For those who are wondering, you do know Caranar from previously in the story. He was the Elf who had informed Thranduil of his son's death at the beginning.
Caranar stopped and looked hard at Legolas, his silver eyes not missing a single detail as they passed over the Prince's face. "I yeni ne blung." (The years were heavy). He said at last, absentmindedly flicking back a stray lock of his silvery hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. "Namarie. Nailmet u-enquettar, Thranduilion. I nore quelle Valinoreva lina si i mornieva" (Farewell. May it be that we shall not speak again, son of Thranduil. The fading people of valinor sing now of the darkness.) Then he stood, and, placing his clenched fist over his heart, bowed before vanishing into the trees beside the path.
"Namarie, Caranar Tindomeldarion." (Farewell, Caranar son of Elven Twilight) Legolas called after him, though Caranar showed no sign of hearing it. Thranduilion sighed defeatedly.
"Let's go." He said, spinning on his heel and walking back from where they had come. Melannen followed suit. Though Aerin stayed rooted to the spot, staring blankly at where Caranar had gone into the forest. Legolas looked back, "Aerin Lailassiel!"
His sharp voice seemed to shake her from her stupor and she hurried after them, casting occasional glances back over her shoulder.
"Adar?"
"What is it Aerin?"
"Caranar said you were —."
"Nevermind what he said." Legolas stated bluntly, picking up his pace.
"But he said —."
Melannen stepped forward. "Lailassiel, the Elf had gone mad in despair, what he said has no meaning."
The young elfling made to protest, but her mother silenced her with a sharp hand gesture. She walked behind them, staring at the ground and thinking hard about what the strange Elf had said, though she could make no sense from it.
John Hall wrung his hands nervously, stepping up to the door. How hard could it be? He asked himself. He glanced uneasily at the strangely carved knocker in front of him, relieved to see a more modern doorbell beside the door. He reached up to ring it, but the door opened before his hand even touched the small, rectangular button.
The man that looked down at him made his knees tremble. John swallowed hard, trying to get rid of the feeling that whoever, or whatever, it was that was standing there was not human.
"Who are you?" His voice was like soft thunder. John shuddered.
"I – I am – I am John Hall. Does Amy live here?" he stammered.
The man snickered. "Are you frightened?"
Hell yes! John did not voice the thought aloud. "I was supposed to take Amy to the — uh." he gulped. When his friends had told him that they had found him a perfect match, he had not expected her family to be aliens. He could not complete the thought, because the tall blonde suddenly began cursing in so many languages, John would have blushed had he not been so damn scared.
Legolas tried to hold back another smirk, it did not seem all that long ago that the mortals would have been honored by his presence. "Go home, Earthling, or take me to your leader."
John paled until he looked like death. Then he ran. Legolas stepped back inside, only to see Aerin barreling down the stairs. She took one glance over his shoulder at the retreating mortal and growled at him. "Adar that wasn't funny!"
Legolas grinned. "Your . . . er, friend found it quite amusing." He took on a more serious tone. "Anyway, Aerin, I thought you knew well enough to stay out of the business of mortals."
"Oh, Adar, it was only a bit of fun."
"A bit of fun?" He asked softly. "Aerin, a bit of fun can lead to a whole lot of trouble."
His daughter glared at him, though Legolas did not budge. "You never took a risk in your entire life! You and naneth have had the perfect life, nothing ever went wrong! You don't understand what it feels like to be trapped when the world seems to be spinning out of control beneath your feet!" Aerin stopped ranting for a moment and looked up at her father. His face was an expressionless mask and his normally emotional eyes were unreadable. They had always bickered, so much that it had become almost part of her expected day. Though, despite what it seemed, he had never in her entire life been truly angry at her. Or anyone, for that matter. She suddenly realized that she had touched something that should not have been tampered with, that should have been left dormant. Aerin realized she had roused the sleeping beast inside of a normally even tempered Elf. She bit her tongue.
"Alright. You want to know the truth?" he purred, she nodded hesitantly. He smiled, but it was not her adar behind the feral eyes. Instead it was the King.
Author's note: It's been a while since I last updated, so here you go. For the second part of this chapter, Aerin is around fifteen or sixteen. (Or the elvish equivalent of) I just want to make it clear that Legolas would NEVER hurt his daughter, despite his little crazy mental thingy here at the end of the chapter. Reviews are MUCH appreciated (as always!), they tend to make my days remotely interesting :). I hope you liked it.
