The Seven Seeing Stones

Author's Note:
Thank you very much to those of you who reviewed, it fills me with great joy to read your kind words. I can only hope the story continues to live up to your expectations and that you continue to enjoy reading it.

Two
Celeborn

In the hidden depths of Lothlorien, far from where the Elves who had once dwelled there had lived, the silver blond Elf Lord sat with his back to a sturdy tree. In its high branches was the talan in which he had lived for the many years since his wife had gone over the sea. He had not been ready to leave yet and even as all the other Elves departed he was still not ready to go. Something was keeping him here and that something was a promise he had made to a friend, why he made that promise though still baffled him somewhat. Sadly he was also doing very little to ease these uncertainties by sitting alone in the forest but lately he couldn't seem to bring himself to leave.

His eyelids were just beginning to grow heavy as he contemplated an afternoon nap when the stillness of the forest was broken. Twigs and small branches were snapping loudly not too far away and as he turned towards the source his sensitive hearing picked up the sound of muffled hoof falls.

He stood slowly and brushed a few leaves that clung to his silvery robes off, watching distractedly as they fluttered to the ground. He took a few tentative steps forward, tilting his head one way and then the other to see beyond the trees clustered closely together. He was unarmed which many would have said was foolish in these times as any Elves still left in Middle Earth were always regarded with suspicion and not always treated in the most friendly of manners.

Finally through the trees he was able to pick out a tall black stallion, plodding along in absolute exhaustion, with a limp rider draped along its back and neck. The horse's mane and a black cloth, which seemed to be wound mostly over the left side of his head, obscured the rider's face. Blond hair spilt out from beneath the black and down the back of his green tunic. Mirkwood, was the first thought that the tunic's colour brought to Celeborn's mind, which meant the unexpected rider had to be an Elf and there were no Mirkwood Elves left except for Thranduil's son.

The horse finally stumbled into the clearing and stopped, leaning its great weight against a large tree. Celeborn approached it quickly and finally knew the extent of the poor beast's exhaustion when it did not rear or make any sound of protest as he drew up next to it.

"Legolas?" He asked cautiously as he placed a hand lightly on the other Elf's back.

Legolas did not stir but now that he was beside him Celeborn was sure that it was Thranduil's son and that there must be a reason for him to be in such a condition.

Carefully he lifted the Elf from the horse's back and lowered him softly to the ground. As he did the ball of purple cloth and the stone it contained fell from Legolas' arms where he had been clutching it to his chest. It rolled a few paces until it bumped up against the base of a small tree, leaving a trail of cloth behind it exposing a tiny amount of its shinny surface.

"That's interesting…" Celeborn whispered, more to himself than to the unconscious Elf in his arms.

The Palantir could be dealt with later, for the moment Celeborn was far more concerned with the horrific injuries that were now apparent on Legolas' body. He quickly plucked up the trail of purple cloth and threw it back over the stone sphere, you never knew who could be watching.

He shifted the Elf in his lap so that he was on his back and Celeborn was better able to examine Legolas' exposed chest. He cringed at the injuries marring the Prince's well-muscled torso. They were blistered and red and the deepest one that ran diagonally down his chest looked to be infected and would need to be cleaned immediately.

So before he even removed the cloaked tied about his head to see why Legolas had secured it there, Celeborn laid the Elf down on the soft moss that covered these parts of the forest and climbed quickly up to his talan to retrieve his small supply of medicines. He leapt gracefully back down to the forest floor and noted strangely that the birds that had been singing so fluently before had fallen silent.

He knelt beside Legolas' unconscious form and began cleaning out each of the burns with a pale green ointment. The muscles beneath his fingers twitched slightly and then the entire body began to shift slightly. He knew Legolas was waking up and so hurried to finish the cleaning, as it would only sting the Elf once he was conscious. A soft hiss slipped past Legolas' lips and Celeborn placed a soothing hand over the other Elf's forehead to keep him calm.

"Shhh Legolas. You are safe my friend, I'm treating your wounds and as you know the salve can sting quite a bit when the wounds are deep as yours."

Legolas' lower lips trembled slightly as he slowly nodded his head and tried to remain still. For all Celeborn had said to calm him it was not the wounds he was treating that were causing him discomfort, he in fact could no longer feel them. It was the left half of his face that was causing his lip to quiver, his muscles to tense and sweat to break out over his body.

The change in the Elf's condition did not escape Celeborn but he kept his focus on treating the wounds on Legolas' chest and belly. Once they were clean he rubbed a white cream into them to help fight off infection and then wrapped clean white bandages around the Elf's torso before he buttoned up the Elf's tunics.

Legolas struggled to bring his mind to the surface of consciousness; it was as though he were at the bottom of some great dark lake and struggling slowly against the unyielding water to its surface. He felt hands upon him but even without being able to see to whom they belonged he knew they were gentle, healing hands that would do him no harm.

Finally he managed to lift his heavy eyelid of his right eye but all he could see was a blurred image of a face framed by long slivery locks. He tried to focus the image before his eye but it took a few moments for him to realise the figure hovering over him was in fact Celeborn. He sighed in relief, knowing he would be safe in the other Elf's care and that Celeborn was a very able healer and would do his best to see him well again.

"Ok Legolas. You need to keep the wounds clean, they will heal on their own but they will scar."

Legolas whispered a small thanks as best he could through swollen lips before the turned his whole body sharply to the left, away from Celeborn, and vomited. Celeborn offered a comforting hand upon the other Elf's back as Legolas continued to retch, even though he had little left to bring up.

Finally he lay back on his back and Celeborn took a damp cloth to his lips to wipe away and traces of his expelled stomach contents. Legolas hissed in pain as the cloth rasped over his swollen lips and it was then that Celeborn noticed how swollen they really were. They would heal given time but they certainly looked like they had suffered some incredible trauma recently.

He moved up closer to Legolas' head and began to slowly free one end of the black cloak. He then carefully wound it from the Elf's face, taking extreme care when he got down to the parts of the cloth that were touching his skin. As he began to pull the last parts off Legolas whimpered in pain and Celeborn gasped in horror as he realized some of Legolas' skin was coming off with the black cloak.

Legolas cried out in pain and wrenched his head away from the other Elf. His breath quickened and his right eye was wide and the pupil dilated. Celeborn placed a soothing hand to the Elf's shoulder and tried to lay him back down but Legolas was in a state of panic and pulled sharply away from Celeborn.

"Legolas, I am not going to harm you." Celeborn hushed gently as he cautiously approached the frightened Elf. "You have come here for me to help you I'm sure and that is what I'm going to do, but you have to let me."

Legolas' right eye darted from left to right, searching for an escape and yet when it looked to Celeborn in its depth he could see a silent cry for help, to make the pain go away, to heal him.

Just as Celeborn was beginning to worry that Legolas was seriously going to bolt the Elven Lord watched on in despair as the blond Elf's eyes slowly rolled backwards into his skull and his body seemed to give way beneath him. He crumpled into a lifeless heap on the moss-covered ground and Celeborn rushed to his side, scooping the Elf's head carefully into his lap.

He straightened Legolas' body out as best he could and carefully felt for a pulse. He found one, though it was weak, and then placed an ear to Legolas' heat swollen lips to check for breathing. Celeborn was able to sigh in great relief as he felt Legolas' warm breath blowing against his ear.

He lowered the Elf's head to the ground and sat back on his haunches to contemplate what was best to do. He had to get the black cloak off his face either way he saw it and now that Legolas had fallen unconscious once again it seemed to be the perfect time to do so.

Carefully he took up the loose end of the black cloak and continued to unravel it from Legolas' face. Delicately he worked it loose and tried his best to keep the skin beneath it intact but still some of it came away with the fabric. Legolas shuddered but did not wake from his coma-like state. Even Celeborn, who had seen the grave injuries inflicted upon his allies by their enemies in war, had to turn away to catch his breath as he pulled away the last part of the black cloak and tossed it aside.

He swallowed hard and finally turned his eyes back to the mangled mess before him. The majority of the left side of Legolas' face was ruined. The skin was red, blistered and in some places blackened by the heat of the fire. Parts of the skin had melted into patches of uneven skin and in others the skin had entirely come away, having been stuck to the black cloak that Legolas had wrapped about his face. The left eye was swollen shut and puss oozed from the corner of it, it was difficult to tell whether or not he would be able to see from it again. The hair on the left side had been seared off part way back and left a bald patch that seemed an extension of his forehead. Surprisingly his lips were relatively unharmed and once the swelling went down both sides of his mouth would remain as they were.

As for the damage to the left side…Celeborn shook his head solemnly as he contemplated the amount of work he would have to do just to get the skin to heal, the Elf would never look the same again.

He drew his bag of potions and creams up along side him and fished out a vile of lavender coloured oil and a soft white cloth. He tipped a generous amount of the oil onto the cloth and very, very gently began to dab it over Legolas' burns. His face flinched beneath the cool oil but still he didn't wake and Celeborn was most thankful for this, as it would be most painful for Legolas to have to endure even such delicate treatment while awake.

After he had finished administering the oil to his damaged skin Celeborn got up to retrieve a large bowl from his talan. He returned with it to kneel by Legolas' side once again and dug his hand into his bag of medicines in search of a large bottle. His hand finally closed over it and he pulled it carefully from the bag, it was filled to near the top with a clear, colourless liquid. He uncapped the bottle and poured its contents into the bowl. He then took up a generous amount of crisp white bandages and dunked them into the bowl. He pressed them beneath the surface of the liquid and made sure that they were soaked through with it.

Another vial was retrieved, this one containing a pale cream, which was scooped out with a finger and applied very delicately to the burns on Legolas' face. Once the cream had been applied to all of the damaged area he retrieved the soaking bandages and held them above the bowl to let the drips drain from them.

He carefully wrapped the soaked bandages around the left side of Legolas' head, over the wounded area and trying to leave as much of the right side, especially his right eye and his mouth of course, free from the covering of the bandages.

Celeborn lay back on the soft moss of the forest floor and closed his eyes, exhausted from treating the other Elf's wounds. He laid his arms above his head and closed his eyes, sighing heavily as he thought through what was best to do with Legolas in his unstable condition. His talan was not a suitable place to keep the Elven Prince in his condition; he needed somewhere more secluded and permanent, somewhere where he could continue the Elf's treatment without fear of attack from roaming bands of Men or Orcs. Middle Earth certainly wasn't the place it used to be.

Finally he settled on a suitable solution, he would take Legolas to Aglarond Legolas' friendship with their King should ensure their admittance into the cavernous kingdom. He sat up slowly and checked on the sleeping form of Legolas one last time before he made his way up into his talan to pack his things.

With a grunt Celeborn hoisted Legolas' limp form up onto the back of the Elven Prince's great black stallion, with no horse of his own readily available Celeborn was forced to convince the hot tempered beast that he had to ride him in order to save his master. The horse had finally yielded with a snort and a toss of his head, which was good enough for Celeborn.

He mounted the horse behind Legolas so that he could ensure the body draped over the horse before him did not slip off during their ride.

He wheeled the great stallion around and they took off through the forest. Twigs whipped out at Celeborn's face but he ignored the stinging pain knowing Legolas' pain was far greater. It did not take long to break free of the Golden Woods, of late the land they occupied had greatly diminished and they were not the glorious woods that they had once been.

Onwards Celeborn urged Legolas' steed and the beast responded, they dashed across the plains at a cracking pace and Celeborn knew that while in the open they would have to keep such a pace up or risk being captured. Elves were no longer respected in Middle Earth, especially not in the realms occupied by the Race of Men, the few left either existed in hiding or were bought and traded as slaves of various sorts.

Celeborn had remained free because he had kept himself hidden in his slowly diminishing forest. And Legolas, he was a loyal friend to Aragorn for all the years he had been King of Gondor and so even now that his son was king Legolas was allowed to live in peace in the servitude of Gondor as a soldier and subject. Though Celeborn suspected Gondor's new King, Aragorn's son Eldarion, wished to force the Elf into slavery, a particular kind springing immediately to mind, but could not because of his father's dying request.

It would be a few days before they would reach the home of the Dwarves and Celeborn had to concentrate on riding and monitoring Legolas' health. The bandages would need to be changed soon too but he could not risk a stop along the way.

So on they rode, through day and night and Celeborn was grateful that the weather decided to hold up or they might not have made it with Legolas in such a stable condition. He did not wake for the entire ride, nor did he awaken when Celeborn pulled the horse up outside the gates to Aglarond and banged heavily upon the thick metal.

The Dwarves were welcoming when they realised Celeborn had Legolas with him. They set the Prince up in a spare room and Celeborn was finally able to change his bandages. The healing process had begun and was coming along as well as could be expected. Once he had wrapped fresh bandages about his head and ensured that the Prince was comfortable Gimli set up a watch outside his room in case he woke while he invited Celeborn to his throne room to discuss the Prince's condition. Gimli was worried for his friend and not just for his physical well, he feared this would affect the Elf in far more serious ways.