Episode VII: Belegdur Strikes Back?

Elladan glanced sharply around the hall, breathing a sigh of relief as he saw no one.

The last few hours had been utter torment. Legolas had told Belegdur that Elladan was behind all of the pranks, from the failed tar-and-feathering to the pit of muck. As a result, Belegdur had enlisted help in getting his own revenge on Elladan.

Not only had he drafted Legolas, but Elrohir and Estel were in on the plans as well.

Elladan was no longer safe wherever he went in the palace.

He had woken up this morning to discover that Elrohir had drugged him the night before, and then dragged or carried him outside and tied him to a tree. Thankfully, one of the guards came by to loose him (after Elladan let out a rather blood-curdling scream), and he was able to sneak back into the palace to bathe before breakfast.

Of course, that was when he discovered that Estel had put mud in all the shampoo bottles.

He'd had to trek through the palace absolutely drenched in mud to borrow some shampoo from one of Legolas' sisters (unfortunately it had a rather strong floral scent), and to top it all off he was late for breakfast.

Which didn't really matter, since someone had put salt in his oatmeal. And his tea. And put sugar in his eggs.

Needless to say, Elladan hadn't eaten much at breakfast.

He managed to avoid any more pranks that morning by hiding in the stables, convinced that his horse would protect him.

Of course, his horse had never been much of a conversationalist, and Elladan had been ducking back into a pile of hay every time he heard footsteps approaching.

Lunch was a different matter, as none of the others dared prank him at that meal because they were eating in the formal dining hall. It seemed, however, that someone had told King Thranduil that Elladan was behind the "attacks" on Belegdur, and he had spent the entire meal quailing under the king's sapphire glare.

Needless to say, Elladan hadn't eaten much at lunch, either.

After lunch, he sneaked back to his room to discover that Elrohir and Estel (probably) had taken the clothes he'd brought and tied them in knots. He managed to undo the knots, only to discover that that left horrible wrinkles in all of his clothing.

When taking his clothing down to the laundress to see if she could get the wrinkles out, Legolas had "accidentally" run into him while carry a rather large glass of wine. Elladan had become drenched in the wine, and now the only non-wrinkled pair of clothes he had were wine-stained and sticky.

So he'd borrowed some of Elrohir's...only to discover that Elrohir had hidden all of his clothes and all that were left were Estel's. And even though Estel was still a growing boy, his clothes were too small for Elladan.

And so Elladan was sneaking around corners, trying to get back to the laundress to get something to wear. Even if she hadn't managed to do anything with the wrinkles in his clothes, wrinkled clothes were still better than wine-stained ones.

"Elladan?"

The dark-haired elf whirled around, one hand flying to his heart as his arch-nemesis, Belegdur suddenly appeared behind him.

"Do you need something to wear?"

Elladan stared. "I don't know," he said suspiciously.

"I just figured that, since we're the same size, you could borrow something of mine," the prince offered, holding out a tunic.

Elladan stared at it, as though afraid it would somehow turn into a spider. "Why?"

Belegdur grinned evilly. "Because if you don't I will haunt you for the rest of your days. Imagine, years from now I'll still be reminding you of the time your clothes were filthy and you had nothing else to wear."

To Elladan's surprise, Belegdur suddenly threw his head back and started laughing maniacally.

The dark-haired elf took a step back, and backed right into the wall.

"Oh, Elladan," Belegdur laughed. "You're not the only one who seeks vengeance."

A bucket of cold water was dumped over Elladan's head, and he shrieked, whirling around to see a grinning Legolas behind him.

"You should have known we'd have our revenge on you," the younger prince said with a snicker.

"But you were helping me," Elladan protested. "You were helping me prank Belegdur!"

"Helping you?" Legolas laughed, going to stand next to Belegdur and smiling as his brother put an arm around him. "Why would I want to prank Belegdur? He's the best brother in all of Middle-Earth."

Elladan stared. It was impossible. It couldn't be.

"NOOOO!"

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

"Elladan!"

Elladan jerked sideways sharply, panting for breath as his brother woke him up. "E-Elrohir?" he stammered.

"What happened? What's wrong?" Elrohir asked in concern. "You were tossing and turning, and then you just started yelling 'no'."

The older twin blinked. "I yelled 'no'?"

"Actually, it was more like 'NOOOO!'" Estel piped in.

Elrohir shushed him, turning concerned eyes back on his twin. "Did you have a nightmare?" he asked, his brow furrowing in concern.

"Yes...no...sort of. Where's Legolas?"

His brothers glanced at each other in concern. "He's still with the healers," Elrohir explained. "Belegdur insisted he stay there overnight, just in case there was something foul in that muck he fell in."

"Belegdur?" Elladan asked in surprise.

"Aye, he was very concerned. This must have been one of his good days."

Elladan shook his head, swinging his legs over the side of the bed to sit up. "Did...did Legolas say what happened?"

Elrohir's concerned frown deepened. "Only that he fell into some sort of sinkhole and Belegdur pulled him out. Why?"

The older twin breathed a huge sigh of relief. So Legolas hadn't really told Belegdur what happened. "No reason," he said calmly. "Just wondering."

Throwing a slight grin at his brother, Elladan lay back down to sleep.

It was just a dream, he told himself. That could never happen—Legolas, Elrohir, and Estel would never team up with Belegdur against him.

Would they?


Reviews? Flames? Tar and Feathers?