AN: In all seriousness I debated for hours whether or not to put a warning up before this chapter (and what to say if I did). I finally decided better safe than sorry, so I will say in warning that this chapter contains abuse. There is only one instance of physical abuse (a cuff to the head), but basically an elf does a very cruel thing to an elfling (you might be able to guess what's coming given previous events in this story and the preview posted at the end of Beginnings).
Chapter Three: Into Darkness
Beaming brightly, Legolas stepped out into the pale light of the courtyard. The sky, or what could be seen of it, was overcast but it was still bright enough to be a pleasant day.
He spotted his friends sitting near the bottom of the steps, absorbed in a conversation, but they looked up when Legolas stepped out.
"We thought you wouldn't be done for a while," Relfían commented, scrambling to his feet.
"Thilator said we didn't need to read about history today," Legolas explained, sitting on one of the steps happily.
"Come on!" Ceretín exclaimed, jumping up and grabbing Legolas by the hand. "We'll show you the climbing tree."
Legolas happily followed his friends, until they approached the gates to the palace. He stopped, pulling back on Ceretín's hand and looking up at both of them with a serious look on his face.
"What's wrong?" Ceretín asked.
"I'm not allowed to go past the gates."
"But the tree is just over there," Relfían said, pulling Legolas to the side and pointing at a tree, younger than the ones around it,the lowest branches barely higher than an elf's head. "It's only a stone's throw from the gate."
"But Ada said..."
"The guards are right there," Relfían reasoned, though Ceretín had a slightly disapproving frown on his face.
"Perhaps we should go back," Ceretín suggested. Relfían's face fell.
Legolas felt bad when he saw how disappointed his friends were. He couldn't disobey Ada,but maybe since it was so close it wouldn't count—and he was getting to be a big elfling, wasn't he?
"Maybe we could go...just for a little while?" he said quietly, part of his stomach twisting when he thought about disobeying Ada.
Relfían's face lit up, though Ceretín looked just a little more uncertain. "Come on!" the younger cousin declared, taking Legolas' hand and running out the gates, smiling at the guards as they did.
The prince noticed the guards started to move forward to stop them, but hesitated when they saw they were only going as far as the tree on the opposite side of the clearing from the main path. It must be all right, he reasoned. Wouldn't the guards stop him if he were doing anything wrong? Somehow he wasn't quite convinced, but tried to push that feeling away and just enjoy his time with his friends.
Laughing, Relfían easily pulled himself up into the tree, leaning over the lowest branch and extending his hands down. "Grab my hands," he called to the prince. "I'll help you up."
Ceretín lifted Legolas from behind just enough so he could reach Relfían's hands, and together they pushed and pulled Legolas up onto the first branch.
He scooted back and sat against the trunk with a happy sigh, giggling as Relfían darted up even higher in the branches. Ceretín soon joined him, and in a moment the cousins were playing a rather noisy game of some sort up in the tree.
The tree seemed to whisper to him, and he had the oddest sense that it was saying something. His brothers had always told him the trees could talk, so maybe he was finally learning how to listen. He couldn't understand the tree, but it seemed happy to see him.
"Legolas!" Relfían called. "Come on, you can see everything!"
"I don't know," Ceretín said cautiously. "Maybe we should wait a bit."
The younger elfling shrugged, nimbly swinging down to sit on the lowest branch with Legolas. The prince was content with this—he wasn't exactly afraid, but he didn't relish the idea of climbing up so high just yet.
"You know, my ada told me that sometimes warriors sleep in the trees," Relfían commented.
"Don't they fall off?" Legolas asked, wide-eyed.
"When you get older you learn how to keep from falling out of trees," Ceretín explained importantly. "Like this," he added, standing up with his arms straight out for balance. He walked down to the edge of the branch, stopping just where it shook a little too much for his weight, and walked back. "You have to balance. My ada said he'd teach me how to keep from falling out of trees."
Legolas giggled. Imitating Ceretín, he shakily stood up and stuck his arms out parallel to the ground. He took a timid step forward, smiling when he realized he could balance in the tree.
"I think you should sit back down," Ceretín said worriedly. "You might fall."
"Yeah, and then you might get hurt," Relfían said, taking a timid step forward, but afraid to reach for the younger elfling lest he knock him off-balance.
"I can do it," Legolas declared, carefully shuffling to turn around. He'd taken a few steps away from the trunk just out of reach of his friends. His knees were wobbling, and he suddenly decided that Ceretín's suggestion was a good idea after all. He carefully crouched down, grabbing at the branch and slipping his feet out from under him to sit down.
Fate or some other force seemed to be conspiring against the little prince, though, for at that moment a furious, brown-eyed elf-prince came storming out of the gate.
"Legolas!" Belegdur yelled angrily, looking down the path and consequently not noticing the elflings in the tree. "Come here this moment!"
The elfling squeaked in shock, his feet suddenly slipping too far, and in one awful moment he lost control and grabbed futilely at the branch before losing his grip and dropping to the ground below.
He could hear Relfían and Ceretín screaming, but suddenly everything was overpowered by a sharp pain in his left arm as he landed. He curled up, whimpering, his whole body throbbing with the impact.
"Legolas!" Ceretín landed beside the young elfling, his face twisted in worry. Relfían stumbled to the ground beside him, losing his balance as he landed and sitting down hard.
The prince whimpered, tears leaking out of his eyes.
A pair of larger knees appeared in his vision, and his brother was gently turning him over onto his back. "Legolas?" Belegdur asked softly. "I'm sorry...I didn't see you in the tree."
"Is he hurt?" Relfían asked worriedly.
"I believe so," the elf said quietly, his eyes sad. "Did you hit your head?"
The little elfling managed to mouth a shaky "no" and grabbed the sleeve of his brother's tunic with his right hand.
Belegdur noticed the way his brother was carefully cradling his arm. "Your arm?" he asked, and Legolas tearfully nodded. "It might be broken," the older prince explained to Relfían and Ceretín, "I will take him to the healers'."
Legolas whimpered again as his brother very gently picked him up, careful not to jostle his arm. The cousins had fallen quiet, and Belegdur's face was a mask of guilt. "You shouldn't have left the grounds," the older prince said gently, speeding toward the palace. "If I had known where you were...I am so sorry."
He couldn't answer, so he buried his face in his brother's tunic, hot tears burning in his eyes. Sometimes Belegdur did get angry with him, but in his heart he knew the older elf would never mean for him to get hurt, just like he knew Ada would never hurt him.
"Prince Belegdur?"
Legolas' eyes opened in panic, though his face was still hidden.
"Amarthwen," Belegdur smoothly greeted the nurse.
"What happened?"
"He had a bit of a fall," the prince explained. "I'm taking him to the healers."
"There's no need for you to do that," Amarthwen said gently. "I'll take him, and you can get back to your duties."
Legolas felt his brother hesitate. He wanted desperately to scream "no," to beg his brother to take care of him. But then again, he'd always been told that duty had to come first, no matter what else you wanted to do.
"Thank you, Amarthwen," Belegdur said gratefully, and Legolas was shifted over to his nurse's arms. "I will be by later to check on you, Legolas."
His eyes closed again, Legolas only nodded.
Belegdur's footsteps retreated down the hall, and the youngest prince and his nurse were left alone.
Amarthwen dumped Legolas onto his feet, grabbing him by his uninjured wrist and pulling him into a side room.
"What were you thinking?" she hissed, shoving his wrist away and glowering down at him. "Going outside the walls? You're not allowed."
Legolas sniffed, rubbing his eye and carefully holding his left arm close to his chest. "They were teaching me to climb a tree."
"I don't care what they were doing," Amarthwen said sharply. "Are you really so stupid as to disobey your father?"
The elfling looked down, tears pricking at the back of his eyes.
Amarthwen cuffed him on the side of the head, and he cried out. He stared up at her in shock, blue eyes wide. She'd never struck him before.
"I asked you a question," Amarthwen growled.
"I'm s-sorry," he whispered.
Growling something under her breath, Amarthwen grabbed his uninjured wrist and dragged him from the room, pulling him down the halls into the lower levels of the palace. "Do you know what your father does to elflings who disobey him?" she asked tauntingly. "He locks them in his dungeons. But since you're such a good little elfling I suppose you didn't know that."
The prince pulled back as hard as he could, trying to twist out of Amarthwen's grip. She just tugged even harder, nearly pulling him off his feet. He didn't know what she was talking about, but he was starting to get scared.
Amarthwen marched through several corridors, deeper and deeper under the palace until she came to the level she wanted. A solitary cell stood open, the torch in the opposite wall flickering brightly. Without a word she shoved Legolas inside, taking the torch from its bracket to explore the cell.
Something hissed in the corner, and elfing and elf-maid turned to see a spider crouched there. Legolas backed up awkwardly, but Amarthwen didn't seem to care.
Her hand fell heavily on his shoulder, fingernails digging into his skin. "I wouldn't be surprised if staying down here did turn you into a filthy little orc," she whispered. "Or at least if it made you father think you were one and send you out to live with the rest of the orcs."
Amarthwen pulled him around to look down into his eyes. "Do you know what orcs do to elflings?" she asked, a touch of dark glee in her voice. "They cook them and eat them for dinner. Though, since you're a prince I suppose they'd think of something better for you."
Legolas shivered, trying to twist out of her grip. The light from the torch turned Amarthwen's pale gold hair a sort of burnt orange, and her ice-blue eyes seemed to have an eerie dark glow to them.
"I'll t-tell Ada," he stammered.
"He won't believe you," she snarled, her fingernails digging in even deeper, "But if you do tell there won't be enough left of you for the orcs to find...I'll kill you myself."
Amarthwen viciously shoved Legolas away, and he stumbled and fell against one of the walls. She glared down at him for a moment more, then slammed the door shut with a clang, retreating down the hall and taking the torch with her.
She had left him alone in the darkness.
Legolas curled up into as small a ball as possible against the wall, squeezing his eyes shut to block out the darkness. His whole body ached, but his head and arm were the worst.
He didn't think his arm was broken—at least, it wasn't bent at an odd angle like Ceretín's had been when he broke his last year. But it hurt...more than anything he'd ever felt.
Legolas started when he heard the hissing from the corner. In all his misery he had forgotten about the spider...it was only the size of a half-grown cat, but it was obviously angry.
He was worried it might be a baby spider, since it was nowhere near the size of the spiders Gilfaroth had told him stories about. What would happen if the mother spider came back?
He curled up even tighter, his chest hitching in fear as he heard legs skittering his direction.
Reviews? Flames? Tar and Feathers?
I know, it's a cliffie. I'd laugh maniacally, but I'm afraid that would just give away my hiding place.
To everyone who guessed that Amarthwen was going to be bad: Yes. Yes she is. Very bad.
I also know this doesn't quite fit the definition of accident, but I hope the next two chapters will make it clear why everyone thought it was an accident (and therefore why I've called it an accident in other stories as well as the summary).