Chapter 3

King Thranduil regarded his son with a slight frown. It was a warm day, and for some obscure reason Legolas had appeared at the breakfast table dressed in a long-sleeved tunic. It looked out of place on a day when everyone else was wearing short-sleeved or sleeveless garments. Thranduil also noticed that Legolas looked as if he had not slept well last night, he was paler than usual and had dark circles underneath his eyes.

The king was about to query his son, when a messenger from one of the outlaying villages arrived, with news of yet another attack of the new breed of spiders. Thranduil forgot his concerns about Legolas, and by the time he had dealt with the messenger, the younger elf had finished his meal and left the table.

Thranduil made a mental note that he really had to speak to his son; at the moment they hardly ever seemed to spend any time talking. Legolas fulfilled the tasks given to him meticulously, and the king knew that he attended his training sessions in and out of court. What else he did with his time, Thranduil did not really know, he assumed that Legolas spent his spare time with the other elves of his own age.

As it turned out, the king's day became rather busy with a variety of tasks and minor emergencies, and by the evening, he had forgotten his concerns about his son.

-o-o-o-

Legolas had been relieved to escape his father's notice in the morning. He had slept badly, the bruising on his arms, legs and especially in his groin more painful than he cared to admit to himself or another. When he got up in the morning, he realised that the dark bruises on his wrists would inevitably result in questions, so he wore a long sleeved tunic, although, that too, had the potential to raise curiosity on a warm day in mid-summer. Fortunately, the bruising would fade quickly, in another day or two it would disappear.

The previous day, Thranduil had given Legolas his list of tasks for the day. There were a few reports of border guards to read and to evaluate, a minor dispute between two villages to settle, permissions for two bondings were requested. All of this was routine, and would not take long. There was also a training session on negotiation and some archery training time. Legolas dreaded the former and looked forward to the latter. He estimated that his time would be his own after mid-afternoon, and he intended to go for a long walk by himself in the forest, something that he often did when he felt that he needed to get away.

The young prince was working through his list of tasks when there was a knock on the door of the study he was working in.

"Enter."

Legolas looked up from the report he was working on. Much to his surprise, it was Galadhir.

"I apologise for disturbing you, Prince Legolas, but ... after yesterday, I wondered if you might be interested in some extra tuition in self-defence. I think I could teach you a few things that you may not yet have had a chance to learn ..."

At the instructor's words, Legolas blushed deeply. He really did not want to be reminded of yesterday's events. "Thank you, Galadhir, for your offer. But I do not think that it is necessary. My father has already arranged training for me in all aspects of warrior training." With those words, he looked away from the other elf, and continued to work on his paperwork.

Galadhir waited for a moment, and then silently turned to leave.

But when he had reached the door, he heard Legolas' voice. "Wait. ... I am sorry... this is a very kind offer. If you really do not mind... why would you want to do this for me?"

The young prince had got up from behind his desk and was now standing next to Galadhir. The expression of coldness and haughtiness had gone, and had left behind a very uncertain-looking young elf.

The older warrior's brown eyes locked with the prince's dark blue ones. "I think you have potential, and I also think that you could do with some extra training, perhaps a few things that no one else knows about."

Legolas' expression hardly changed at first but then a shy smile appeared. "I think I like that idea."

"When you are finished here, you can come and find my on the training range, I am off duty tonight and free to do what I please."

Legolas nodded. "Thank you. I will be there as soon as I can".

-o-o-o-

Elrond, Elrohir, Elladan and Estel were ready to set off for Mirkwood. Although he tried not to show it, Estel was quite excited about this journey. The furthest he had been away from Rivendell had been Bree, about a week's journey westwards from Imladris. He had never crossed the eastern borders of Rivendell. He had been told many things about Thranduil and his kingdom, not all of them good. He was somewhat concerned how he would be received; it was well known that Thranduil did not like mortals.

They had agreed to downplay the fact that Estel was mortal as much as possible, without overtly hiding it. So Estel was riding bareback although he normally preferred to ride with a saddle, he liked the extra balance it provided. But the young man was perfectly capable of riding without any aids, he had learned riding from elves after all. All four travellers wore similar clothing; at first glance there was little that gave Estel way as a mortal. He had the same dark, shiny hair that Elrond and the twins had, and the same silvery grey eyes. He had outgrown the awkward stage of human adolescence, and his body was slim and graceful, with no trace of facial or body hair. At the moment, young Estel could pass easily for an elf, especially to an unsuspecting observer.

They expected to be on the road between one and two weeks, depending on weather and whatever else they would encounter on the road. The first few days passed uneventfully. As they neared the mountains, the scenery around him amazed Estel. The mountains rose majestically in front of them, daunting in their stern beauty.

The four travellers needed to cross the mountains at the High Pass. Now, in the summer, this was not difficult. They would have to look out for way-laying orcs, but there would be no wolves or other dangers. As they travelled, Elrond or Elladan told Estel much of the history of the areas they were travelling through. Estel had not spent so much uninterrupted time with his family in many years, and he enjoyed every minute of it. It was warm and pleasant to travel, his normally quite busy father and brothers had time for chating and more serious conversation, and the travelling was easy.

-o-o-o-

A few days later.

Legolas had completed his tasks for the day. It had been a busy day, with a lengthy negotiation with a human delegation from a human settlement at the borders of Thranduil's realm, several reports to read, and some guests to entertain. Legolas was glad that he was now able to escape. He knew that Galadhir was waiting for him.

The novice instructor and Legolas had reached an unspoken agreement. At the end of each day, Legolas would seek out Galadhir, and they would make their way to a secluded part of the training ground. On the first day, Galadhir had tested Legolas' skills, strengths and weaknesses. He had then developed a training programme that very much focussed on developing the younger elf's weaker skills. This included hand-to-hand combat and the use of the sword.

The prince had surprised Galadhir. The young blond elf was a fine archer – that was not unexpected – and excelled in any task that required endurance. Despite only being of medium height for an elf and being very slender, Legolas was strong and had physical reserves that he probably did not even know about himself.

The instructor had also asked in detail about the training that Legolas had received so far. As he had expected, the younger elf had spent much time learning the intricacies of running a country and a court, and less time on training as a warrior. The potential of this youngster was enormous, and Galadhir had every intention of making sure that Legolas would be able to explore all his talents and skills, and to challenge him sufficiently to reach his limits.

At the moment, Galadhir was watching Legolas critically as he went through a series of moves with his sword. It was obvious from the way the prince held the sword that he felt no affinity with it. Galadhir sighed. One of Legolas' limits was sword practice - he would never make a good sword fighter. With more training he could become at least competent, possibly better. But the sword would never be his weapon of choice.

Galadhir had seen dozens, if not hundreds, of young elves go through their training, and his experience told him that for Legolas, the sword would always be a chore. Why waste time on it? Galadhir decided to leave Legolas' sword training to the royal trainers and focus on another area.

"Legolas? I think you should stop using the sword for now. I would like to show you something else." The dark haired instructor went to a bag that he had brought along. He retrieved four identical knifes. They had white, intricately carved handles and blades of a length that was shorter than a sword but longer than a standard knife. The prince stared at the weapons with wide eyes.

"They are beautiful! Where do they come from?"

"My father gave then to me before he sailed to Valinor. I have cherished them since, and they have served me well. I would like to show you how to use them. I do not believe, Legolas, that you will ever be very good with the sword. I have watched you now for several days. For everything you do, you use skill and speed; you do not rely on strength alone. You and I are much of the same build; I, too, took the decision many years ago not to focus on the use of the sword, but I became skilled with these knives instead. They are less heavy and unyielding than a sword, and you can use two at the same time. I would like to teach you how to use them, if you agree."

Legolas looked surprised and pleased. "Galadhir ... if you really would want to show me how to use these blades I would feel honoured. I have known for a long time that the sword is not my favourite weapon. Thank you for trusting me with your father's blades." And with these words, Legolas smiled. A shy, small smile that touched Galadhir deeply.

"Before we start, it might be best if you tied your hair back. I will do the same with mine. Long hair can get in the way of this type of practice."

With these words, the instructor quickly tied his dark hair into a single braid, looping the end around itself for fastening. Legolas did the same quickly.

And then Galadhir showed Legolas how to use the knives, how to make arm, foot and hand movements come together in fast fluid motions that would leave an attacker little chance to come near enough to do damage.

Legolas watched intently at the display of skill by his instructor. When Galadhir asked the younger elf to copy his movements, he found that Legolas managed to copy most of his previous move with apparent ease. The prince clearly had a talent for this type of combat, properly trained, he would do well.

That evening, time passed quickly. Both Galadhir and Legolas forgot about the evening meal, they became too involved in practising with the knives.

-o-o-o-

Thranduil's day had been long. The last task for the day that he had set himself was to find Legolas and tell him about the arrival of Elrond and his sons, and to charge him with the task of looking after the human. Thranduil had been slightly surprised not to see Legolas at the evening meal, that was fairly unusual, on most days father and son would meet at the dinner table, one of the few point in time during the day when Thranduil was not busy dealing with mater of his realm. So he decided to look for his son after the meal, and checked various places in the palace. He then went to the stables, knowing that Legolas liked the horses and often spent time there. But there was no sign of his son there, either.

The king continued to the training ground. No one in sight, but there was the sound of crossing blades from a secluded corner. This raised the king's curiosity; it was late in the day for a training session.

When he turned the corner, Thranduil was surprised to see his son and Galadhir, one of his novice instructor's practising the use of two long knives. Galadhir went through a series of movements, which Legolas repeated. Then both stopped, and Galadhir said something to Legolas, which Thranduil could not hear. The prince nodded, and carefully went through some of the motion again, until Galadhir stopped him. Neither Legolas nor Galadhir took any notice of the king; they were concentrating too hard on their training.

Thranduil was very surprised. He had not expected that Legolas and Galadhir even knew each other beyond a very casual acquaintance, but here they were training, and obviously not for the first time. Thranduil had no objections, if this was how they wanted to spend their free time, then that was up to them. Also, it would not hurt Legolas to become more skilled in the warrior arts, comparatively little time had been spent on this aspect of his training. As a prince he would always have guards, he would not need to be an outstanding warrior himself. 'Although', Thranduil thought with pride, 'my son has turned out to be an excellent archer.'

Legolas had finished going through the series of motions that Galadhir had shown him. They had stopped for a moment. Thranduil used the opportunity to step forward.

"Galadhir? I did not know you supplemented my son's training sessions." There was a question in the king's voice.

Thranduil saw a brief flicker of surprise cross over the features of the novice instructor. But Galadhir was too experienced to show that he had not noticed the king.

"I hope you do not mind, I thought I might be able to teach Legolas a few extra skills. He has much potential."

Thranduil looked at his son thoughtfully. He had never seen much warrior potential in his son, apart from his outstanding archery skills. But if Galadhir wanted to spend his time with Legolas, he would not stop him from doing so.

Thranduil smiled slightly. "If both of you wish to spent your time training, I have no objections." Legolas, who had remained silent so far, looked relieved. "Thank you, father. I enjoy training with Galadhir."

"Legolas, I need to talk to you briefly. Then you can continue here."

-o-o-o-

Later that evening, Legolas was lying in his bed, wide awake. Although he had tried not to show it, he was quite nervous about the task that his father had given him. He had met humans before, when they came as delegates or petitioners to his father's court. They were very different from elves, with their facial hair, and many of them also seemed to have hair on their bodies. Their voices were loud and their language coarse. Legolas had been taught Westron, and indeed could speak the Common language quite well, but he did not enjoy using it.

Time had such an impact on them – something that Legolas found very difficult to grasp. Within a brief twenty years or so, they would grow from infant to adult and would have their own children. No wonder that men multiplied so quickly. They died easily, too, but this did not seem to reduce their numbers very much.

Legolas knew that his knowledge of humans was limited, his father only dealt with them when absolutely necessary, and Legolas had not been taught much about them. He wondered what he would do with the young man his father had given him as a charge, and hoped that at least he did not smell. Some of the mortals who had visited his father's court had had a very distinctive unpleasant odor about them; someone had told Legolas that humans did not like to wash. Legolas sighed. He could not decide whether he found this upcoming task exciting or unpleasant. Perhaps a bit of both. With this thought, Legolas' eyes glazed over, and he went to sleep.

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