Legolas snapped shut his book, and looked around in horror. It was dark. Very dark, in fact. And it was not just the blackness that always lay in Mirkwood that crept around him. Night had fallen - he could see a few stars in the sky through the heavy branches that towered above him. How long had he been sitting under the trees? Time had flown by; he had not realised how late it was getting.
"Oh no," he whispered, as he jumped to his feet. "The evening meal! I've missed it, and if I haven't, then I won't get back in time. Ada will be so angry."
The child turned and ran through the trees, trying to keep his gaze fixed straight ahead in front of him. He had never seen a spider before. At least, not one of the poisonous creatures who could kill grown Elves if given the chance. He could imagine them hiding on both sides of the path, waiting to pounce on defenceless Elflings. The thought made him feel sick, but he pressed on. The longer he tarried, the more likely the spiders were to come.
Somewhere up in the trees an owl hooted, and Legolas cried out in terror. Branches hung down in front of him, and every one that he hit out of the way fell back to scratch along his shoulders. The wind played with his hair, picking it up and tossing it around. He could feel it on his face, and even though he knew that the golden strands were his own, he could not help but imagine them as silky spiders' webs.
He lifted both hands and tried to push his hair out of his eyes and back off his face, and as he did so, his book fell to the ground. A large part of him wanted to carry on running back to the palace – he didn't want to spend any more time out here than he had to – but he knew that he could not leave it there, especially after the promise he had made to look after it. So he dropped to the forest floor and grabbed the book, pulling it close to his chest.
"Why did I leave?" he whispered. "Valar, this is all my fault."
The child got unsteadily to his feet and looked around, desperately taking in his surroundings. He had come off the main path, he was sure of it. But how could he….? A little way in front of him was a grim looking clearing, with a thin path winding off in each of the four main directions. He bit down on his lip. He was quite sure he did not want to go to the south. But what was it he wanted?
"North," Legolas muttered. "The palace is north. But which way is that?"
He took a few steps forward until he was in the middle of the clearing, the thought ever present in his mind that he should have paid more attention in his lessons. He looked around slowly, weighing up all of the choices presented to him. If he continued forwards, at least he would be following a straight path. Though, who was to say it would lead him back to the palace? If he went to the left – or the right, for that matter – there was simply no guessing where he would end up. And if he went back the way he had already come…maybe he would end up back on the main path? It was worth a try.
He glanced over his shoulder, and stared into the darkness behind him. If he had come from that direction, surely home was that way? It must be. It made perfect sense. And so he nodded decisively to himself, ready to turn and head back that way. But what was that? His heart began to pound painfully. There were eyes, eyes on the path. They were watching him. And moving.
"No," he whispered. "Please, no."
From somewhere up above him, another owl hooted, the trees rustled, and leaves fell to the ground, brushing his shoulders on the way down. And that made up his mind. Drawing in a sharp breath, he jumped into movement. He didn't even know in which direction he was going. All he wanted to do was get as far away from the danger as he could. And so with fear as his only reason for doing it, he ran.
……………………………………………………………………………………………...
Queen Laerwen closed her eyes briefly as her husband slammed a decanter of wine onto the table top. "Thranduil…"
"No, do not make more excuses for him," the Elven-king cut in. "You always do it, even for the smallest, most trivial things that he does. I know that you dislike seeing Legolas punished. Do you think that I enjoy doing it? But he is never going to learn otherwise."
"He is only late for a meal," Laerwen said gently.
"For the third time this week. He knows what time we eat, and he also knows that punctuality is taken seriously," Thranduil replied. "If he deems himself too important to dine with us, then he will not be dining at all."
The Queen watched in silence as her husband nodded to a servant to remove their son's untouched meal from the table. She could see why Legolas' lateness angered the King. She herself was irritated by it; though that was not something she would admit to. The first and second time she had been able to let pass. But three times was taking it too far, especially after she had reminded him to be on time. All the same, she did not want to see her only child punished. Exhaling deeply, she raised her eyes to meet the King's, though she did not smile at him.
"Please," Thranduil sighed, "do not look at me in that way. That is something else which you always do. You try and make me feel guilty And you always succeed."
Laerwen pushed back her chair, and went to stand beside her husband. She reached down, and gently touched his cheek. "That is not so. You must have a guilty conscience. In fact, yes. I believe that you do."
"Believe what you will."
"Meleth…" Laerwen let out a slow breath, and shook her head sadly. "You should not be too hard on him. He is only a child, after all. Is it too much to allow him a little bit of freedom?"
"He does have freedom," Thranduil replied. "He has as much freedom as we can allow him, and he knows that. But he also knows that there are rules he must abide by. And abiding by them should not be hard, yet he finds that it is."
"You were the same at his age," Laerwen said. "Do not think that I cannot remember – I can. There were many times that you sought sanctuary at my home because you had done something to anger your father, and you did not have enough courage to face him. Take that look off your face, Thranduil. You know it is the truth. You also know that if you punish Legolas for something that you yourself cannot deny to having done, you will be guilty of hypocrisy. And you do not want that, I am sure."
"Not enough courage," Thranduil muttered. "Please, I always had courage enough to face my father, I…just…" He trailed off at the expression his wife wore, and shook his head. "Very well, I will go and get Legolas. I cannot ask a servant to do it for the third night in a row."
Laerwen hid a smile as the other Elf stood. "Thank you."
The Elven-king raised his eyes in annoyance as he left the dining hall to go and find their only child. It was not that Legolas was a particularly badly behaved Elfling, he reflected. In fact, he was very charming – most of the time. But he did have a few moments – like this one – when his antics were not wanted or needed, and he made his father want to shake him. Hard.
As he pushed open the door to his son's room, Thranduil wondered what excuses he would hear this time. "Legolas Greenleaf," he began, "if you think that you are still going to see those men, you can…" He trailed off into silence.
The room was empty. It was how it had been that morning: untidy bed, toys strewn all over the floor, a half completed drawing on the oak desk, an ink stain on the carpet that was badly concealed by a small pair of boots and a tunic. But no Elfling. The King blinked a few times, but nothing changed. Legolas was not in front of him. His eyes were not being deceived.
"Legolas?" Thranduil's voice was uncertain; he doubted whether he would get any response. "Legolas, where are you?"
He backed once more into the corridor and looked up and down it, hoping that he would see his child running towards him. But his hopes were dashed. He was alone. And then his heart began to pound hard against his chest, so hard that it physically hurt. Something was wrong, he knew it. He could feel it. But what…that, he could not guess. There was something inside of him, the paternal part of him that told him it was so. He just wished he knew what it was.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Legolas made his way dejectedly through the forest. He had shed tears already, over two hours ago, but he would not do so again until he was safe at home, in the loving arms of his parents. He was stuck outside on his own, and that was all there was to it. Laerwen had been the one to tell him once that tears would never solve anything. He had not understood at the time, but now it made perfect sense. He smiled at the thought of his mother, but it was quick to disappear.
There were noises from up ahead, people talking. He was quite sure that it was not Elves – the voices were pleasant, he liked them, but they were heavily accented, and not as musical as those of the Firstborn. And yet, they were not harsh enough to be Orcs, not hissing enough to be spiders, nor gruff enough to be Dwarves. That could only mean one thing.
"Men," Legolas whispered.
He crept forwards so that he could peer through the leaves of a bush; and as he caught his first sight of the mortal race, excitement pushed all fear away. They were tall, he noticed, with broader shoulders than the Elves, and in many cases, rounder stomachs. Most of them had dark hair on their chins, which Legolas thought was fascinating. One could not blame him – growing up in an Elven community, a beard was not something he was accustomed to.
'That really is strange,' he thought to himself. 'They have hair on their faces.'
He tore his gaze away so that he could inspect their clothing, and after examining the garments for a minute or so, decided that he preferred Elven clothes. Their cloaks were travel worn, stained with mud, grass, and what looked horribly like blood. They were dressed in dark colours, and their boots, from what he could see, were caked with mud. They were heavy, and made deep imprints in the leaves and grass beneath them.
One of the men raised a gloved hand to push some dark hair off his face, and as he did so, Legolas could not help but cry out at what was revealed. He immediately bit hard on his tongue, hoping desperately that he had not been heard. Unfortunately, the mortals were on their guard, and they spun around to stare hard at the bush he had sought sanctuary in.
The human who had pushed his hair away glanced over to a companion. "Did you hear that, Thal?"
Thalion, the captain of the group, nodded slowly without looking at the other. His sea-coloured eyes flickered with a mixture of doubt and anger as they gazed at the bush. He and his men had so far managed to avoid trouble on their journey through the forest, and it would be just their luck, he reflected grimly, if they were to encounter problems in the last few hours of the trip. He raised a strong hand, indicating that weapons should be made ready.
One of the men shifted restlessly. "What do you think it is?"
"Could be anything," Thalion replied. He took a deep breath, and stared at the trembling bush. "I will have mercy on you, and give you ten seconds to present yourself to me. If, when those ten seconds are up, you are not visibly before me, my men will shoot. Show yourself!"
Nothing much happened. The bush shook a little, as if its inhabitant was torn between staying hidden and obeying the orders which had been given. Thalion watched through narrowed eyes, gradually tightening his grip on his sword until his fingers ached and the skin whitened. He was still counting silently – whatever was concealed in the bush had a mere seven seconds left.
"I will laugh if it is nothing but a mouse," one of the men said softly.
"Keep your jokes to yourself, Curin," Thalion snapped. He looked back at the bush – still no clear movement. "You have five seconds! Four, three, two-
"Don't shoot me!"
The men stared in amazement as the leaves parted, and a golden haired…something jumped through the bush to land directly in front of them. Some cried out in fear. They had heard many stories about Mirkwood from 'reliable sources', and would not be surprised if this small creature revealed itself to be a demon child. Or maybe something even worse.
"Well, it is not a mouse," Curin said, after a long silence.
His brother, Surin, who stood beside him, tilted his head. "No. Nor is it a spider. Although, the resemblance is clearer from this side."
"To what? A spider or a mouse?" Curin asked.
"Spider from the left, mouse from the right."
Legolas' eyes widened, and he stared at the men in disbelief. "Do I look like a spider or a mouse?" he demanded. He was ready to throw a childish tantrum at the insults, but he bit down on his lip as his gaze swept across the arrows and swords pointed in his direction. Maybe losing his temper was not the best idea.
Thalion concealed a smile as he laid his weapon on the ground. "Fear not, little one. We will not hurt you."
"Captain, don't speak to it," one of the men hissed. "Don't encourage it."
"It?" Legolas repeated. "It?"
Thalion turned to his companions, and shook his head slightly. "Are you telling me you believe everything that you hear? This is no demon. It is a child. An Elf child, to be exact. Now, put your weapons away. You are frightening him."
"I thought you were going to shoot me," Legolas said slowly.
"You emerged just in time," Thalion replied. He paused, and the smile faded from his face, leaving it grim and hard. "I would like to ask you some questions."
Legolas bit down on his lip, and nodded once. "Alright."
"First of all, I would like to know your name." The captain paused at the child's expression. "I see. Have you been told not to give out such information to those you do not know? That is good advice. Well, I will tell you my name first of all. I am Thalion."
"Hello, Thalion," the Prince said. "I am Legolas."
A murmur swept through the group of men like wildfire, and there was much muttering behind hands. Curin and Surin, the two brothers who had been cracking jokes, looked at their companions for a few seconds, before the realisation of what had just been said hit them. Their eyes widened, and they drew sharp breaths in unison. The captain held up a hand to silence them all, then turned back to the child.
"Legolas is the name of the King's son," he said slowly. "You cannot be Legolas Greenleaf."
"I am."
Thalion shook his head in disbelief. "But what are you doing out in the forest by yourself, little Prince? Surely your father has not let you come out here?" He fell silent at the look on Legolas' face, and gestured to a tree stump at the other side of the clearing. "Go and sit over there. We are stopping here tonight."
"That's not a good idea," Legolas replied. "You do know that there are spiders?"
"Aye, we know." Thalion smiled grimly as he propelled the child towards the tree stump. "But I'll be damned if I let a giant insect stop me from rest. Come now, let us talk. Why are you out here?"
Legolas sighed as he sat down and watched the men preparing meals and starting fires. "I came out here to read this book, but I wasn't going to go very far from the palace. I didn't realise the time. When I looked up, it was dark. I tried to run, but I got lost. I've been trying to find my way home for…for hours. And then I saw you."
"Were you spying on us?"
"No!" Legolas said incredulously. "I have never seen men before, so I watched you. Then that man over there pushed his hair away, and I saw his ear. I've seen ears that aren't pointed before, but only in pictures, so it surprised me. That was what made me cry out."
"So, your father does not know where you are?" Thalion asked.
The Prince shook his head sadly, and blinked back tears. "No, he doesn't. And when he finds out that I'm gone, he will be worried. So will Nana. I wish I hadn't left the palace. I don't like it out here. It's dark, and there are eyes watching me. Not all of the trees speak to me. I wish Ada was here. He would keep me safe."
Thalion smiled, and touched a hand to the child's shoulder. "If you could have him here for one minute, what would he say to you?"
"He would…he would tell me that I am very stupid for running away, and that he is disappointed in me," Legolas said quietly. "But then he would hold me, and he would tell me to be brave, and that he loves me very much."
"Well, you should take comfort in that," Thalion said. "Come, do not be afraid. We will be arriving at the palace tomorrow, so you will be with your parents then."
Legolas opened his mouth to reply, but he was cut off by another man coming to stand before them. This one was younger, it seemed – maybe by only a few years – than his companions, with dark skin and black hair that hung down to his leather-clad shoulders. His eyes were a deep brown, but he kept them partially hidden by looking up through long lashes.
"Captain," he said softly.
"What do you want, Amarth?"
"I think it would be courteous to send one of us on to the palace, so that we can inform the King and Queen that their son is safe. If I lost a child, I would want to be told," Amarth replied. "King Thranduil and his wife must be extremely worried."
"Are you volunteering?" Thalion asked.
"If there is no-one else."
"Very well. Take one of the horses, and please be careful," the captain said. "Try not to lose any vital body parts; if you meet a spider, do not wait around to make conversation with it – kill it, and if you-
"Wait!"
Legolas looked up, and concealed a smile as the brothers, Curin and Surin, came running towards them. They were very much alike, both with shoulder length, corn coloured hair surrounding tanned faces, and twinkling blue eyes, but he did not think that they were twins. One of them – he was unsure which – winked at him before turning to Thalion and speaking.
"If Amarth is going to the palace anyway, why does he not take the little Prince along with him?"
The captain shook his head immediately. "No. He could encounter danger, so it is safer for the child to stay with us. There is less risk."
"May I say something?" Legolas asked shyly.
"Go ahead."
"I don't want to spend the night in the forest. I would rather be at home with my parents. I don't want to wait until tomorrow," the Prince said. "Please, can I go tonight?"
"That is out of the question," Thalion snapped. "There is safety in numbers, so you will stay here with us."
Legolas' eyes flashed, and he took an angry step forwards. "All I want is to be home with my family. I've never…I've never been away from them before. Please, don't make me stay in the forest."
"I don't know."
"Please…"
The captain was silent for a moment, but then he raised both hands in defeat, and nodded. "Very well. You may go. This is against my better judgement, though."
Legolas breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you."
Thalion shook his head, and led the child over to where Amarth was already mounted on a slight black horse. "She is one of our faster animals, and will get you back to the palace more swiftly than any of the others."
"Thank you," Legolas repeated, as the man lifted him and placed him in front of Amarth. "Hopefully I won't be in too much trouble when I get back, and Ada will still let me see you."
"Until tomorrow, captain," Amarth said. He inclined his head briefly, before kicking the horse into action. It sprang forwards, jumped over the bush that had been the hiding place of Legolas, and was gone, into the trees.
Surin sighed, and shook his head sadly. "Something troubles Amarth. He has spoken very little since we left the village. That is rare for him."
"Poor child. I do not think that he will enjoy the company," Curin added.
Thalion sat down before the fire, and pulled his cloak tighter around himself. "It will take only a few hours to get to the palace with that horse, I estimate. I am surprised that the Prince managed to get so far all on his own. But no matter. It could be worse."
………………………………………………………………………………………………
Alondir, the fair haired commanding officer of Mirkwood's army, and advisor and close friend to the King, listened in grave silence as Thranduil explained that Legolas was nowhere to be found. He wondered that perhaps the Elfling – who was more than a little mischievous – might not just be taking a game of hide-and-seek too far. But of course, he did not mention this.
"I have looked for him everywhere," Thranduil finished. "I cannot find him."
"When you say 'everywhere', do you mean every single room in the palace?" Alondir asked.
The Elven-king shook his head, and waved a hand dismissively. "Of course not. I would not expect him to go anywhere other than our private rooms at this time. He prefers to stay there when it gets darker."
"Then you must not jump to conclusions. He is only an Elfling, after all. It would not surprise me if we went to the kitchens and found him asleep under a table," Alondir said. "I understand your concern, but I cannot send out patrols at this time. I am sorry. Until we have searched the palace – the whole palace – thoroughly, can I do anything."
"And if he is in the forest?" Thranduil snapped.
Alondir sighed, and shook his head. "I do not think that is likely. You placed him under house arrest for a whole week the last time he so much as stepped into the trees on his own. He disliked that very much, I remember."
"Maybe he thought that no-one would find out this time," the blonde Elf said slowly.
"Maybe. But I doubt that." Alondir paused, and touched a hand to his friend's shoulder. "Come, there are rooms uncountable in this palace, and you have looked into only a fraction of them. Is Queen Laerwen aware of this situation?"
"Not yet."
"Might I suggest that you tell her? Then we will search for your Elfling," the commander said. "If we find nothing after searching the palace, a patrol will be sent out."
Thranduil wanted very much to argue against this, but he told himself to remain silent – though he did so with great difficulty. He knew the laws of his country better than anyone else. The correct procedure when an Elf was reported missing, was to search first of all in and around the palace, and then if that proved fruitless, it would be extended into the forest.
"You are right," he replied slowly. "I cannot change anything for Legolas, although my heart wills me to do so."
Alondir gave what he hoped was a reassuring smile, but inside, he was more than worried, and was cursing the protocol that demanded how their searches were carried out. It was not like Legolas to wander off without telling anyone where he would be, and although he would often be late to them, it was certainly unlike him to actually miss a meal. The commander sighed, and sent a silent prayer to the Valar, asking them to keep his Prince safe.
………………………………………………………………………………………………
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The temptation to post a few days ago was so huge, because I really enjoy posting, but I thought it would be more practical for me to keep to my original word, and post every Sunday.
Anyway, I have decided that instead of e-mailing replies to people who have reviewed, I will post them instead on my bio page, because that makes it easier if there is anyone whose e-mail address I don't have. So if you want to see my reply to your review, it'll be on my bio page.
Anyway, I'll see you next Sunday for the next update!
Misto
x-x
