A journey delayed
It was a wonderful spring, the kind that had not been seen in the northern world since the coming of the shadow to Dol Guldur. Here in Thranduil's land the change was more noticeable than further south for the leaves were soft green, the sky where it could be glimpsed was of a soft blue and the ground was carpeted with woodland flowers in swathes of silken purples, whites and yellows. To those who remembered the days before the shadow it was as if this part of Mirkwood had truly become Greenwood the Great again.
On a day when the sun slanted buttermilk soft through the glades and even the giants towering around the forest river looked young the wizard found himself sitting quietly in one such glade considering his journey and pondering on the past and the future.
He had not intended to stay with the elves of Mirkwood beyond the days of the spring feast but as it ended and the business of the season within the forest was resumed he found himself unwilling to resume his trek east. The matter of Dale and Dain was important but not pressing and so he had resolved not to take to the road quite yet. Instead he lingered beneath the trees taking time to refresh his weary soul in this well of new life, and to set to rest some of the guilt he had carried since the battle of the Lonely Mountain; guilt and regret for the grief and loss that he had unintentionally caused by starting Thorin upon his quest. Both men and elves had lost much, so too had the dwarves if he owned it, and in the depths of winter with his weariness hanging upon him like a wet cloak he had wondered if his actions had been either wise or just. Then darkness had descended upon his thoughts and bitterness had gripped him and he had wandered away into the unpopulated places at the foot of the mountains to think and to wonder at how he might have arranged matters differently. Those deliberations had finally set him upon the road towards the lonely mountain and inevitably the elven road though the forest.
He had always intended to turn aside and visit the Elvenking if only for reassurance that that king remained within the world, for his last visit had raised fears that Thranduil might not remain, but he had not intended to stay long. But somehow the short visit of a day or two lengthened to several as the early spring rains drenched the trees and slicked the path with wet and dirt, then lengthened again as the clouds cleared and the New Year feast approached. Finding Legolas returned had also turned his thoughts away from the journey for he wanted to be sure that the prince had recovered from the deep anger and melancholy that had gripped him when last they met.
A week in Thranduil's halls had burned away the weariness and with it much of his self doubt and he found his thoughts returning to a more optimistic frame, and whilst he would still admit, if challenged, which he wasn't, that he might have managed the business differently had he known of Thorin's weakness, the matter of Smaug had always needed to be resolved. Though the army of Orc had been unexpected they had been close at hand and would have caused trouble for men and elf within a small span of time without his intervention. The deaths might have occurred a little later but the wizard was coming to the view that the battles of the north were far from over and those deaths were inevitable given the nature of Sauron and his ambition. The only consolation for them being that with the orc army so depleted and scattered it would be many layers before they could serve Sauron's purposes again' and so peace might come to this dangerous land for a while.
Even so there were some things that caused him lingering concern, though they were not of his making, and he was greatly relieved to see Legolas much improved in mood and demeanour, growing in comfort and ease with each sunrise. He was also deeply glad to see the returning confidence between the son and his father. That estrangement had caused him much disquiet, and for reasons he could not quite understand or explain even to himself. But the sense of foreboding that had gripped him when Thranduil had first told him of Legolas's departure, that had deepened when he had met the prince upon the road, had now faded to pale shadows of that they had been.
Yet as the wizard sat within this glade and watched the deer with their young come to graze on new grass, he wondered if it had been that foreboding that had brought him this way again, and if it was that which kept him here to watch and wait. Perhaps he would not feel able to leave until he was sure that father and son were restored to their old accord. Just that morning as the sun had first peered over the distant mountain tops he had watched Legolas go down to the butts with those of his old company and those who knew nothing of the recent past would have seen nothing remarkable in their behaviour. He puffed thoughtfully upon his pipe, with others it might not be speedy for the wizard knew that the prince had not regained all the ground he had lost as yet and that there were those who still looked at him with some doubt. Mainly his father's guard of course, those who had witnessed his abominable conduct in that street in Dale. But Thranduil told him that even they were softening, though the transgression was not forgotten. In time it would be dismissed as the folly of one who judged too quickly and spoke in haste, or so his father hoped. An error unbecoming in one of the prince's rank and one they would expect not to be repeated. Legolas himself seemed to be aware of the feeling and to accept the criticisms as just, something that he must work to overcome in time.
A rustle in the trees caused him to look up and he smiled to himself as a great white stag ambled into the clearing and stood calmly looking around him. Seeing the wizard it gave him a long hard look then its gaze moved on as if accepting the presence as unimportant. The other deer seemed to nod in welcome and the stag lifted its head to scent the air, the crown of antlers glinting in the sun as he turned his head this way and that, before crossing the clearing and adopting a watching stance on the edges of the herd.
The wizard sighed. Thranduil. Another reason he had returned and stayed perhaps, for his shock at the king's turmoil at his last visit had been great. The echoes of that feeling still sat with him. for it had been greater than he had expected, and for the first time the wizard had wondered if Mirkwood could be held should war return as he had known that it must be. Thranduil had always been a powerful figure, though he rarely extorted that power directly, shadowy to some but to those who knew him he was a vital and vigorous force, as yet unwearied by the many centuries of his life and strong in the face of his past grief. He was a just lord too, wise and even handed with all he met, content in his love of the forest, his people and his family. Though he could seem lordly to those who knew little of the elf lords of the past Thorin's party had done the only things that would rouse him to real anger, for they had disturbed his people and roused the great spiders to attack.
The wizard would not see the king's ease and authority disturbed for this realm was of more importance to the future and the world than perhaps even its king realised. Mirkwood was the furthest east of the few remaining elven realms, and of all of them the one most aware of the rest of the world, for of all of them he had maintained most contact with man and dwarf in this age. Unlike Galadrial and Elrond no elven ring preserved this realm, nor was it protected by high mountains as was Rivendell. Yet Thranduil's forest kingdom would be the last resistance against the threat coming from the east and north and if it failed then Sauron's forces would sweep easily across the river and through the pass over the mountains and into the lands of the west. Then the Golden Wood and Rivendell might well fall, despite the elven rings, and even if they did not there would be little to halt the progress of the easterling armies on a path to the Shire and then to the far west. What then of the Hobbits? What then of Bilbo? No the eastern defenders must be strong; Dale and the men of the lake, the people of Dain and Thranduil must be ready and able to fight should Sauron rise again in Mordor. Thranduil's grief had for the first time cast doubt upon that strength. For, when last the wizard had ventured into Mirkwood his friend had seemed stricken, his strength bleeding from him and the years of his life and their sorrows sat more heavily upon him than the wizard had ever seen.
Never before had the wizard doubted the Elvenking's ability to defend his realm, and yet at that time that was his fear.
But with his son returned and regaining his place in the Woodland Realm that torment seemed to be fading, and, as spring strengthened its hold on the forest, so grief and worry were losing their grip on Thranduil. As the days had lengthened the wizard had watched as the tension within him, tight as a long bow string then, had eased, and his smile, beautiful to behold, was seen again with ever increasing frequency. This last week he had progressed beyond smiles and his laugh rang out in his halls and the sound of his lyre had drifted across the river and wound itself around the sound of the breeze and the river. Not an hour ago the wizard had watched as the king of the wood had wandered alone through this glade, greeting bird and deer as he passed, reaching out his hand to touch the trees as he again disappeared into the shadows. Grief had lost its mastery over him and the king that the wizard had known before the quest of Thorin was emerging from the chill winter set upon him by events. Soon he would be truly himself again, and then the wizard could move on without worrying what he left behind him.
But for the moment that wizard was content to sit in the spring sunlight, smoke his pipe and watch the white stag as he finally lowered his head to crop the grass, satisfied that the world held no immediate threat to those he stood guard over.
But not all was as it had been and as he watched the smoke rise on the clear air and felt the warmth of a spring day upon his face the wizard knew that he couldn't tarry much longer for there was much he needed to do before the shadow returned. Not least in Dale where there was one whose motives he needed to better understand, for the king's description of the events of the days of the dwarf's captivity had troubled him and he wished he had learned of them on his last visit. Now the matter was more pressing for if evil was truly in her heart then perhaps he had left it too long already, for there was no knowing how far the poison might have spread. His hope was that the other possibilities Thranduil had mentioned would prove to be the true answer, yet he had no idea what they might be for the king would say no more than he had, and even he baulked at asking Legolas for explanation, assuming even he knew what was in his father's mind. No, he would ask no more here but see what Bard might tell him before he spoke to her.
But his labours here would not end there, Dain too he needed to be sure of before he turned his steps west again. If rumour were true then he was proving to be a better king under the mountain than perhaps Thorin would have been. He had treated all with fairness and honour after the battle and had continued to be a good lord and neighbour. The wizard was no longer sure that Thorin would ever have managed so well even if the dragon sickness had left him, for he had been of a proud and resentful turn of mind, and eager for more than was wise, in the time that the wizard had known him.
Thorin. He sighed and frowned towards the sky; he should have paid more attention to the dwarf and looked past the name of Durin. But then what cause had he to do so? Even knowing the story of the map and the coming of the dragon he would not have guessed at Thorin's madness, his obsession. Thranduil's words in the tent in Dale had been as much as shock to him as they had been to Dain. In his mind he saw Dain's face again as the Elvenking had listened unmoved by his anger and responded simply.
"As I said, he was mad."
Dain had not wanted to hear it, he had blustered and shouted and cursed, had sworn and called Thranduil liar and cheat, yet in the end when the story was laid before him, when the king of the wood had met his roaring calmly and with questions he could not answer, then Dain had fallen silent. The wizard recalled clearly the growing understanding in the dwarf kings' eyes and the slowly building acceptance of a truth that was most bitter to him. Long before Thranduil fell silent Dain had believed and it left him with a terrible dilemma. How then had he resolved it? The Elvenking might believe that a form of accommodation had been reached between them but the wizard knew Dain of old and needed to hear it from his own lips.
No, he could not tarry much longer. Another week perhaps but no more; just time enough for the river to calm itself and for the roads to lose some of their mire. He would ask Thranduil for a horse, that would more than cancel out the further delay and he would be in Dale before the first spring fair. He drew more firmly on his pipe, yes that would serve his purpose well, for he could reach the lonely mountain far more easily on horse than by foot and it would allow him more time with the newest lord of men.
Above him the spring cloud had slid unseen across the sun and now the gentle patter of rain could be heard on the leaves above him. The wizard sighed and drew his cloak closer around him and his hood over his head. It was not yet warm enough to risk getting wet unnecessarily and so with one last smile in the direction of the deer, unbothered by the change in the weather, he rose to his feet and ambled back into the trees and the path towards Thranduil's palace.
Behind him the white stag raised its head again and watched him go with a gentle huff, its blue eyes tracking him easily deep into the shadows. Above them the elven guard that had kept unseen watch over the wizard as he sat started to follow him, only two remaining to raise the alarm if needed. The white stag, content that his herd remained in no danger, dropped his head to graze again only his pricked ears betraying his watchfulness.
XXX
The day was still young when the wizard found the king in his quarters. Thranduil was, standing on the hidden balcony and looking out across the tree tops, his robe and mail coat were cast side and he was dressed in a fine linen shirt and soft breeches clearly intending to spend the morning in the saddle but not far from home.
The wizard watched him in silence for a while, never doubting that the Elvenking knew full well he was there but that whatever thoughts possessed him for the moment they mattered more. His hand was raised to his chest and the wizard could just catch the glint of the chain that always hung around his neck, though usually well hidden, and knew what token was wrapped by his fingers. For a moment doubt assailed him and he wondered if he had mistook the kings' return to ease, but when the Elvenking turned his head his smile was soft yet not sad and the expression in his eyes was of serenity. When he spoke his voice was soft and there was a hint of surprise in it
'Mithrandir I had not looked to see you so soon, I thought your desire for your pipe would keep you wandering the woods for some time yet. Will you ride with us? We go to clear some debris from the river entrance and make some survey for the new river defences. I would know what we need to seek from outside the forest."
The wizard smiled and crossed to join him.
"You will continue to reinforce your halls then my lord, even though the shadow retreats?"
The king shook his head.
"We have spoken of this before you and I and we neither of us considers this respite to be the way it will always be. We both believe that the evil has not truly departed and will return soon enough. Is that not so?"
He nodded and sighed.
"True, though I would wish it otherwise. Already there are….., but that is for the future."
Thranduil's eyes fixed on him with a sharp look.
"Already what? Why do you hesitate to speak? Do not fear that you may tell of something fell that I know not Mithrandir, for I have already heard the rumours of a new shadow in Mordor from others." He turned his eyes back towards the trees. I keep a constant watch upon the land between the forest and the Ash Mountains and when it can be done upon Mordor itself and my informants are swift and reliable." His voice hardened. "I stood once before those gates and fought the evil there for many bloody and weary years and I would not wish to do so again. But if the lands of men fail then those of the Firstborn who have not left the world will need to do so or all that we have suffered in the past will be for naught and our kin will once again know the pain and darkness of Sauron's pits."
The wizard looked at him in consternation.
"Do you now believe that it will come to that my friend that the lands of men will fall to the evil?"
Thranduil shrugged.
"I do not know, but in recent years I have felt past and present become entwined on more than one occasion, much to my regret and grief, and I have wondered if that foreshadowed things that are to be. Is that the case? I cannot say, yet I do not think it bodes well. The men of Gondor are stalwart and long have been enemies of the dark lord, as are the Riders of the Mark, yet they are as open to treachery now as they were in the past. In previous ages the great Lords of men were betrayed by their own and no other, just as the Elves were cursed by Feanors' pride and Noldor arrogance. The sons of Feanor are gone and the great cities of the Elves are lost and those of the Firstborn who remain within the world will not be so easy to reach by treason and treachery, even so the corruption of men may still be our downfall. So I will strengthen my Halls and look for ways to further defend the forest so that we may stand strong when the darkness reaches out to grip our throats."
The wizard sighed.
"It is true that men have succumbed to the treachery of Sauron in the past, just as they did to his master, yet there is no reason to fear that for the moment."
Thranduil smiled again, a smile both sharp and sad.
"I remember Isildur and the carnage of the Gladdan fields and all the grief since borne by many because he would not destroy a band of gold. I recall the armies of the easterlings who ignored Sauron's cruelties for the promise of land and riches. The sons of men do not live long enough to gain wisdom my friend and they are easily seduced by fair sounding words and appeals to old wounds. The result is often bitter even to them and yet they do not learn and repeat their mistakes in each new generation. How many generations have there been since the last rising of the dark? No there will be those only too willing to tread old paths in response to old promises believing in a different outcome. Nor would defeating the dark lord end it. As in the past their lands will rise to glory only to fall again into the dust and there is nothing the Firstborn or you, Mithrandir, can do to prevent it. The blood of the greatest of the children of men is spent just as the time of my people dwindles."
The wizard stared at him with a deep frown between his brows.
"Yet you will fight if the darkness rises again?"
"Oh yes, I will fight. For my people, my Realm and Arda I will not sink beneath the shadow. But I know Mithrandir that this will be the last battle for the Firstborn. Many of the people of Celeborn and Elrond will leave whatever the outcome, and if the rings fail or are lost…" he shrugged and turned away.
"What of your people?"
Thranduil remained turned away.
"We will endure for as long as they wish to remain in the world, though it may need to be in secret and hidden from that world in the end. This I have known since the shadow returned to Mirkwood. How long that time may be, and if the route west will remain open, I do not know. Perhaps the Valar will turn away from us and Valinor will be closed to us and we will need to linger here until the end of all things."
The wizard stepped forwards and laid a hand upon the king's arm.
"The Valar will never turn from you, in that you should believe. Your people are of the Firstborn and will always be dear to them. You lived within the girdle of Melian and saw the light of Valinor within her you should not doubt their care of you. The route west will always be there for you."
The king turned back to face him and there was no smile.
"But only as a route to Mandos Halls perhaps."
"You cannot believe that!"
"I would wish not to but the sins of the Noldor still haunt us and though they were pardoned the trust that once was there must be strained."
The wizard felt anger stir within him and his voice became sharp and hard, his hand tightened about the king's arm.
"They were not your people's sins, nor were they those of the Sindar either. Why then should you have such doubts, unless like Feanor you consider that as Morgoth was so might they be!"
Thranduil's hand came up to cover his.
"I do not think it, but I know that they have forsworn any further intervention in the world. Yet if Cirdan sails whilst my people remain how then will we find the ships to travel west? It is true that my father brought books across the mountains that detail Teleri ship building but I cannot think that would be enough."
The wizard smiled, his anger fading as quickly as it had come.
"Have faith Thranduil, it will be enough. The way will be there when you need it or want it that I promise you."
"Very well my friend, I will trust to your word. But that is for the future and if the darkness triumphs there will be none left to sail anyway. For the moment let us keep our thoughts on fixed on happier things. Will you ride with us today?"
"No, I think the secrets of your Halls should remain with you, for who can say what will befall any of us in the fight ahead."
The king heard the sombre note in his voice and wondered what knowledge of the future the wizard possessed. But it was pointless to ask and so he let the matter drop and turned the conversation to other things close to his heart.
"What think you now of Legolas. Is it my wish and fondness or does he seem easier, more as he was, to you?"
The wizard let go of the king's arm and stepped out onto the balcony. Below him the forest river ran swift and dark but the gates stood open and a little cluster of guards and other elves were conversing on the bridge, laughter drifted up and he thought he caught the notes of Legolas's voice in the babble he couldn't quite make out. He smiled and nodded.
"Indeed he does my lord. Far better than when I met him on the road, and much improved even in my time here, as is his father."
Thranduil ignored the rider and stuck to his main concern.
"Yes, I had hoped that it was not just my wish. What of others? I think they begin to accept him again, what say you on that?"
"I agree, though as you have said before there are those who are less forgiving."
"But they will, in time. Even my most loyal guards will eventually accept that he meant me no hard."
The wizard nodded.
"I agree and I hope he will forgive himself as quickly." He gave the king a sideways look, unsure how much to say." Has he spoken to you about his resolve?"
The king sighed.
"To forswear marriage I suppose you mean. Yes, he has."
"What is your feeling on it?"
"That it is his choice, and that for the moment it may well be a wise one. Yet I wish he did not feel so."
"Why? He did not seem to be daunted by it, Indeed he seemed almost relieved to have come to the decision."
Thranduil was silent for a moment then he drew a deep breath before he replied.
"Perhaps he is, and perhaps he is right to be."
"But your fears go beyond that my friend, come I have known you too long not to know the signs when some unspoken fear of the future weighs upon you. What then bothers you? In time Legolas may repent of his decision and there will be nothing to prevent him changing his mind should he find one he desires to wed and who returns his affections."
His companion inclined his head but his expression was sombre.
"I would hope that to be the case but I fear that his error in the matter of Tauriel was the foreshadowing of something else. For while it is not unknown for an elf to want to marry someone who does not return their affections to carry it to the degree that my son did is not usual. I have wondered why he did so, and my fear is that fate has other plans for Legolas, that in his future there lie deeds that do not allow for wife or family. That fills me with fear and regret however noble those deeds might be. For they speak to me of war and danger and in such matters I would not have my son singled out by fate."
"Put that thought aside my lord for none know what fate has in store. Do you have other concerns?"
"Not as such though it grieves me that he may never know the joy that comes with the union of two spirits as I have. That he may never hold his child in his arms and feel the love of a parent for the new life of their begetting nor receive the love of that child for its parent."
"If that is so then nor will he know the grief of loss, as you have done."
"True, and there are many other ways to know love, as I have told him. If the marriage bond is not his future then I would hope for him friends and good companions and trusted comrades and the love of Arda. But If that is to be so then I would wish the choice to be his; or for him to see it as such. Yet always I would hope that he someday finds his one love, founds his family, even if it must be in the west."
A shiver ran through the wizard then and he felt as if something, some dream had drawn close to the daylight world for a moment. He looked up and saw that Thranduil's eyes had a far away look, as if he too were regarding something distant and unclear. For elves time was not as men knew it, nor even as wizards knew it, and he wondered what the Elvenking saw when he bore that look.
Then a shout and a louder laugh drifted up from the bridge and the moment was gone, for the wizard at least.
"You mentioned riding my lord. I have something to ask you about horses."
