Chapter 15: Thranduil's greatest worries
Tonus walked up to the throne, and peeking behind it he was surprised to see that it was not Florien crying, it was Florien being tickled by Legolas.
"Legolas, stop bothering this little elfling at once!" Tonus said. The last thing Tonus needed was his son becoming friends with his brother. Knowing Thranduil, Tonus knew that if Thranduil found out about Florien being Legolas' friend, Thranduil would want to meet Florien's parents!
"We are just playing, Tonus! Silly Tonus, go away and let us play!" Legolas ordered, poking a finger in Florien's ribs, making Florien shriek with laughter.
"Just playing!" Florien said just before shrieking with laughter again when Legolas tickled him under his chin.
"You, elfling, need to be resting in bed if you want to be able to go home, and you Legolas should be either in bed or in proper clothes, and not running around the palace in your undershirt." Tonus said. Legolas shot a nasty glare at Tonus before storming off to get dressed.
"Ada, I had almost made a new friend and you scared him away!" Florien whined. Tonus did not reply, but he immediately noticed a red stain on Florien's tunic, on his chest.
"Oh, Florien, what is this?" Tonus asked, unlacing Florien's shirt. Luckily, only a few of the stitches had come undone.
"Elfling, you cannot move so much! Elrond told you the stitches where not staying in place very well, and now look, you will need some more. It's not so bad though I can stitch that up. Are you in pain?" Tonus asked. Florien grumbled.
"It's not that bad ada." Florien said.
"Are you sure? Use your fingers, tell me how many fingers it hurts."
"My fingers don't hurt."
"No, I mean how bad is it? 1 is not bad, 5 is a little bad and 10 is very bad." Tonus said. Florien raised seven fingers.
"Well that is painful. Come on, we will go fix that now." Tonus offered Florien his hand. Florien grumbled some more and took his father's hand.
Elrohir sighed in relief when he saw Florien enter the room.
"Elfling, I am so sorry about what my brother did to you." Elrohir said. Florien grumbled and Tonus lifted him onto the bed, laying him down and opening his tunic. Elrohir hissed when he saw the stitches that had come undone.
"Is that Elladan's fault?" Elrohir asked. Tonus shook his head no.
"It was Greenleaf's fault, he was tickling Florien." Tonus murmured. Elrohir whispered "Oh" quietly.
"Alright elfling, don't worry. I suppose we could sedate you-
"No! I just had the exact same talk with my brother. If you sedate him he will have some bad reactions because of an overdose, which for an elfling his size could prove to be lethal."
"Alright, then shall I use this herb? It will numb but he won't be put to sleep." Tonus said, holding up an injection.
"Alright, that should not do anything bad to him." Elrohir said. Florien flinched when Tonus approached him with the needle.
"Take my hand, Florien, squeeze it if it hurts." Elrohir offered his hand to the elfling since Tonus would need both hands to give his son the vaccination.
Florien took the half-elf's hand and gave him a weak smile.
"Are you ready, Florien?" Tonus asked. He hated hurting Florien.
"Yes…" Florien muttered.
"Alright, in three then. One… Two… Three." Tonus tried to be very gentle as he injected the needle near Florien's wound. Florien tensed and squeezed Elrohir's hand tightly as his father pricked him with the needle. Florien was very relieved when Tonus pulled out the needle and soon his wound was numb.
"Tell me if you feel this." Tonus said, taking a needle and gently prodding it in Florien's skin near the wound.
"No."
"Alright, that's good." Tonus mumbled, starting to stitch the wound. It was only five stitches and Tonus was quite relieved, as was Florien, when it was over.
"Now, be a good boy and don't leave this room until ada lets you. Have you had breakfast?" Tonus asked. Florien shook his head no, and his messy red hair flew everywhere as he did so, some of his red hair smacking Elrohir in his face.
"Then after breakfast we will go see nana, if Elrond says you may return home, but I believe you are well enough. But as for now, I think your hair needs brushing." Tonus took a brush off the nightstand.
"Hey, that's mine!" Elrohir said.
"Now, now, now Elrohir, your nana taught you how to share." Tonus mocked, sitting down on the bed close to his son and with gentle strokes brushed his knotted and tangled hair.
"Ow! Ada that hurts! You're pulling!" Florien whined.
"I'm sorry ion. This is why you should brush more often!" Tonus smiled, now slowly braided his son's hair into one long braid that went down Florien's back.
"There, much better." Tonus said, gently patting Florien on the top of his head.
"Yes, lots better!" The elfling giggled. He really hated having his hair braided, but he let his father braid it anyways, because Florien could tell that his ada was happy when he braided his hair. As strange as Florien found it, Florien knew for certain that Tonus enjoyed braiding his hair. Whenever Tonus would braid Florien's hair, he would smile and be as gentle as he could, having Florien on his lap with Florien's favourite toy, singing songs to his elfling whilst he did so and cuddling Florien afterwards.
Tonus lay back on the bed, and Florien looked at his father with pleading eyes. Tonus was not around much, and Florien loved cuddling and snuggling with his father. Tonus smiled.
"Come here ion." Tonus said, beaming as Florien crawled over and cuddled close to him.
"I will go get some breakfast. Will you be having anything?" Elrohir asked.
"No, nothing for me, thank you." Tonus said.
"So what will it be, elfling?" Elrohir asked.
"Strawberry tarts!" The elfling giggled. Tonus sighed.
"I suppose, just this once, you can have pie for breakfast." Tonus said softly. The elfling grinned happily as Elrohir left to get breakfast.
"Your Naneth misses you dearly." Tonus said. Florien nodded.
"I miss nana a lot, too, but I like having you around, too." Florien said. Tonus hugged his elfling close.
"Nana and I have a surprise for you, when you get home." Tonus said. Florien smiled happily.
"Breakfast." Elrohir smiled, handing the little elfling a tray of small strawberry tarts, ten tarts in total.
"That is a lot of tarts, Florien. Surly you would not miss one…" Tonus took a small tart and shoved it in his mouth.
"Ada! That was a lot to put in your mouth, nana would get mad, because nana always says to chew my food and to take little bites! You put a whole tart in your mouth!" Florien said.
"Yes, but you see ion, I am different then your nana. If the food fits in one of my hands, and these tarts do, I can put them in my mouth whole. But you, I advise, to nibble them, for I am a silly ada and I could choke if I eat like I do." Tonus said, showing his son how the tart fit in his hand.
"You have big hands, ada. You should nibble too." Florien said, nibbling at a tart.
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"Elrond, I must talk to you, alone." Thranduil said, looking around him. Gandalf had fallen asleep on a chair and Cield slept with a frown, his burnt legs still showing, making Thranduil feel even shoddier than he already did.
"Well, we can talk in here, no? Gandalf and Cield have fallen asleep." Elrond said. Thranduil nodded.
"Did you punish Tonus like you told me you would?" Elrond asked. Thranduil nodded.
"I feel so awful about it now, something inside me is telling me that he did not deserve a punishment, but I don't know why… I also found a mark on his neck. He claims he was visiting a male friend in town, but he said no names, and I know he was lying it's just that… That mark, he also said he got it from a tree branch. But I've seen marks like that before, he got it from being kissed or…" Thranduil trailed off, not wanted to say what he thought had happened to his son. He also noticed that Cield was stirring.
"Mellon-nin, Tonus is a wise gentleman, he would not go around kissing commoners, especially not kissing in the way you speak of, or kissing a man for that matter."
"But Elrond, his behaviour has changed! He is not my son anymore! He is arrogant and snappy. I think he is being abused by someone in town, and because he is usually so good-natured, I think he is allowing them to do this to him!"
"I have seen many people who have been abused and none of them ever became arrogant because of it, usually they became self-conscious." Elrond said.
"I know that but Elrond! What if he is being abused? Someone is trying to hurt my baby!" Thranduil was now a ghostly shade of white.
"Thranduil, come, we should find you somewhere to sit and talk in private. You will wake one of them, speaking so loud like that." Elrond and Thranduil went into Thranduil's bedchambers, where Thranduil sat on the edge of his bed and put his head in his hands, mumbling unintelligible words.
Elrond sat beside his friend and put a hand on Thranduil's shoulder.
"I know Tonus. I've known him since he was born-
"So have I!" Thranduil screamed at his friend. Elrond remained as calm as he was before.
"I know you have too, and I know that Tonus and you have spent more time together than I will ever spend with Tonus, but mellon-nin, Tonus is a wonderful boy and he would have told you if something was going on that hurt him." Elrond said.
"I know how wonderful my son is, but if you where his age and being abused and kissed by some townsperson would you tell your father?" Thranduil asked. Elrond thought on that for a moment before replying, "No, but I would tell my brother and he would tell my father." Elrond said.
"Elros was your twin. Tonus is not close like that to Cield. Legolas would not understand if he was told." Thranduil said.
"Thranduil, if you find more marks on Tonus, contact me, but until you find more proof I do not believe that your son was raped." Elrond said. Thranduil sighed and nodded.
"I'm going to go see Tonus." Thranduil said, standing up.
Thranduil found Tonus is Elrond's room. Tonus had been told by Elrohir that his father was coming, so Tonus moved off the bed so that it looked as if he was helping the elfling and not cuddling with the elfling.
"Tonus, would you come with me to your room, please?" Thranduil asked. Tonus looked over at Elrohir, and the twin knew at once that his friend wanted him to watch Florien.
"Yes adar." Tonus said, following his father out of the room and into his bedroom. Tonus entered first and then Thranduil entered, shutting the door behind him.
"What is going on, adar?" Tonus asked.
"Take off your tunic." Thranduil ordered.
"Why?" Tonus asked.
"Do as I say." Thranduil ordered. Tonus grumbled and removed the ugly grey tunic. Thranduil put his hands on his son's shoulders and observed his son's torso and abdomen, searching for any more marks alike the one on his neck. Thranduil turned Tonus around and checked his back. Thranduil found one cut that showed on Tonus' hip and went further down, the rest hidden by Tonus' leggings.
"How did you get this?" Thranduil asked as he pointed to the cut, expecting a lie.
"Oh, it's just a scratch ada. Nothing to worry over." Tonus said.
"A scratch? Tell me, who would scratch you on your hip?" Thranduil arched an eyebrow. Tonus felt awful about what he was about to say, but he did not want his father to know that he had been cut by a pathetic goblin when he was going to town, his father would probably be ashamed that he was so easily injured by such a weak being.
"Legolas was playing with my knife that I had left carelessly on my bed unsheathed," Tonus began, trying to make it sound as if he was a bit guilty, knowing Legolas would get in trouble, "And when I tried to get close to stop him, he cut me. It was not done on purpose, I could tell that."
Thranduil looked at his son. He had a feeling this was a lie, but he wanted to believe Tonus so much. Tonus had already gotten into trouble that day, and he still felt bad about it when he looked at Tonus in the ugly clothing of a commoner.
"Tonus, may I see the rest of the wound?" Thranduil asked hesitantly, for if what he thought was happening to Tonus was true, Tonus would probably feel abused by what Thranduil was asking. Tonus sighed and nodded, pulling down his leggings low enough for his father to see the wound and nothing more.
"Is it sore?" Thranduil asked. The wound was not as bad as Thranduil had thought it was, and it could very possibly be done by an elfling, or a clumsy goblin. But now Thranduil believed it was by Legolas.
"Alright ion-nin, that is all." Thranduil said. Tonus pulled his grey tunic over his head and was about to leave when Thranduil called him back.
"Wait Tonus, that's not all." Thranduil said. Tonus turned around and walked back to his father.
"You are mad at me, aren't you?" Thranduil asked. Tonus did not answer, so Thranduil gently held his chin, raising Tonus' head so that Tonus would be looking him in the eyes.
"Yes, I am." Tonus whispered. Thranduil sighed; this came as no surprise.
"I love you Tonus, I want you to know that. I only punished you because I want you safe and I want you to learn not to leave without my permission. You know very well what happened to your Naneth and you know that it could have been you and Legolas also, and it would have been Legolas too if it where not for you, but I cannot risk your life by letting you out so late." Thranduil said, kissing Tonus on his cheek. Tonus nodded and gave his father a smile, returning the kiss. Thranduil pulled his son in an embrace, and then heard his son whimper.
Thranduil let go immediately, about to panic.
"Where are you hurt?" Thranduil asked, quickly untying the strings to his son's tunic.
"I'm fine." Tonus gasped when Thranduil touched his torso.
"What happened?" Thranduil asked.
"Nothing, I'm fine- Oh!" Tonus winced when Thranduil pushed on his chest.
"Answer me," Thranduil ordered strictly, and then added, "Please, I want to help you."
"I fell off my bed." Tonus lied. Yáviel had bruised Tonus; of course it was not intentional.
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Cield had waked up suddenly, which woke up Gandalf. Elrond walked over to Cield's bedside and sighed; this was not going to be an easy task.
"Cield?"
"Yes, sir?" Cield looked up at Elrond.
"The burns have damaged your muscles and you came very close to loosing your legs in that fire." Elrond said. Cield nodded.
"I know."
"Well, you must do some exercises so that when you are better you will still be able to use your legs." Elrond said.
"What do you mean by that?"
"If you do not use your legs, you will loose your ability to use them, you will not be able to move your legs at all." Elrond said.
"So what do I have to do? Is it going to hurt?" Cield asked.
"Today I will just help you walk onto your balcony, and back to bed. Yes, it will most probably hurt." Elrond said. Cield let out a quiet whimper.
Elrond helped Cield stand up, which was quite embarrassing for Cield when the blankets fell off (he had not been dressed yet, after all), and Cield had let out a scream when he stood. His legs could not hold him up and Cield would have painfully fallen to the ground if Elrond had not caught him.
"Cield, even if you fall we are going to do this." Elrond put Cield on his feet again. Cield had bare feet, and the floor was cold, and standing was painful. And Gandalf was watching; the old wizard was look at Cield's legs that had been burnt black with sadness in his eyes.
Cield screamed continuously as they walked to the balcony. By now, Glorfindel had came into the room, for with all the screaming he had heard Glorfindel was certain that a Balrog or something even more fierce had entered.
"No, not on the balcony." Cield pleaded as Elrond opened the door.
"Cield, this was the plan, and you are going to do this."
"No!" Cield released the healer's arm and tried to run away, but after only a few feet he fell to the ground, screaming in pain.
Elrond knelt down beside Cield, panic clearly showing on his face.
"Now, we have to do that again." Elrond said coolly, much to Glorfindel's surprise as Elrond looked like he would go berserk with worry.
"No. I'm not going on my balcony naked." Cield said.
"If you had just told me why before, I would have put something around you."
"Please, can we… Stop… Now? We can continue later, I need to rest, I hurt…" Cield whimpered. Cield barely realised that he clutched Glorfindel's hand and was squeezing it tightly in pain.
"I know Thranduil would agree, I think you should let him rest." Glorfindel said, looking down at the prince who had shut his eyes tightly, still embarrassed that he lay naked on the floor and in half as much pain as he had been in when he was burning in the fire.
"Alright, but we will continue later." Elrond said, about to lift Cield but Gandalf muttered some words under his breath, which made Cield's weak body raise from the ground and gently fall on the bed.
Glorfindel held Cield's hand tightly with one hand as he covered Cield with blankets leaving only Cield's burnt legs visible. When Cield did not cease crying, Glorfindel began to sing an old elvish lullaby to him, one that Glorfindel had heard in Gondolin all those years back.
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"Alright…" Thranduil said, walking over to a chest nearby and opening it. Tonus dreamed of being a great healer, and he kept medical supplies in his room in that chest. Thranduil grabbed some things and mixed them together in a bowl. Tonus watched; he had never made any medicine like that before, maybe his father would teach him later on.
Thranduil brought the bowl over to Tonus, and told him to lie down on the bed on his back. Tonus obeyed. Thranduil rubbed the now green medicine on his son's chest, and Tonus hissed in agony.
"Ada, you are pushing far too hard on my chest and that medicine burns!" Tonus whined.
"The burning feeling will only last a few minutes and then the medicine will start to work. Your bruise will heal in less than an hour and you will be in no pain while it heals." Thranduil said.
"How do you know all that ada?"
"I had a life before I was king, you know." Thranduil smiled, getting a smile back from his son.
"I know you did ada, pardon me for saying-
"Ion-nin, you said nothing wrong and you need no forgiving." Thranduil said. Tonus smiled and nodded.
"The burning has stopped, it feels much better. Hannon-le ada." Tonus said.
Thranduil ruffled his eldest son's hair, messing it very much.
"I love you Adar, I am sorry I disobeyed you and left." Tonus said. Thranduil got onto the bed and pulled Tonus close to him. Tonus snuggled up against his father. Tonus missed being treated like an elfling, and it was less embarrassing since no one could see except his father.
"Tonusalion Veryan Thranduilion, my little elfling, what am I to do with you…" Thranduil murmured, kissing the top of Tonus' head of golden hair.
To be continued…
I hinted a reason why Tonus might not want to tell Thranduil in this chapter.
Laer4572: Legolas baby book? What's that? Oh you want to see the twins get in trouble when they aren't trying? See the 17th chapter I just wrote! Well I suppose they did try to a bit but oh well you will see when it's posted.
Rainbow Fish: I wish it was hot here but no we get stuck with that season called winter!
Haldir's Heart and Soul: I'm trying to think of something really big to be why Tonus is not telling, but I did hint to a reason why Tonus is not saying, it's because Tonus is -------… I'm not telling, you will have to find the word in this story somewhere!
Karone Evertree: Oh, I'm glad that your glad it will make the story longer, I was afraid to tell you that it would be a while because then you could have said that you'd stop reading and that would make me sad. When I had just started writing at fan fiction, the biggest story I had ever written was 9 chapters and about two pages a chapter! How sad is that? I feel ashamed every time I read it; it sucked so badly! All my old stories sucked, but now I am quite happy when I read them. But really, they were shameful! Plots that contain Mary-Sues falling for the hottie elves and plots with girls falling into middle earth where so much better than my old story plots! But now I've gotten better… Right?
Mistopurr: Tonus is under a lot of stress but he's afraid of showing it, especially around his elflings.
Here comes the hockey puck: I have a hat? Wow. Oh yes, I do, but I don't know how you know that. I do feel bad that Florien got hit…