Out of Mirkwood
Scribbles-on-Parchment
July 25, 2020
Chapter 51 – Invisible Bruises
Legolas was hurting. There was no other way to put it. As the Noldo soldier laid another brutal kick between his shoulder blades the young prince felt one single tear fall from his tightly closed eyes. But it was not in response to the pain he was feeling, but rather to the overwhelming feelings of humiliation and frustration that coursed through his body. What was he doing, a prince of the Greenwood, submitting to a beating by an enemy? Surely Êmand had trained him better than this.
But as much as the young elf desperately wanted to struggle to his feet and face his adversary, he could not find it in himself to do it. Not only would it be completely foolish, as he had no weapons on him with which to depend on himself, he worried that by fighting back it would only serve to worsen the situation. The look of pain he had seen on Estel's face when the edan had been attacked had struck his heart in a way he had not ever imagined it could. He had felt a great urge to protect the human though he had no idea why. Even now as he lay curled up in a tight ball taking the abuse submissively, he found himself listening for any sounds that Estel was being hurt. Part of him worried that if he were to get up and strike back the ellyn attacking him would turn some of their aggression on the young edan. As much as he hated to think it, Legolas knew that by letting them have their anger out on him it would ensure that Estel would be safe, and that brought him an odd sense of comfort.
As another blow landed on the back of his head, the young Sinda could not help but let a short gasp of pain leave his lip. The kick had caused an explosion of stars to appear in front of his eyes and a cascade of pain to flow down his already aching back.
"Hurt didn't it?"
Legolas heard the icy voice of the Noldo close to his ear and a moment later the young ellon felt a hand grabbing the back of his neck, the fingers digging painfully into the skin.
At least they aren't using knives, he thought as he bit into his lip to keep any noise from escaping, Bruises are not so bad when compared to what it could be.
"Not so high and mighty, now are you?" the voice came again, this time low and mocking, "You are no prince, for no son of Thranduil would ever just lay there and take a punishment without attacking. You Sinda have much too big of egos for that. Perhaps that is why you left Mirkwood, maybe you were banished, maybe your dear ada didn't want you anymore."
Legolas suppressed a flinch. He would never let the Noldo know but this blow had struck him the hardest and hurt more than any beating he could receive.
There was a moment of silence in which all the young prince could hear was his own harsh breathing that rang loudly in his ears. Then the fingers released their death grip on his neck and the ellon returned to kicking him.
"Daro!"
The command rang through the air like thunder, causing Legolas to flinch in surprise.
"What in the Valar do you think you are doing?"
This time the Sinda recognized the voice as that of Tamír. The attack on the prince's body stopped almost immediately. And as no more blows fell Legolas dared to open his eyes and see what was happening.
Estel gasped in relief as the Noldo's knife left his throat. He pushed back against the ellon that had held him captive and was unable to stop the attack on Maer. The elf stumbled slightly giving the man time to spin around and, without a second thought, punched the eldar straight in the face. Immediately the ellon gasped in pain and shock and scrambled away from the edan.
"You will pay for that," Estel spat, grey eyes flashing in furry, "The Valar help you if I ever set eyes on you again."
The elf got to his feet and hurried away after his two other companions who were already fleeing the scene.
"Manen le?"
The human turned to his brother and offered a small smile.
"I am fine. For once I was not the main target of their discrimination."
There was a soft moan from behind them and Estel whirled around to see Tamír helping Legolas gently to his feet. All of the ellyn who had been behind the ambush had fled, but he didn't care. They would no doubt be tracked down as soon as his ada found out about the attack.
"Mellon, are you alright?" Estel's concerned gaze ran over the elf's lithe form searching for injuries.
The Sinda just glanced at him and offered a slight shrug,
"They could have done far worse and to be honest I am surprised this kind of attack did not come sooner."
Estel frowned. He did not know exactly how to respond... or if he should.
"Legolas," Elladan's voice held a slight edge of either anger or annoyance to it, "I am greatly troubled that you had to face this. Please accept my deepest apologies. Those ellyn will be punished, you should not worry about that."
The Sinda just sighed and pushed back against Tamír,
"I don't need help."
The Silvan elf rolled his eyes, but let the prince go nonetheless. The eldar straightened up as soon the support let him, a brief flicker of pain passing over his face.
"If you fall over penneth it is not my fault."
The prince shot Tamír a fierce glare before stepping forward. Estel was not surprised as Maer's face creased in pain. Another step and painful look later and the ellon pitched forward as his body's abuse finally caught up with him.
Estel and his brother both lunged forward as the elfling stumbled forward, but it was the human who made it there first, catching the prince in his arms and keeping him upright.
"Still don't think you want help?"
Elrond let out a deep sigh as he finished sealing the letter he had just finished writing. He remembered doing something almost exactly like this so many years ago, only that letter had arrived too late. This one, he hoped, would not suffer the same fate.
The elf lord held the letter and read over the neat writing on the envelope once again. This had been one of the hardest letters for him to write, not because he did not know what to say but rather because there was too much to say. He also feared that he knew exactly how the recipient would react when he read it.
"Ada!"
The Noldo's head shot up at the sound of his youngest son's voice. He set the letter down next to his pack and hurried out of the tent. The elf lord met Glorfindel right outside of the door. the ellon had also come running at the sound of the human's call.
"What in all of arda has happened now?" the silver-haired elf groaned, glancing around for the source of the cry, "If this is all just…"
The ellon's voice cut off as both he and Elrond saw the small group of elves appear from behind a tent. Estel and Elladan were on either side of Legolas helping the elf prince hobble towards them. The elfling's face was emotionless but the slight pallor in the eldar's already pale skin told him all that he needed to know.
"What happened?" the elf lord asked as he hurried up to his sons, followed closely by Glorfindel.
"I was given a warm welcome by your men," Legolas responded before Estel had even opened his mouth, "It was foolish of me to let my guard down. I should have known this was coming."
The young Sinda received a stern look from both Elladan and Glorfindel, but Elrond just ignored the comment.
"Bring him into my tent."
"Im maer," Legolas protested again as Elrond tried to convince the stubborn being to allow him to lift his shirt, "It was not like I was stabbed and am bleeding to death."
"No, but being kicked repeatedly in the back is hardly better. Why on in the Valar did you not fight back mellon nín?"
"It's not like I wanted to be attacked," the Sinda growled as Estel's hand met a particularly painful bruise on his back, "Besides it's not like you were being much of a help anyway."
"It's not like I can do anything when I have a bloody knife at my throat."
Elrond smiled gently as he listened to the two while trying to gently lift up the back of Legolas's tunic. It seemed to him that the prince and his son had connected in some sort of way that no one else seemed to have been able to do with the Sinda. It was almost as if a thin bond of friendship had begun to form between the two, something that he would have never thought possible for a son of Thranduil. He had always known the woodland elves to be particularly hostile to those of Estel's race.
As the elf lord's gentle hands lifted the pale blue tunic high up on the Sinda's back, his smile faded immediately. The smooth, pale skin was flawless. No bruise or even a scratch could be seen.
How could this be? Estel had told him of the brutal beating that prince had endured, yet there was no sign of it.
Elrond gently ran his hand over the skin in disbelief, but as his cool fingers touched the pale flesh Legolas yelped and jerked away from the Noldo.
The elf lord's brow wrinkled. How was it that the elfling could feel such pain, yet there was no visible mark anywhere?
Legolas was not enjoying the increased amount of attention he was receiving. In the agonizingly long walk through the camp, many soldiers had watched Estel and Elladan helping him and he could not help but wonder how many of them wanted to finish off what had been started. No doubt many of them.
The young elf groaned as the pressure from the elf lord's hand vanished from his back and his shirt fell into back place. As the adrenaline was beginning to wear off the pain was beginning to mount all the more, leaving Legolas to fight to keep a passive look on his face.
"Here, let me help you take your tunic off," The Sinda raised a slender brow at Estel's words, "I am sure my ada will want to apply a healing balm to your bruises."
"I am fine."
"I know you are fine. You keep saying that. Now let me take your tunic off."
"No."
Now it was Estel's turn to raise an eyebrow at Legolas.
"I will either take it off with your help or I will tie you down and cut if from your body," The human took a step forward, "It is not a sign of weakness to accept help."
The prince glared at the man.
"I do not think that will be necessary," Legolas glanced up at Elrond who had returned carrying a small pouch which smelled strongly of herbs, "I am afraid even if you removed his shirt there would be nothing for me to see to apply any balm too."
Estel frowned but managed not to say anything.
"Mellon," the elf lord knelt in front of the young ellon, much to his surprise, "Can I inspect your arm? I want to see how the spider bite is healing."
Legolas's brow furrowed in confusion as he obeyed the Noldo's request. Elrond gently pushed the sleeve up and unwrapped the dirtied bandages that still covered the injury. The cloth strips fell away to reveal pale, smooth skin. There was no sign that any wound had ever occurred.
Elvish Translations:
ada – dad
daro – stop
maer – golden
manen le – how are you or are you well
mellon – friend
penneth – young one
im maer – i am fine
mellon nín – my friend