A/N: Thank you to everyone who continues to both read and review WJ, your comments are most appreciated!
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Wild Justice
Chapter 20: Truth or Lies
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He awoke to the afternoon sun shining down upon his face. With his eyes still closed, Legolas Greenleaf tried to gain his bearings and deduce what had happened, and what was going to happen, to him. The last thing he really remembered was taking his mare from the stables and leaving Imladris. After that, well, things started to blur and not make much sense.
He shifted a little, stretching his body as far as his aching muscles would allow. He felt like he had slept for a century and yet his body still cried out for more rest. His limbs felt heavy but usable and his stomach…
Legolas moved his hands onto his stomach feeling the bulge that was still forming, still allowing for the growth of his child. He almost sighed in relief but the light footfalls of someone entering the room made him keep his breathing deep and even, like that of a sleeper. There was no point in alerting anyone to his conscious state, at least, not just yet.
Not until he could remember where he was and how it was he had gotten here.
The faint smell of honeysuckle reached him and he felt himself relaxing mentally as he linked the smell to that of Abie's. Abie? He wondered for a moment why the kind Elf would be with him. Had he not left Imladris?
He listened to the sounds of her cleaning up about the room: the clinking of glass bottles being placed upon a tray and others being placed on the table beside his bed. He listened but did nothing else.
He heard her footsteps moving away from him and then the sounds of a door opening and closing once more. Deceived into thinking that the Elf had left, Legolas decided to chance a look about the room. Despite the ache of opening his eyes to the stream of sunlight, Legolas was able to make out the shapes of two forms now standing at the foot of his bed, his breath caught in his throat and he felt his whole body tense in trepidation as well as remembrance.
"Leave us now, if you will, he should be awaking any moment now and I wish to have words with him." Lord Elrond of Imladris' deep baritone caused Legolas' chest to constrict in apprehension.
He recalled riding from the boarders of Imladris. Recalled feeling suddenly ill and faint. And too he recalled Elrond of Imladris riding up to him, no doubt having found out why it was he was fleeing. Oh Valar! Elrond knew and he was still in Imladris!
The mahogany-haired Elf bowed her head respectfully, "As you wish, my Lord. His potions are beside the bed." Elrond waited until the door clicked softly shut before moving over to Legolas' bedside.
Legolas closed his eyes as a strange sense of sadness overwhelmed him.
"I know you are awake, Prince of Mirkwood. By my own calculations you should have been awake for about ten minutes already."
Legolas cautiously reopened his eyes to meet briefly with those of the Elven Lord's before he turned his face away, unable to keep their gazes locked.
"Why did you not tell me of this, my prince?" There was disappointment and long ago dealt with anger emitting from his voice.
Legolas kept his head turned and did not answer, for what could he answer? That he didn't want to run the risk of being denied his sanctuary? That he feared Elrond would be like his father and lover- ex-lover- both, and wish for his baby to be destroyed? That he was afraid that if anyone found out he would be sent back to Mirkwood without consideration? He couldn't answer such a question, especially not now. Not when he ran the risk of insulting the Lord of Imladris by the mere suggestion that he would do any of these things.
Legolas could not help his thoughts; they sprang from a deep-seeded need to protect his unborn child. If he didn't suspect everyone and consider all the possibilities then there was the chance of a trusted one turning on him. He'd rather live in fear than risk being back-stabbed. And he couldn't very well tell that to Lord Elrond either.
"Legolas Greenleaf," Lord Elrond began firmly, "You will look at me when I address you. You are in the sanctuary of my own home and as such I will be shown the proper respect. Now face me like the adult you claim to be!"
Legolas' whole frame was tense and he felt minor tremors making their way up and down his body as he pushed himself up into a sitting position before looking determinedly into the eyes of the Elven Lord. He found neither sympathy nor understanding in his gaze.
"You lied to me that terms of your sanctuary," Began Elrond sternly.
"I withheld certain minor details." Legolas interrupted, a little fiercely in the face of being rebuked.
Elrond's eyes blazed. "You call something like this minor?" He haltingly gestured to the Elf's growing stomach.
"I call this my business!" Legolas, despite his weakened state, drew strength from the anger flowing through his body, unconsciously wrapping his arms about his stomach. "What I told you was true enough. I did not tell you, and you did not ask me, what the pressures I sought to escape from where."
"I asked you many a time why it was you sought sanctuary in Imladris, Legolas Greenleaf. You evaded my questions most effectively and it was only by your admittance that you feared for your life that I let my questions drop, especially as it seemed you were not ready to answer them."
"You could have made me if you had truly desired to."
"So 'tis my fault then?" Elrond's eyes hardened.
Legolas' chest swelled and he forced himself to bite back his retort. He hadn't meant to accuse Elrond. Though he had thought, even with his withholding of information, that Elrond might have understood… might have been more accepting… but it seemed it was not to be so. The blond-haired Elf felt his anger subsiding to be replaced by sorrow and uneasiness.
"Forgive me, my lord. I- I meant no disrespect nor to accuse you." He swallowed heavily, his mouth exceptionally dry. "You were not to know, and if I had had my way, still you would not know."
His eyes were now averted. Elrond felt himself softening toward the young Elf once again. One who thought he was old enough to be wise, but really nothing more than a growing child himself.
"Legolas," He began, his own voice lowering in tone, "Legolas why did you wish for this to remain a secret? Is this why you fled Mirkwood? Because you were with child?"
He watched Legolas' pink tongue slip out his mouth to quickly moisten his lips, his eyes drawn to the movement. He blinked once before picking up a glass from the side of the bed and handing it to the blond Elf.
"Drink. It is water."
Legolas took the cool glass from him with mumbled thanks. Their fingers brushing a little, shivers caused at the contact. Dark eyes found themselves again watching the Elf closely, how his lips parted to allow the water to pass through, as his Adams-apple bobbed slightly as he swallowed the elixir.
Once finished, Legolas held the glass in his lap. Eyes focussed on it in order to avoid looking anywhere else as he tried to form his thoughts and answers. He knew what Elrond was thinking- that he had gotten pregnant and fled as opposed to staying and facing the consequences. For even though Elrond's tone had been calm, even encouraging, Legolas could hear the suspicion and disappointment in them. If he did not put Elrond to rights then he may very well contact Mirkwood, but if he did, then he would have to reveal the true reasons as to why he wanted to keep his pregnancy secret.
Both were as bad as the other in his opinion and yet he knew which one would be the lesser evil of the two, so to speak. And that would be to let him contact his father and attempt to leave during the transaction of information. However, he wasn't foolish enough to believe that Elrond would allow him to leave, or be without someone who could watch him and make sure he wouldn't try to flee.
His eyes flickered up to Elrond's momentarily before he spoke, his voice hesitant as he asked his question first before he would concur to answer any.
"What will you do now, My Lord?"
"That all depends on your answer, telella taren."
Legolas winced slightly at the title before he looked up at the Elven Lord again, their gazes lingering on the others. He felt a heat building up behind his eyes and had to turn away again as he frantically tried to blink away his tears.
Oh why now! Why did he have to cry now? Now in front of the Lord of Imladris himself? He felt the wetness spill over his lids and angrily wiped at them, dashing them away before they could properly fall. His cheeks burned at the shame of it all. He wanted nothing more than to be alone in his turmoil, curled up tight until it all went away, and everything was back to normal again. That none of this had ever happened. That he was home, safe in his own bed, with his lover… No!
His shoulders slumped as he held his face in his hands, hiding himself away from Elrond's gaze. No, he didn't wish for that! He wished that he were home, yes. Safe, yes. But with his lover? His ex-lover? No. No, no, no, no, no! Never again would he be with Ahearn. No matter how much he pined for him, his heart burned with hatred for him also. Hatred for doing this to him and not standing by him. Hatred for condemning him- forcing him to leave home in order to give his child life.
Hands gently circled his wrists, tugging his hands gently from his face. He looked up, startled when Elrond cupped his face, his thumb tracing his tears, rubbing them away.
"Legolas?" His eyes showed compassion, pain at his pain, care and what he took to be parental love.
"Seas," Legolas all but sobbed. More tears slipping down his cheeks, "I want to keep my child. Do not make me give it up."
"Such worries, such grief. I would do no such thing, my prince, why would you think these things?"
"Because, 'tis what they wanted, why I had to leave." And with the floodgates now open, Legolas found the words spilling forth from his lips, unable (and not entirely wanting) to stop their flow. "My father… my lover… they wanted me to lose the child. Wanted to kill it before it had the chance to live. They would have forced their will also had I not fled Mirkwood. Seas Elrond! I am afraid. Seas! Do not send me back."
Elrond moved to sit beside him and all but pulled the blond prince into his lap in his want to comfort the upset Elf. Strong arms holding Legolas against a toned chest, letting the young Elf cry into him. His hands stroking Legolas' back, running though his hair. Sounds made, soothing and comforting.
"Hush, now." A small kiss was pressed to Legolas' brow. The Elf had begun to calm, sniffles and the occasional hiccup still sounding. Elrond tipped Legolas head up, their faces but inches apart as the Elven Lord stared into the young Elf's tormented green eyes.
"We will discuss this more when you are less upset, my prince, but know this for now: I would never try to harm you or your child. Nor try to force for you to rid yourself of it. A baby is a gift to be treasured and rejoiced, not feared or hidden in shame," Legolas opened his mouth to protest that last statement, but Elrond's finger to his lips had him silent, unable even to speak if he wanted.
He stared deeply into Elrond's eyes, his heart lifting as he listened to the elder Elf's promises to keep him safe. "I grant you also permission to stay here, even after your child is born, and for as long as you wish, indefinitely if you find you still cannot return home."
"My lord!" Legolas could no longer hold his tongue, eyes wide at the words Elrond was speaking. "Do you know what you say? How can-"
"Legolas," The Mirkwood Elf stilled, "I know exactly what I am saying. I am offering you protection. A chance to carry out the rest of your term without the fear hanging over you for that in itself is unhealthy for both you and the babe. I am also offering you a place to stay for however long you need, and if that need lasts past even the final calling to the Grey Havens, you will still have a land to live in, in as much safety as I can provide." He paused a moment to watch Legolas face alight with wonder at his words. "I will make arraignments also for the baby to be delivered here, by my own hand."
More, silent tears trickled down his cheeks. "I cannot ask this of you." His words were barely whispered. He could feel his heart constricting painfully in his chest and the Elven Lord's next words all but undid him:
"You do not have to ask for anything, lirimaer; I am offering you all."
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Elvish:
Telella taren – young prince
Seas – Please
Lirimaer - lovely one
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To Be Continued…?
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Peace,
CS WhiteWolf
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