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Chapter Four
The only sound in the chamber was the Elfling's suddenly harsh breathing. Elrond's mind was whirling in what seemed to be a thousand circles. He could feel the young Prince's heart hammering next to his own chest.
It was Glorfindel who broke the stunned silence. "Did I really hear what you just said?"
"Yes, Hir-nin, this is Prince Legolas and I am incredibly pleased to see him. King Thranduil has been very worried about him." As the messenger was speaking he was moving towards the trio.
Elrond could feel the Elfling in his arms stiffen all the more and then begin to shake. The nearer that the Mirkwood Elf moved to him, the more the Elfling panicked. It was Glorfindel, watchful as ever who halted the other Elf.
"May be we should have this discussion without the Prince here? He seems…" He was cut off when the Elfling began to really panic.
Elrond was taken by surprise and almost dropped the Prince. As it was he could not hold onto him and rather than drop him and cause yet more injury to the little Elfling he allowed him to slide down his leg as an impromptu slide.
Before anyone could stop him he had swiftly run from the chamber. Not once did he hesitate or look over his shoulder.
"I will go after him…" Glorfindel had already begun to move towards the door when Elrond spoke once more.
"Get Estel or the twin's to look for him, I need you here." Glorfindel nodded and hurried from the chamber.
He returned a short while later to find that the messenger was sitting in front of the fire a goblet of wine in his hand.
"Ah, good Glorfindel, we can begin now." Elrond turned to the messenger. "Please can you tell us your name?"
"I am sorry, Hir Nin that was incredibly rude of me. My name is Ventalion; I normally work as one of King Thranduil's personal guards."
"Then what are you doing here?" There was surprise in Glorfindel's voice.
"Thing's have been a little…. Difficult since the Orcs murdered the Queen. The King has become withdrawn and will speak with very few of his councillors. He is drinking far more, the healers think that he is beginning to fade." Ventalion gave a small very sad sigh. "We can only hope that this does not happen it is bad enough to loose our Queen but the King?" He actually shuddered.
"Do you need aid?" Elrond settled into the chair that faced the messenger. Glorfindel had also pulled a spare chair up.
"Aye, but the King is too proud and too grief stricken to realise it. He has withdrawn even from his sons. It is the Crown Prince who is currently dealing with Mirkwood's needs. It is harder for them than anyone else in Mirkwood. To us she was our beautiful Queen full of light and laughter. To her family she was their Naneth. Nothing can change that."
"We will give you all the aid that you need, that is not a problem. What of the Prince?"
"He out of all has had the worst time through this." Ventalion closed his eyes trying to stop the
memories from flooding back. "It is not common knowledge but the Queen was violated before she died."
The two older Elves could not stop the shocked gasps that left their lips. This was one complication they had not expected. The could both recall all too well how Celebrian had been before sailing to the Haven's and she had not been violated in that way.
"The young Prince was made to watch as they did this vile act. They murdered her in front of him before trying to kill him. Thank the Valar that they were stopped before they could do more than seriously injure him. As it was he very nearly fled to Mandos Halls to join our Queen." Ventalion had to take a sip of wine to try and ease the lump that had formed in his throat.
"Did the King find them?" Elrond's heart was in his throat hoping that his fears were wrong.
"Nay, Hir Nin luckily no, It was one of the patrols; the Queen never took her party into that part of the forest. The King was in Council when the news came in. When the Prince and bodies were brought back to the Palace he broke down. "
"Poor Thranduil to have to endure that." Glorfindel could imagine what it must be like to loose your soul mate like that.
"The King began to withdraw then. He barely spoke, never ate and I think that sleep was impossible. He spent biggest part of that time by the Prince's bedside. Five times we nearly lost him to his injuries. It was so close at times, far too close. I think that if the Prince had also died then the King would have followed immediately." Ventalion's voice was low and soft.
"Then thank the Valar that that did not happen." Elrond replied refilling the empty wine goblet.
"Aye, the whole of Mirkwood rejoiced at the news that the Prince would recover. Thing's seemed to return to normal for a time."
"What happened then?" Glorfindel asked.
"One of the King's councillors was over heard commenting about how it was the Prince's fault that the Queen was dead, that if he had not asked to go riding this tragedy would have never happened."
Elrond had to close his eyes at this that certainly would not have helped.
"They also went on to say that the King could no longer even look at the Prince because of that fact. They also talked of the King sending the prince away so that he would not have to deal with him again. This was of course a complete falsehood. The King had never even contemplated it. Unfortunately they were over heard by the one Elfling that this would do damage too."
"The young Prince?" It was not exactly a question, somehow Elrond just knew.
"Indeed. No one realised until much later what had happened. When they saw the Penneth run from his hiding place, they were very angry with themselves; unfortunately they decided not to tell anyone of what had transpired. Their excuse later to the King was that they did not wish to add to his worry." Ventalion had to smile at Glorfindel's, albeit elegant, un-elf like snort.
"I know. The Prince did not materialise that night for the evening meal, the King went to look for him, but could not find him. He raised the alarm and the Palace was searched. The night was one of the longest that I have ever known. I lost count of the times that the Palace was searched, but it was to no avail. The next morning the search was extended to the forest. We have been searching since then. We found traces of the Prince, but nothing fresh. We hated having to return to the palace empty handed, but had no choice." Ventalion could hide his distress no longer and the other two moved into to offer what comfort they could.
"That must have been very hard." Was Elrond's soft murmur.
"Yes, very, the King had been in chambers all morning; he wanted to lead the search but was persuaded to stay at the palace in case the Prince turned up there. As we arrived the two councillors had just admitted that the Prince had over heard some idle gossip and had run from them. They were made to tell him what they had been saying." Ventalion sighed once more. "It was not nice to watch."
"I can more than imagine the King's reaction." Elrond's wry reply made Glorfindel smiled, oh yes, Thranduil's temper was legendary and when it came to his family it was more like a volcano erupting.
"Then let me just say the King has two less councillors than he had. They were lucky they got off as lightly as they did. Anyway the searched continued with our hope of finding the Prince alive and well fading by the minute. The King was inconsolable."
"And you found no trace of the Prince?" Elrond's voice was thoughtful.
"We found a few traces, for an Elfling so young he is very good at hiding his tracks, he will make a good warrior one day. All was going relatively well but then his tracks were intercepted by the wheels of a wagon. There were signs of a struggle and the prince's tracks finished. We tried to follow the wagon but the weather was against us and we had to give up. The King had given up on ever seeing his son again. How did the Prince come to be here?" Ventalion raised sorrowful brown eyes to theirs.
"He was found two nights ago by one of our patrols. He was starving and had been badly beaten. All he will admit to is that his Master scares him."
"Master?!" Both shock and horror was evident in the younger Elf's voice.
"Yes, his master. He can lead us to him and as soon as I feel he is able to deal with this then we shall see about him. He has been very badly treated; it may well take a while. Why did you travel across the Misty Mountains at this time of year? You could have been killed or seriously injured." Elrond was frowning now at Ventalion.
"The King did not want to wait for the spring to send word of his missing son. He sent another messenger to Lady Galadriel. I offered to come as I have no family left on Arda, also the little Prince means a lot to us. I would go into the fires of Mordor if I could help save him."
"It is good to see the Legolas has protectors, he will need them in the days to come if he is to regain his memories." There was a knock at the door to the chamber that could not drown out the others shocked gasp.
"He has no memory?"
"No, he remembers nothing up to his 'master', mayhap that now you are here he will recover far faster." Elrond looked up as Mithrandir entered the chamber. "Ah, Mithrandir everything is well I hope?"
"Indeed, Elrond. I am sorry you have a visitor…"
"Mithrandir it is very good to see you again." Ventalion had risen to greet the Maia.
"Ventalion, Mae Govannen what brings you to Imladris?" The Maia greeted the seasoned warrior with delight; he had not been to Mirkwood for a while and had missed his friends.
"A message from the King, Mellon-nin-nin. It was urgent." The young Elf smiled at his old friend.
"It must have been urgent for him to send you out at this time of the year." There was a question in that mild voice.
"Aye it was and it is to do with our young Prince."
"There is a problem with one of your Prince's?" Mithrandir accepted the wine goblet from Glorfindel with a small thank you.
"Yes, the youngest Prince Legolas. He has been missing for the last four months. We have been trying to find him, the King did not ask for help. Personally I think he is too embarrassed at 'loosing' him in the first place. But all is well now, I know he is safe and as soon as I can I will head back to Mirkwood with this news."
"You have found him I take it?" Mithrandir raised an eye brow that was almost a replica of Elrond's usual look. A look that warned you the Eldar knew what you were thinking, before even you did.
"Yes, we have found him." At this cryptic comment the other brow rose to join the other.
"Peace, Mithrandir we were both wrong. Our little lost Elfling is no other than Prince Legolas. Ventalion has been sent to ask us to look out for him." Elrond explained to his friend.
"I was rather hoping that we would be right and it not be the Prince. How is Thranduil?" The Maia's tone was thoughtful.
"Not doing well by the sound of it. It seems that Legolas ran away after over hearing some gossip that should never have been spoken." Elrond could not stop the sigh of annoyance.
"But he is so small; I would have thought that a small Elfling would never have made it out of the Palace." Mithrandir's surprise was evident to all in the chamber.
"The little Prince is very clever for one of his age. It is one of the reasons none at the Palace will play hide and seek with him, we could never find him!!! Equally he is very small for his age and it makes it a lot easier for him to hide. The rain that has been falling also helped to hide his tracks for the most part." Ventalion was eager to explain.
"Thranduil must have been desperate…" A knock on the chamber door brought their attention around.
It was a very flustered looking Estel. "Ada we cannot find the Elfling anywhere. We have searched high and low."
"As I said, Hir Elrond he is very good at hiding and not being found when he wishes to be."
Estel was gaping at the Mirkwood Elf. "You know him?"
"Indeed I do. I am Ventalion." The Elf gave the time honoured Elven greeting, as the human was dressed in Elven clothing.
"I apologise, Ventalion this is my foster son, Estel. He is currently looking for your charge." Elrond introduced his son. "Estel, the Elfling that you and your brother's are currently searching for is Prince Legolas of Mirkwood. Ventalion has been sent by King Thranduil to warn us that the Prince has been missing and for our patrols to watch out for him."
"How did he get all the way to Imladris, Ada? He is too small to have made it all the way here on his own." There was horror in Estel's voice. To think of that poor little adorable Elfling all on his own, was almost too hard to bear; especially when he thought of all the dark beings that were rapidly multiplying all over Middle Earth.
"We will not know that until Legolas can tell us exactly what did happen. It would seem though, that he was intercepted by this Man who decided that he liked the thought of an Elfling slave." Elrond's voice was cold and hard.
"The poor thing, he has been through so much." Estel could relate to how it felt to loose a parent or two in his case.
"We need to find him. He is in no condition to be running around. Glorfindel come with me. Estel could you please make certain that Ventalion finds his way to the Halls of Healing? Mithrandir I would really appreciate your help in finding the Prince."
"Of course, Elrond, let us find him." Mithrandir was the last to leave the chamber.
Legolas was in such a blind panic when he left the chamber he was unaware of where exactly he was going. By the time his panic had eased somewhat he realised that he had no idea where he was and that the hallways all looked the same.
He had Snuffles anchored safely in his arms and would not let him go. If the poor toy had of been real it would have been strangled.
Big scared blue eyes took in all around him. This place was so large!
"Thnuffleth, where we go? Thcared. No like it here. We need to hide, where we hide?"
Legolas cocked his head to one side as if the dog was talking to him. "Thatth a good idea. Come we need to hurry."
At the far end of the corridor was a large bay window that was surrounded by large billowing, deep blue velvet curtains. They were just perfect for a small Elfling that was very, very scared.
With one glance around he made for the window and wincing he moved the curtain so that he was completely covered. This simple action made his arm begin to throb and he had to bite his lip to stop from crying out. Silent tears once more ran down his face.
He sat quietly sobbing for sometime, until the sound of hurried footsteps coming nearer made him freeze in place.
He recognised the voices and was tempted to run to them, but the fact that he had run from them earlier scared him all the more. Memories flooded back of the last time he had tried to run away. He absently rubbed his collar bone wincing once more as the splint on his right hand rubbed against the sore bone of his clavicle.
He waited until the others had moved on once more having searched all the nearby chambers and coming up with empty hands. It was then that he heard the voice.
No, not actually heard the voice them, but listened and understood what it said. The voice was coming from outside and he stood and looked through them. They were open even, at this time of the year with the snow.
It was a tree that was calling to him and offering shelter and safety from harm. The siren call was seductive and to a Wood Elf it could not be ignored. With one quick look over his shoulder he somehow managed to climb onto the windowsill. Once out on to the balcony that surrounded the window he tore the splint from his arm. It was only hindering him.
He climbed onto the balustrade and smiled as the large Mallorn tree lowered its boughs so that he could step onto them without hurting himself further. The Little Prince gave a small sigh of contentment as the tree wrapped him safely in it boughs offering comfort and warmth. For the first time in a very long time, Legolas felt safe and secure.
He fell asleep like that and when the nightmares reared their ugly heads it was the tree that rocked him and sang him lullabies that the striplings in the woods so loved.
Meanwhile the search in the Last Homely House grew more frantic as they realised that the Elfling could not be found. Elrond was close to panic, a very rare thing, as he realised that he might have to tell his old friend that he had had his youngest son safe within his arms only to have lost him. It was not a thought that was particularly cheerful.
The sound of a bird chirping in his ear woke Legolas that morning and he blinked his eyes into focus to find a red Robin perched next to him and watching him with beady eyed curiosity. The Elfling gave a small giggle and held his hand out to the bird. It gave a warble and was soon perched on the fingers of the Prince. They sat like that for a while both holding a very interesting conversation on the weather and how little food there was this year.
Once the little bird had flown off to find its breakfast, Legolas made his way down the tree with thanks for keeping him safe.
Swiftly he made his way out of Imladris and rather than using the gates as normal he climbed a tree and down the other side. Where he was going he could not have said. The why was easy, he was too scared of going back.
He had just made the tree line when a figure stepped out from behind a tree.
The small Prince gasped in shock at seeing who was in front of him.
"So there ya are. Thought'cha could get away didja? I told ya, Brat ya will never be free from me. Now ya got work that'cha haven't been doin'" Cruel fingers dug deeply into his right wrist. "Ya gonna feel ma belt tonig' that I can promise ya!"
The human that held the small Elfling did not realise that the small Elfling had left behind a very important clue. For on the ground, forgotten by the Elfling was Snuffles….
To be continued
Thank you to all our wonderful reviewers and readers. You are the best.
Replies to reviews:
Wadeva: yes, definitely cute Legolas and more to come…
Pointy-eared-elfs: Sorry that we scared you, but at least the dream was realistic!! Glad you liked Snuffles, too.
Moonshine44: Sorry we left it there; hopefully this will make up for that?
Manwathiel: Thank you. More of that nasty man very soon!
Mornflower: yes, Legolas is back with a vengeance. Here's your update!
Haldir's Heart and Soul: Handing him back is not on the cards for now, so please relax? As you say they don't know who has been hurting him, they have a good idea but not for certain. I'm glad that you gave Thranduil the benefit of the doubt!!
LittleCrazy1: Glad that you liked the chapter and here is your update for you!!!
Kel: We're glad that you liked Gandalf. I love the picture of the Twins running around causing mayhem with Snuffles!!! I know ad Elrond's shock will be dealt with in the future, he just didn't think that Legolas would be that small.
Dragon: Yep and here's another update! You will have to wait and see what the future and the past have held for the poor little Elfling.
Dawn: Blushes. Thank you. We are glad that you survived Jeanne intact that must have been horrible to live through.
Isildwen: Thank you. You will have to wait and see the answer of that query. I think you may have a clue in this chapter that Legolas is no where near trusting as the others think, personally I think he was just too scared to do anything other than go along with them. Alas, it may take him some time to really begin to trust again.
Dark Borg Drone: Thank you! How do you know that it was his Ada that treated him like that? Time will tell.
Li: here's your update for you!!!
Lady Lestat: I hadn't either until Mei suggested it. I had a firm idea of what he would have been like and I think that helps. I guess I'm lucky (shell) but I find writing easy. We are glad that you continue to enjoy it, though.
Angelbird12242: Thank you and here you are!
Tina7610813: Thank you, we are glad that you are enjoying this!
Triptych: Thank you!!! Definitely. All will begin to come clear. I promise.
Megan: Thank you. Update!!!
Well that is all for now so until next time, take care.
Love,
Mei, shell and the gang