A Second Chance of Happiness
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Chapter Eight
Not one of them moved. No one even seemed to breathe, Thranduil felt as if his heart would break as he looked down into the innocent eyes of his child.
There was no sign of dishonesty in those big blue eyes. Thranduil cleared his throat and looked away for a moment before asking.
"What do you remember, Ion-nin?"
Legolas gave him a puzzled look before saying. "Nana pwomised that she would take me riding today. She said we go to the fowest." The blue eyes were earnest as he looked at his father.
"I am sorry, Ion-nin, your Nana is not here with us. You remember that we are in Imladris, do you not?" Thranduil cast a panic-filled look at Elrond and the other elf moved so that he could be seen by the elfling.
"Hello, once again, Penneth." Elrond bowed and smiled at the small Prince.
"This is my old friend, Legolas. You will have heard me speak of him, this is Lord Elrond." Thranduil had picked up on the fact that Legolas was confused and really not sure of where he was or what was going on.
"Hello, Lord Elwond." Legolas tried to stand up so that he could return the bow. Elrond rushed to stop him from moving.
"Do not move, Legolas!" It did not take much to push the elfling back on the bed. He had not been able to raise himself with his hands in splints and had tried instead to use his elbows. He did not get far before the pain stopped him.
The blue eyes looking at him filled with a look of fear and confusion. "Why I not move my legs? Ada, I scawed."
"Shhh, I know, Penneth, I know. You had an accident and hurt your back. You need to stay as still as you can so that your back can heal. Your arms are broken as well, that is why you cannot use them. Do you hurt, Dian Las? Elrond can get you something for the pain." Thranduil tenderly brushed the wet hair from the small hot forehead. Legolas' fever had risen if anything.
"Yeth, my back hurts and my arms. Have pain in head." Legolas tried to explain what he was feeling, but it was difficult as he had never had pain like this before.
"If you would wait a minute, Legolas, I will have something made for you that will help and then once you are feeling better we will all have some food. What would you like? I am sure we can find you something that you like. Then we can introduce you to the other members of Elrond's family." Thranduil wanted nothing more than to keep Legolas comfortable and calm.
"I not hungwy. Where is Nana?" Legolas was back to his original question.
"Nana is back in Mirkwood, Penneth. She had to stay there. All we need know is for you to get better, but to do that you have to eat. I will be staying with you and even if I am not here I will not be far away."
As Thranduil was talking, Elrond had walked to the collection of herbs that had been brought to the chamber and was mixing them for the Prince. "Would you like to see Brentto once more while I organise some food for you?" Thranduil had to smile at the delighted smile that Legolas gave him.
"Bwentto is here?" Legolas began to try and look around and the bird flew from his perch on the fireplace mantle and settled on Thranduil's shoulder.
"Bwentto!"
As soon as Legolas had seen him he flew to the bed and perched close to Legolas. Thranduil could not miss the pleased smile that flashed across the pale face, but he also noticed that the smile did not quite reach the small Prince's eyes.
"Hello, once again, Prince Legolas. It is good to see you awake once more." Brentto was once more as close to Legolas as he could get.
"What awe you doing hewe, Bwentto? You'w babies need you." Legolas awkwardly brushed the bird's feathers, trying to stifle the cries of pain that he felt at his actions.
"Rest back and I will stroke you. It is hurting you, I can see that. I came here to deliver a letter for your Adar. We will all have to wait until the snow settles outside before we make our way back home." Brentto had begun to stroke the Prince with his head so that Legolas would not need to move.
"They will be alwight without you?" Legolas was worried about his friends 'new' chicks. For Legolas thought it was still spring and not full winter.
"They are fully grown now and it will not be long before they have chicks of their own. You are of course, welcome as usual to come and meet the eggs."
"Would you like that, Legolas? I am sure that we can organise it so that I can take you." Thranduil had to smile at the conversation he had heard as he came back into the chamber.
"Can we, Ada? Nana can come too? Nana always comes too." Legolas eyes really shone with happiness. How could he break that small heart once more?
"We will have to wait and see nearer the time. If it is near to the spring festival she may not have the time to come with us. Elrond, can we speak later when Legolas is sleeping?" He needed to know how to proceed with this. Legolas seemed to be having more and more problems with his memory and he would need help with this.
"Of course, Mellon-nin. But for now, Legolas needs to take this tea to help with the pain and then he needs quiet to rest before his lunch." Elrond moved towards the elfling with the tea and smiled down at him.
Legolas sighed and asked with an air of knowing. "Does it taste yucky?"
That caused the two adult elves to laugh. "It always tastes yucky I am afraid, my Prince. But that is what makes it work so well."
They both had to smile again at the dubious look on his face as he eyed the tea.
"It will help, I promise. Soon the pain will be all gone." Between the two of them they helped him drink the tea, careful not to move his back. Elrond did frown at how hot Legolas was once more, in a short while he would need to take another potion for that as well, but that could wait until after the meal, the last thing he wanted was to scare the elfling.
Thranduil smiled at the face Legolas pulled after he finished the tea and he helped him wash the taste away with some water.
Once they had laid him prone and got him comfortable once more Thranduil began to speak. "Do you always go and meet Brentto's eggs?"
"Yes and then when they hatch. Nana always comes. I like meeting them, it is fun. I climb the twees and everything. The twee always sings to me." Legolas was eager to explain.
"I will have to find out more of what you and Brentto get up to later. For now you need to rest and let that tea work." Thranduil settled down on the bed beside his son and moved Roche-nin so that he was near as well.
"Bwentto said it was snowing, Ada. Is it?" Legolas was blinking up at him, trying to fight the sleep that the tea brought with it.
"Yes, Legolas it is and has been snowing very hard. When you are feeling up to it, we can go outside and see it. It looks very pretty."
Elrond looked up at that from his position by the fire where he was preparing the herbs for the elfling's fever. This was a wonderful relationship, between this father and son and there was a lot of love. It was nice to see.
"I like snow." The small voice was becoming sleepier by the moment.
"I know, I recall from last winter." Thranduil brushed the loose hair from the hot forehead.
"Snow army." Was the last thing Legolas said before he slipped off to sleep.
Thranduil gave a small laugh. "He made me a snow army to stop the spiders. We spent all day at it. The last day we had together before…"
"This must be so hard for you." Elrond let his hand fall onto his shoulder.
"I am lucky I still have my son with me, it could have been so different. I nearly lost them both that day. What will I do know? Do I go on pretending that his mother waits for him at Mirkwood? Will he ever remember?"
"Only time will tell if that is true, all we can do is wait, as hard as that is. I will be here to help you. Do not forget that. Together we will deal with this." Elrond tried to reassure as best he could.
"Thank you, mellon-nin. I do not know what I would have done without all of your help."
"That is what friends are for, Thranduil."
They settled back to watch Legolas sleep, amused when Brentto also settled next to him, sleeping.
Blue eyes blinked open and looked fearfully around the darkened chamber. The elfling relaxed as soon as he saw his Adar sitting by the fire, deep in thought.
"How are you feeling, Penneth?" Legolas almost, almost jumped at the voice that came from beside him.
"Bettew, thank you. " He smiled up at the familiar face above him.
"Are you hungry?" Elrond asked as his friend rose from the fireside and crossed to the bed.
"A little."
"Good. You have some visitors. I think my sons want to tell you all about the morning they have had." Elrond stood as Thranduil took his place. "I will let the others know that we are ready for lunch."
As Elrond left the chamber, Thranduil smiled down at Legolas. "Shall I open the curtains?"
"Yes, please Ada, want to thee the thnow." Legolas, like all children, loved the white stuff that sometimes fell from the sky.
Thranduil smiled at that and crossed to pull open the curtains. The snow was falling even heavier than it had been earlier and a light wind had risen to pile the snow into drifts. It looked like a perfect winter scene. All that was missing was a blond elfling running through the snow, giggling.
Thranduil sighed. Would he ever see that again? Would he ever play in the snow with Legolas once more, or race through and up the trees?
He hurried back to Legolas and sat down beside him. "It is snowing hard, Ion-nin, I can see the animals' prints clearly in the snow. I am sure that you will be able to see it before long."
"What biwds?" Legolas yawned around the words.
"It looked like some of Brentto's relatives have been around and there is a robin as well."
"Nice." Legolas gave him a weak toothless smile.
"Yes, it is nice." Thranduil gently picked up Legolas left hand to hold.
The door opened. Soon the chamber was filled with their friends. Estel looked a little pink in the face and his hair hung in wet tendrils.
They were all laughing. Estel hurried over to Legolas' side.
"How do you feel now, Legolas?" He smiled down at him.
"Sore and hot." Was his honest reply.
"We have some food for you, some nice scrambled eggs. Would you like that?" Elrohir spoke from where he was setting the tray down
"Pwease, hungwy."
Thranduil cheered up at this. "That is good news, Ion-nin. I will help you to eat. Are you comfortable where you are Brentto?" The Raven had not moved from where he had been resting next to Legolas.
"I am well, thank you." The old bird turned beady eyes to watch the elf as he settled down to help Legolas eat.
"Good. What have you all been up to this morning?" He asked the youngsters in the chamber.
"Had our weapon's practice. It is more fun in the snow." Estel was laughing.
"I will get my own back, do not worry, Estel." Elladan twisted his face into a mock scowl.
"What he do?" Legolas asked as he finished that mouthful.
"He pushed snow down my tunic." Elladan playfully scowled.
"Only after you threw some snow at me!" The giggle they received from Legolas was worth all the cold in the world.
"You think it is funny do you?" Elladan asked the giggling elfling.
"Yeth, very funny. Did you make thnowmen?" Legolas watched them all with bright eyes.
"No, not yet." Estel looked towards the large balcony. "Ada, if we move Legolas' bed nearer to the window, would that be alright?"
"I do not see why not. Why?" Elrond had a feeling he knew what was coming.
"We could build the snowmen for Legolas while he gives us instructions." Estel smiled in anticipation.
"Can I?" Wide eyes turned to Elrond and he suddenly found that he could deny the Prince nothing, especially at the moment.
"Yes, Legolas you can. We need to move you as close to the window as possible. Mithrandir, can you bank the fire up? We need to keep Legolas warm." With Legolas as small and thin as he was, his elven ability to resist the elements would be compromised.
"Of course." Mithrandir rose and did as bidden.
Soon they were all helping to move the furniture so that they could move Legolas' bed nearer to the doors.
He was soon settled and happily tucked against his father, looking out at the snow. The door was open so that he could talk with the three brothers. Elrond, Mithrandir and Glorfindel had decided to stay inside with Legolas. Elrond stayed close because he was more than a little worried about Legolas' condition. The fever had him worried, as did the memory loss. Mithrandir had stated simply that he was too old to 'play' outside in the snow.
That caused much amusement around the chamber to which Legolas blinked with confusion. He did not want to play in the snow? Why?
He got no answer when he asked, just more laughter.
That was soon forgotten as he began calling out the instructions on where and what he wanted the snowmen to look like. The afternoon passed in a flurry of laughter. It only stopped when they realised that Legolas had fallen asleep.
Elrond gently pulled the door closed and watched as his sons finished the snow army and applied the finishing touches with flourish. When Legolas next woke he would be able to see them clearly from his bed. Nothing could get to him then... at least not through the balcony window.
Once they had finished, the three brothers hurried back inside. Estel was cold and hurried to the fire to get warm. Erestor had made certain that hot tea and their favorite pastries were ready and waiting for them. He put a small one to one side for Legolas. The cook had made it especially for him and his tiny appetite.
Legolas was laughing as his Naneth sang to him. They loved being in the forest and the sun was high in the sky. Legolas could see the birds wheeling above them, singing their joy that 'their' Prince was with them.
The troop of guards around them were smiling at their antics. This was such a lovely scene and one not to be missed.
The trees around them tried to bend their limbs and gently touch the young elfling. He called out in welcome to them all. He knew them. They were his friends.
"Your Highness, we should be heading back to the Palace."
Legolas turned to see who had spoken. It was Ventalion.
"Of course, Ventalion. We can come again tomorrow, Legolas." His mother smiled down at him and he nodded happily.
They had only gone perhaps a mile when Legolas stiffened in his Naneth's arms. The trees were crying at them to go another way.
"Nana, can we go that way?" Legolas pointed to the way that the trees were calling him.
"No, Penneth, that will take us longer." The Queen frowned down at him. This was unlike Legolas. He never argued with them.
"Want to go that way!" Legolas tried to make her understand.
"Caun Legolas, we cannot leave this path, it is not safe." Ventalion frowned down at him.
"Not safe!" Legolas cried.
"You are right, Legolas, it is not safe." His Nana tried to reassure him.
"I will ride ahead and make sure the path is clear. My men will stay with you, Highness." Ventalion urged his horse away from the group. Once he was past the group, he smiled. The smile was evil. This would work well. Who would have guessed the Brat would understand the trees' cry of alarm? It was lucky the Queen didn't heed him.
As he rode on, he could hear the group of approaching orcs. He had led the Queen this way deliberately. Soon he would only have Thranduil to deal with.
Legolas tried and tried to get Nana to change directions, but she kept telling him not to be naughty. By the time they realised their mistake, it was far too late and they could not escape the orcs.
The Queen had tried to hide her son, but they were caught out in the open with nowhere to go. Soon, only she and Legolas were left alive. The orcs surrounded them.
Some time later Ventalion returned to the clearing. He looked around a little sickened at the carnage before him. The fell creatures had certainly had some fun. His fellow warriors had been slaughtered and the way the Queen lay! No one should have suffered like that… He felt guilty for a long time before he managed to convince himself that this really was not his doing. The small Prince lay crumpled beside his Naneth, his long blond hair covered in blood.
His eyes shined in triumph. Thranduil would either fade or sail to the West after this.
Taking a deep breath, he pulled his sword and making quick work, injured himself enough to make it look as if he had been fighting. He wiped the blood from his sword on one of the bodies before dipping it into some of the black blood of the Orcs. His last thought as darkness took him was that this was a good day…
He was not aware of the dulled blue eyes that watched him…
Thranduil sat with a goblet of wine in hand, listening to Erestor and Glorfindel bicker. Legolas had slept through much of the afternoon. For that he was glad, sleep would help him to heal.
"So, mellon-nin, when do you think Galadriel will be able to travel here to see to Ventalion?" Thranduil was worried about the trial. The sooner it was out of the way the better.
"Once this snow stops, I would think. I would not wish them to travel in this weather." Elrond glanced out of the window and the snow that was still falling thickly.
"I know, I just..." Thranduil shrugged.
"I understand, Thranduil. This will all be weighing heavily on you." Elrond did understand.
A low groan made them look towards the bed. Thranduil rose and hurried to his son's side.
"Dian Las?" Legolas' eyes were still closed, but he made a small distressed sound, like a whimper.
Elrond joined him. After checking Legolas over, he frowned. "He is still sleeping."
"He is dreaming?"
"I think so. He seems..."
"No…" Legolas moaned.
"Shhh, Penneth. You are safe." Legolas did, after all, have more than enough to have nightmares over.
"No... saes... Nana... Stop. You huwting Nana!" It was obvious to them all that Legolas was becoming more agitated and more distressed by the second.
"Legolas, Ion-nin, wake up. You are dreaming." Thranduil tried to draw his son out of the terror of the past.
"Nana! No... this way... saes, the treeth... " Legolas was tossing his head now and crying.
"You are safe. Wake up now." Thranduil was getting worried.
"Stop! No, Nana!" Suddenly bright, tear-filled eyes opened and looked at him. "He hurt Nana!"
Thranduil was confused, very confused. "Who hurt Nana, penneth?"
"Talion. He hurt Nana..." Then Legolas was sobbing as if his heart would break.
Thranduil could only gaze at his son in alarm before the memory of that dreadful day returned in an overwhelming flood.
-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-
To be continued.
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