A few weeks after he, Caladel, and Eomer had returned to Edoras from Eryn Lasgalan (Elbereth, his cheeks still burned when he thought of his former home being given that new moniker! Did his father really have to be so, well, devoted to his son?) Legolas Greenleaf had no choice but to draw a rather sorry conclusion about his life: he was bored for a great deal of the time. Oh, he still wanted to stay in Meduseld. He'd even grown quite fond of the kingdom of Rohan and its people; strange, considering that he and his son ended up there by happenstance, stayed because they really didn't have any other place to go, and ended up feeling right at home.
The trip to his childhood home had served two purposes: to reassure and to say goodbye. Legolas knew that somewhere in the back of Thranduil's mind there had been doubt still lurking about the well-being of his family; had he and Caladel not come to the forest his father would have always wondered if Legolas and the boy were truly all right, if they weren't being forced to stay where they didn't want to by external sources or because of Legolas' sense of propriety and sacrifice. The fact that Eomer had come as well, sans guards or weapons other than the customary sword, had further reassured Thranduil that his son and grandchild were not being prevented from coming and going at will. Why, the elven king had even warmed a little to the Man, though Legolas suspected that his father wasn't really convinced that Eomer was truly Caladel's sire. But he hadn't pressed the matter either and that was all that the prince could hope for.
Legolas hadn't really been bored when he'd stayed in Eryn Lasgalan, as he'd had many people to catch up with, an entire world to show to Caladel before it faded forever, his father to visit with, Eomer to keep an eye on lest he feel uncomfortable or unknowingly put his foot in his mouth, and his own soul to cleanse; but his current state had nothing to do with homesickness or the like. The fact was that during his visit the elf realized that the Woodland Realm wasn't really his home anymore. The Legolas that left there to deliver a message and ended up on a noble but seemingly doomed quest was not the same one that returned about six years later with a child and a Man. Oh, it held a lot of happy memories but the world of the elves was fading away and one of the main reason why Legolas had rejected the idea of taking the ships when he found out that he was pregnant was still there: he could not shake the feeling that Caladel's fate as well as his own was now tied to the world of Men. There would be nothing for either of them in Valinor.
No, the boredom that he felt wasn't indicative of a long-term, festering mood or longing. He did not desire to return to his father's realm or Fangorn, nor did he feel the pangs of sea longing. What it all boiled down to was one simple, yet to him unbelievable, fact: there were a lot of hours in the day and Legolas didn't have enough to do to fill them all.
He never thought that something like this would happen to him. As a child the world fascinated him and he could occupy himself for hours studying the outside and the soul of one tree. As he got older there was weapons training, instructing others in archery, going on the occasional guard duty, and fulfilling his duties as a prince. During the Quest he'd been too busy in mind and body to get bored. Not even in Fangorn Forest – especially not in Fangorn Forest – was he ever bored. The woods there were full of endlessly interesting things and, more importantly, he had Caladel to think about.
Caring for Caladel back then had consumed Legolas to the point there it was sometimes difficult to tell where he ended and the boy began. He'd obsessed constantly about every little thing: whether his son was getting enough to eat, enough to drink, if his Mannish side would complicate his health in any way. He'd worry that Caladel wasn't being loved enough, that having only his father and some Ents around wouldn't be enough for the elfling emotionally. Was Caladel learning enough about the outside world so that he understood that there was something beyond Fangorn's boundaries; was he learning too much so that he would become restless to join into a world where his father was certain there wasn't a place for either one of them? What would happen…what would happen if someone came along and snatched the boy away?
Oh yes; the level of fear that Legolas had felt on a daily basis but only know was beginning to acknowledge had filled up his day and then some. How could anyone be bored when they had to be always alert, stiffening at every unexplained noise, watching out for intruders whenever he and Caladel went down to the river Isen to collect drinking water or bathe, and cringing when the boy made the slightest noise during the few times that there were people on the river bank. Legolas had rarely let Caladel out of his sight. His son had been Legolas' only reason for existing and the elf prince had constantly feared that the specters of all that he didn't want to face would swoop in one day and take his life, his purpose, his child.
Things had been gradually changing since he and Caladel had come to live in Edoras. It started with little things, like staying behind in his bedchamber while the elfling went off with Eomer to sneak some food from the kitchens. Those few minutes of separation had stretched into an hour when Caladel had claimed that having his ada present was distracting him and making his instructor, Alfmund, nervous. Legolas hadn't been able to deny his son's request and, besides, Alfmund had been the one who bore Caladel out of Fangorn – the young Man was very protective of him too and wouldn't let anything bad happen. Next came the tutoring sessions, taking him away for a few more hours. Now that the boy had all of his lessons and friends that he'd met at those he could be somewhere else anywhere from a few hours to all day.
Now that all of this was happening Legolas found that he wasn't too concerned about anyone taking Caladel when he wasn't looking. He trusted those whom he placed the care of his son with and all of the guards knew who he was in case anyone tried to smuggle him out of the city. Most of all, the elf was reassured by Eomer's promise that he wouldn't let anyone steal his son from him. The fears that had once robbed the elf of many a night's sleep were now something that he only thought of when someone overtly reminded him of them. That resulted in a freeing up of a lot of his time.
Caladel, it seemed, was busy forging who he was when he was away from his father and Legolas was left without the one person that had previously defined everything that he was; but it wasn't as if he'd been completely abandoned. He, Caladel, and Eomer still ate almost every meal together. In fact, the three of them were growing closer every day. He and his son, as neither wanted to lose their close bond made it a point to spend time alone together each day too. Legolas had also found that he was also spending a surprising amount of time alone with Eomer as well, usually a few minutes here and there during the day or when they had late night talks after Caladel had gone to sleep. It was just that when his son and the Man weren't with him they were off doing other things. Caladel had his studies and his friends; Eomer had his kingly duties; and Legolas didn't really have another role outside of his bonds with them that defined him.
It wasn't as if he didn't enjoy having the time to do his own thing, but at the moment the activities that consisted of "his own thing" were very limited. At first Legolas had spent his free time catching up on about five years of inadequate and interrupted sleep. Finally, when he'd gotten to the point where if he rested anymore he would become an inanimate object he'd needed something else to do. At that point he'd taken to walking the grounds of the city (the elf never went outside the gates, wanting to be close at hand in case Caladel needed anything) and reading everything that he could get his hands on. Unfortunately the land of Edoras wasn't very interesting and the lack of trees made him miss being in the woods; and the city only had a finite number of scrolls available for public reading, and even less that were in the Common Tongue. Once Legolas had reread everything to the point that he got a headache at the sight of a familiar scroll he knew that the time had come to be more proactive.
Trying to teach himself Rohirric had kept Legolas occupied until he, Eomer, and Caladel had left for Eryn Lasgalan; but it was difficult to learn a new language if one didn't have a proper instructor or even a set of written directions to help along the way and he'd ended up making the decision to abandon that pursuit by the time they'd returned from his father's realm. Thankfully it was at that point that Eomer had made a rather thoughtful suggestion: since the elf had great skills in archery and obviously enjoyed doing it, why not create a place for him to do it in? Legolas had gratefully accepted his offer and in no time he had his own makeshift archery field set up for him on Meduseld's private grounds. However, even that grew wearisome – while Legolas loved having the place and freedom to shoot once again, hour…after hour…after hour…day…after day…after day…after day of practicing without any real purpose was enough to drive the most stable person insane.
The breaking point had finally come when Legolas – without Caladel and Eomer, not tired, unable to read anything old or new, not inclined to make the effort to go outside to walk the grounds, and refusing to shoot anymore for fear that he'd get permanently sick of it – found himself wandering aimlessly through the corridors of Meduseld simply because he lacked anything better to do. "This is nonsense," he declared aloud. His voice seemed to echo around him and he realized that he'd been reduced to not only doing nothing but also to talking to himself. Legolas knew then that he was going to lose his mind if he didn't do something to alleviate his boredom and he resolved to see to just that immediately.
Unfortunately he couldn't think of any other away to go about finding something useful to do except to seek out Eomer's help, and the Man was currently in his office taking care of official business. That wasn't as much of an obstacle for Legolas, however, as it had been in the past. Not too long ago it would have been unthinkable to Legolas to see Eomer when he was working but something – the elf wasn't sure what – had changed between them in Eryn Lasgalan. Maybe it was his father's acceptance of Eomer; perhaps it was how seeing his people made most of his guilt about abandoning them disappear; maybe it was just the fact that they were able to spend more time together and learn more about each other; but now the mentality that Legolas had that separated the Eomer that was his friend from the Eomer that was the king was pretty much gone. He only hesitated for a moment before making his way to the office of the king and politely rapping on the door.
"Come in!" called out Eomer's eager voice from the other side.
Legolas swung the door open carefully and stood in the entryway. The inviting smile on the Man's face that he used to greet every visitor broadened and became more genuine when he saw who was there. "Legolas!" he exclaimed, jumping to his feet without a thought and banging his knees on the edge of his desk.
"Are you all right?" asked Legolas, swallowing his laughter for the most part.
"I'm fine," Eomer tried to say casually, as if he'd had every intention of bruising himself. He waved his hand in a gesture for Legolas to come in and the elf complied, closing the door behind him as he entered. "It's just that this is a pleasant surprise! What brings you here?"
"This is a little difficult, but I – I need to talk to you," said Legolas, subdued.
The smile immediately faded from Eomer's face, replaced with stress lines and a worried frown. "What's wrong?" he asked anxiously. "Has something happened to Caladel?"
"No, no, it's nothing nearly as serious as that," Legolas reassured him, though he was oddly pleased at the Man's distressed reaction and where his mind had instantly gone. There was a time when that announcement would have made Eomer assume that the elf was planning on leaving and never coming back; he was happy now that the Man apparently trusted him enough to know that he wouldn't make such a decision so suddenly. It also gave him a great deal of comfort to be reminded of how much Eomer truly loved Caladel.
"Good," breathed Eomer as he visibly relaxed. He shakily gestured to a chair sitting opposite of the desk. "Please sit down if you wish."
The Man sucked in a deep cleansing breath as Legolas did just that. "It's got nothing to do with this afternoon, right?" he continued. "I hope not! I've been looking forward to scouting locations with you and Caladel all day."
That afternoon Legolas, Eomer, and Caladel were going to ride around the land immediately outside of the city in search of the perfect place to grow a grove of trees. At their departure Thranduil had gifted his son and grandson with seeds from the trees of the Woodland Realm so that they could always have a small piece of it with them while they lived in the world of Men. Caladel had been of a mind to plant them right away but Legolas had talked him out of it – not all of the soil right outside of the city was contusive to growing trees, so it would take some time and care to find the proper place; and they couldn't count on a seed getting enough nourishment during the harsh winter to survive long enough to become a sapling. The plan now was to allow the seeds to grow into saplings in special buckets indoors (over the elfling's objections that trees shouldn't be grown in captivity) and then planted outside once spring came. Eomer was being kind enough to let them take over a good-sized slot of land in his realm so that they could carry out this endeavor.
"I," began Legolas awkwardly, not knowing how to ask for help with his boredom without coming across as ungrateful. He didn't like the idea of Eomer thinking that he'd found fault in Meduseld, Edoras, Rohan, or the people there. He laced his fingers together and set his hands down on the desk to keep from fidgeting nervously. "I'm looking forward to that as well. So is Caladel; I think he'll feel better about the whole keeping the seeds inside once he knows for sure that there's going to be a place where he can plant them later. Besides, he'll take any excuse to ride his horse outside of the practice arena."
"I know – did you see how excited he was at breakfast this morning?" chuckled Eomer.
"I can't say that I blame him," replied Legolas. "It's been a while since Arod's been given a good ride."
"Thoughts about leaving all of this behind and riding off with you have been motivating me to read though this infernal trade agreement with Dol Amroth all morning," confided Eomer without thinking. It didn't occur to him until a second later who romantic he'd made it sound. Valar, why didn't he just suggest that they leave their son at home and take along a blanket and some wine instead? He hastily cleared his throat. "You know how it is – I don't like staying cooped up for too long! A Man of Rohan needs to take a good long ride quite frequently."
Legolas was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice the potentially suggestive nature of that last comment or register the mortified grimace on Eomer's face. "Will you be ready to go once you've approved of the agreement?" he asked.
"No," said Eomer, quickly thanking the fates that the elf hadn't called him on anything. "I have a few other matters to sort through after I'm done with that; but they have to do with the Yule celebration and will go by much faster. My uncle used to tell me to do the dull tasks first and save the fun ones for last so that I would have something to look forward to instead of something I dreaded looming."
"That sounds like good advice to me," said Legolas kindly, looking at the small stack of papers on the desk curiously. "May I ask what Yule is?"
Eomer looked at his with eyebrows raised in surprise. "Do you mean to tell me that your people don't celebrate Yule?" he wondered. Legolas nodded, looking a bit sheepish. "Well, I suppose that it's silly to assume that just because we celebrate something that everyone else must too. It's a shame, though; I feel sorry for you, you poor deprived princeling."
"You've been writing with Gimli, haven't you?" demanded Legolas with a quirk of his lips, immediately warming to the Man's teasing tone. "I suggest that you ask him what I did the first time he called me that. But before you do so, tell me about Yule."
"It's a wonderful holiday," Eomer told him. "Every year we celebrate the first day of winter on the shortest day and longest night of the year" –
"Oh, you're talking about Solstice," laughed Legolas in recognition. "Really Eomer, if you're going to celebrate something at least call it by its proper name! I'll have you know that we elves of the Woodland Realm have always had festivities that are quite impressive on that occasion for years."
The Man grinned at the playfully competitive edge in Legolas' statement. "Is that so?" he questioned challengingly. "Let's see how they compare, then. Do you give out presents?"
"Piles of them," replied Legolas, falsely smug. "You've met my father, Eomer – do you really think he'd let the chance to spoil the people he loves rotten pass him by? Don't feel the need to answer that; tell me a bit about the celebration itself. Is it full of food, merry-making, and drinks that will make your eyes blurry?
"Well, none of the drinks are of the same caliber as all of the elvish wines, but yes," returned Eomer, pretending to be overly proud. "And that merriment you mentioned always includes people singing Yule songs off key and at the top of their lungs. Are there any Solstice songs, Legolas?"
"Several," declared Legolas. He wracked his mind for something that would stump Eomer; and grinned evilly when the perfect thing came to him. "We also decorate all of the trees outside. Have you ever decorated a tree for Yule, Eomer?"
"I can't say that I've decorated a tree outside, as there are none around to do so," admitted Eomer, acting defeated for a moment. Then he straightened his back and smirked. "But it's tradition to ride out to more wooded areas, cut down one, and bring it home to decorate and keep inside, so technically the answer to your question is 'yes'." Eager to win one of their verbal wars, he quickly sifted mentally through everything that was associated with Yule to find something on the obscure side. "Now tell me: what mistletoe traditions do you have?"
Damn! Eomer got him. "What does mistletoe have to do with a holiday celebration?" frowned Legolas.
"I think you'll just have to wait and find out for yourself," teased Eomer.
"I am looking forward to it," said Legolas honestly now that their sparring had ended. "This will be Caladel's first Solstice, or Yule – would you mind if we called it both around him?"
"Not at all," said Eomer ponderously. "But I don't understand; Caladel will be five in a few months – how can this be his first Yule/Solstice?"
Legolas looked a little embarrassed. "I – I didn't bother to celebrate in Fangorn," he confessed. "I was aware of what day it was – of what every day was, in fact – but there was never any motivation to celebrate and we didn't really have anything that we could have needed to have a proper one anyway. I just wanted his first one to be perfect."
"It will be," vowed Eomer. He looked down at his pile of papers and heaved a great sigh. "After I plan it all out, that is; which will be after I get through this trade agreement. By the Valar, this thing isn't that long or complicated – why is it giving me such a hard time?"
"May I take a look at it?" asked Legolas inquisitively. Eomer gave him an odd look but handed the document over. The two of them said in silence for several moments while Legolas scanned through the writing with his sharp eyes and a furrowed brow. "Well, it seems pretty straightforward. Plain in speech without most of that political jargon."
"What?" asked Eomer, surprised and perplexed.
"Prince Imrahil is a fair Man," continued Legolas. "Not to say that you shouldn't take your time in going over everything, but I'd say offhand that he isn't consciously trying to trick or cheat you in any way. However, if you'll take a little unsolicited advice I would suggest that you rewrite the twenty-third clause to be more specific about what you mean about payments and restitutions. It could be interpreted to make Rohan give up a notably substantial amount of its crops by any less-honest ruler that comes after him." He settled the parchment back down on the desk and looked back at Eomer. "What?"
The Man was staring at him as if he'd just been reciting beautiful poetry in the Dark Tongue. "You," he stammered. "You're a politician?"
"You say that as if it's a bad thing," noted Legolas with some amusement. "I hate to be the one to break this to you, Eomer, but you're a politician too. That's what every king must be."
"Yes, but I spent most of my time before I was king with the soldiers, not behind a desk," protested Eomer. "I fumble through this part of the job! It seems to come so easily to you."
"What can I say? My father never trusted an official document that was sent to or placed in front of him and he taught me to feel the same way. The two of us used to go through every one of them for hours, envisioning every possible scenario and coming up with ways to close loopholes." Legolas couldn't help laughing at the scandalized expression on Eomer's face. "It's not a terrible thing to be a good politician! In fact, I would say that it's rather like being a good soldier: when you're good at it you provide a tremendous service to your people and when you're bad at it you might do something to bring about their destruction. You just have to use your powers for good instead of evil."
"I never thought of it that way before," admitted Eomer warmly. "But anyway, I'm sure that you didn't come here to listen to me complain about my work and then do it for me. Obviously there's something on your mind; what is it?"
Legolas fingered the edges of the parchment he'd just put down and exhaled loudly through his nose. "I…I suppose I'm bored," he said. He rushed ahead when Eomer looked at him, slightly hurt. "I don't mean that I'm unhappy with my life in Rohan! It's just that for so long my life revolved solely around Caladel; then it became all about our family. But I've been feeling rather set adrift when you and our son aren't around to give me purpose; and I've come to realize that I need something that's mine to do. I'm not sure how to go about finding what that is, though. And if you think I'm going to stay in Meduseld keeping up your home," he added with a small smile, "you're sadly mistaken."
"The thought never crossed my mind. How about I just send all of these types of agreements to you to look over?" suggested Eomer brightly, only half-joking.
"I actually wouldn't mind that," Legolas told him plainly, "but it would be too inappropriate. I'm not one of your political councilors, nor am I even a citizen of Rohan. The people from within the realm would rightly question my motivations and my influence over you and people from outside would think you to be an ineffective ruler if they found out."
"You can't blame me for trying," smiled Eomer. He pressed his hands together and the tips of his fingers against his pursed lips as he thought. "I think I might have something – you instructed people in archery when you lived in Eryn Lasgalan, correct?"
"For centuries," replied Legolas. "It was Ada's way of keeping me away from the more dangerous endeavors but I did enjoy it."
"As of right now the training for the guards and soldiers involves lumping together all of the fighting techniques that have nothing to do with sword fighting," explained Eomer. "I've always felt that such a system diminishes the importance of our knife fighters, lancers, archers, and the like; not to mention how it wastes talent by not giving people who are exceptionally proficient in those areas a proper place to expand on their skills. Elfhelm, Gamling, and I have been discussing different ways in which we could change this; however, as we haven't been focusing on these other techniques in the past, we've been having problems with finding people who truly excel in those areas who would also be good teachers. It would be a tremendous help to us – and a great honor – if a certain elf who is reputedly the best archer in Middle-earth would volunteer. Would you be interested in instructing some of our more promising Men in archery?"
Something to do that was his; a chance to be outdoors doing something that he loved; even spending time with people that weren't Caladel and Eomer, thus giving him more opportunities to make friends of his own – Legolas couldn't imagine anything better than that. "I hereby volunteer to be Rohan's new archery instructor," he declared eagerly. "When can I start?"
"We can work out the details with Gamling and Elfhelm tomorrow," promised Eomer as he resolutely picked up the trade agreement once more. "I'd do it sooner but I have clause twenty-three to revise and the perfect Yule/Solstice to plan before Caladel's lessons are over with for the day. He's been so looking forward to our ride that I'd hate to disappoint him by being late!"
OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
Legolas, Caladel, and Eomer's errand that afternoon was straightforward enough – find a suitable patch of land to plant a grove of trees in – but it was proving to be very complicated. First there was the issue of making sure that wherever it ended up being was close to the city – after all, it would be pointless to grow something that was supposed to be meaningful and enjoyable to the two elves if getting to it on a regular basis proved to be impossible. Then the land itself had to be rich; the area immediately surrounding Edoras wasn't used for farming and with good reason: the ground in most places was too hard and/or full of stones for that sort of endeavor. Since Caladel had his heart set on having the trees grow unrestrained they needed to find a patch of land that would allow for later growth. Finding the right place with all of that to consider was like trying to find the proverbial needle in a haystack.
"I think that we should look south of the city," Legolas suggested after awhile of fruitless searching.
"No!" complained Caladel with a pout. His horse neighed sympathetically and the boy patted him fondly. "I really want to have it be at the north! That way Grandfather could ride in them or by them when he goes into and comes out of the city at the start and end of his visits. He could see the trees and say 'Oh, here is the land of my son and grandson! How I love them - and Eomer too!'."
Legolas managed not to laugh at his son's uncanny imitation of Thranduil saying that unlikely little addition. "Your grandfather won't forget where we are, believe me," he stressed. "But he's not going to be seeing any trees if we can't find a place to put them. The land to the south is less rocky; I really think we'll have better luck there than here." Caladel seemed to be wavering so he went in for the clincher. "And when your grandfather does visit we can plan a lot of special rides out to visit the trees."
"All right," Caladel agreed, albeit reluctantly. He couldn't turn down the chance to go on a horse ride outside of the city walls.
With his blessing the trio rode south. When they got to the general area of where they wanted to be they slowed down their place. Eomer then took advantage of the fact that Caladel didn't need to ride in between them when they were going that speed to ride up beside Legolas. "Your father's not coming to visit, is he?" he asked anxiously. "I mean, he's welcome of course, but you'd tell me he's coming, right?"
"You didn't tell me the last time he came," Legolas pointed out sternly. "Eomer gulped nervously, making the elf's hard expression break. "I was just teasing you! You must always assume that he's coming to visit at some point, but I'd let you know as soon as I found out he was on his way. Why so anxious? He didn't threaten you, did he?"
"No," said Eomer quickly. He was certain that Thranduil would keep the information that the Man was in love with Legolas a secret until the ending of the world, and all of the elf king's vengeance seemed to be reserved for Caladel's blood sire. Still…. "He's very – intimidating; not rude, just…let's just say that you're always aware that you don't want to get on his bad side."
"You don't have to tell me that," said Legolas knowingly. "Ada" –
"Ada! Papa!" Caladel called out over to them all of the sudden. When his parents had started chattering the elfling had dismounted his horse to explore the land more closely. What he found there excited him to no end. "We're supposed to be looking for good tree-land, you know! I think I found it!"
Eomer and Legolas immediately dismounted and hurried over to where Caladel was kneeling down. As the elf settled down beside their son and the Man beside him, Legolas narrowed his eyes and examined the ground, both externally and mentally. "It's fertile," he reported several seconds later. "Good earth, with fewer stones than the north side. It will still take some work to clear them all out but it's a manageable task. If enough of the land around here is like this then I believe you've found the site of our future tree grove."
"Yay!" cheered Caladel, leaping to his feet and jumping around in a circle while clapping his hands. "We're going to have a tree grove! We're going to have a tree grove! I'm going to get to talk to trees again; Ada's going to sing to them and make them grow strong; and maybe they won't even whisper those things about Papa!"
"What things?" demanded Eomer, shuddering a bit as he remembered the threatening sounds that the trees of Eryn Lasgalan were making at him.
"That's not important," Legolas told him blithely. "I'm sure that these trees will like you."
Quite unexpectedly Caladel launched himself at his ada. Legolas managed to catch him; being an elf he also maintained his balance but as the boy's goal seemed to be to knock him over the elf let himself fall backwards. A beat later Eomer found himself sprawled out on the ground with Legolas on top of him and Caladel on top of him. The elfling began to laugh at the ridiculous state that his fathers were in and that sound proved to be infectious. Soon enough Legolas and Eomer were laughing so hard that it took awhile for them to calm down enough to disentangle themselves from each other.
It was only late at night when he was almost asleep that Legolas realized that, for the first time in he couldn't remember how long, he hadn't thought about Aragorn once all day.
To be continued…