AN: What? No Author's Note? Oh, wait...drat. Anyway, I've been delayed due to final projects and now finals week, but it will all be over come December 9th (graduation—whoot!), and then I should be able to update more consistently. Review Responses are also delayed for the same reason.
Chapter Six: Danger in the Forest
It was some time before Estel was able to bring a much-subdued Legolas back to the banquet hall. A faint buzz of conversation had resumed by the time they returned, though he was a bit concerned to find that the high table was silent. He was also surprised to discover that Belegdur was gone, and the places had been rearranged so Legolas' place was next to Estel's—in the spot where Brithdil had been sitting.
"We were starting to get worried," Elrohir murmured as Estel sat down. "I was just about to go looking for you."
Estel offered a half-smile and a shrug. "We were talking," he said simply, not wanting to reveal that he had actually spent most of the time comforting Legolas as his new friend poured his grief out. "What happened in here?"
Elrohir glanced over at the prince. "Tell you later," he whispered.
The human nodded in agreement, looking down at his plate. He picked around at the food that was left, but found much of his appetite had disappeared. The silence of the high table was eerie. He discretely glanced up, studying the members of the royal family. For the most part, they all seemed to be in the same mood. In fact, he had never seen so much food simply pushed around on plates rather than eaten (except that one time when he was six and tried to fix dinner for his family, but that was a completely different situation).
"So, Legolas," he turned to his friend, breaking the silence. "How did you meet my brothers?"
Legolas looked up, a small smile beginning to grow. "That is a long story."
Estel groaned. "That's what they always say and they never tell me anything else."
The prince's smile widened. "Truly, though, it is too long to tell here."
Sighing in faux disappointment, Estel took a tentative bite of the food still on his plate, pretending not to notice that most of the elves at the high table were watching. "Do you know any stories about them that you could tell?" he asked. "Maybe something they've never told me before?"
Legolas shot a mischievous glance at the twins. "There is the story of the first time they visited me in Mirkwood."
Elladan groaned. "Anything but that one," he muttered melodramatically, though Estel could see the sheepish grin hiding under his brother's expression.
"Why? What happened?"
"Let's just say that Elladan and I ran into a bit of trouble with the king," Elrohir said lowly.
"A bit of trouble?" Legolas asked innocently. "I seem to recall my father banishing you from the palace for the next century."
"I relented, didn't I?"
The four glanced up in surprise to see Thranduil watching them, his eyes sparkling.
"Ada," Legolas cleared his throat. "If you would rather I not continue...?"
"No, go right ahead," the king waved his hand. "It is an amusing story."
"Don't we get any say in this?" Elrohir protested.
"No!" Legolas and Estel replied simultaneously. "What happened?" Estel asked again.
"It was the summer of my one-hundred and tenth year," the prince began, grinning as Elladan groaned again and buried his face in his arms. "I had been staying with your family in Rivendell, and Elladan and Elrohir were bringing me back to the palace to begin my training..."
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The rest of the feast was full of stories and remembrances, many embarrassing for either Legolas or the twins. Estel had been a bit surprised, however, when one of his brothers had told the story of the first time they'd tried to teach their human brother to ride a horse—needless to say it had ended up in a very muddy and sore Estel limping back home.
Belegdur's words seemed to have been forgotten as the feast went on, and even all mention of his existence was left out. Had it not been for one or two tales the crown prince told of his younger brother's days as an elfling, a stranger would not have known that there was even another prince of Mirkwood.
The only one who seemed bothered by this change at all was Legolas. He kept looking toward his brother's empty place with a saddened expression, as though regretting whatever circumstances had caused Belegdur to leave. Estel and his brothers did their best to distract the prince and it seemed to work, for the most part.
"Don't forget," Estel said one last time as they stood to leave the banquet hall once the feast was over, "you promised to give me an archery lesson tomorrow."
Legolas smiled and shook his head. "I won't forget. Shall I come by your rooms to get you in the morning?"
"That will be fine," Elladan replied, putting an arm around Estel and steering him away from the table.
The prince began to follow the brothers out, but was called back by his father. Estel watched in some concern as Legolas approached the king, but was relieved when Thranduil merely put an arm around his son and led him out another way, tossing a good-night to the guests as he began speaking to Legolas in a lowered voice.
"He'll be fine," Elrohir said reassuringly. "I'm sure the king just wants to make sure Legolas understands that whatever happened to his brother tonight wasn't his fault."
"What did happen?" Estel asked as they made their way back to their room.
Elladan shook his head, suddenly striding ahead of them and entering their room. Elrohir gave Estel a sad glance, and the two younger beings followed the older.
"It was my fault," Elladan said, as soon as his brothers entered.
"What?" Estel frowned in confusion.
"Belegdur...he said," Elladan turned to face Estel and Elrohir, and the human was startled to see tears on his brother's face. What could Belegdur have said to hurt Elladan so?
"'Dan?" Estel asked softly, padding forward to take his brother's hand.
"It was that stupid stunt I pulled," Elladan replied, sitting heavily on the edge of the bed, resting his head in his hands.
Estel looked over at Elrohir. "I don't understand."
"After round two," the younger twin explained. "Remember?"
The human nodded. Elladan had picked him up and spun him around, then chased Legolas down to do the same to the prince. "That?" he asked incredulously.
"Aye," Elrohir nodded. "Among other things...the less-than-proper greeting on the steps of the palace, our monopolizing his time during the tournament...even his inviting us to sit at the high table. Belegdur brought it all upduring his tirade, listing mostly Elladan and I as responsible for Legolas' 'savage behavior'."
Estel winced. He was suddenly glad that Legolas had slipped out when he did, if it meant the prince hadn't heard everything his brother said. "Why?" he asked, more to himself than anyone else.
"Who can tell?" Elladan said with a sigh, rubbing one hand over his face. "Belegdur thinks that Legolas is spoiled because of the way Thranduil treats him, and he says he's just trying to compensate for his father's...shortcomings...in disciplining Legolas."
"What?" Estel exclaimed. "But...but anyone who spends a moment with Legolas can tell he's not been spoiled!"
"I know," Elladan said gently. "Belegdur just doesn't see that."
"It is our fault," Elrohir said. "In a way," he added as Elladan shot him an odd look.
"Why?" Estel asked, wishing someone would just give him a straight answer.
"Legolas grew up in Rivendell," Elrohir explained gently. "When he was very young he was in a very bad accident, and Thranduil had to send him to Ada to be healed."
"After a time they agreed that Ada would keep Legolas until he came of age, and then Legolas would return to Mirkwood. Both the king and Ada thought it would be best if Legolas could grow up away from the shadow," Elladan added.
Estel stared at his brothers, a hint of incredulity threatening to show itself as a smile. "That's it?" he said, a laugh bursting out at the looks on his brothers' faces. "That's the 'long story'?"
"There's more to it," Elrohir protested, trying to silence his human brother's mirth. "There is a long story, that's just a summary."
"The condensed version," Elladan agreed.
"So will you tell me the whole story now?" Estel pleaded.
The twins exchanged grins. "Some other time," Elladan replied, ruffling Estel's hair. The older twin's face saddened again as he sat back. "What are we going to do?"
"About Legolas?" Elrohir asked.
Elladan nodded. "He's going to blame himself for this, you know."
Estel didn't mention that he already did.
"Maybe we should just see what sort of frame of mind he's in tomorrow," Elrohir suggested. "He may be able to just forget what his brother said."
The other two nodded in agreement, and Estel hoped that Elrohir might just be right this time.
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"You look cheerful this morning," Elrohir commented when Legolas met them just outside their room.
The prince laughed. It was true...the depressed air he had worn the night before seemed to have disappeared, leaving in its wake an elf very similar to the one who had met them when they first arrived. "My father and I had a long conversation last night," he explained as the four headed out toward the archery fields. "He just wanted to take some time to explain just how proud he was of me."
Elladan smiled broadly. "Of course he is...we all are."
"It's not just that," Legolas replied. "He hasn't had too much time to spend with me...it was nice to have him all to myself for a while."
Estel felt himself nodding in agreement. He was glad that Elrond always took a few moments when he could to spend time with his sons, but he couldn't imagine fighting for his father's attention with eight siblings and a kingdom. He was sure Legolas still felt guilty about the events of the night before, but maybe the time he'd been able to spend with Thranduil had gone a long way to healing the hurts caused by Belegdur's thoughtless words.
"We're not going to the archery field?" Elrohir asked suddenly as the prince led them toward the gate.
"There's a lesson today," Legolas explained. "The Archery Master likes to hold one right after the main tournament while archery is still fresh in his students' minds."
"So where are we going?"
"A small clearing, not ten minutes from the gate," the prince nodded to the guards as they passed out of the palace grounds. "It's often used as a practice ground, but there shouldn't be anyone else there today."
"Aren't you afraid of the dangers of the forest?" Elladan asked, dropping his voice to a spooky tone.
Legolas snorted. "Elladan, there isn't anything within ten minutes of the palace that could harm us."
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The hike to the clearing was short, as Legolas had said, and within fifteen minutes of leaving the palace grounds Elladan, Elrohir, and Estel all found themselves under the tutelage of the young prince of Mirkwood. Elladan and Elrohir had found out that morning that there was to be an archery exposition over the next few days. It wasn't an tournament, but a show in which the archers were divided into classes,and was asimply a chance for archers to show their skills without the pressure of the tournament.While Legolas couldn't qualifyfor the exposition--classes were based on experience rather than skill--he was more than willing to help the twins as much as he could as they preparedfor the exposition.
He didn't seem to mind being excluded, though, Estel noticed. Then again, after defeating one of the best archers Lothlorien had to offer maybe being left out of theexposition wasn't a big deal.
Legolas proved to be an excellent teacher, and within moments he had corrected Elladan's stance, Estel's grip, and shown Elrohir a way to improve his aim.
Estel was very pleased when, under Legolas' instruction, he manage to hit the third ring inward on the target—closer to the bull's-eye than he had ever hit before.
"Nice, Estel," Elrohir complimented his brother. "A little more practice and you'll be better than Elladan."
Elladan made a face and pretended to draw an arrow to shoot Elrohir—he didn't actually use an arrow lest his hand slip and he actually fired.
The human and the prince laughed at the twins' antics as Elrohir pretended to cringe in fear from Elladan's imaginary arrows.
Suddenly, Legolas held up a hand for silence, his eyes scanning the treetops around the clearing. "Hear that?" he whispered.
Estel stilled, straining to hear. He thought he caught a faint skittering of legs in the trees, but that wasn't possible, was it?
"Spiders!" Elladan asked in disbelief. "This close to the palace?"
Legolas nodded, drawing an arrow. "They must have been attracted by the commotion of the last two days."
Elrohir pushed Estel to stand in the center of the three elves. "Should we make a run for it?"
"No," Legolas shook his head. "They have us surrounded."
"How many?"
"No more than a dozen," the prince estimated. "We must alert the guard, there may be more on the way."
"Right," Elladan agreed, then snickered darkly. "Only you, Legolas. Only you would find trouble less than a mile from your home."
Legolas shook his head in exasperation. "Here they come," he muttered.
And Estel got his first glimpse of the infamous giant spiders of Mirkwood. Two descended straight from the trees above, while three more scuttled in from the forest around the clearing.
"Do not let them block them path," Legolas called, felling one spider who had begun to spin a web to do just that.
Estel found his heart pounding in fear. He wished he was more skilled with a bow, but with his brothers and the prince around him he feared he might hit one of them if he joined the fray.
"Estel!" Elladan shouted, casting his bow aside in favor of the sword he had, thankfully, remembered to wear that morning. "Get down!"
Dropping to the ground obediently, Estel crawled away from the battling elves to huddle near the targets. He watched in awe as the three older beings slew the spiders with ruthless efficiency, moving as though they were of one mind.
He suddenly noticed that there were other spiders joining the fray. The smaller ones had only been about a big as a housecat, but one of the newer spiders was at least the size of a large dog. He shivered in disgust. Estel had never minded spiders before, but he wondered if that would all change after today.
"Estel!" the prince suddenly screamed in warning. The human whipped around to see a particularly large, evil-looking spider behind him, rising up on its four hind legs and preparing to strike. He tried to scurry back, cursing his defenselessness. The spider advanced, hissing evilly in some foul tongue.
Estel backed into one of the targets and pulled himself up, still facing the spider before him. It was big...taller than he was when it stretched itself up on its hind legs. He could vaguely hear someone yelling at him, telling him to move, but the movement of the spider was nearly hypnotic.
Just as the spider was about to strike, Estel felt someone grab him from behind and whirl him around, shielding the human from the spider.
A fair voice cried out in pain, and long golden hair tumbled into Estel's face as the elf collapsed limply against the human.
"Legolas!" Elrohir cried, firing the fatal shot into the attacking spider.
Estel let out a cry of his own, fumbling to catch the prince as they both fell to the ground. "No," he whispered hoarsely, staring into Legolas' still features.
TBC...
MWAHAHAHAHA—I mean—Reviews? Flames? Tar and Feathers?
AN: Here's a fun note: I'm borderline arachnophobic. As in I am twenty-two and still scream like a little girl when I find a spider in my room and have to get someone else to take care of it. Kinda gave myself the heebie-jeebies with this chapter, you know?
The "long story" of how Legolas went to live in Rivendell as well as Elladan and Elrohir's visit to Mirkwood are part of Fear No Darkness, which I'll begin as soon as this story is finished.