"No!" shrieked Caladel stubbornly, his young voice riddled with panic and his eyes filled with a fear that was becoming all-too-familiar. Frantically he turned his back on the two terrible Men that he was certain shouldn't be there in the first place and fell down onto the bed next to Legolas. His cries of protest continued on full-force as he clung to his father. "No, no, no, no, no, no, no! I won't let you take me away from him, or him away from me! You don't have a right to!

The more familiar of the two Men – the one that had grabbed Legolas off of Elfhelm's horse, the king – stepped forward, looking like he didn't quite know what to do. "Caladel –"

"NO!" screamed the boy, though his head was buried in his father's side and his voice was muffled. "Go away; go away, please! Or let us go away! I don't want to be here anymore; I didn't want to leave home at all; I just want for me and Ada to go home!"

The other Man, whom Caladel hadn't yet realized was Rohan's best healer, stood as still as he could at the foot of the bed, staring aghast at the hysterical elf child. He still couldn't for the life of him figure out how he came to be in such a strange situation. The night had begun as it usually did with him going to bed; but then he was disturbed first by a horn blow and then by Lord Gamling demanding that he go to the royal quarters at once. After a few minutes of wandering around to find the right chambers he had found himself in the larger of two bedchambers in a suite a few doors down from King Eomer's, where he was stunned to find the missing Prince Legolas tucked under the covers. The king had been in there too, pacing, and the child called Caladel had been standing by his father's side, holding his hand – quietly.

The healer moaned internally. The situation had seemed under control when he arrived a few minutes or so earlier – unusual perhaps, but not immediately dire. Then, after speaking quietly to King Eomer to get a better understanding of the situation, he had made the horrific mistake of suggesting that perhaps it would be better if the king escorted the boy out of the room while he conduct his examination of Prince Legolas. This was standard practice that saved the healers from distraction while protecting the children from seeing anything traumatizing if something went wrong, but apparently it was too much to ask of the already frightened and exhausted child. The ensuing breakdown and tantrum had come almost instantly and at such a high volume that the healer wouldn't be at all surprised if the hobbits in the Shire had heard it.

As hot tears began to stream down Caladel's face amidst his screams the bewildered healer turned to Eomer. "I don't know much about elvish cultures," he said meekly. "Do you know if I said something offensive or inappropriate?"

Eomer simply shook his head. "I don't know," he said, sounding just as uncertain as the healer had. Seeing that Caladel wasn't looking directly at them he took a deep breath and chanced walking forward again. When he got to the side of the bed directly behind the boy without eliciting any more screams the king took an even bigger risk by placing a gentle hand on Caladel's back. "Caladel –"

"Don't!" shrieked Caladel, terrified when he realized how close he'd let the stranger get to him. He lashed out wildly with his feet and fists, trying to make this king go away. Eomer jumped back quickly and so was only grazed in the cheek by the boy's small fist. "I know what you're trying to do! You're going to take me away from my ada and we'll never see each other again. Just leave us alone…"

"I would never do anything that mean," said Eomer in his calmest tone as he lowered both his vocabulary and his height down to the child's level. He made sure never to break eye contact with Caladel as he continued. "I promise you that neither I nor any Man who is under my command will keep you away from your father when you want to be with him. May the Valar strike me dead if I'm lying to you."

"I don't believe you!" cried Caladel. The fear of being forcibly kept from his father was too ingrained in him to find any comfort in Eomer's vow. "You're going to take me and I'm never going to see him again. Ada knows this – he's had nightmares about it all my life, what would happen if we went into the outside world. You can't lie to me – I heard him tell Treebeard all about it!"

"Treebeard?" Eomer was flabbergasted. "Are you telling me that you two lived in Fangorn Forest?"

"We did, and I wish that we were still home right now!" shot back Caladel. "Treebeard wouldn't let you take me away from Ada; he promised Ada that he would squash anyone who tried to do such a mean thing."

Eomer wasn't troubled as much by the thinly veiled threat of literally becoming nothing more than a stain on the earth than he was about the implications this new information had about the boy's background. It sounded as if he'd never been out of Fangorn before, living there with only his father, the Ents, and the trees for company, and harboring a deep fear about all the bad things that could happen to him outside of the forest's borders. This did not bode well for gaining the elfling's trust anytime soon and Eomer wasn't sure that Legolas could afford the delay in his care. "What can I do to make you believe me?" he begged.

The boy just stared back defiantly at the king in response and said nothing. Eomer glanced over at the healer, who could tell in an instant that his king was at a loss about what else he could do next. Well, seeing that his suggestion had started this whole mess the least that he could do was try to fix it. "Young Man – I mean, young elf," stammered the poor healer awkwardly. Caladel's glare was so intense that for a moment the healer wondered if he really had done anything terrible to deserve it. "No one here wishes to harm you or your…ada. He is held in high regard here. Please believe that neither I nor King Eomer –"

"Eomer?" asked Caladel suddenly, seeming very surprised. He burrowed his brow as his eyes darted back and forth between the two Men.

"King Eomer," the healer automatically corrected him.

Both Men held their breath, wondering if that gentle reprimand would trigger another tantrum but the boy thankfully remained relatively calm. "I know that," snapped Caladel crossly, obviously offended that a stranger would have the nerve to feel comfortable enough to correct him. "I do listen to my father's stories about the outside world, you know. He's in some of them, in the ones that Ada usually tells me after we see the horses by the river. I just called him Eomer –"

"Because that's what Legolas usually calls him," broke in Eomer. He silently thanked Legolas and the Valar for giving him the perfect opportunity to gain the boy's trust. He only hoped that this wouldn't backfire as well. "And that's because your ada knew him before you were born; and one day after the War King Eomer asked Legolas to stop calling him by his former title."

He at least had Caladel's attention. The boy was still glowering, of course, but Eomer could tell that he was also curious in spite of himself. "How could you possibly know that?" demanded Caladel.

"Because I am King Eomer," the king told him soothingly.

Caladel was miffed that this strange king would use his father's stories to lie to him. He rolled his eyes and started to turn away, but the pleading tone in the Man's voice made him pause for some reason. "Caladel, please; I'm telling you the truth. I'm Eomer; and years ago your father told me that he would only call me Eomer if I would return the favor by calling him Legolas. I know your father and have held him in my – in the highest regard since the time right after the War."

"Why should I believe you?" Caladel as ked him, still defiant but wearing down faster than he would have liked. The day of riding, screaming, and the emotional trauma of leaving the forest to come to the unfamiliar Mannish settlement had taken its toll on his energy. All he wanted to do was curl up next to his ada and go to sleep but he knew he couldn't do such a thing yet. After all, the reason they'd left Fangorn in the first place was so that Legolas could get some help; and Caladel knew better than to go to sleep with so many untrustworthy strangers around. However, if this Man really was Eomer and he could be trusted…

Eomer could see that his defenses were waning but not yet gone. He searched his memory quickly for any more proof that he could offer up to assure Caladel that he'd known Legolas before. "When we said goodbye," he blurted out. A huge relieved smile broke out across his face. "Caladel, when Legolas told me goodbye before he went into Fangorn he taught me the way that elves say goodbye to friends. We touched our palms to our chests and then grasped each other's shoulders."

There was a long pause during which Eomer dared to do nothing but hold his breath. "He told me that," Caladel finally said. "That's not just a goodbye; it's how friends say hello too, and all sorts of other stuff too. It's more about being friends than about saying any one thing."

"In that case I'm even more honored that Legolas showed it to me," said Eomer. He felt a strange thrill go through him as he thought about how on that day of parting the fair elf was really telling him how much he'd come to like him.

The Man's cheeks flushed when he realized that he was thinking like a foolish youth with a puppy crush and internally shook away the silly musings. He didn't yet have Caladel's trust and he needed to focus on gaining that. "Caladel," he said sincerely, "I would never do anything half as cruel as take you away from him. Did he ever say anything that made you think I would in his tales?"

"I – I – I," stammered Caladel shakily, his struggle over whether or not to trust Eomer making him more confused than he'd ever been in his life.

Eomer just looked at him patiently. "I don't want to leave him," the boy confessed brokenly. "I've hardly ever been without him and now that we're here…"

"Ah," said Eomer with a knowing nod. "You're in a strange place full of strangers and the only person here that you know is sick. I was once in a very similar position, when my sister and had to come to this very place to live with my uncle after we lost our parents. I'd never been so scared in my life before then and all I could think about was trying to protect my sister from anyone I thought would take her away from me too. I remember how awful that was; I imagine you're feeling quite the same way now."

"We take care of each other," explained Caladel in a small voice. "I can't just leave him and he wouldn't want to do the same to me. Why do you want to make me do that?"

"That's the usual way we do things around here," replied Eomer, his eyes full of kind understanding. "But just because that's what we usually do doesn't mean that it's what we always have to do. If you feel that you can't leave your father even for a short time then you'll simply have to stay in here during the examination."

Caladel's eyes brightened and Eomer knew that he'd succeeded. "Can't we compromise, Caladel?" he asked. "You get out of the bed so that the healer has some more freedom to examine your father, but you only have to go so far as the chair right next to it. Is that acceptable?"

Slowly, hesitantly, the boy nodded.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

"I'm sorry," apologized the healer profusely after he gave the king and Caladel his final findings. "Men don't experience whatever it is that is afflicting Prince Legolas and I simply don't know enough about elven anatomy to be of much use here. He's not dehydrated or malnourished, but that's all I can state for a fact. I wish I could tell you something more specific but this is beyond my skills."

"You did your best and are dismissed with my gratitude," said Eomer wearily. "Get some rest now."

After the Man left Eomer sighed and rubbed his palm against his forehead. Now what? He supposed that the next logical step would be to contact an elvish healer but it would take weeks for one of them to get to Edoras. After all they'd put the boy through they ended up not doing anything that helped his father at all. "Thank you for your patience," he said to his young companion. "I just wish – Oh Caladel, you two probably would have been better off if almost anyone else had found you for all the good we've done here."

Caladel surprised Eomer by rising from his position on the edge of the bed by Legolas' side to walk over and place a tentative hand on the Man's shoulder. "It's – it's all right, I guess," the boy said with a fair degree of kindness. "I don't think that Quickbeam was talking about seeing a healer when he said that Ada needed more help than the trees and Ents could give him." He looked sadly back at the bed. "This sort of thing has happened before."

"Really?" wondered Eomer in shock. He couldn't imagine what had happened in the past to bring Legolas out of his previous fits when nothing that his healer had done had succeeded.

"It always passes in a day," Caladel told him solemnly, "but the Ents started to get worried because the grief that was causing it was still there. Someone's got to get rid of that and I think it'll take more than any old healer to do that."

What grief? Eomer was almost bursting with curiosity to find out. He had a couple of guesses without even giving the matter much thought but he would have to wait until Legolas woke up have them confirmed or denied. That was, unless…unless Caladel knew more than what he was letting on, and of course if Eomer could coax this knowledge out of him. A part of him felt ashamed of himself – how could he in good conscience force or trick a little boy into betraying his father's confidence? Yet some secrets had the power to destroy a person if they were kept quiet and Legolas certainly looked like he was suffering. Maybe if he didn't ask directly and instead inferred from whatever the boy would offer if they talked about something else…

"So, Caladel," he said, feeling a little guilty and more than slightly ashamed. He vowed to himself that he would never use the information he got from Legolas' son against the elf in any way. "You, well, you mentioned on a few occasions that it was just you and your father living in Fangorn."

"Us, the Ents, and the trees," interjected Caladel seriously. He loved the Ents and trees too much to stand for hearing them excluded from his family.

"Yes, and them," conceded the Man with an appropriately embarrassed smile. "But you haven't – well, do you – what about your mother?"

"I don't have one of those," said Caladel as if he couldn't care less, giving his shoulders a little shrug.

That was an odd reaction to losing a parent. "You never met her?" pressed Eomer.

"I didn't have one."

"Caladel," said Eomer carefully, not wanting to reveal more about the reproductive cycle than Legolas would want him to, "you need to have had a mother at some point in order to be born."

"Uh-uh," said Caladel, clearly a little frustrated with Eomer's inability to grasp what he thought was the most normal thing in the world. "Ada's a male elf; and so he can either be a sire with a mother or do the birthing himself. Since Ada gave birth to me I know I don't have a mother; I have a sire."

This, beyond its unfathomable parts, opened up new possibilities that Eomer hadn't dreamed of. "What about this sire, then?" he inquired. "I'm guessing that he wasn't with you two. If I'm not wrong, then do you know why not?"

A somber, uncomfortable expression came to the boy's face. "I don't know much about him," he admitted. "Ada didn't like to talk about that sort of thing with me or anyone else. What I do know comes from something that I once overheard between Ada and Treebeard. Treebeard was saying how much I looked like my ada and Ada…well, Ada told him that it was by Eru's mercy that I didn't look like my sire."

'Then it wasn't a friendly, amicable separation,' deduced Eomer silently. Nor, most likely, was it a matter of Legolas having a lover who died; for it seemed too out-of-character for the elf to be happy that his child didn't resemble someone he loved and lost to death. That left Eomer with the perplexing mystery of who was the idiot who would actually forsake such a close relationship with Legolas. "You don't know anything else about him?" asked Eomer, really feeling like a rat now.

Caladel twisted a strand of his hair. "He wasn't an elf," he said somewhat reluctantly. "My ada told me once that my sire was a Man."

Eomer was absolutely floored. He blinked as he suddenly became aware that, though the boy did resemble his father a great deal, the color of their hair was actually quite different. Caladel's hair didn't have the pure gold appearance of his father's mane; it was more of a dirty blonde. The king felt a strange pit in his stomach when he realized that it looked not unlike that of most of the people in Rohan.

The sound of Caladel's stomach growling pulled Eomer back to reality. "Forgive me," he said almost breathlessly with an understanding smile. "I should have realized that you were getting hungry! Would you like to come with me to the kitchens to get something to eat? I promise that I'll bring you right back here and tuck you in next to your father afterwards."

The Man was pleased when Caladel hesitated for a shorter amount of time. "Do you have blackberries?" the boy asked hopefully. "Quickbeam, Ada, and I used to pick those all the time because they're my favorite."

"I'm happy to say that I can offer you at least that one comfort from Fangorn," Eomer told him as he rose to his feet. He held out his hand, letting Caladel decide if he wanted to take it. After a few seconds a little hand did indeed slip into his and together Man and elfling walked out of the room.

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Legolas felt as disoriented as he always did whenever he came out of his grief-induced fit. 'This is absolutely the last year that this is going to happen,' he vowed to himself, which had also become another yearly ritual. He knew that he wouldn't be able to let go of his grief as long as his heart clung to Aragorn and no matter what he did he couldn't make it let that Man go. Grasping at the covers Legolas tried to collect himself –

What one minute – covers? Legolas only had one blanket – he'd had a lot to bring with him when he went into Fangorn and couldn't justify bringing more than that; and besides, he never had any use for it. Now he was burrowed under not one but three covers – a sheet, a blanket, and a quilt – as he lay on the…bed? He let out a horrified gasp as his eyes flew open. This wasn't Fangorn! He was in a building; he felt that he could have recognized the cultural décor in a more rational moment but even a panicked simpleton would have known that he was in a Mannish bedchamber. But where was his son?

"Caladel!" cried Legolas. There was no response but he could feel the boy's presence somewhere nearby. Had Aragorn found them? Had he discovered the truth about Caladel and taken the boy away to punish him? Legolas couldn't stand the thought. "Ion nin! Please, Caladel, answer me!"

Still nothing. Legolas felt like he couldn't breathe. "I won't let you do this!" he screamed at the people he perceived was keeping his son away. "Dear Elbereth, don't take him away from me!"

Footsteps running in the corridor outside made the door tremble slightly a few seconds before it burst open. "Ada!" cried Caladel. He frantically waved his red, sticky hands as he raced to his father's side. "I'm right here, Ada; don't worry!"

Legolas seized him immediately, drawing the elfling close; Eomer couldn't help thinking that it looked like the elf feared that some threatening presence would come in and demand that he hand Caladel over. "Thank Elbereth," the prince sobbed. "Thank Elbereth you're safe. I love you so much, my precious, precious son; so very much. I couldn't bear to lose you."

Eomer felt out-of-place in his own hall as he watched father and son's tearful reunion. "I, uh," he cleared his throat awkwardly and succeeded in getting Legolas' attention. "Caladel was very hungry, so I took him to raid the kitchens. I'm sorry if we caused you any distress."

The last person that Legolas had expected to see when he got over his fit was the king of Rohan. "Eomer?" he asked. The Man nodded, at a loss for any other response though he did smile at hearing the elf say his name. "Then this must be…Meduseld?"

His only answer was another nod. "But yesterday my son and I were in Fangorn!" he exclaimed, too taken aback to think about keeping his haven a secret. "How did you come to be here, and in such a short amount of time?"

"Caladel approached an eored on the River Isen," Eomer informed him. "He told them that his father was sick; it was only after he led them to you did any of them realize that his father was Prince Legolas. After that Elfhelm and a young soldier named Alfmund pushed their horses to exhaustion to get you two here as swiftly as possible."

"Quickbeam told me to do it," added Caladel quickly under his father's incredulous stare. "He and Treebeard decided that it would be best for both of us."

"Those meddling Ents," commented Legolas dryly as he went over Treebeard's last round of sound advice and subtle suggestions. While he understood that the Ent had thought that leaving might be in his best interest for a long time he could scarcely believe that he would do something so…hasty.

"I for one am glad about it," broke in Eomer, unable to contain himself when he saw the elf's enchantingly wry smile. "It's so wonderful to see you again, Legolas! A lot of people have been so worried about you: the hobbits, Gimli, your poor father, and Aragorn. Oh! I must write to Aragorn at once; he's been desperate for information about your whereabouts for years."

Legolas' stomach dropped at the mention of his lover's – 'ex-lover; he's my EX-lover' – name. He couldn't face Aragorn now, not when he felt so off-balance. Not ever, if he could manage it. "Eomer," he croaked out. "Is there any place close by where you and I might talk privately?"

"These particularly chambers have a second, smaller bedchamber through that door," replied Eomer, a little confused as he pointed to a door on the wall that stood to the left of the bed. "I thought that you'd like an extra one for Caladel."

"Perfect," declared Legolas in a falsely chipper voice. "Ion nin, why don't you climb into this bed here? I'll be right back as soon as Eomer and I have a little talk."

The elf managed to tuck his son in as normally as he could and even refrained from forcibly dragging Eomer into the other bedchamber by his collar. Only when the door closed did he loosen his rigid control over his emotions. "Don't tell Aragorn anything about me," pleaded Legolas before the Man could say anything. "Not where I am, or that I'm a father, or anything else!"

"But he's so worried!" protested Eomer. "In every letter he sends he begs for information about you no matter what he's writing about or who he's sending it to. I don't understand why you'd want to prolong his suffering –"

"Please!" Legolas' voice cracked. He wasn't in the mood to hear about how much Aragorn cared about him and all the pain that his disappearance had caused the Man. "I'm begging you, Eomer. I'm not his subject, nor am I under his command so you have no legal reason compelling you to tell him where I am. I can't – see him. I can't…"

Eomer didn't like this but he was suddenly afraid that Legolas would bolt again if he felt like he was being cornered. "If I do this," he said slowly, "will you consent to having a long talk with me so that I might understand the reasons for it and why you vanished?"

"Yes," answered Legolas right away. He failed in fighting down a yawn. "Right now?"

"No," said Eomer compassionately. "I guess your fit didn't allow you to get much sleep last night, and I didn't get a lot of it myself. I daresay that our conversation will be an exhausting one and it would be best if we weren't already tired when we start it."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

No sooner had Eomer left Legolas and Caladel in their bedchamber did a frantic servant track him down, saying that his presence was required outside immediately. 'Not again,' Eomer internally groaned. How many crises did he have to deal with before he too could get some sleep?

Resolving to take care of it as soon as possible, Eomer rushed straight outside and down the outside stairs. He had just enough time to take in a slew of horses, including a white one that was without a rider, before almost tripping over something – someone – on the way down. "What the –"

"I heard the news," announced a breathless, hopeful Gimli. "That Léod came to the caves with a tale about finding Legolas sick in Fangorn. Is it true?"

Thank the Valar he didn't promise not to tell Gimli. "Yes, it is," nodded Eomer.

"He's here, then?" asked Gimli. "Is he all right?"

"He's here and he's fine," stressed Eomer. "In fact he's probably sleeping as we speak."

In an instant the dwarf's expression changed from hopeful anxiousness to absolute fury. "That dratted elf!" he raged. "After all he's put me through he has the nerve to be asleep now? Where is he? I'm going to kill him!"

To be continued…