A/N: so sorry about the huge gap; I forgot the ending! This isn't the one I had planned at first but I think it's better. It only hit me earlier this week which is why I'm only updating now. Push for the finish, guys! If there are any mistakes then I apologise; it was getting late by the time I finished this.
Though he had now been in Imladris for a week, Legolas hadn't yet got bored of the early morning movements of Imladris. Each morning, before Ada came to get him to go down to breakfast, he got dressed and went to sit out on the balcony and looked out across the valley. Every morning as the shadows shied away from the sun across the valley, the stable hands let out the horses kept in the stables not too far from Legolas' room. The horses always whinnied and bucked in the ménage and the stable hands always smiled and sang songs about the wild horses which roamed on the great plains far to the south which no hand could tame.
The words brought vivid images to the Elfling's mind and he wondered if he would ever see them. When he was younger, he had wanted to travel the known world with Ada, but now he knew that days when his father mounted Eryn and travelled to far-off places on a whim were behind him. This didn't bother Legolas though, for his father had told him that 'kings stay home and look after the people; it is the princes' job to ride with the wind and rediscover what lies beyond the horizon.' Princes meant him, Legolas. The prince was determined to see where his father actually came from, though Thranduil had closed his eyes and shaken his head when Legolas told him so. Legolas also knew that his father was itching to return home, which did bother him; he was having far too much fun to leave just yet. He and the twins still hadn't seen what the pot in the fish pond had trapped, or where the once well-trod but now overgrown path through the woods led to.
Directly below him, cooks hurried hither and thither to and from the kitchens, and from the kitchens also there came the most wondrous smells. Legolas stood up an leant over the balustrade trying to catch as much of the scent as possible, and hoped his father would come to get him soon. He had had the offer of going down himself but, though he loved the twins, the early mornings and late evenings were the only chances he got to be alone with his father while Elladan and Elrohir were entertaining him. Though Ada would never check fish traps and knew the whole of Greenwood like the back of his hand, or so it seemed to his young son, so 'exploring' with him frustrated the child even when Thranduil pretended to be just as surprised to find a clearing at the end of that particular path as his son was. Legolas had learnt very early on how to tell when his father was pretending: he knew, for example, when Ada was lying on the floor intending to ambush him when he got too close, and when something was the matter and he needed to get Galion.
The knock on the door made Legolas forget the smell of food for a while as he scrambled across the room, undid the latch and slowly opened the heavy door. Thranduil smiled quietly at his already slightly dishevelled son. As he had every day since the first evening of their arrival, he wore his battered coat. Legolas thought it made him look like he was going somewhere, so over the past week a small tradition had begun.
Stepping through the door and looking nervously at his father's coat, Legolas would ask, "We aren't leaving today, are we, Ada?"
And so far, Thranduil had replied, "No, penneth, not today. And seeing as we aren't leaving, shall we partake of breakfast?"
This morning was no exception, and upon hearing the question that wasn't really a question Legolas' face lit up and he skipped away down the corridor in front of his father. "I'll need to eat a lot today, Ada!" He announced, "Elladan, Elrohir and me-"
"Elladan, Elrohir and I."
"And I are finding out where that old track goes. You know, the one that starts behind the granary."
Thranduil nodded, slowly. He knew the path and, unbeknownst to the Elfling, where it led. It was the highroad to the waterfall at the end of the valley and weaved up and down the slopes on the valley between the trees. It was once the path up to the waterfall, until the twins had made an altogether safer one much lower down. He had half a mind to forbid Legolas from going but stopped himself: Legolas was Silvan; should anything untoward happen he could climb up a tree. And besides, recently he'd begun seeing things that weren't there again.
Like extra steps on staircases. He cursed as the non-existent eighteenth step down to the kitchens duly disappeared and he tripped over his own feet and vowed that he'd leave today completely to himself.
Legolas had already settled himself in the gap between Elladan and Elrohir and was quizzing them about the games he played at home.
"Do you know how to tree-run?"
"Tree-run?" Elladan repeated, genuinely curious. The princeling nodded so hard it looked like his head would come off his neck,
"You have to keep off the ground for as long as possible but you have to keep going. I'm not very good," he sulked, "my legs are too short." Then he brightened up, "Uncle fell out of a tree once, he stepped on a rotten branch and it snapped."
"This would be Galion?" Elladan qualified. Legolas nodded even harder,
"Uncle." Elladan blinked. "He's Ada's brother. Ada always calls him 'gwador'."
"'Gwador' doesn't have to mean a blood relation," Elladan began to explain but was interrupted by Celebrian's warning look.
"You are not tree-running along that path," Thranduil said as he sat on the far side of Erestor and began buttering toast for Legolas, who had yet to acquire the vital skill of spreading butter evenly… or at all. Once the first slice was buttered, he leant over to put it on his son's plate and took a second piece from the basket in the centre of the table. "You shouldn't be tree-running at all; some of the jumps are far too wide."
"Lianna lets me."
"Lianna is a pest and a menace and she'll get you killed one day," the king replied, only half in jest. "The sooner she realises you're not a replacement for her brother the better."
Legolas bit into his toast, feigning hurt.
"Who's Lianna?" Elladan asked.
"Galion's daughter," Legolas said through a mouthful of bread, "She's fantastic. She can hit gold on a target a hundred yards away, and once she disarmed Ada in a sparring match."
All eyes turned to Thranduil, who merely placed the second buttered slice of toast on Legolas' plate and said nothing.
"She's not at home as much as she used to be though," Legolas said, sadly, "she goes scouting for weeks on end. Months!"
"Legolas," Thranduil warned. His son knew the tone; in this context it meant 'eat first, talk later'. Usually the prince complied, but this time he was feeling rebellious. So he swallowed and pointed out,
"But you aren't eating, Ada."
"I'm a grown-up; grown-ups don't need to eat."
"But Lords Elrond and Erestor and Lady Celebrian are eating and they're grown-ups, and Elladan and Elrohir are almost grown-ups and they've had three helpings since we sat down."
Legolas' innocent tone was not mirrored in the raised eyebrow Elrond gave Thranduil from the head of the table. Thranduil glared back and the twins looked bashful about how much they had eaten.
oOo
"Why? Why rain‽ Why now‽"
The three young Elves were standing under the eaves of a large oak tree a short way above the granary, watching the water fall from the sky. Though it sounded peaceful and adventurous, Elladan was adamant that it spelt the end of the expedition, at least for today.
"It'll be too dangerous to go up there when the ground has turned to mud, and even if we did reach our destination there's no guarantee we'd get back."
"You know where we're going?" Legolas asked, despondently.
"Of course we know where we're going, and just as well," Elrohir said, sharply, tucking a drenched lock of pitch black hair behind one ear, "If we didn't what on earth would we do if something happened and we had no idea where we were?"
Legolas grudgingly agreed that it was indeed just as well.
"Come," Elrohir said, placing a hand against Legolas' back, "we'll dry off inside and initiate plan B."
At the other end of the valley, in front of the house, Thranduil stood in the front porch and also watched the rain. He had been standing in the ford in the rain but he'd been noticed. Not wanting to explain exactly why he so wanted to stand in the storm and get soaked to the skin, he retreated into the shelter of the house until the concerned passer-by had passed by, then he too initiated plan B; sitting somewhere no one would think to look. He moved out into the courtyard and easily swung into the branches of a tree which grew close by the house. He climbed up it until he was slightly higher than the slope of the roof and transferred onto the tiles. Though they were wet, they gave good enough purchase for one who lived in the trees and he quickly made his way up to the ridge piece. There he sat, perched on the ridge with his hands holding on either side to brace him and legs outstretched on the tiles sloping away to the ground, and drank in the weather. That was the one problem with living in a forest as dense as the Greenwood; the rain never really reached the ground.
Back inside, his son and the twins, all wrapped in towels, sat in a circle and made mischief. They had learnt, from a reliable source (a distracted servant who wanted them out of his hair) that Erestor was taking the opportunity brought by a combination of the stormy weather and Elrond's being otherwise engaged to sort one of the reading rooms which branched off the main library. Which in turn meant ladders and piles of papers and other such wonderful things to tamper with. Legolas, who would giggle too much and give the game away, quite apart from being a scribe's son and, as such, taught that defacing manuscripts was sacrilege, would stall Erestor and give the twins enough time to meddle.
"You won't harm the manuscripts, will you?" Legolas asked, worried by the idea even though he would have no part in it.
"Of course not!" Elladan reassured him, "Not directly, anyway… and nothing important will be damaged."
"We aren't vandals," Elrohir added.
Legolas remained unconvinced but he trusted the twins and liked Erestor so, when the advisor left the library to get yet another cup of tea, the prince followed him and the twins entered the now deserted reading room.
Erestor was surprised when he turned round at the sound of footsteps and saw his shadow, though he wasn't displeased. He smiled at Legolas and the princeling smiled back, "And what can I do for you?"
"You're clearing out the library, aren't you?"
"Well, reorganising it."
"Do you know many stories?"
Erestor closed one eye, "I know the usual ones and a fair few others I'll warrant."
"Ada knows loads. He tells me a bit of one each night. Do you know any he doesn't?"
Erestor laughed, "Well, that all depends on which your father knows." He eyed the Elfling, kindly. A father would have picked up on the over-innocent expression on his face, but Erestor wasn't a father and was none the wiser. "Come with me to the kitchen and we'll see if I know one."
oOo
"Right!" Elladan announced, triumphantly, just over an hour later, "Is there anything we've forgotten?"
The half-full ink well teetered on the edge of a document, ready to fall over at the next opportunity; the supports had been removed from the ladder propped up against the bookshelf; the candle had been changed to one which had almost run out and the papers already organised by Erestor had been disorganised.
"Nothing too terrible, would you say, brother?"
"I agree completely."
"The ink pot was a stroke of genius on your part."
"I thank you."
"Shall we skedaddle now?"
"I rather think we should."
The twins turned their backs on the reasonable level of destruction they had caused and went to find Legolas.
Legolas was feeling both enthralled by Erestor's tale of a poor wanderer who had lost all his money to the barrow-wrights and had to make his way back home by slaying dragons and wargs and rescuing princesses and the like and guilty at what the true intention of his visit had been. His guilt was compounded by the twins' appearance just when the wanderer was being thrown out of a tyrannical king's palace for falling in love with the king's niece.
"There you are!" Elladan exclaimed with convincing exasperation, "Legolas, we've been looking for you everywhere."
"I'm afraid he's been here with me since the rain started. I've been telling him the story of the homeless wanderer."
"Oh, that old yarn," Elrohir said, waving his hand disparagingly, though his eyes lit up when reminded of it and he advised Legolas to try and here the rest before he left. Erestor smiled and said Legolas was more than welcome to ask to hear the rest when he was free. Legolas thanked the advisor but decided he wouldn't; he didn't feel he deserved to hear the end after what he'd agreed to help with.
"It's stopped raining now so we shall grace the world with our presence," Elladan announced, taking a cloth bag from a line of hooks in the pantry and filling it with food. "Lunch," he said in response to Legolas's questioning glance. "Come." He took Legolas' hand and, thanking Erestor for keeping an eye on him, led the prince out onto the lawns. The grass was still wet so they settled on a bench and played a game to see who could spit the pips in the oranges Elladan had brought the furthest, and wondered aloud what would befall Erestor when he returned to work. Legolas forgot his qualms and enjoyed imagining the advisor falling a few feet into one of the mounds of paper around the ladder which, the twins assured him, would be adequate to break his fall.
oOo
"Lord Elrond wishes to speak with you."
The words sank into the three Elves' stomachs and churned there as they followed Lindir to Elrond's office. There the singer left them, so Elladan knocked on the door and an angry voice bade them enter. Elrond loomed behind his desk, his eyebrows as high as Legolas had ever seen them and his face like thunder. Erestor, with ink all over his hands and generally looking dishevelled, stood in a corner and watched, a half guilty, half triumphant expression on his face.
"How any of you could have thought such malicious traps would be funny is beyond me," Elrond began, his voice devoid of any humour. "Would you find it funny If I told you that Erestor has bruising all over his back, has to recopy six long documents due to spilled ink on the originals and has to do two days' worth of organising all over again?"
The younger Elves shook their heads. Legolas, who had never done such a thing before and who hadn't factored in what would happen if they were caught, looked close to tears. Elrond didn't fail to notice, but was still determined to get his point across.
"I shan't pass any punishment until Thranduil arrives… though he seems to have disappeared for the moment… but be assured something more than guilt shall happen to the lot of you."
"Please, lord father, we thought Erestor had only been working on it for a few hours," Elrohir said, quietly.
"Only?" Elrond repeated, "Because of course undoing a few hours' work is acceptable."
"We weren't thinking."
"That is self-evident."
"Legolas wasn't involved," Elladan added, "He was with Erestor while we… did this."
"He was, Elrond," Erestor affirmed.
"Though from his current expression he evidently knew what was planned."
Silence fell. An awkward silence which fell on the young Elves and ate into them. Legolas sniffed. Ada's going to be so upset with me. Ruining documents is such a bad thing to do. None of the accused dared speak as footsteps approached the door, the doorknob turned and Thranduil, dried from the morning's rain by the afternoon's sun, stepped in.
"Lindir asked me to come here." The king's quick gaze took in the seen and the five other Elves' expressions. His own expression, which had been one of mild confusion (not entirely caused by his summons), became unreadable, "What has he done?"
"Your son has done nothing more than help mine in making Erestor's life difficult, but I fear these traps were overzealous and have crossed the line from practical joke to potentially dangerous pranks. These include defacing of library records and destabilising a ladder."
Here Elrond launched into a long lecture about safety and respect in general. He evidently expected the input of Thranduil's sharp tongue but the king said nothing. He just looked. And that was the worst thing he could have done. Legolas avoided his father's eyes right from the start but the twins didn't. Therefore they soon learnt of Thranduil's most potent weapon against bad behaviour; his expression of deep disappointment. It was far worse that his potentially terrifying ,livid chiding, with raised voice and obviously furious tones. It was as if they had torn the Sinda's heart out with sadness and he hadn't even the energy to speak. And Thranduil wasn't even aware of the effects it had on those it was directed at, or else he may have tried to suppress it. The gaze was like a knife, or a worm with cutting edges to it sides. It wriggled into the young Elves' minds and burned there. Instead of spoon feeding them what they'd done wrong, it made them doubt themselves, analyse their own actions and feel all the worse about what they'd done wrong as a consequence. By the end, all three were looking at the floor, the desk, even into Elrond's obviously furious eyes; anywhere that wasn't into those deep sapphire eyes. They only realised Elrond had stopped talking because the room had fallen silent again, but even though they hadn't listened to what Elrond had said they had all learnt the lesson. The two father's methods were the perfect counterbalance for the other, and made both more potent. It seemed like Elrond had been talking for hours and Thranduil's quiet, melancholy voice when he broke the stillness made a strong contrast to Elrond's loud, outraged one.
"Shall I put mine to bed, Lord Elrond, lest he be misled again." Though it was a question, it was said flatly so it sounded more like a statement.
Elrond nodded, "That is a wise plan, Lord Thranduil."
Thranduil moved to leave and Legolas followed without complaint. The twins were left with just each other under the heavy gaze of their father.
Legolas had to trot to keep up with his father's long, disinterested stride.
"I didn't do anything, Ada," Legolas insisted.
"No? They didn't tell you that documents might be damaged and that Erestor might be hurt?" Thranduil asked without emotion.
"I didn't think to question them. They're older than me and this is their house."
"That doesn't make them right."
"They promised me they wouldn't do anything really nasty."
Promises are made to be broken, Thranduil thought, though aloud he simply said, "Is that right?" He opened the door to Legolas' room and ushered him inside.
"I'm sorry," Legolas stammered, tears running down his face.
Thranduil softened, and though though he didn't smile he gently brushed the tears from his son's cheeks and pulled the blankets over his shoulders when he stripped to his shirt and hoes and climbed into bed, "You have learnt a lesson today, Legolas. In the morning you shall apologise to Erestor and fulfil whatever punishment Elrond and I give you." He turned to go, and Legolas mourned the lack of a bedtime story. "If you learn one thing from this, learn that your principles are worth sticking up for. Always."
"Ada," Legolas called as Thranduil stepped through the door, "I'm not really in trouble, am I?"
Thranduil paused before saying, "Good night, tithenlhas-nín," and closed the door behind him, leaving his son without an answer.
Translations:
Tithenlhas – little leaf