When the Snow Falls Red

Chapter 24: The Undying Lands

Don't own.

-- -- -- --

Thranduil was sitting at his desk, scratching at a piece of parchment with a quill. His eyebrows were knitted in concentration. Finally, he set the quill down and leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms. There was a timid knock on his door, one that could only come from Náessë. "Come in." He called, and the door opened.

Náessë slipped into the room, and closed the door behind her. "Good evening Ada." She said, taking the chair across from his desk.

"Good evening, Náessë. Is something wrong?" He asked. She shook her head.

"I've come to talk to you about the four guards…" She trailed off. Thranduil nodded at her to go on. "Well, I don't want them to be executed, or imprisoned." She said.

"But they tried to kill Legolas…" Thranduil said, but the tone of his voice didn't show much opposition.

"But they saved our lives… more than once! Give them a royal pardon, Ada! Please!" Náessë cried out. Thranduil reached across the desk and took his daughter's hands in his.

"You will give them the royal pardon. You know better than me what happened in that cave, and you know their hearts. I want you to make the pardon; it's your right as Princess of Mirkwood." Thranduil said, looking into her eyes. Náessë looked frightened.

"But Ada… I never…"

"You can do it. I've done it enough times. It's not all that hard." He said, a hint of humor in his voice. Náessë smiled and hung her head.

"Thank you Ada."

-- -- -- --

Órelindë was dozing in her chair when she heard movement. Her eyes cleared, and she saw that Saeros was moving slightly in his bed. His eyes were open again. She stood and crossed the room to him. He opened his mouth to speak, but she shook her head.

"Don't waste your energy trying to talk just yet." Órelindë commanded. He nodded and lay back in the pillows as she checked and redressed his wounds. They were healing at a normal rate now, but he would never be the same. It made her think of Celebrian's wound that never fully healed.

A few minutes later, the doors of the Hall of Healing opened and the three other guards came into the room. When they saw that Searos was awake, they rushed to the bed side. They all started talking at once, but Órelindë wouldn't hear of it. She pushed them away from the bed.

"Hush." She told them. Searos smiled at his friends, then his eyes glazed over and he was asleep again.

"When will he be better?" Daeron asked the healer. Órelindë looked to the sleeping elf, then back to the three.

"Soon. His wounds are healing normally. Of course, the wounds will not heal completely. There will always be something there to remind him of the incidents that took place." The three elves nodded, then thanked her, and left the room.

As they were walking through the halls of the palace, they saw Prince Legolas. As he neared, they bowed. "Good afternoon, Prince Legolas." They said. Legolas smiled and returned the greeting. Daeron looked to his two friends and they nodded. He stepped forward.

"We have something to ask." He said, and paused. Legolas nodded for him to go on. "We were thinking that perhaps, if we are allowed to live, then we would like to make the journey across the seas." he said. Legolas looked surprised.

"But you are not much older than I am…" Legolas said. Daeron nodded.

"We know that, your highness." Fëanor said, stepping forward. "But life as we have seen here in Middle Earth has been exciting enough for us… and Órelindë said that Searos's wounds will never fully heal, and we made a pact when we were younger…" He trailed off. He began to absentmindedly rub the scar on his hand. Legolas noticed this, and smiled. He had heard a similar story from Thranduil, Órelindë, Finwë and Valandil.

"Let me speak with my father." Legolas said. The three elves smiled and bowed, and Legolas left them to go find Thranduil.

-- -- -- --

Legolas was turning a corner when he crashed into his sister. Náessë was looking rather excited. "Legolas! Ada is letting me give a royal pardon to the guards!" She said, grabbing his hands and nearly jumping up and down in excitement. Legolas grinned a little.

"Náessë, I just spoke with three of them. They requested, if they aren't to be executed, that they be allowed to cross the seas to the Undying Lands." Legolas told her. Her face dropped a little.

"To the Undying Lands? But why?" She asked him.

"You remember the story that Ada told us about the scar on his hand?" Legolas asked her. She nodded. "The four of them have the same thing. They want to stay together, and the Undying Lands is the best place for that."

"Oh… well… then they shall. When Searos is well, I will give them the pardon, and I will have a boat built. Yes." She looked disappointed, but Legolas knew she understood why the four guards wanted to leave Middle Earth.

-- -- -- --

Chapter 25 will be the last chapter. Sorry for the long time of no updating but I was kinda in a rut for a long time because of school and other stupid stuff. But now I'm up north on vacation and I have nothing else to do, so I'm finishing this story! Yay! Go me.

Later-

Blue September Rain