It was early morning in the palace, Illiendal, Legolas and Cield all asleep, Elrond and Mithrandir monitoring Cield, the twins playing cards, Thranduil giggling and Landion screaming.
"Get me down! Someone!" Landion yelled. He dared not attempt himself; the boiling water was still at a horribly hot temperature.
"Oh, father! Let me help you!" Thranduil was smiling. It was a pleasant sight, to him. Thranduil's mother-in-law watched in horror as Thranduil did a carefree job of untying his father-in-law.
"You! You did this, didn't you? I knew you where a horrid father, I knew you where still that… that… happy-go-lucky spoilt prince! Well, I know just what to do with you. I'm calling child service! They will know just what to do with your elflings to ensure they don't grow up like you." Landion stormed off, and Thranduil burst into laughter. He did not believe that child service would be able to take away his elflings; after all, he was king.
But sure enough in five minutes Landion was back, and with him three elves, all from child service. Thranduil stopped laughing when he noticed the serious looks on their faces.
"Sir! We caught the elf that has been stealing gold from the palace for years! What shall we do with him, sir? We have him in the dungeons." A guard said, running up to Thranduil before noticing Thranduil was preoccupied with the child service.
"I do not have time, deal him in whatever way you think will suit him best… Now, what do I need to do to prove I am a worthy father?" Thranduil asked. One male elf, apparently the youngest elf of the three, came forward to talk to the king.
"We would like to see your children, sir." He said. Thranduil lead the three and Landion to Legolas' bedroom.
"This is Legolas, he is my youngest child. Do you need him to be awake?" Thranduil asked in a quiet voice, not wanting to wake Legolas if he did not have to.
"Yes, it might be easier with him awake." The youngest elf said.
Thranduil walked over to Legolas' bed and knelt down. He rubbed Legolas on his back and told him softly to wake up.
"Ada… I want to sleep…" Legolas yawned, blinking and looking at his father, who looked worried.
"Legolas, you need to wake up. These three elves are here to see if I am a good ada, and if they think I am not, then I could loose you." Thranduil whispered. Legolas frowned.
"But why do they care if you are a good ada? You're not their ada. It should be me who cares. And I think you are a good ada, very good." Legolas said. Thranduil sighed and kissed Legolas on his cheek.
"Lets hope they think the same… Now go over there, and listen to whatever they say." Thranduil said. Legolas jumped out of bed and slowly walked over to the three elves. The youngest elf bent down so he could be eye level with the little prince.
"So, you are Legolas?"
"Yep."
"And this is your ada."
"Yep."
"What do you think of your ada?"
"He's a good ada, he's busy sometimes and sometimes he punishes me because I am bad but he plays with me sometimes too. Fun games." Legolas said.
"Alright. When he is busy, who takes care of you?"
"My nana. But she's gone now." Legolas said sadly. The elf sighed.
"How does ada punish you?"
"It depends. He usually takes my toys away, and gives them back when he says I learnt my lesson, he hit my bum a few times before because I was very bad and sometimes he sends me to my room." Legolas said.
"Okay, so what games do you play with ada?"
"Well, sometimes we play with my toy soldiers, or my ada rides his horse with me, or we walk in the forest, or we pretend that ada is a big scary monster and I am defeating him, and sometimes we play hide and seek, and sometimes we play chase, and sometimes… We play lots of games." Legolas said. The elf nodded.
"Legolas, would you take off your tunic for us? We need to make sure you don't have any injuries." Thranduil flinched at those words; he had a bad feeling that Cield was not going to pass easily with his horrid burnt legs.
Legolas did as he was told, and every scratch the child service elves found, Legolas explained how he got them.
"That one I got on a tree… That one I got when I fell off my bed. My brother did that one, but I forgave him…" Legolas explained.
"Alright, Thranduil, may we see the next child?" The elf asked kindly. Legolas was well cared for.
Thranduil brought them to Illiendal's room. Illiendal was asleep, and beside her was little Figwit, curled in a ball. The twins where on the floor playing cards. Elladan looked up when he noticed the elves had entered. He smiled at Thranduil, for Elladan had heard Landion scream and was quite impressed with the reaction.
"Boys, could you leave? You may return after." Thranduil said. The twins jumped up and left the room, bringing their card game with them.
"This is my daughter, Illiendal. The elfling is a visitor of Imladris, his name is Melpomaen, I believe. He was brought here with the healers of Imladris who came, I do not know why." Thranduil said, walking over to his daughter and tapping her on his shoulder.
"Illiendal, wake up. Dear…" Thranduil whispered. Illiendal's vision focused and she immediately noticed the other elves in the room.
"Ada, who are they?" Illiendal asked, sitting up, carefully avoiding Figwit.
"Child service, Illiendal, they want to see you and your siblings to make sure you are in good care." Thranduil said softly, Illiendal letting out a quiet gasp. Illiendal walked over to them.
"Princess Illiendal, tell us what you think of your father." One elf, a lady elf this time, asked.
"My father is wonderful, he is often busy because of his duties, but he cares for me and all of my siblings. Please don't take us away from him, he loves us and we love him very much." Illiendal said, wanting to give her father a hug, afraid she would not be allowed to see him ever again.
"When he is busy, what do you and your siblings do?"
"We all mind our own business, aside from Legolas of course. I usually go to see Legolas or I will go to the gardens to read or just think. My brother Tonus goes to town, and Cield often goes to town as well to see she-elves." Illiendal said.
"Alright. What does your father do to discipline you and your siblings?"
"Adar has a quick temper but he is never rough on us. Whatever he does to punish us always deserves. At the worse, he slaps us, but he is fairly gentle when he does so." Illiendal explained. The elves were done with the princess, and now they wanted to see Cield.
Thranduil was hesitant as he opened the door to Cield's chambers. There were many gasps when they saw the injuries on Cield.
"Ada… who are these people? Make them leave." Cield moaned. Thranduil did not like the fact that the elves of child service began to scribble down notes of what Cield said.
"Cield, these elves are from child service, they are here to… Talk to you. Don't be alarmed." Thranduil said, approaching his son and carefully sitting him up, using pillows to keep his son up.
"What is this about? If this concerns my burns, Elrond can explain it all." Cield said.
"Yes, this does concern your burns. How did you receive them?" The younger elf asked. Cield groaned and gave the three elves a brief account on what happened to him.
"It's not my father's fault, if that's what you're getting on." Cield said, crossing his arms across his chest to make a point.
"Hm, alright, we cannot make a decision without seeing your eldest, Thranduil… If you would please bring us to him." The young elf said. Thranduil nodded, but to Thranduil's surprise he could not find Tonus. Thranduil decided he would take a shortcut to the throne room, passing the dungeons. As he entered, the same guard who had informed him on the capturing of the gold thief ran up to him.
"My lord, have you come to see the prisoner? I would like it if you would, we where scared to punish him properly without your permission, so we just put him to work, he is weeding that awful part of the gardens, no one's wanted to do that job." The guard said.
"Oh fine, whilst we are down here we may see this guard, perhaps I will find Tonus around where he is in the gardens." Thranduil said, following the guard and the three elves from child service followed him.
"He's there, sir." The elven guard said softly. Thranduil looked ahead. The elf was yanking out the weeds with his bare hands, which by now where dirty and bloody. As Thranduil approached, he noticed the tunic the elf wore was familiar. Perhaps the elf had not only stolen gold, but some clothing, too. But his hair was familiar, as well. It was Tonus' length, not as long as most elves kept their hair, barely above his shoulders, but still lovely. Thranduil put his hand out and touched the elf on his shoulder. It felt familiar, too! The shoulder was strapping, not very common for burglars. And despite the ugliness of his tunic, it was soft.
"So, after four years of theft you have finally been caught." Thranduil said. He noticed the elf began to quiver.
"I'm sorry. I should have asked to just borrow. My hands are sore… Please, let the guards free me… I've learnt my lesson." Tonus whispered. Thranduil yanked his hand away and fell to his knees, turning the elf around to be face to face with Tonus.
"You…? Guards! You arrested your crown prince! You should be here, pulling these weeds out with bare hands, not my son! In fact, get down here, and start weeding!" Thranduil pulled Tonus to his feet, and turned to face the guard who had caught Tonus and grabbed him by his wrist. The guard looked up at Thranduil enraged face with his own fearful face.
"Y-yes sir… S-sorry sir… N-never again sir-
"Get to work or you will loose your job!" Thranduil wanted to stomp on the ground and complain about how unfair his life was like a little elfling.
"This is where we find your eldest? Being treated like a commoner? Thranduil, you have been doing fine until I saw Cield, but even after seeing him I still thought I could allow you to keep custody of your children… But this, this I cannot allow." The younger elf said, looking sadly at the king who looked like he was about to break down when he heard those words.
"You can't take them away! They are my children! I've just lost the only women I ever loved… Don't, please, I need these children!" Thranduil looked at Tonus with watery eyes
"Don't separate us from our father, please… This was a misunderstanding, honestly, he treats us well and he would not have allowed this to happen if he had not been so busy giving you three a tour!" Tonus said, ready to fall to his knees and beg to stay with his father.
"…He…He is a fairly good father… I should not have called upon you three. I only did to punish him, to worry him that he would never see his children again. Let him go, I know him well, this is not what normally would happen to his children, it's just a bad time for everyone, after Aldaril's death." Landion spoke up. The three elves looked curiously at Landion, before looking at Thranduil.
"Alright, we will let you keep your children, but be careful, your two eldest sons are injured bad enough to be taken away." The elf that had not spoken yet said. Thranduil sighed with relief as the elves left, before looking at Landion.
"You helped me. You made it so I could keep my children, if you had not spoken I would have lost everything I ever loved in life. Why?" Thranduil asked.
"I could not see the children be taken away from you… They would not survive… And Aldaril would hate me for it, she loved you so much, more than any man in middle-earth… Somewhere in me I always thought you where a worthy man for my daughter, and… You are." Landion said, gasping as Thranduil grabbed him into an embrace.
"I have not received an embrace from you since you told me of your bonding to my daughter." Landion said.
"Thank you… Now Tonus, come with me, I want to wash your hands and put some salve on that so that your hands will heal with ease." Thranduil brought his son inside to Tonus' chambers, where he did as he said he would. Tonus let Thranduil handle his hands, and Thranduil was as gentle as he could be when he bandaged them.
"I'm so sorry Tonus, if I had not been dealing with the three elves from child service, I would have been there and you would not have been mistaken for a commoner, although I want to know, and Tonus if you lie I will find out on my own and it will not go well on your behalf, where you really stealing gold from me?"
Tonus fidgeted around before sighing.
"Aye, I was. I had my eye on something in the town market but I could not afford it, so I was planning on taking money from you. I was going to try and earn it back, and replace it." Tonus said. Thranduil sighed.
"Tonus, you know you could have just told me about it and I might have bought it for you myself. What is it you wanted?"
"Um… It was a dog bed, some new pillows and a quilt, it is nearing winter and it is getting colder and I am certain my bed could use a few more pillows." Tonus said.
"A dog bed? You do not have a dog, Tonus. Do not tell me you have been hiding one from me." Thranduil arched an eyebrow.
"No, I have not. I wanted to get Cield a puppy; there is a she-elf in town that says her dog is soon to be giving birth and she said she would give me one for a small price." Tonus said. He had not really planned on buying Cield a dog or a dog bed, but if he said he wanted a bed for an elfling Thranduil would surly suspect something.
"And what is the price of the dog itself?"
"The she-elf says she needs a bed for her son, and she says she cannot afford one. She said if I could, she would appreciate a bed big enough for a child of seven to have for years to come." Tonus lied. Maybe that would get Thranduil to give him the money for a bed, and some extra so his wife and children could have some food, some days Yáviel and Florien went without food because of poverty.
"Tonus, that is an overpriced dog. I am certain a man in lake town would sell you a dog for much, much less." Thranduil said. Tonus shrugged.
"I know, but adar, this family selling the dog seems so poor, I pity them so. They need money, and at least we would be getting something for our money. Please Adar, they are my people, your people too, they need help living. And Cield could use some cheering up, no? I think he would love to get a dog, wouldn't that make him happy?" Tonus asked. Thranduil sighed and gave Tonus a squeeze.
"Very kind of you, Tonus, to think of your brother… Alright, I will allow this, only for your brother's sake." Thranduil kissed his son on his brow before bringing him to his chambers.
"Do you recall the times where you would hurt your brother, so I would take away your allowance?" Thranduil asked as he found a key he needed.
"Aye." Tonus said, recalling the memories.
"I never used it for myself, I did not have the heart to, in my mind it always was yours… So I kept it in here. I wanted to give it to you one day, I don't know why, it's not much, but it is surly enough to buy a bed for a child. I will not give you gold for new blankets or a dog bed, for one you still need discipline and for another I'm certain Cield would be more than happy to allow the dog on his bed." Thranduil said, dropping coins into a sack and attaching that sack to Tonus' belt.
"Cield will love the surprise, he is in need or some cheering up. Do not leave to buy the dog yet, I wish that everyone is present to bid farewell to our guests, they have helped us very much during these difficult times." Thranduil said. Tonus nodded.
A few hours later, everyone was up, fed and prepared to bid farewell to the Rivendell guests. Illiendal did not want Elladan, Elrohir or little Figwit to leave; she was close to them all. Legolas did not want the twins to leave, either; they were nice and played with Legolas. Cield could not care less, and Tonus was glad that they where leaving, less people to find out about Florien.
"Thank you, all of you, for coming. We needed your help and you all have been wonderful during your stay." Thranduil said to his guests.
"If ever you need us Thranduil, send message and we will come as fast as we can. You know that." Elrond said quietly to Thranduil.
"I know that Elrond. But we will be fine, for long enough. Gandalf says he will still be staying. But the children might miss having the twins around, Illiendal will and so will Legolas, that I have no doubt it. Oh, and before you leave, what of my son's states?" Thranduil looked over at Cield, who had been carried out of his bedchambers and sat on two chairs, one supporting his legs.
"I cannot tell, mellon-nin. Gandalf has promised to monitor his legs, Gandalf will know what to do if something goes wrong, and he also knows what medicine to give Cield. Just so you know, he needs salve applied twice a day, he must drink Minuvor to keep up his strength, he has some exercises to get strength back in his legs and he has a special brew to eat to heal faster, he despises it." Elrond said quietly.
"Bye Elladan, Elrohir." Illiendal gave Elrohir a tight hug, then Elladan. But she gave Elladan a kiss, too, which made the young peredhel blush pink.
"Take care Illiendal." Elladan said, smiling before he and his twin went to their horses.
After all the elves had been bid farewell, including little Figwit, the elves left. Legolas was sad to watch the elves leave, but the twins promised him to return soon, they had even given him a coin to remember them by until their next visit.
Once the elves were out of sight, Tonus looked over at his father. Thranduil knew the boy wanted to go buy the dog now, so nodded his head, telling Tonus to leave. Tonus understood and left to town, thinking the puppies had not yet been born but hopeful that they may have just been born in his absence.
To be continued…
Melannen Amarie: I'm happy that you like it… It's one of my best… Yes, it is my best fiction I have… In my mind, it's best written, though Haldir's Here has such a cutie-pie plot. Middle of Earth school… Let's not go there, it's so hard to write! And Twins and a Greenleaf… Needs a better plot?
Brazgirl: Thranduil wont find out until Florien is like 14. But don't worry, in a few chapters Florien will drastically change from 3 to 12, and then he will change again to 14… Time can be slow or very, very fast in this story!
CapriceAnn Hedican-Kocur: There have been many new reviewers in the past few chapters and I'm impressed! Though they all have long names that I will never ever be able to remember, like yours!
Miss Telcontar: I feel bad for that guard…
Bberry06: I used to have a very old bird, his name was Coco, and he was a cockatiel… He was like, 36 years old and had belonged to my grandmother, but she had to be hospitalized so Coco came to us. He died two or three years ago. He was NOT friendly, but once he had gotten sick so he let us feed him. But when he was better he started biting again, he never bit me though. I was the first one to find out he died, whenever I would come home late at night (like, when the whole family would go out) I always made sure Coco's shadow could be seen in his cage, but one night I could not see him so I was all like "Where's coco?" expecting my parents to say something… But they went over there and prodded him, he was on the bottom of his cage, and he was dead. Buried him in the middle of a cool looking tree near the lake.
Haldir's Heart and Soul: The guard regrets not looking carefully at Tonus…
Mistopurr: I take Mary-Sue tests all the time, but still, there's always a chance of being accused by someone who would not know a Mary-sue is he walked though a pack of them… The only girl I can ever write is Illiendal without going crazy… I mean, a Lego-mance is just screaming "I WANT FLAMES" and those girl in middle-earth stories scream that too, but, I hate those kind of stories. I can't stand stories that have a female heroin, even if it's by me. So what If I'm stereotyping… I'm a girl, you know! But girl heroines… piss me off. I can't stand them! They are like germs! I'm freaking out! Ah! Talk to Tonus about adopting the bird, it is his and his wife's at the moment, but he can share.
Here comes the hockey puck: Figwit is so cool! I'd love a Figwit trading card or TOPPS card…
Karone Evertree: Yea, Tonus is not out of this one yet; he still has some explaining to do in the next chapter!
Aranna Undomiel: Figwit, Arwen's "escort"… I love Figwit! Not as much as I love Haldir and Thranduil.