Chapter Two
His first ten summers, Legolas was more nursemaid than husband. An elf aged one year for every five human years so it was only in her tenth summer that she recognized him and chased after him on her stubby little legs. He saw her crawl and sit up for the first time but missed her first steps and words. He played hide-and-go seek with her and threw her up in the air. When he wasn't playing with her, he went on orc raids with the twins or had long conversations with Elrond. He had grown fond of Rivendell.
He arrived in her twentieth summer a little later than usual. Typically he arrived just after dawn on June 1st but a rogue band of orcs had delayed him leaving. He dismounted a little around mid-day and entered the great hall to find it bustling with activity.
"Legolas!" a small voice cried and he saw dark curls and a linen shift barreling toward him. He wrapped his arms around her and twirled her in the air.
"Hello, Melda." He said, calling her the elvish name for beloved, kissing her on the forehead. "I've missed you."
"You've missed so much. I helped daddy heal an arrow wound. I ride ponies now and Arwen took me swimming and last night I had three slices of cake." Manwathiel said breathless with delight. Legolas was her favorite person.
"Ride ponies! Several at once or one at a time?" he asked putting her down.
She giggled. "One at a time of course."
"Yes of course, silly me."
"You have an owie." Manwathiel said, taking his hand. It was bandaged. An orc had gotten a slice in.
"It doesn't hurt." Legolas lied but let her observe it.
She laid her hands on the cut and closed her eyes, whispering to herself. A moment later the pain was gone. She had healed him.
"Owie all better." She said, satisfied, unwrapping his bandage to find healed skin.
"It seems I've missed quite a bit indeed." Legolas said to Arwen as she approached.
"Manwathiel has been a very busy girl." Arwen said, smiling warmly at her little sister.
"A busy girl who is late for luncheon." Elrond's voice rang out from the throne where he was surrounded by advisors. A maid immediately stepped forward and took her hand, leading her from the throne room. "Good travels, Legolas?" Elrond asked as he signed the paper set before him.
"Yes, I was a bit delayed leaving but the ride was uneventful." Legolas said.
"Good, good. Go get settled. We'll see you at dinner." Elrond said, waving him off. Legolas set off for his usual room.
Legolas stopped by Manwathiel's room on the way to dinner. She was all dressed up, wearing a pretend crown Elrond had had made for her. "And where are you going?" he asked, amused. She looked more like her mother every day. The resemblance was uncanny. Her dark hair even curled the same way under her toy crown.
"To dinner. Daddy said I could come tonight since it's your first night here."
"I like your crown."
"Don't I look like a princess?" she asked happily and twirling.
He leaned down and pulled her close. "You are a Princess." She was a Princess of Mirkwood but that was a conversation for another day.
"Yes, but now I have a crown like everyone else." She said. "Will you be there when I get my real crown?" she asked twirling around. When she came of age she would be gifted her coronet.
"I wouldn't miss it for the world." He said. She held out her hand to lead him to dinner. When they arrived everyone was already seated. Legolas helped Manwathiel into her chair. He chatted with Elladan about a raid they'd run earlier that day when he realized Manwathiel was handing him her plate. He took it and looked around confused.
"She wants you to cut it for her." Arwen said.
"Do you want me to cut your food?" Legolas asked, leaning down.
She nodded. "Yes please."
Legolas set the plate down and cut the meat and vegetables into small pieces. He put the plate back in its place and handed her the fork. "There you go."
She beamed at him. "Thank you." She said sweetly and ate her food mostly in silence as everyone chatted around her. The wine flowed freely and Legolas was finding himself a little foggy.
"I don't want that." Manwathiel said to Arwen, pushing away her lettuce.
"You have to eat some vegetables." Arwen said, pushing it back.
"I won't eat it. You can't make me." Manwathiel said, pouting.
"Manwathiel Amaurea that's enough." Elrond said severely "Do as your told or go to your room. Joining the adults for dinner is a privilege."
Manwathiel looked up at him sulkily but ate the lettuce. Legolas shot her a small smile and she smiled back.
By the time dessert arrived, Legolas heard a faint snoring. Manwathiel's head was in her arms, moving rhythmically up and down.
"I'll take her to bed." Arwen said. "Why don't you come." She said to Legolas.
Legolas, quietly so as not to wake Manwathiel, took his leave of everyone and lifted her carefully into his arms, following Arwen out the dining room through the maze of passages to Manwathiel's room.
"Usually the routine is the same as last year, bath, teeth, pajamas, hair, song, story. But tonight we'll skip most of that." Arwen said as she pulled a nightgown out of Manwathiel's wardrobe. "Lay her on the bed." She said.
Arwen lifted Manwathiel's dress over her head and set her gently down. She bunched up the nightgown, pulled in over Manwathiel's head. Legolas lifted her up and carried her to the top of the bed. He kissed her forehead while Arwen pulled the covers up.
"She's always so happy when you're here." Arwen said as they left the room. "Still, it must be odd for you." She said thoughtfully.
"She is very dear to me." Legolas said diplomatically but truthfully. It wasn't Meles but he did love that little girl as if she were his family.
Arwen patted him arm sympathetically. "Eighty years is really nothing when you think about it."
This was true. For Legolas and Arwen who had seen whole forests grown, die and be reborn eighty years was but a moment.
"Still, nothing for you and me but it will be her whole life," Legolas said.
"She's never known a world without you." Arwen said. "It will be the most natural thing in the world for her. I think it's you who will struggle. It will be hard to see her as anything but a little girl."
Looking at her small sleeping form from the doorway, Legolas had to agree.
Over the years, Manwathiel's natural talents came to the fore. She was a gifted singer and healer but she also showed her grandmother, mother and sisters gift for magic. By the time she was forty, she had started her formal apprenticeship for healing and practiced magic and the elven arts with Arwen and her mother.
That summer started out idyllic. Elrond had finally given permission for Manwathiel to learn the bow and arrow and she and Legolas spent long hours practicing in the fields whenever she had free time. She was a sunny, happy child and her excitement was infectious. Legolas found, despite the age difference, he enjoyed her company. It was hard to feel anything but happy when she was near. Married couples gave each other a name that only they used with each other. He had already decided on hers – Alasse or joyful.
One night in mid-July, Legolas was reading Manwathiel a bedtime story when she stopped him. "Legolas?"
"Yes." He said, closing the book and looking her in her large blue eyes.
"Why do you come every summer?" she asked, her face thoughtful.
He had been expecting this question eventually. "I come to see you."
"But why? Why me and not Father or Arwen or Elladan or someone else."
He hugged her close. "Because you are very dear to me and I'm lucky enough to get to see you every summer." She snuggled in close to him, satisfied, for now at least. He suspected this wouldn't be the last time they had this conversation.
"When's mother coming back?" she asked. Her mother had left for Lothlorien some days before.
"I think some months this time, Melda." He said soothingly. He picked up the book again. "Shall we keep reading?"
She nodded. Minutes later he felt her rhythmic breathing and slowly closed the book. He untangled himself and turned down the lamp, leaving her sleeping soundly.
The next day he met her in the infirmary, bow and arrows in hand. She was just finishing with Bilious, the court healer.
"Good lesson?" he asked as she finished putting away her supplies.
"Oh yes. We learned about fevers today." Manwathiel said happily seeing his bow. "Are we going shooting?"
"We are! Are you ready?" Legolas said.
Manwathiel grinned and nodded. They entered the field.
"Ok first what do we do?" Legolas asked, pulling an arrow from his case.
"Check that there's no one around." Manwathiel said, scanning the empty field.
"Right. Now, place your hand here." Legolas said, putting her hand on the bow. He pulled the arrow back. "Ready?" he asked.
She looked up at him and grinned. "Ready!"
He released the string and the arrow soared through the air hitting a tree. "Nice shot!" he said. "See if you can hit the same place again." He restrung the bow for her. They practiced for a few more hours until the sun began to set.
"Can we come again tomorrow?" Manwathiel asked as they gathered their things. Legolas was just gathering his arrows when in the distance he saw an elf race toward them. He held his hand up to her and covered his eyes for a closer view.
It was Baifour, an elf of Rivendell and he was approaching quickly.
"Baifour!" Legolas said, holding his hand up in greeting. "Is all well? We were just returning."
Baifour glanced at Manwathiel before looking back at Legolas. "My Lord Elrond requests your presence. Just yours, I'm afraid." He added.
"Lord Elrond wishes to see me privately?" Legolas repeated. "Alright, let's head back." He said, clapping Manwathiel on the back.
"I get left out of everything." Manwathiel moaned dramatically.
"It's probably to do with the orcs your brothers found this morning. I doubt it will interest you all that much." Legolas said, placing his hand on her shoulder as they walked.
"Will I see you after?" she asked, Rivendell coming into view as they crossed the field.
Legolas glanced at Baifour who just shook his head. "That will depend on what your father wants but if you don't see me tonight then I'll see you tomorrow after your lessons. We can go swimming."
Manwathiel grinned brilliantly at him. "You'll let me jump from the high cliff?"
"No, probably not but nice try." Legolas laughed. They had entered the courtyard where one of Manwathiel's maids was waiting.
"You're to come with me, my lady." The maid said and beckoned for her. Manwathiel smiled at Legolas in goodbye and took the maid's hand, following her into one of the back hallways of the house.
"Elrond is in the great hall." Baifour said. "A word of warning. It's chaos in there." He said grimly and left Legolas who climbed the steps with some trepidation.
Baifour wasn't wrong. The room teemed with activity. Elrond was at the center, pacing over a table laden with maps. Legolas approached quietly.
"You wanted to see me?" Legolas said. Elrond looked up him for a moment without seeing him. It took a beat for him to register that Legolas had just spoken to him.
"Yes. Celebrian never arrived at Lothlorien. We're sending out search parties now." Elrond said, gesturing to the maps.
"How can I help? I can lead a party or join one already in progress." Legolas said immediately.
"No, one more rider won't make a difference. I need you here with Manwathiel. I don't want her to know. Keep her busy and away from here. If there's news in the night I will send for you."
Legolas nodded quickly and stepped back. Elrond's attention was needed here. A pack of men passed him as he headed from the throne room to the personal quarters. He was glad Manwathiel's room was tucked in the back of the house, away from the noise and melee. He was concerned but knew that the worst thing he could do was show it. She would pick up on it immediately and there was no reason to alarm her unnecessarily. Celebrian's horse might have injured itself, or she may have fallen. She could be home safely in a matter of hours if not days. He knocked lightly on the door.
A maid answered it and Legolas entered her room. Manwathiel's room was large and airy. She had a big carved bed, a table with chairs by the fireplace, an intricately carved wardrobe, a bookshelf, a dollhouse and a trunk filled with dolls and other toys. He found her sprawled on the bed with sheet music.
"Hi." She said, barely looking up, quill in hand. True to her foretelling, Manwathiel was a gifted musician. She had written her first composition at only 15 only a few years after learning to speak.
"You writing?" Legolas asked, though it was plain she was.
She nodded.
"Do you mind if I get us some dinner?" he asked sitting in one of the chairs by the fire.
Manwathiel looked up and grinned. "We're eating here tonight? Just the two of us?"
Legolas nodded. He usually ate with Elrond, Celebrian, their adult children and any guests they had in town. Manwathiel was sometimes allowed to join. Legolas never ate with just her though.
"How come?" Manwathiel asked, jumping up to join him at the table.
"Can you send for two plates of whatever the chef made tonight?" Legolas asked the elf standing in attendance in the corner. She bowed and left.
"Well," Legolas said, turning his attention back to Arwen. "Your father and brothers have some work to do tonight and I hate eating alone."
"I didn't know that about you." Manwathiel said very seriously. "I eat alone all the time. It's not so bad."
Legolas suppressed a smile. She really was very sweet. "I'll have to try it again sometime." He said.
"Can we have a sleepover too? Mother and father won't mind. They let Ballyan sleep over last week." Manwathiel said, pushing her luck.
"No sleepover tonight." Legolas said shaking his head. "Dinner and then ready for bed."
She looked at him sulkily but nodded. "Alright. Will you have a sleepover with me someday, then?" she asked.
Legolas laughed. This he could answer easily. "I give you my word that one day we will have a sleepover." He said with complete truthfulness. They would have a thousand sleep overs. One day. "Just not this day."
This promise was good enough for Manwathiel who chatted happily about her lessons until their food came. She was learning about the Valar in her tutoring and had lots of questions about the undying lands. Legolas had never been much of scholar, preferring physical activities to his lessons, and had been born in Middle Earth after the fall of Sauron so he had no personal experience but he tried to answer as best he could. "Your grandmother grew up in the undying lands. You should ask her." He said as they finished eating.
"She grew up there?" Manwathiel said, astonished.
"So did you grandfather." He said handing the plates to the maid. He pulled a nightgown out of her wardrobe and went into the bathroom just as Arwen came in. She was pale and drawn but forced herself to smile at Manwathiel.
"I was just running the bath." Legolas said, coming out of the bathroom. "If you want to do bath I can do the rest." He said. "Or I can do bath if you're needed elsewhere." He tried to keep his tone even so as not to alarm Manwathiel.
"Arwen or mommy always do bath." Manwathiel said.
"Come on dearest, teeth and bath." Arwen said, clapping. Manwathiel scampered into the bathroom.
"Any news?" Legolas whispered when she came back in for a towel.
Arwen shook her head grimly. She grabbed the towel and went back in the bathroom. Manwathiel came out a moment later with wet hair in a nightgown.
"Legolas will do the rest of bedtime." Arwen said, kissing her sister. "I'll see you in morning."
That night Legolas tucked her into bed and leaned in to kiss her forehead. "Pleasant dreams." He said and stroked her hair fondly.
She reached out for his hand and smiled. She said sleepily. "Goodnight."
His heart constricted painfully. Reluctantly he left the room, taking one last glance at her sleeping body.