A/N
To all who reviewed, thank you it is much appreciated. If you haven't heard from me, and I can reply to you, its probably because I tried to reply on my phone at an airport or station – every time I try that something goes wrong!
Chloe
thank you for your kind review and I agree with you, as does Thranduil. However it occurred to me long ago that he must have done some early preparation before he went off to join those armies. His sheltered upbringing in the hidden valley, even his time with his father's people, would not have been enough to give him the skills he would need. No doubt his military skills could be fostered by Elrond and Glorfindel but the other things, the day to day little skills and understanding so necessary for good leadership, would have need some other grounding. I hope my suggestion for the answer doesn't strain canon too far.
To be a king
"Teach him to be a king! He asked that of you? No small request then!"
Legolas leant back in his chair, wine cup resting on his knee, and stared at his father with a frown between his brows.
"But what does he mean by it? What would he have you do and how long was it allowed to take?" It was hard to tell if he was baffled or outraged.
His father smiled slightly and shook his head.
"I am not sure that he knew, or even that he was sure of what he was asking of me. I am sure that he did not wish to ask."
Legolas shook his head in confusion but his tone was sharp as he replied
"Then why? Why ask at all? What did he seek to gain from the request; for I do not doubt that there was some gain involved, what else would bring him from his hidden valley?"
The king was quiet for a moment, recalling the earlier conversation and the pain in Elrond's eyes as he had spoken of things he clearly would prefer went unsaid. There had little doubt about what the request, and the disclosures that it brought, had cost his visitor dearly. That had disarmed his annoyance for his father's heart could well imagine the pain, the fears, that lurked behind Elrond's words. But that part of his revelation Thranduil would share only if he had to, even though there had been no request of secrecy. He sighed and sipped his wine before replying.
"Gain? Perhaps it might be called that," he said softly, "if the desire to avoid a repeat of an error once made can be called a gain. Isildur's weakness is a barely healed wound for him, for he was of Elrond's brother's blood. It is for that reason alone that he has taken such an interest in that line across the centuries."
Legolas frowned again.
"That I can well understand, but what has that to do with the boy?"
Thranduil drew a deep breath, he had known that this conversation could not avoid reference to the boy's father, and that in turn must lead them to the false quest he had set for Legolas in the hours after the battle before the mountain. Their parting words were the one thing of that fateful day that neither of them had raised since Legolas's return, both finding them too painful to speak of without a reason. There never had been a reason for Legolas had not spoken of his failure to find 'strider'. When he had spoken of visiting Imladris Thranduil had been concerned for he had been sure that Legolas would have discovered the truth there, but it seemed Estel's past had never been a matter for discussion during his visit. Such a conversation might be fraught with difficulty even now but he was determined to avoid any duplicity, for son was not a child and deserved his honesty on the matter. Legolas had regained much of his sense of balance since he had returned home, but he was not yet fully restored to himself and so the father could not but view the discussion with some trepidation, for dwelling on that time risked stirring his dark demon of guilt once again. But the king knew that undertaking must be spoken of by them at some time and now might be better than later, for to delay when there was reason to talk of it could seem a lack of trust and that he would not risk. He also knew that it would best to get this done with before they went to Dale and no better chance was likely to present itself. So he schooled his face to a cool compassion as he replied, keeping all concern from his voice.
"He has reasons," he spoke slowly, weighing each word with care, "and for the moment his ward knows nothing of them and so what I tell you now must go no further; should it do so it might bring grief to many and so you will need to guard your words carefully when speaking with him."
Legolas looked at him with curiosity.
"That sounds portentous. But I understand and none, him included, will learn anything of it from me, I give my word."
Thranduil smiled faintly.
"I never doubted it, though you may have to be more alert than you think for the boy is likely to be curious and thirsty for any information about his forefathers of whom he knows little. Elrond has spoken nothing of his fathers people as yet, nor has his mother, he knows his father is dead and that he came from the rangers of the north, but no more than that. I have already instructed that all books that mention his lineage are removed from the library for the duration of this visit and no songs of that time are to be sung. It is for Elrond to tell him of his place and destiny when he feel the time to be right."
His smile faded.
"But I confess that my concern is more personal for I fear that the understanding of it might cause pain to you also."
The curiosity in his son's face became tinged with confusion.
"How so? I did not know Isildur and I have nothing against the boy, though I know little of him, so I cannot see how that could be."
Thranduil inclined his head.
"It is true that we have never had cause to discuss Elrond's fosterlings in any detail and his father was not born when last you spent any length of time in Imladris. Yet…."
The king met his son's eyes and held his gaze as he spoke quietly
"Estel is the son of Arathorn."
For a moment there seemed to be no response other than the confusion in his son's eyes deepened, and then he
saw a sudden realisation dawn. Legolas swallowed as if on a hard piece of bread and his face paled; his voice as he replied was low and strained.
"Arathorn, he is the son of Arathorn? The same one you set me to find, or is there another son or another Arathorn?"
Thranduil continued to hold his son's gaze as he replied softly.
"Yes and no, both are the same."
There was a moment of silence and then Legolas spoke slowly.
"But he is just a boy! On that day he would have been no more than a child, ten summers old or little more!"
"Yes."
Legolas looked at him for a long moment then he drew a deep breath.
"So you knew I would not find him?"
Thranduil inclined his head again but his eyes never left his son's face and his voice was soft and sorrowful.
"Yes, I knew he was not there in the north to be found."There was another moment of silence.
"Then why?" Legolas said quietly with a hint of fear in his voice.
His father did not reply, just maintained the steady gaze, and in that gentle regard Legolas saw the answer. He smiled sadly.
"Ai I understand now. You feared for me, feared that left alone and rudderless I would not survive my regret. Yet you could not stop me going given what I had just done, the sins I had committed against you and our people, so you gave me a purpose knowing it would tie me to the world."
"Yes" his father's voice was low and gentle and the expression in his eyes was one of sadness. "I misled you and sent you to find something that I knew could not be found for it was not there to be found. I did so to give you time to find yourself again, to have a space amongst those I trusted and who knew nothing of your recent past. I can only beg your forgiveness for my deceit, but time was short and I could see no other way to stave off the dark tendrils of grief and regret I could see entwining around you."
Legolas shook his head.
"Ahh, do not apologise for you owe me none. It was a dark time indeed and I can only be glad that even then, when the wounds of my betrayal of you must have been raw indeed, your care and wisdom protected me from my foolishness."
He sighed, leaning his head back against the chair, gripping the wine cup in both hands.
"I will not deny that in the early period of my wandering only that task kept me tied to the world. Without it I do not know what I would have done."
The sadness in the king's eyes deepened.
"I feared that would be the case. I knew that the events that had passed between us, and between you and Tauriel, would haunt you and I did not think that you would forgive yourself for those actions easily. To leave you to wander far from home and those who care for you without purpose seemed most unwise, and unkind, for I know your honesty and steadfast nature and how much the matters of that time would torment you once the heat of battle faded. Just as I knew that an instruction of mine you would strive to carry out however hard it proved to be, particularly given what had just passed between us. I hoped, prayed, that in that time the healing process would start, however slow and painful it might prove to be. I also hoped that the failure to find the quarry would give you reason to return home, if a reason you needed."
Legolas let out his breath in a gust.
"As it did, how well you know me; and great is my gratitude that you do."
Thranduil sighed and shook his head.
"I too have known despair, self loathing and guilt my son. For me the task that kept me tied to the world and bought me the time to recover was to bring a shattered army home, I am glad that I did not leave that task to you that day, that I had to manufacture something less….permanent. Battle brings us many things that must be borne long after the fight, all warriors who survive their first battle learn this, but that does not necessarily stop the pain or regret. Only time, love and comradeship and a reason to endure, defeats them in the end. But defeated they are eventually."
Legolas looked into his father's eyes and saw the ghost of an old and great pain there and knew in that moment that his own suffering was truly understood. He smiled sadly and reaching forward gripped his father's hand.
"I am grateful, but believe me when I say that I would happily forgo your understanding if it could mean that your pain had not been known."
Thranduil returned the grip with a slight smile.
"I do believe you and thank you, but the One never promised that immortality would be without its grief. Two centuries and more it took for me to accept that my father's life or death did not lie in my hands, that no error of mine, though I made many, brought it about. I would not have you endure so many dark days if the time could be shortened."
There was a moment of silence and companionship between them then Legolas turned back to the matter they had started with.
"But what, then, of Estel, why would he wish you to teach him to be a king, even if it could be taught? The line of Arathorn, the descendants of Elros, are kings no longer, for the days of the sea kings are long gone. When he returns to his own he will not be a king. If he follows his father he will take his place as their chieftain only, which you could not teach him."
The king looked down at the seal upon his hand, running his thumb over it as he replied
"Perhaps and certainly that will be the first part of his fate. But Elrond has intimations of a future in which he may be more than that, a future in which Gondor and Arnor will be reunited under his rule."
Legolas stared wide eyed for a moment then frowned again.
"The king returned? How can that be?"
Thranduil paused for a moment wondering just how much to share at this time. Eventually he sighed and looked across at his son.
"Foresight rarely explains itself it seems and that much is not clear to him. But the line through the future world that takes him to that reunited throne also sees the destruction of Sauron and the Ring."
Legolas raised his brows.
"A future to desired by all!"
"Indeed."
"What, then, is his concern, if the boy is to be the king returned what is it that he fears? Why does he come to make such requests of you?"
The king looked down towards his ring once again his mind drifting to Tauriel for a moment.
"An auspicious start does not always mean the end of woe. Nor can noble principles, however firmly inculcated, ensure wisdom. Elrond is well aware that not all evil is invested in the dark lord and even were he to be gone there is always the chance for other evils to take root like a poisonous weed in a newly cleared herb bed."
Legolas nodded.
"Indeed. Even in elvish history not all evil can be considered the responsibility of the dark ones. Where men are concerned I believe it be more so. Those other evils he fears being linked to Estel? That is what he sees?"
"Yes, for Elrond believes that if he is not a good king, nay a great king even, then all manner of corruption will follow and with it will come other evils, even with Sauron gone." His voice became soft and reflective, "In that he is likely to be right for even with Sauron gone much anger and bitterness will remain, and not only amongst those who served him."
Legolas watched his father with sadness in his eyes.
"Is there some defect, some viciousness in his fosterling that causes him to fear this? I confess I would not have thought it. Little though I know of him."
"No, Elrond believes his heart and nature to be good and honourable."
"Then what troubles him so greatly that he travels here after all these centuries to seek your aid?"
Thranduil smiled a faint and sad smile.
"His heart is that of a boy, who can say what time and the world might do to the man. But Elrond does not fear that his heart will fail him, he is sure he will be the equal of his father, a good man and fine leader, and if it was just as chieftain he was to live there would be no concern. But the men of Gondor are not the men of the north in whom traces of elvish blood and that of the men of the west still run; and Estel knows nothing of men at all. Imladris has no dealing with the lands of mortals other than politically, and even then the visits are rare and brief. What does one living there all his life know of the deceit and corruption that men are capable of? What does a boy raised in such a manner know of the lusts and envies and petty grievances that shape so much of their lives? He knows nothing of their lives, not as he must know them if he is to be a king. Not knowing would be his downfall; that would risk the future Elrond fears."
Legolas stared at ihs father in silence for a moment before he drew a deep breath and took a swallow of wine.
"I see. But surely he has seen and heard enough in Elrond's halls to open his eyes to the world, and will not leading his people in the north teach him the rest?"
Thranduil gave a short laugh.
"Learn of the world of men, in a protected home, in Elrond's Hall of Fire? I doubt it, unless it has changed much since last I sat there! The bards and minstrels of the Noldar do not rhythm, or sing, of the day to day pettiness of life, and certainly not those of the lives of men. The troubles and striving they speak of is of battle and great endeavours and doom laden loves and hates, of honour and treachery. They tell tales of tragic lovers and noble quests and struggles against terrible dooms set by the powers."
Legolas smiled.
"It has not changed, at least as I saw it, and there is little of the serenade to the more ordinary joys and sorrows that you will hear under our trees. Though our minstrels can sing of great quests as well as any if the mood so sways them."
The king laughed again.
"So they can, though it is unusual to spend an entire evening being so entertained, for I doubt they would survive it." His smiled faded. "But for most men such things form not the fabric of their lives or their fates and the lusts and jealousy and small angers of their everyday are what shape their ends. Elrond saw this at close quarters at the last alliance, as did I, and he knows that Estel must be prepared for it before he takes the crown."
"Prepared?"
"Yes, prepared. He must learn to recognise them and deal with them with forbearance but without fear or favour, with cool head and blood, and compassion where it is due. If he does not then grief will follow for many. Men's noblest thoughts and their basest wishes, and the sometimes narrow gap between the two, are the things that Estel must know and he cannot learn them in Imladris nor can he learn of the thoughts and feelings of those who live under his rule but not within his palace, the merchants and farriers and farmers. Yet is they who will most truly determine the value of his rule. Yet nor can they send him out as he is into the world to gain knowledge of such things for he would be devoured before he had learned anything at all. Indeed it is hard to see how he could be sent out when his identity must be hidden. Nor can they seek help from Celeborn or Cirdan for their lands are even more removed from the world than Imladris."
Legolas frowned again.
"Then cannot he learn from Glorfindel for he was himself a great and much loved lord? Or from the twins for I believe they spend much time with the men of the north, certainly they were not present at my visit? Though the twins are much preoccupied with orc chasing I understand and perhaps more sombre of mood than the young mortal might find appealing. Yet still they have known him all his life are closer to hand whereas we know nothing of him and are far from his home."
Thranduil shook his head.
"Glorfindel has given much thought to this and he believes that is not so, and on that I agree. He was indeed a great lord in Gondolin and much loved by all his people, but he was an elven lord and it is amongst the elven Realms that he has lived two lifetimes, therefore he cannot teach Estel the of hearts of men,"
The king sighed.
"Nor can he learn it from Elrond's sons, for all they can teach him is more of the deeds of arms, and though his path to the throne may be via arms and great battles his way will not lie with soldiers or rangers once a crown is placed upon his head, or so we must hope. Even if they could instruct him it would be of little gain for Elrond's sons move mainly amongst the people of his father's tribe, the last of Elros line, and their natures and society has more in kind with Elves than it does with the men of Gondor or Arnor. This too Glorfindel has recognised."
Legolas shrugged.
"Why not send him to the Stewards in Gondor then?" he caught his fathers look of astonishment and shook his head, laughing at himself. "Forgive me, the surprise of it has addled my wits it seems, a foolish remark for he would barely survive the week should Elrond be so foolish!"
"No more than a day would be my reckoning," the king said with a sly smile. "That assumes his name were given freely and if it were not then he would gain nothing other than perhaps the experience of working in the stables, there I might grant a week as possible."
There was silence for a moment then Legolas sighed and shook his head.
"So they send him to you, the last Elvenking this side of the sea, the last ruler of an elven realm of any size, one that trades with men and governs them too. That is their reasoning?"
Thranduil inclined his head.
"Yes I believe so. But also because they can think of nothing else to do and they fear doing nothing. Elrond's dread of the future, shadowy thought his vision may be, is great."
"So what have you said to him? What will you do?"
Thranduil leaned back in his chair and stared into his wine.
"I have promised nothing and he understands this is not a matter for hasty conclusion and does not press me as yet. But soon enough he will."
Legolas watched in silence as he parent seemed to sink into thought, swallowing the hasty words that clustered on his tongue as he thought of the weight of the demand being made.
Finally the father spoke again, softly and slowly..
"Even were I willing to take up such a burden at this time, and I am not, I know that I cannot teach him to be the king that Elrond wishes for, after all I too dispense elven law, even to the men within my realm". He sighed and turned his eyes to his son with a sombre look, "and yet I am reluctant to send him away with nothing."
Legolas smiled slightly.
"Why? You owe Elrond nothing and you believe that war will be upon us again soon and so we need time to rest and regroup. There is much still to be done both here and further south and the boy would be a distraction for no gain to any, not even him."
The king sighed.
"Yet I would do something if I can, in part because the refusal to help at all might be misunderstood, and I have no wish to strain our dealings with Imladris, but also because I understand Elrond's fears."
He met his sons eyes, seeing a hint of something unreadable smouldering in their depths and decided he would explain nothing more on that score for the moment, after all Legolas knew nothing of the boy and though he had spent little time with Elrond's family he had always been fond of Arwen. Instead he looked down into his wine cup and continued slowly.
"I have given the matter some thought and I can see a way in which I might be able to assist his first early steps in understanding the hearts, the strengths and weaknesses of those he might one day rule without taking time from the matters that our own people need attended to. However I wished to speak with you before I made any undertaking, for some part of this, and perhaps a heavy part must fall to you and I would not wish to bind you to something you find onerous or distasteful."
Legolas took a gulp of wine as if to fortify himself against what was coming.
"I have no argument with Elrond's fosterling other than that his youthful state can make him tedious at times, but that is true of all in that state,indeed of the best of men, and I bear him no ill will for it. More than that if you wish it done I will do it and learn to bear with his less endearing quality."
His father smiled.
"I did not doubt that you would, or doubt that you will find the necessary reserves of patience. "
A reflective look stole into the kings eyes,
"From what I have seen of him Elrond judges his nature fairly and there is much in him of value, some insight, perception, that goes beyond his years; things that might foster kindliness and in time even affection for him, mortal as he is. But I would not force something on you that you see no value in."
"What then do you propose to offer Elrond?"
"That he comes here one or two seasons a year until he attains manhood and while here he acts as scribe at those of my courts and discussions that involve men and their affairs. Also that he travels with you and acts as scribe at the petty courts out in the manish settlements at which you sit in my stead. I would also undertake to take him on any visits of trade to Dale and with the dwarfs of Erebor if the chance arises."
Legolas considered his father's proposal in silence for a moment then he nodded slowly.
"Well it would certainly begin his introduction to men and their concerns, and I see the merit in starting with those with those of a more lowly station, of whom he will have had no dealings to date. It would also introduce him to the larger concerns of those who govern many rather than the few who live within his father's house and valley."
"It would, something else that both Elrond and Glorfindel consider desirable." Thranduil looked down into his wine again. "In the end his tutoring must lie amongst the ranks of men but that cannot lie with us. Yet I think we might make some small contribution to his education that can be built upon by other means later in his life. He has the span of his forefathers and so a little more time than most of his mortal kin. I doubt that those who will see him king, if Elrond's vision comes to be, are yet born."
XXX
Legolas had departed to his own couch and Thranduil sat before the fire in his own chamber a book on his knee but his mind wandering the roads that had brought them here. Even now he could not understand why Islidur had been allowed to take the ring. If only that had known of the ambush on the road to Arnor in time to take some action, shattered though his army and his people had been he would have risked more loss to preserve the mortal kings life, and to take the ring from him and send it back to its destruction in its homeland. He did not know how he would have done it but he would have found a way of that he remained sure. How much would have been saved that had been lost in the years since he was determined not to dwell. If there was another chance now then he would not stand against it or anything needed to bring it about.
His mind drifted back to that earlier conversation and the look of despair in Elrond's eyes as he had tried to explain his dilemma,
"If the darkness prevails then the world and all we hold dear may be lost, for how long I cannot see. In that future most of our kin who survive the early battles will sail west, and darkness will fall over the world, though I cannot say how long it will endure."
"And if darkness does not prevail?"
"Then the battle with Sauron will be won, the darkness will be defeated and the kingdoms of Gondor an Arnor will be reunited under Estel's rule."
"An outcome to be hoped is it not?"
"Yes, for all, but the path goes on, it does not end there and its' progress beyond that point is shadowed. I can see two ways ahead, and I cannot say which is the true path, or even that there is one as yet determined."
"I believe that is often the nature of such sight, though I have no personal expereience. Those paths are… what? One you clearly dread but which and why?"
"Both are shadowed as I say and yet I can feel some of what each carries even though I cannot see the deeds that litter it with any clarity."
Thranduil frowned slightly.
"What then is it that you sense, that the ring will somehow return, that Sauron will rise again? How could that be if the battle is truly won this time?"
Elrond smiled sadly
"There are many other paths to evil beside Sauron and the Ring, certainly for Men. We have both walked this world long enough to know them, did we not see them in those years encamped with men at Mordor? Not all have evil as their first intent; in fact they may begin as the wish for good."
Thranduil nodded.
"Certainly the wish for good poorly thought through has often resulted in evil, and men seem as prone to that as they are to the evil itself."
Elrond sighed.
"Yes, perhaps it is in the limit of their life times that the issue lies. Even Isildur might have come to see the error of his choices had been granted the life time in which to do so, and made those choices right as a consequence."
"Perhaps, but let us speak of Estel. How do these two paths you see wind and where do they lead?" "Yes, for he knows nothing of the ways of men and if his path follows those of other chieftains of his line that will still be the case when he takes the crown. His father people are the last remnants of the great men of the west."
Elrond shook his head
"See is perhaps not the best of descriptions, for the sight as such is fragmented, scattered. The glimpses are small, events of little meaning taken alone and yet bound together by a strong impression, a feeling of how the future will progress. They begin in the same place, the King returned, the severed kingdoms reunited and the Realm of the men of the West restored. Estel takes his name and place by right of both birth and battle. But they diverge quickly. In one strand I see, feel, a hope returned a hundred fold, satisfaction and a deep and deepening love. I feel the easing of old wounds and loses and the flowering of hope into peace and plenty."
"And in the second?"
"In the second hope is shrivelled quickly, by error and false steps I think, by inexperience with little time to learn. Power poorly or unwisely wielded, little slights left to fester and friendships traded upon or blighted."
"And then?"
"Then follows increasing despair and anger, power distorted and ambition indulged unchecked. As always the powerless feel the failure first and most deeply but in the end none are left unaffected and though Gondor seems to thrive for a time it is with decay at its heart, More than that I cannot see but we both know where such path will lead."
"I see, and what would you have me do to prevent this great darkness?" He had heard the bitterness in his own tone and been unable to cover it. "I have fought the darkness alone for more than a millennia and I know its ways well. I have lost much to it, far more than many, and yet you would lay upon me another burden and expect me to shoulder it with no way of knowing how to do so or even if it needs to be carried. This at a time when my people enjoy a short respite from danger; a time that I must spend in making good my defences against the coming darkness. Time is short Elrond, for me at least. If Sauron rises again, as you have left him free to do, I will be assailed from north, east and south. This is no sheltered mountain valley, my lands will burn and my people with them if I cannot defend them. Yet you would lay duties upon me with no certainty of how I might succeed in them on the basis of a shadowed path, that may or may not come to be."
Thranduil saw shame in Elrond's face as he replied.
"And I know every word you speak to be true. I know and admit the unjustness of my request and the burden that you bear and have borne for many centuries. I do not ask it as a right, I do not even ask it as one who begs for help for the mortals of my brothers line."
His companion's eyes darkened and grief was written in his face as he drew a deep breath.
"I ask it as father to a father."
