Out of Mirkwood
Scribbles-on-Parchment
July 21, 2019
Chapter 2 - Into the Forest
2,500 years later in the forest of Mirkwood…
"Good shot my prince!"
Legolas grinned at Êmand.
"I was trained by the best," he said, slipping his bow onto his back, "Now you can wait here while I go and get the pheasant. And for the last time stop calling me 'my prince'. You know I despise it. Save it for Kélion. He seems to love it."
Legolas turned to walk towards the trees across the clearing but was stopped when the older elf caught his arm.
"Ahh, but it seems as if you have forgotten two important things, penneth," the ellon said with a light smile.
The young prince raised a delicate brow.
"One," Êmand continued, "Is that you are my charge. Your adar has given me the responsibility to teach you and therefore, I can call you whatever I wish."
Legolas groaned, making Êmand's dark brown eyes sparkle with mirth.
"And second?" Legolas asked impatiently when the Silvan did not continue.
The older eldar suddenly grew more serious, "Second, you are not allowed to go wandering off alone into the forest."
"But I am not wandering off!" Legolas protested, his blue eyes darkening with frustration, "I am walking a mere thirty paces from you to pick up my pheasant! Why are you so protective all of a sudden? Do you think I will run away? Or perhaps get attacked and forget everything you taught me about defending myself?"
Êmand frowned, sensing his young charge's frustration.
"No. I do not doubt your skills. For I believe that you could defend yourself well if the need were to arise. But your father does not have as much faith in you as I have."
Legolas understood immediately and glared furiously at the older elf demanding,
"What are you not telling me? What did my adar ask you to do?"
"Legolas, you know your father wishes only to protect you. And this is the only way he can see to do that."
The young prince was fuming now.
"I will only ask you one more time Êmand. What did my adar ask you to do? Keep me in arms reach at all times? He might as well tie me to you or better yet forbid me from leaving the palace at all!"
Êmand sighed. This was exactly the reaction he had both expected and dreaded.
"Your adar and brother have decided that it is in your best interest to keep you in my sight and within four hundred paces from the palace. This is to be done at all times."
Legolas turned to look back the way they had come and groaned when he glimpsed the solid stone gates of the Greenwood realm through the waving leaves of the trees.
"So now you are also going to sleep in my room as well?"
"Do not be absurd Legolas. I will not be sleeping in your room. This is to be done at all times on all of your excursions, not in the palace or while you are sleeping."
"Of course, Kélion would be in on this too," he turned back to face Êmand, "And when were you going to tell me about this? I know that my adar never would but I had hoped that you would not keep things from me. Particularity when something pertains to me."
"Your brother advised me not to tell you until you asked. He knew that you would be furious when you found out."
The ellon put a hand gently on the prince's shoulder. He could feel the tension in Legolas's muscles. After a moment the young Sinda asked,
"And do you agree with this? Do you agree with my adar that I need all of these restrictions and rules to keep me safe? That I am too weak to protect myself?"
Êmand frowned again. He knew what Legolas was trying to do.
"I do not question the commands of my king. I have sworn an oath of loyalty to him and therefore it is not my place to contradict what he says. I must only obey him whether I agree with it or not," he looked into his charge's stormy blue eyes and added, "You must also do the same."
The young prince instantly dropped his gaze. He knew that what Êmand was saying was right but he was too upset to care at the moment. He felt trapped as if a net was closing in around him and he could do nothing to change it.
"He may be my king," the elfling said at long last, feeling his frustration beginning to build, "But he is also my father, and this time he has taken it too far."
Êmand knew the look in the young eldar's eyes. It was the same one Thranduil was prone to get when the elven king's temper was on a rise. It was a look of both defiance and anger. Immediately the Silvan knew what Legolas was about to do; he was about to openly disobey his father.
"Legolas," he began, but the prince just brushed past him and made for the trees, following the path his arrow had taken.
Êmand knew there was no way to persuade the prince to stop, but nonetheless, he called out,
"Legolas! It is not wise to anger your adar."
As he had predicted the young elf ignored his call and disappeared into the trees. Now it was Êmand's turn to groan, which he did loudly. The older ellon then took off after his charge.
He was far from happy.
Êmand had warned Thranduil that this would happen, but the king had chosen to brush his warnings aside. The Sinda did not seem to want to accept the fact that the more restrictions and rules he placed on his youngest son, the more Legolas rebelled and disobeyed them.
As the Silvan followed the young elf into the forest, he vowed to have another talk with the king when they returned. Thranduil needed to realize that keeping his son trapped in such a way would only end up hurting both of them. Not only that but the king also needed to realize that hiding his people from all of arda would not heal the past nor stop it from repeating.
Elvish Translations:
adar – father
penneth - young one