Chapter Twenty Two; The trouble with elflings.
Galadon felt as though his eyes were being held shut by some strange force. After several struggled attempts they finally managed to open. Grey depths turned to deepest black as his pupils dilated, adjusting to the dim surroundings. His eyes sluggishly looked about and tried to make sense of the immediate environment. The elfling tried to remember what had happened but quickly abandoned such actions. It hurt too much to think, for his head felt as though a cave troll had stomped all over it.
As he gradually became more lucid he became aware of an icy chill invading his body and a soft voice filling the air about him, it was singing and though it had a strange resonating quality to it, it still felt familiar. As he listened a name suddenly sounded in his hazy mind, 'Legolas', it was Legolas' voice.
This sudden realisation brought with it swift recollection as his mind was abruptly forced to remember the recent events.
The treasure hunt. The dragon's egg. The caves. The fall.
He inhaled sharply, now that his predicament was finally clear and he tried to raise his head. This had been a grievous error, his world, such as it was, spun wildly, pain hammered mercilessly inside his head while waves of nausea assaulted his stomach. He could not prevent the groans of sheer agony from escaping his cold lips.
The sudden movement brought an abrupt end to the young Prince's singing, Galadon was finally awake.
Relief washed over Legolas as he carefully watched his friend's return to consciousness and yet deep inside, a part of him felt shame, for he knew some of that relief was purely selfish……at last he would no longer be alone in this cursed place. But alleviation quickly turned to concern once he heard the tormented moans.
"Galadon, be still my friend," he advised, while administering soothing strokes to his friend's shoulder, "you have suffered a blow to the head, do not be so hastey to move."
The Prince's strained voice sounded so close, it was only then, as Galadon's eyes focused on the moss green fabric of his companion's tunic, did he realise he was infact lying on Legolas' chest.
But he could not heed the young Prince's sound advice.
He needed to see his friend now, to see if he were hale and he urgently needed to reassure himself that he was not stuck here alone, before unbridled panic set in.
So he battled the dizziness, swallowed the cruel pangs of nausea, ignored the urge to retch and gently eased himself away from his comfortable position with slow stilted movements until he was able to look his best friend in the eye.
He saw his own pain, fear and concern mirrored in the red-rimmed eyes of the Prince. It was obvious that the elfling had been crying at some stage, as his tears had washed narrow clean paths through the fine layer of grime covering his face.
But Galadon would not speak of that now nor would he speak of it later, they were warriors but even warriors cry sometimes and he did not fault his friend for his tears. It was something which would remain between the two of them.
And so each elfling looked silently to the other, drawing strength and comfort from their mere presence while offering weak smiles of encouragement until finally the powerful yet silent moment was broken as Galadon's eyes took in his friend's dishevelled appearance.
He noticed the dark stain on the front of the green tunic and even in the dim light he recognised it for what it was……..blood. Immediately troubled by what he saw, he reached out to touch the stain, then looked to his friend.
"Legolas ?" he questioned softly, while a deep crease furrowed his brow.
"It is not mine my friend but yours……….it seems you cut your head when you banged it," he pointed to the side of the other elf's head.
Galadon reached up and tentatively touched the area behind his ear, he could feel the jagged cut in his scalp and the semi-dry caked blood in his matted hair.
"It stopped bleeding some time ago," Legolas informed him.
"How long have we been here Legolas ?" Galadon asked, as his eyes wandered about their close confines.
"I am not sure, several hours at the most, it is likely we will be missed soon. The ceremony to begin the celebrations will be starting shortly, father will be looking for me to prepare and your family will be searching for you too," the young Prince reassured.
His companion nodded in agreement.
"So how did you fare my friend ?" Galadon asked, still worried for his companion.
"Some scrapes and bruises, I also banged my head, though not nearly so badly………..the worst I fear is my leg," he added.
Galadon looked anxiously to his friend's legs, noting that both their bodies were partially submerged in frigid dark water.
"Which one ?" he questioned with growing concern.
"The left one……….I think………I think it is broken," he answered hesitantly.
"Ai Legolas, we need to get you out of here, this cold water will not be helpful to your injury," Galadon declared, as his anxiety levels rose another notch.
"Believe me my friend I am just as anxious to be rid of this place but at the moment I do not see how we can escape," Legolas admitted.
"Do not worry, leave it to me, I am older and I shall figure a way out of here," Galadon announced, trying to take charge of the situation.
Legolas merely snorted derisively.
"By a mere yén Galadon ! Why if we were human there would be naught but a few months between us !" the Prince informed his friend as he folded his arms across his chest.
Galadon rolled his eyes and sighed.
"What is this strange facination you seem to have with these humans Legolas ?" he demanded, completely unable to understand his friend's ways at times.
"It is not a facination Galadon," the Prince clarified, slightly irritated, "they simply interest me, that is all."
His friend merely shrugged, comprehension escaping him.
"Well butterflies interest me Legolas but I'm not going to waste my time be-friending one," he replied harshly.
"That is a cold thing to say Galadon Palanélion," the Prince whispered softly, looking to his tightly folded arms.
"Well I am cold ! For the first time in my life ! And I don't like it !" his friend practically shouted in frustration.
The Prince said nothing and would not meet his friend's eyes.
Galadon sighed softly again, this time with regret and tenderly rubbed his aching head, shouting was not advisable in his current state.
"Legolas………..Legolas look at me," he pleaded softly.
The ever so slightly younger elfling looked up.
"I am sorry, this place has me unsettled. I did not mean what I said mellon-nîn, I am just troubled by our situation and your injury……………and your father is going to kill me," Galadon explained worriedly.
Legloas smiled.
"My father is going to kill us both," the Prince pointed out, the small argument already forgotten.
"Most likely," Galadon agreed, mirroring his friend's smile, "now let us work out a way to get out of here."
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Luinsil made his way to the palace kitchen's, as instructed by his King, to find Gwaithwen. Some time had passed and the young Prince and his friend had still not been seen about the palace or indeed in the palace grounds. He dutifully relayed the message to her and she ceased her work at once, passing on instructions to the other elves helping her in the currently very busy kitchens. As she followed the old advisor to the King's private office she secretly hoped that the young elflings had not gotten themselves into trouble again.
Once she arrived at the threshold to the chamber she bowed before her King and noted the presence of the warrior Captain standing as still as a statue beside Thranduil's desk. Only his keen eyes moved and they did not look happy.
"Come in Gwaithwen," the King beckoned.
Both she and Luinsil complied and entered the room.
"I wish to know if you have seen Legolas this day or indeed his friend Galadon," the King enquired, "the time for the opening ceremony grows near and he will need to be made ready."
Gwaithwen winced slightly at the King's tone, although he seemed concerned for their where a bouts it would also seem that the boys were undoubtedly in trouble once more.
"Yes my Lord, I saw them earlier this morning, they were helping me in the kitchens in their own unique way," the nurse maid explained as diplomatically as she could.
"In other words they were in the way and causing trouble," Thranduil translated.
"Yes my Lord," she reluctantly admitted.
Normally she would have put up with the two elflings but not today, not when she had so much work to do for the feast.
"Well it seems when they left you, they decided to get into mischief elsewhere and have been causing trouble for both Sindadur and Luinsil," the King explained.
At the mentioning of the elve's names, Gwaithwen felt a slight feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach and she visibly paled. Her actions were noticed by the astute King.
"What is wrong Gwaithwen ? Does something ail you ?" he asked with concern, standing up from his desk and making his way over to the maid.
"I am sorry my Lord, but they were in the way, I had to do something………..so I………I devised a plan to make them leave willingly," she confessed, unable to meet the eyes of the great elf standing before her.
"I am curious Gwaithwen, what exactly did this plan involve ?" the King asked.
The nurse maid swallowed hard.
"I sent them on a treasure hunt my Lord."
"Quite ingenious," said the King, nodding in approval, "no doubt it worked very well, now tell us what 'treasure' they were expected to retrieve."
Gwaithwen listed the items she could recall and then paused before mentioning the others, finally………
"……and I told them to collect Luinsil's favourite quill and an arrow from Sindadur's quiver," she confessed, "I am sorry my Lord and I am sorry for the trouble they have caused but in truth it seems the fault was all mine."
"Do not worry about such things now Gwaithwen, I understand, you are under a lot of pressure today," Thranduil reassured her then looked to his advisor.
Luinsil confirmed that his quill was indeed missing, Sindadur requested permission to leave and check his quiver. He returned within minutes and also confirmed that his quiver was short one arrow.
"Well it seems the little schemers planed their rouse well, no doubt the other items were gathered with equal cunning and ease. Was there anything on the list that would cause them trouble and prolong the hunt ?" Thranduil asked the contrite maid.
Gwaithwen couldn't think straight, her mind was filled with a multitude of emotions.
"The egg."
All looked questioningly at the austere warrior.
"The dragon's egg," he repeated, "it is not something they could ever hope to find here, it is the only thing which would cause them trouble."
"Agreed," the King nodded, "now where would two unruly elflings look for a dragon's egg ?"
At almost the instant the words left his mouth, Thranduil locked eyes with his loyal Captain. The King's eyes suddenly wide with fear, the warrior's eyes filled with anxiety.
"The caves," they announced simultaneously.
"Oh Valar no," Gwaithwen prayed, she felt weakened and Luinsil directed her to one of the fireside chairs.
"Luinsil see to Gwaithwen," the King ordered.
The advisor moved to fetch a glass of strong wine for the maid to drink.
"Sindadur a search party must be organised at once," the King announced, "tell you warriors to search every nook and cranny, the caves are treacherous this time of year, they could be anywhere………..they could be trapped somewhere," he finished worriedly.
"I shall see to it immediately my Lord, I will lead one of the parties myself, do not fear my Lord, if they are there, we will find them," he declared in earnest, trying his best to sooth the anxious King, then he left the chamber practically running.
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Author's Note & Review Responses;
There's an old saying in the military, 'No good plan survives contact' and my plans to read & write lots of fan-fiction were sure shot to hell. Real life it seems had 'other' plans ! I had about 800 litres of Kerosene leak in my back garden & it's causing on going problems, I'm in the middle of a home D.I.Y decorating nightmare, one of my dogs has gone under two general anesthetics for two different procedures in less than three weeks and after two weeks in hospital my sister gave birth to a baby boy ! Go Sis ! So to cut a long excuse short – sorry ! but I just didn't have the time, my brain was fried, suffering writer's block and only barely let me compose a poem ! Hopefully the next chapter will come sooner and hopefully longer than the previous two. Sorry if they disappointed, I know only a few of you reviewed, will try harder, promise.
Jebb; Hi there ! So glad you enjoyed the last chapter and hope that you accept my apology for the delay ! Mawkish – what a great word ! Yep I think Legolas was both brave and foolish to pull one over on Sindadur ! I know this one is only a bit longer than the last (I hope !) , next one should be better !
Sylvie; Hi Hon ! As always many thanks ! Fear not I treasure every single superlative you write so be as effusive as you like, you'll hear no complaints from my end ! I'm just happy you're enjoying the story so much & I value the compliments. So happy your finals went well ! Good for you ! College can be stressful & time consuming I know. I hope your plans work out !
Opalkitty; Hello there ! Thanks for hanging in there, I know I've kept you waiting but things were avoidable. Hope this little chapter was worth the wait, next one should come a lot sooner !
Greetings Lurkers ! Mubuhahahah ! Yes now I know you're actually out there (Pets hit counter) Good boy ! (throws it a Scooby snack) have to be totally honest was very surprised at the amount of people out there reading this story ! Shocked actually ! Don't worry I'm not going to demand that you all start reviewing each chapter (though it'd be nice heehee!) but if I could convince you to drop by even just once to say HI ! that would be great, I'd love to have a better idea of who you all are ! Come on folks don't make a grown woman resort to bribery & begging ! Though I have to say I'm not above either harhar ! Go on, go on, go on ! Thanks for reading !