"Your father hates you," Eigil said.
Legolas started, his pen slashing a careless line across his paper. "He does not!"
"Oh, but he does, little leaf," Eigil said in a low voice, he eyes gleaming as he circled Legolas's desk with his hands behind his back. "King Thranduil despises you for the failure you are; you cannot fire bend! He is disgraced by you, and so he gave you to me to train and teach and punish for the sight of you brings a bitter feeling to his heart."
Legolas jumped to his feet. "You lie! Ada does not hate me for anything!"
Eigil's hand lashed out, striking Legolas across the cheek. "You will not speak to me in such a manner! I am your Master and you will show me the respect you would show your father, the respect your father told you to give me, or you will be punished!"
Legolas took a step back, surprise and fear showing in his eyes. Eigil smiled. He said, "Ah, Legolas, your father wanted to punish you for your failure. He wanted to burn a mark of shame onto your body. But he could not bring himself to do it. King Thranduil ordered me to punish you for any disobedience, any childishness, any foolish actions and . . . any failed lessons. Your father has said you are a wild, uncontrolled animal. You must learn to behave yourself, and it is my job to teach you."
Legolas swallowed. No! This could not be happening!
"I have been ordered to punish you now for your failure to fire bend," Eigil said.
"Why now?" Legolas demanded. "It has been three weeks since I started taking lessons! Why has he waited?"
Eigil hand slapped his cheek. "You will not contradict me and you will not answer back when a question is not asked!"
"You have no right to hit me!" Legolas cried.
"I am doing only as your father has commanded," Eigil spat. "And, by permission granted to me by your father, I have every right to hit you!" He slapped the elfling again. "Finish you lessons!"
Legolas sat down with fury in his heart. He would tell his father of this. Ada would never let anyone treat him like this!
But had his father not said . . . "Now, I hope you will respect and obey Eigil, Legolas, for his only wish is to help you learn. He is here to help you in any difficulty."? A shred of doubt entered Legolas's heart. What if Eigil spoke the truth?
Eigil saw the doubt and played off it. "I know you do not believe me, but I would not confront your father. If you awaken his anger further, he might injure you seriously.
A tiny dot of fear showed in Legolas's eyes. He tossed his head and returned to the sheet of paper before him on the desk. Eigil smiled. He walked away from Legolas with his hands behind his back and sat down at his desk facing Legolas. He waited until Legolas rose and handed him the finished sheets of his history quiz. Legolas returned to his seat and waited while Eigil checked his work.
Eigil let out a small sigh but his eyes gleamed with happiness. "I am afraid, Legolas, some of your answers are not correct. Therefore I will have to punish you."
Legolas was not sure what Eigil meant or what he would do to him but an uneasy feeling settled in the pit of his stomach and his heart fluttered.
"There is a respectful way to receive this punishments, Legolas," Eigil continued. "For punishment is essentially another form of a lesson. Kneel on your hands and knees in front of me."
Legolas hesitated. Kneel?
"I said kneel," Eigil said, his voice cold. "You will obey me."
"No one but my father can order me to kneel," Legolas said, lifting his chin.
"I am acting on your father's behalf," Eigil said. "King Thranduil is too busy to be bothered with punishing his son. Now kneel!"
"No!" Legolas spat.
Eigil circled the stubborn Prince. A tremor ran through Legolas's body. Eigil waited, letting the dread and fear play with Legolas's mind. Then, when Legolas thought he would escape unpunished, he struck! The whip slithered across Legolas's back, leaving a welt of stinging pain. Legolas gasped and stumbled to his knees under the force of the cruel blows. Eigil put his muscle into the whip, drinking in the scent of blood and Legolas's small whimpers. After so many years of careful restraint and longing, to punish the royal elfling was sweet indeed. Eigil whipped Legolas without mercy until Legolas writhed beneath him, screaming out in agony. His eyes lolled back and his fainted into the stain of his own blood against the floor.
Eigil stepped back with the cruel smile and sat at his desk, arms folded, to wait for Legolas's awakening.
Legolas awake with a groan. He remembered the burning pain and what Eigil had done with his heart in the panicked grip of his fear. Eigil had punished him . . . and his father had commanded it. Tears choked his eyes. He could not believe his father would have Eigil hurt him with such brutality. It could not be true! But . . . ada had not spent much time with him recently; he was always with his quadruplets. Bitterness filled Legolas's heart. Ada had no wish to be with his failure of a son! He was so disgusted with him; he could not even look at him. The tears rolled down as his cheeks as he wished with all his heart he could fire-bend and have ada's love again.
"Get up and return to your room," Eigil said, his voice hard. "You will dress in dark clothes from now on; a symbol of your pathetic failure and unworthiness. If you disobey me, I will punish you. Here is your homework; now leave!"
Legolas climbed slowly to his feet, his limbs trembling. He approached the desk and took the sheaf of papers Eigil handed him. With a jerky nod of his head, he departed for his room. He sat down on his bed, the papers dropping limply from his hand, and tried to think things through. Ada had ordered Eigil to punish him for being a failure, and Legolas knew he was. He had seen ada drift away from him and wondered why. Now he knew.
Legolas half-rose to ask his father if he was angry with him for being a failure and if Eigil was allowed to punish him with the whip then sank down on the bed again. If it was true, asking might infuriate ada further. He could not ask ada; he was alone in his misery and confusion.
"How was your first day of school?" Thranduil asked Legolas, leaning forward to see his son's pale face.
Legolas fiddled with his fork. "I-it passed well, I think. I did my best."
Thranduil sat back with a smile. "And that is all I will ever ask."
Legolas glanced up at his father, feeling the sting of the whiplashes on his shoulder. Ada sounded so kind and loving. He did not sound disgusted or angry at all. But he knew Thranduil could mask his emotions and control himself very well.