the sisters' arrivals, Legolas had explained everything to Kemen and shown him the letter. Now, together, they'd explained what they could to the women.

   "We should have been informed," the Light Spirit growled. "They should have told us. It's their duty. Family should have been informed."

   "There's nothing we can do now."

   "That doesn't make it any less wrong. And don't tell me to calm down. My youngest sister is being imprisoned in a place I'm pretty damn sure she doesn't consider home anymore, by people she certainly doesn't trust anymore. I'm not going to treat this lightly or pretend I don't care." Legolas was shocked at Rath's behaviour. He'd always know Rath and Silva were a lot closer than either of them would ever care to admit, but this protective, caring side of her - towards the sister she'd always claimed to be indifferent with - was something completely knew. He couldn't help but smile.

   "But Yavanna and Metrion are looking after her," said Riel. "She will get out. She's a fighter."

   "You, of all people, should know how stubborn she is, Rath," said Kemen.

   "Why though?" Riel mused, mainly to herself. "It doesn't make any sense."

   "The Valar will have their reasons and it will have been explained to Silva," said Arian. "It doesn't answer our questions, but Silva can tell us herself, when she gets back."

   "Do you have the letter with you, Legolas?" asked Nilia.

   "Er, no, sorry, I didn't think of that," he lied. "I was in such a rush to get here."

   "That's understandable," Riel said, smiling faintly.

   "Thank you for telling us, Legolas," said Rath.

   "Think nothing of it. I would have done so anyway, even had she not requested it of me. I know how worried you've been."

   "We've all felt the strain," said Kemen.

   "I just don't understand," said Riel. "What's so wrong about having an Elven lover? It's not completely breaking the rules, just bending them a bit. They never went mad at any… 'incidents' that occurred between a Maia and an Elf back home." Legolas looked nervously at his son. Kemen shrugged almost unnoticeably. Legolas looked cautiously back a the sisters.

   "Um, it's not quite as simple as that."

   "What do you mean?" Rath asked suspiciously. Kemen was unsure of what his father was about to tell them. Legolas' hand went to his throat and reached for the chain.

   "Well, um, Silva and myself… we, er… well, we sort of…" he pulled the ring out and showed them.

   "You didn't?" Nilia said, disbelievingly.

   "They did," said Kemen. "I was there."

   "And the Valar found out," said Legolas.

   "IDIOTS!!" Nilia exclaimed. "What did you go and do that for?!?!"

   "I'll have you know it was Silva that proposed to me, so don't blame me entirely!"

   "You didn't have to say yes!"

   "1) Yes, I did. Have you not seen Silva when she doesn't get her way? 2) I wanted to marry her. I wasn't going to say no simply because of a risk. And we spoke for a very long time on the matter, after the initial proposal."

   "Nilia, don't start," Rath said, irritably. "We all know you don't approve, you don't need to repeatedly tell us. Maybe they were wrong to get married, but what's done is done. Our main concern is not that. It 's her and her predicament." Legolas smiled gratefully at the ringleader of the sisters. Nilia stopped grumbling, but she made her feelings towards Legolas very clear by way of dangerous, razor sharp glares.

   "What can we do from here to her though?" queried Arian.

   "Who said anything about staying here?" said Legolas.

   "You're not seriously suggesting go there?!" Kemen said incredulously.

   "Why not? If they see us together, it might make them reconsider. And I could help her get away. Or we could stay there together."

   "It wouldn't work, Legolas," said Riel. "They'd never let you anywhere near her. The only people that will be allowed to see her will be us, and we're not allowed to go back until either summoned or our job is done."

   "But that's not good enough!"

   "Do not make the mistake of thinking you are the only one who cares for Silvawen, Teler!" Nilia spat. "We are all just as anxious as you are to get her back here, but we can't!"

   "The fact that she's got a letter to you must say something," said Kemen.

   "It does," said Riel.

   "Shows where her priorities lie," Nilia murmured spitefully.

   "Chanilia," Rath warned sternly.

   "They're getting clever-" Riel continued.

   "And crafty," added Arian.

   "-which means they're getting to the stage where they can stop making plans and start taking action."

   "The letter did say they had several plans…" Legolas said slowly.

   "There you go then. It's just a matter of time."