Wild Justice
Chapter 19: Inescapable
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"Prince Legolas is pregnant, my lord."
Elrond turned his gaze away from his retreating sons, he had been about to call them back and rebuke them for leaving without his permission before the words of Abie were spoken. He blankly stared at the brown-haired Elf.
"Pardon me?" He inquired; sure he must have misheard her. "I though I just heard you say that the crowned prince of Mirkwood was pregnant?"
"That I did my lord." Abie replied softly. Though her face was grave with seriousness, she could not suppress the twinkling of her eyes at the dazed look of her Lord.
Elrond blinked.
Silence reigned between them for a moment before the words seemed to register with the Elven lord. "He's what!?"
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Two dark haired blurs split up and raced through their home of Imladris, checking for their Mirkwood friend in his usual haunts. They were frantic and filled with guilt, knowing that it was because of them Legolas was now putting both himself and his unborn child in danger. They may not know how far along he was but they knew that he was weakened from their attack on him. Riding a horse in an attempt to flee the sanctuary of Imladris could harm both himself and his baby.
Elrohir was worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he raced up from the kitchens towards the stables. Before splitting up to search for Legolas, he and Elladan had agreed to search all the likely places Legolas might be before heading to the stables. Whoever got there first, if there were no sign of the young prince, would take one of the horses and ride out to catch up with him.
He knew, however, that if either his brother or himself were to ride out after Legolas that the young Elf would only feel more threatened. He bit his lip sharply, running his fingers through his hair just as he reached the stables only to find Elladan pulling a horse out of one of the stalls.
"No sign?" he inquired, praying to the Valar that the young Elf had not yet left Imladris.
"As I came out, I witnessed someone riding out of the courtyard. I believe it were he. He had his hood up as has become his custom."
Elrohir nodded, "Go. We cannot let him leave like this."
Elladan shook his head and lead the horse over to his brother. "You go. He has always listened to you more."
"He will not listen to me now. Not after what we have done." Pain and guilt gnawed at him.
"He will listen to me less. Go now! Before he reaches the boarder, then we shall have lost him."
"Neither one of you shall go." Elrohir and Elladan spun round to face the composed face of their father who had spoken. "Both of you will wait for me outside my study."
"But Legolas-" began the twins in unison.
Elrond's sharp eyes swivelled to lock onto Elrohir's. "Legolas is none of your business. The two of you have shamed both Imladris and myself with your behaviour this day and I am not yet through with the two of you. Be gone." He waved his hand in dismissal. When neither Elf moved Elrond stepped forward eyes blazing. "Now!" he commanded loudly in the voice that had been used to lead armies Ages ago, known for driving fear into the hearts of foe.
The twins jumped and fled into the Last Homely House, not daring to chance their father's wrath. Not after this morning's revelations. Elrond's dark eyes watched as his son's left before leaping nimbly upon the back of the sleek, white mare Elladan had brought out of the stables. Gently nudging the horse into motion he whispered a string of Elvish into her acute ears and gripped loosely at her mane as she sped off at a standard gallop in the direction Elrond knew the Mirkwood Prince to have taken.
Elrond believed Abie when she said that the young Elf could not be thinking clearly. The scene he had witnessed earlier coupled with Abie's news of the Prince's flight further proved this statement. Legolas would not have left in such a rush if he were thinking things through thoroughly. And if he were not thinking clearly, then there was all the chance that he had taken the most direct route out of Imladris and with his horse in full run. This would allow the Elven Lord to use the many short cuts he was familiar with in order to catch up with the blond Elf all the more swiftly.
He inwardly shook himself. It was all still such a shock to him. He did not doubt the authenticity Abie's statement, though nothing short of an examination of the Elf in question would allow his mind to fully grasp it as fact. Legolas? Pregnant? The young, sweet, and entirely too innocent Prince of Mirkwood? It was… well; it was almost unbelievable, and entirely unexpected.
Of all the things he had imagined being the cause of Legolas' need of sanctuary, a pregnancy had never occurred to him. And if he had not known that it was indeed actually possible for a male Elf to carry child, he would have dismissed the idea immediately and sent the one responsible for that piece of information straight to the nearest healer.
As it was, he knew it was possible and he trusted Abie's judgement on such matters entirely. After all, the last male Elf to bare a child had been her very own son, though due to complications and lack of knowledge (both of the elf being pregnant and indeed how complicated the delivery would be), both Elf and child had been lost. Elrond agreed whole-heartedly with Abie when she said she wished not to see another lost to the complications of the strange yet magical gift of a male pregnancy. Especially not with one so young and with so much life left in him.
Yet this was not all that worried the Elven Lord. Though the 'Great Mystery' of Legolas' sanctuary had been solved, Elrond knew he was only scraping at the tip of the iceberg, so to speak. Why come to Imladris at all? Why Sanctuary? Why had he needed to leave his home at all? He had mentioned family troubles, was he perhaps afraid of what the opinions of his father, his people would be? Was this why he didn't want anyone to know?
It had been the same with Abie's son; he believed his pregnancy would bring his family into greater shame. His sire having left his mother for another Elf once he discovered she was pregnant with his child. The knowledge had immediately brought Abie's family into shame and she had lost her title and family name, no longer a Lady as had been her birthright. She had arrived centuries ago with her son and Elrond had gladly allowed her to stay. Later she became a maid of his household and had served him faithfully for many, many years.
Orrin had believed that his pregnancy would bring his mother into greater shame and so had not mentioned anything until it had been too late. It seemed he had not connected that carrying a child ultimately led to birthing one.
With a heavy sigh, Elrond wondered if it was the same with Legolas. It was all very well knowing that you were pregnant, that you had life growing within you, but to know that you would eventually have to bring it into the world was an entirely different matter. One that males had a harder time grasping than their female counterparts.
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Not long after his departure from Imladris, Legolas Greenleaf was forced to slow his steed; he had barely been riding for long before the pains in his lower back, shoulders, and a sloshing, queasy feeling in his stomach made themselves known and forced him to reduce his speed and eventually to stop.
His mind was a disarray of emotions and black spots danced before his vision. Sluggishly he raised his arms to swipe at the dancing dots only to lose his balance. He gripped tightly at his horse's mane in order to keep him atop the tall animal. A fall at this moment would do him absolutely no good whatsoever. He swallowed heavily, his tongue feeling like lead.
He blinked thickly. He was suddenly unsure of himself and what was happening. He wasn't fool enough not to notice that there was something wrong with him. He did however put it down as mere fatigue, thinking that the combination of sleep depravation and the now fading adrenaline of his leaving were the cause for his lethargy and weariness.
He never stopped to think that his lack of food and constant illness had severely weakened him and that the only reason he had managed it thus far without collapsing into a Healing Sleep was because he had been living off the adrenaline of that morning.
And now that too had left him, along with his energy and his coherency. His horse plodded on at a lazy walk for a while longer as Legolas tried to wrap his mind about what was happening to him, he had never before felt like this. He wondered to himself if this was another side affect to being pregnant? How innocent and naïve he was to his own state of being.
A dull throbbing beat began in the back of his head and he groaned to himself, idly wondering if things could get any worse. It did. The thumping, pounding sound grew louder and louder, sounding remarkably like the beating of a running horse's hooves. He squinted his eyes down towards the ground, pushing away the momentary vertigo and urge to empty his already unfilled stomach, as he looked at his steed's hooves. They were still. Why were they still?
He frowned in confusion. That couldn't be right. The pounding sound was still there, still in the back of his head, still growing louder… and louder…
A spark of conscious thought penetrated through the haze of his befuddled mind and what little colour was in his face left him as he whipped his head about fast enough to ensure a spate of dizziness. There, approaching fast from behind him, from the direction he had fled, came a rider. A rider with dark hair… Elrond!
Even in the state he was in now, his keen eyes could not mistake the imposing figure of the Elven Lord as he rode hard to catch up with him. The young Prince felt his heart pounding in his throat, as he turned away and gripped tightly at his horse's mane. Why was he moving so slowly? He felt as though he were wading through a quagmire of quicksand: his movements constricted to slow, constricted motions. He knew all was lost and felt a wave of defeat overcome him. He didn't understand what was happening to him. Why was this all happening? Why!
Tears prickled his eyes even as he blinked in surprise at the extra hand folded over his own. How had that gotten there? It wasn't one of his. He almost laughed at that thought. Of course it wasn't! He had pale hands, these were slightly tanned, a few shades darker than his own and weathered by years of use with a sword and bow as well as parchment and heavy texts. They were nice hands, very strong, beautiful in their age.
But they weren't his. Whose hand could be holding his? He traced his gaze up and found a wrist connected to it. He blinked again as a thin shirt came next, covering the shape of strong muscles of an arm rippling beneath the thin fabric, arm connecting to a shoulder and neck… a head… a face…
Legolas clenched his eyes shut a moment before opening them to look frowningly upon the face, dark eyes filled with compassion looked back at him and he felt a whimper rise in his throat.
"E-Elrond?" he spoke, his voice cracking with emotion as he spoke the name.
The dark eyes sparked with something he was incapable of discerning at that moment. The Elven lord urged his hands to loosen their hold on the mane of hair he was currently clutching like a lifeline.
"Please," The young Elf all but whispered.
"Please what, Legolas? What is it you wish?"
Legolas bit his lip as the first tears began to fall, "Don't."
"Don't what? Tell me, Legolas, I cannot help you otherwise. I want to help you." Elrond's eyes were imploring, yet even his battle-toned heart could not prepare him for the wave of emotion he felt at the Elf's next words:
"Don't take my baby away from me! Please, I beg of you! Let me take my leave, I want to keep my baby! You can't take it from me!" Legolas' last words were but a wail of soft sobs and Elrond's own heart wept at their meaning.
Take his child? His unborn child? Why ever would he think such a thing? Elrond steered his horse around to the side of the Mirkwood Elf and whispered soothing words to comfort the grieving Prince, his hands reaching out to pull him into his strong arms.
Legolas struggled initially but Elrond's words of comfort and promises not to take his baby settled him and eventually he went easily enough, slipping easily from one horse to the next, allowing himself to be cradled in the arms of Lord Elrond with little protest.
Everything was going dark and he had not the energy left to protest. Elrond pulled him close to his chest, stroking his long blond hair from the almost translucent skin of his face. Beads of sweat beginning upon the young Elf's brow and a light shivering accompanied it.
"Oh what have you done, tithen pen?" Elrond whispered as he watched with concern as the young Elf finally succumbed to unconsciousness. He pressed a silent kiss to his heated temple before commanding both horses back towards Imladris.
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Elvish:
tithen pen little one (my)
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To Be Continued…?
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Peace,
CS WhiteWolf
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