Out of Mirkwood
Scribbles-on-Parchment
July 4, 2020
Chapter 47 – The Cost of the Truth
Legolas was thoroughly confused. He did not understand why Elrond was letting him go. There had been no lie in the elf lord's eyes, yet the young prince could not bring himself to understand why he was doing this. This was the Noldo's chance to get revenge on Thranduil through him and he was throwing it away. It was not that the Sinda was upset about it, he was just startled by Elrond's decision. This was not what he had expected to hear.
The elfling glanced over at Estel who just gave him a saddened look that only served to confuse the prince more. He had expected them to force him back to Imladris not provide him with an escort to take him home.
Legolas watched the elf lord turn and walk away from the group before stepping into a tent and disappearing from view. As soon as Elrond vanished the young elf spun around to face Elladan and demanded,
"Tell me the truth. Why are you allowing me to go home? What is the true meaning behind this? Do you intend to follow me back so you can finish what you started?"
"Why would you even think of this?" Tamír cut in before the elder twin could respond, "The elves of the Greenwood are my kin too. Lord Elrond is not plotting anything against you; he is wise and kind and is being very gracious towards you. Why must everything have a sinister meaning to it?"
The Sinda glared at the eldar.
"Because there is darkness everywhere. That is one thing that I know for a fact. You are a part of the Noldor now and the Noldor away lie and seek things that are only for their own profit. History has proven this and it will prove it again. You abandoned your people, so you are no longer one of us…"
"Maer, that is enough," Elladan barked, cutting off the last part of Legolas's sentence, "You have much anger in you penneth and you would be wise to not let your temper get the better of you. You are a guest in this camp but it would do you good not to upset your hosts. I understand you are frightened and confused, however, this temper will not be tolerated. If you desire for us to treat you as a prince and as a guest then you should act like one."
The prince's blue eyes widened in surprise. The only people who had ever talked to him like this had been those he knew well, his family and close friends. He opened his mouth to respond but was once again cut off by the Noldo.
"You will be leaving tomorrow morning and Valar help us if we can keep you out of trouble for that long. Estel will take you to get some food while I go and speak with my ada. And for Eru's sake restrain your temper and try not to take anyone else mad at you."
Estel put an arm around Legolas's shoulders and guided the Sinda away to find something edible for the two of them to eat. While the human was not thrilled with being tasked with the duty of watching over Maer again, he was not upset that he got to spend more time with the elf. The young prince seemed to be the only ellon in the camp who took him seriously. He was also the only one whom the human felt a sense of protection over.
On their walk back to the camp, Elrohir had quietly told him of their ada's worries about the elfling. If he truly was the son of the elf king Thranduil then he could easily turn into a target for both yrch and men, even some elves.
As soon as word spread that the elven king still lived in Mirkwood there was no telling who or what would try to find the hidden kingdom and one of the only ways to do that would be to have a certain Sindarin elf lead the way. Of course, others may even see Maer as a way to act revenge on Thranduil, or so Elrohir had said. His brother had also made it clear that both Tamír and Glorfindel were worried because several of the ellyn who still held grudges against the Greenwood and its people were here in the camp with them.
Estel led Legolas through the camp until he came to the tent that he and his brothers had been assigned to. As he had hoped his pack lay in the grass in the shadow of the tent. The man quickly began to rifle through his rucksack in search of leftover Lembas. He did not think it was a good idea to take Maer into the heart camp to seek food. He had been charged with keeping the elfling out of danger and that was what he was going to do.
"Hello, Estel."
The elven voice made the human whip his head up to see several Noldor soldiers, he did not recognize, standing several paces in front of him. Estel scrambled to his feet and checked to make sure that Maer was behind him.
"I thought I heard that you and your brothers were going to travel back to Imladris a different way. I am surprised to see you here."
"We decided against it when some unforeseen factors came up," It was not entirely a lie, "Now if you will excuse us."
Estel did not like the way the elves were looking at him and Legolas, with their hands crossed over their chests and sly looks on their faces.
"Why are you leaving so quickly? Will you not even introduce us to your friend."
As soon as the elf spoke, the edan recognized him as Rúnath. He had never been fond of the eldar and always found him to be rather rude and easily angered.
"Perhaps at a later time. My ada is waiting for us to return."
Legolas watched the three Noldor elves with caution. He hated the way that they glanced at him and the way that they spoke. It was as if they were concealing some hidden anger beneath their calm, polite voices and mannerisms.
"I am sure he can wait a little longer. I only want to greet our guest. It is only polite, is it not Prince Legolas."
The last words rolled off of the ellon's tongue like poison and the young elf could see Estel visibly stiffen in front of him. This could not be good.
"What do you want?" Legolas's icy gaze never left the Noldor.
"I just wanted to check on Estel. You see sometimes he has a habit of getting into trouble," the elf took another step closer, "There is no need to be rude about it. But I am sure your adar would not have taught his offspring any sort of manners, so I will forgive you. He did always suffer from a short temper if I remember correctly and I am sure that particular trait is easily passed down."
The young prince glanced behind him and saw that they had been backed into a corner between two tents. For the first time since he had gotten to know them, Legolas desperately wished for Elrond or the twins to appear. He would even be alright if Tamír came. The Sinda gritted his teeth. If he had his daggers then he would have been able to fight his way out if things turned foul. However, he had never actually fought an elf before; he had only spared with Êmand and his brother.
The young prince pushed around Estel who cried out in protest and walked up to the elves who were blocking the path between the tents.
"Let me through."
The Sinda poured every ounce of malice he could muster into his words but the group of Noldor only laughed softly.
"I don't think so princeling. Elrond can wait five minutes; I on the other hand have waited much longer. Your adar, Thranduil, is the reason that I lost my position in the guard, he is the reason why my brother was killed fighting in that stupid war in Mirkwood. I am afraid that you're going to have to pay for some of your dear adar's mistakes. Until I can see him in person that is."
Legolas felt all of the blood run from his face and his heart began to hammer in his chest as he realized this was not going to end well. Unless Estel's sword had been leaning against the tent behind them neither of them had a weapon and shouting was the last the Sinda wanted to do. Was this all Elrond's doing? The young elf gritted his teeth again and moved to shove past the elves blocking his way. Unfortunately, this did not work as well as he had hoped.
The prince felt his arms grabbed from behind and he was suddenly pulled backward. As the Noldo viciously shoved him back, the young elf found himself falling onto the trampled grass causing anger to erupt inside of the Sinda. This was ridiculous. Êmand had trained him better than this.
Behind him, he heard Estel call out loudly for his brothers, but the sound was quickly cut short by a cry of pain. Turning his head, the young prince saw the human hunched over, grabbing this midsection. One of the Noldo stood over him having just punched the poor edan in the stomach.
Legolas let out a low growl and scrambled to his feet. There was no way he was going to let them hurt Estel.
"Leave him out of this lýgion," as the insult left his lip the prince threw himself at the elf standing over the human tackling him to the ground.
Elladan heard his younger brother call his name as he and Tamír walked out of his adar's tent. Both ellyn cast one glance at each other before taking off running towards the sound.
The elder twin heard a commotion as he neared the tent they had set their things next to earlier in the day. The few Noldor they had run into seemed to be ignoring the obvious sound of a fight. Elladan cursed loudly. He swore that the Sinda and Estel had a skill for attracting trouble.
As the two elves rounded the side of the tent Elladan stopped short at what he saw. Legolas was curled up in a ball on the ground being brutally kicked by two ellyn while a third held a dagger to a struggling human's throat.
The cry of fury that left Elladan's mouth caused all three attackers to glance up as the Noldo twin descended on them, Tamír was not far behind.
Elvish Translations:
yrch – orcs
maer – golden
penneth – young one
ada – dad
adar – father
lýgion – son of snakes (Sindarin insult)