Story Name: Echo of the Night
Pen Name: ElenaRoan
Disclaimer: Don't own any of them, written purely for enjoyment.
Rating: PG
Warnings: well...Michelle called me evil after she read it...does that count as a warning?
Summary: A year on from the events of Dark of Night, is everything as fine as it appears?
Betas: Geris (Grammar and Spelling), Michelle (Comprehension)
Timeline: III 2991 (Aragorn 60 years old)

Chapter 4: Storm Warning

Elladan had just completed his inspection when Elrohir returned with the tea. Legolas blanched slightly as the scent from the tea reached him, setting his stomach churning.

"Legolas?" Elladan asked worriedly, putting a hand on the blond elf's shoulder. He was vaguely aware of Thranduil coming up to hover behind him but his entire attention was on the prince.

"Give...me a moment." Legolas replied with difficulty.

Elrohir put the tea down on a nearby table and quickly moved over to the now cool bowl of water and athelas. Within moments the sweet scent was drifting around the room.

Legolas sighed in relief as the scent worked to calm his stomach.

Elrohir came over and sat down next to the prince. "If you can not stomach the tea it would be better not to try. We can try again later."

"Would waiting make it any easier?" Legolas asked softly.

Elladan sighed, "Probably not. At this stage some of your nausea is likely a result of dehydration brought on by the earlier attack. That is only going to get worse as it progresses."

"Hence why you would like me to drink the tea."

"Yes. But if you cannot keep it down it will only make any dehydration you have worse." Elrohir answered. "In which case it would be better to wait until the initial nausea has faded. Particularly in your case as the effects of dehydration on an elf are not as severe as on an adan (human)."

"But you are concerned enough about it to wish me to drink either now, or soon." Legolas returned seriously, "What are you not telling me?"

Elladan sighed, "You were very ill last night. You brought up a lot of liquid and I suspect the only reason you did not bring up more was there was no more to bring up. Before being struck with this you had just returned exhausted from a patrol, we have done enough patrols to know that no matter how careful you are you do not get the time to eat enough or drink enough in the long run, particularly on a short patrol. You may not have noticed but you are also running a mild fever."

"What did bring you back early?" Thranduil interjected, causing Elladan to look at the king with a horrified expression.

"The spiders were stirred up. While we took no injuries it was wearing on us and would only be a matter of time." Legolas answered, then looked at Elladan. "You did not know?"

"We knew you had only just returned from a patrol, but we did not know that you had returned earlier than expected." Elladan replied.

Thranduil frowned, "My apologies; that must have slipped my mind."

"No apologies necessary." Elrohir replied quickly, "You most certainly had other things on your mind. Plus you would have not known if it was relevant."

"Is it relevant?" Legolas queried.

"We do not know, Legolas." Elladan returned, "But Estel returned unexpectedly and before he was due as well. Though he said he just had a feeling he needed to come home."

"We are just thankful that something brought both of you home right before this happened. I know I do not want to think of what could have happened if it had hit either of you while you were out in the wilds." Elrohir added softly.

Legolas frowned thoughtfully, "My patrol was in the southern parts of our territory. Do you know where Estel was?"

"We never got a chance to ask. We shall ask ada (dad) to find out the next time we send a hawk to him."

"Next time?" Legolas asked.

At the same time Thranduil also questioned, "So his illness might not be because it is the anniversary of what happened?"

The twins glanced at each other then each took a question.

"We sent a hawk last night after you fell asleep again, to let him know how things were here. We expect one back this morning." Elrohir told Legolas softly from his position beside the prince.

Elladan moved towards the king a bit before answering him, "Maybe. It could be that being close to a stronghold of the Shadow may have caused a resurgence of whatever is in their systems from a year ago. Or it may be purely an anniversary thing, in which case there is little we can do except help them through it now, and any other occasion it surfaces. For that type of injury is not of the flesh but of the faer (spirit) and it is only the strength of the one afflicted that can banish it eventually. But that type of injury is not minor and for some it is more than even a strong faer (spirit) can bear. It could also be a combination of the two with the anniversary illness not as bad as we fear."

Legolas also listened quietly to the explanation after acknowledging Elrohir's comment.

"All of those possibilities will result in confining me to the palace." He pointed out, not happy with the idea.

"Have you been down that way in the last year?" Elrohir asked and Legolas glanced at him.

"Yes. Not to be boastful, but we only send our best warriors down that way."

"You will not get any argument from us about whether you fit into that category." Elladan chuckled. "But that you have been down that way previously with no trouble means it is unlikely to be because of the Shadow that resides further south."

"Unless it builds up over time." Elrohir pointed out.

Legolas sighed and glanced over at the cup of tea.

"That should be cool enough to drink if you wish to try." Elladan said softly, his eyes betraying his conflicted thoughts on the wisdom of doing so right at this moment.

Legolas looked at them seriously, "There will probably never be a better time. The two of you would not have suggested it if you did not think it important. I shall take it slowly."

Elladan studied Legolas' face then brought the cup of tea over to him. Carefully the prince took a cautious sip.

Author note: my apologies for taking so long to upload this chapter, Iwas sick.