AN: Man, you guys are the best! Your reviews really made a rather tiring and smelly day so much better, so here's the next chapter!
There was a general question from reviews for the last chapter I wanted to address. It's explained in this chapter, but I'm just going to go ahead and put the answer up here, too. Amarthwen is not "still" in the palace...she's "back" in the palace. In this chapter she says that she did leave shortly after Legolas did, but came back when she heard he was returning. So that's how she can still be around even after all the suspicions surrounding her.
By the by, Belegdur isn't the big ol' meanie he turns into later just yet...I just wrote him acting that way because he doesn't really handle frustration well, and he was off-kilter because he was caught off-guard when Legolas didn't recognize him.
Chapter Seventeen: Renewing Old Acquaintances
Amarthwen smiled brightly. "It's so good to see you again, Legolas," she said cheerfully.
The prince stiffened, unsure of what to make of her actions. "Wh-why are you still here?"
"Prince Legolas!" the former nurse exclaimed, taking a step back as though in shock. "I wanted to see you...is that such a horrible thing?"
Legolas looked down at the floor, swallowing back his unease. He could feel Elladan's and Elrohir's eyes on him, and knew he had to say something before they grew too suspicious. "I was merely wondering why you were here...I thought you would have left years ago," he said quietly.
Amarthwen laughed. "I did go back to the village when you left, but when I heard you were returning I simply had to come back. After all, I had to see how my little elfling grew up."
The prince straightened, looking up to meet her gaze. He could still see the same cold light dancing behind her ice-blue eyes, but he wasn't an elfling anymore. "I'm not a little elfling, Amarthwen," he retorted, barely keeping his tone civil and provoking more strange glances from the twins. "I'm a grown elf now."
The she-elf smiled again, but it seemed to be more calculating than pleasant to Legolas. "You'll always be that little elfling to me...you'll never be so grown that I won't need to take care of you."
A cold shudder ran down Legolas' spine, and he looked down to the floor again. He wanted to bite out a retort about the sort of care Amarthwen had given him in the past, but in truth part of him was still afraid of her, even after eighty-six years.
"Well," Elrohir suddenly spoke up, stepping in between Amarthwen and Legolas. "I'm sure you and the prince have a lot of catching up to do, but he is weary from his journey. Perhaps another time?"
As if by some unspoken agreement, Elladan moved to stand beside his brother, effectively blocking Legolas from sight. "Yes, another time...thank you for stopping by."
"Very well," Amarthwen replied lightly. "I'm sure we'll have plenty of time in the future to remember the past," she added, and Legolas glanced up with a shiver to see the dark gleam in her eyes.
Rolling his eyes, Elladan effectively shoved the she-elf out of the door, resting his back against it as though to keep her out. "What was that all about?"
Legolas shook his head, sitting weak-kneed on the edge of his bed. How could he possibly tell anyone now? Part of his mind rationalized that if he told the twins they could protect him, but too much of him was still afraid.
"Legolas?" Elrohir sat next to the prince on the bed, putting a hand on his shoulder. "Are you all right?"
He nodded. "Just surprised to see her," he explained lamely. "I never thought I'd see her again."
He could tell the twins weren't convinced. "What happened? Did she do something to you when you lived here before?" Elrohir pressed.
Elladan's eyes narrowed. "Is she the one who..."
"No!" Legolas interrupted his friend. "I was just surprised to see her. Please excuse me, I am tired." He turned away from the twins, not wanting to continue the conversation. He was afraid, but not only for himself. If he told Elladan and Elrohir they would most likely confront her, not realizing how dangerous she was.
"Very well," Elrohir finally said quietly. "We're just down the next hall if you need us, though."
Legolas glanced up as the twins left. "She did," he whispered as they closed the door, drawing his knees up to his chest. "Amarthwen..." he couldn't bring himself to finish the sentence, and rested his head against his knees miserably.
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"You don't believe him for a moment, do you?" Elladan demanded as Elrohir lead the way down the hall.
Elrohir glanced over at him grimly. "Why would he be lying? Just because he nearly jumped out of his skin when you started to accuse her doesn't mean he's hiding something," he replied sarcastically.
Elladan rolled his eyes rather eloquently. "I'm going to keep an eye on her," he announced.
His twin nodded in agreement. "I'll stick close to Legolas, maybe we can figure out what's really going on."
The two continued walking in silence for a moment. "'Dan, do you remember when Legolas first came to Rivendell?"
Elladan snorted. "How could I forget? It was just before you challenged me to that race in the garden and I twisted my ankle."
Elrohir chuckled. "Remember the way he used to act? How he wouldn't go down into the cellar unless the door was wedged open?"
"Remember the first time he saw Nana?" Elladan added in a low voice. "Something about her terrified him...and look at Amarthwen."
The younger twin nodded in agreement. He could well remember that day. Their mother, Celebrían, had gone in to wake the young prince one morning, just a few days after the Mirkwood elves had left for home. Somehow she had scared him, and the twins had run into the room to Legolas curled up in one corner, terrified.
Legolas had not quite regained his strength at that point, and they had assumed he'd simply been startled out of a nightmare and the unfamiliar face of their mother had frightened him. As soon as he had gotten to know her, she no longer frightened him. But it was still odd.
"Now you're wondering if he thought Nana was that nurse," Elrohir mused. Though the two she-elves did not look alike, they both were golden-haired and blue-eyed.
"Exactly," Elladan nodded.
Elrohir shook his head. "But surely he would have told us if something had happened. Do you think she might have hurt him?"
"I'm not sure. I did hear rumors, once, that someone may have locked him down in the dungeons that day...but it was just a rumor."
With a sigh, Elrohir stopped in front of the door to their room. "I guess the only thing we can do is try to keep anything else from happening to him."
Elladan grinned. "That's what brothers are for."
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The twins met up with Legolas just before the banquet to escort him down to the main hall. They had forgone dressing identically this time, in hopes that it would help Legolas' acceptance back among the wood-elves.
Legolas clenched his jaw nervously. The receptions he'd received earlier that day hadn't done much for his confidence, and even with Elladan and Elrohir at his side he was a little tense about the coming banquet.
A servant at the door announced his entrance, and the entire room hushed as the prodigal prince of Mirkwood entered. He swallowed nervously, glancing up to the high table where his father was sitting for some measure of reassurance.
Thranduil gave the younger elf an encouraging smile, nodding toward three empty seats on one side of the high table.
"Legolas, there you are."
The prince stiffened a bit as his brother came up to him, a rather strained smile on his face. "I'm just here to show you to your seat...Adar suggested that you might want Lord Elrond's sons near you tonight."
"Yes, thank you, Belegdur," Legolas said, relaxing a bit. His brother was a bit more civil than he had been, even if his smile was forced. He followed his brother quietly, relieved that at least one more face was friendly tonight.
"Were you just going to walk past us without saying anything?"
Legolas turned, confronted with two vaguely-familiar looking elves, both with dark hair and eyes. They looked like brothers, but something in their bearing struck a chord in Legolas' mind. "Ceretín! Relfían!" with a laugh Legolas hurried forward to greet both of them. Now he could see the elflings who had been his closest friends in the elves before him.
"I'm so glad you're back," Ceretín said happily. "Life has been too quiet since you left."
The youngercousin nodded. His manner was more sedate and aloof than Legolas remembered, but he didn't wonder why. "Yes, life wasn't quite the same without you," Relfían said dryly.
Legolas looked at his old friend with a hint of confusion. There was some tone of bitterness in Relfían's words...one he could not understand.
"We'll talk later," Ceretín said, pulling on his cousin's arm. "Perhaps after the banquet?"
"Of course," Legolas nodded. "I look forward to it."
He frowned as he followed Belegdur to the high table, looking up just enough to accept the greetings from the elves around him.
"Those were your friends?" Elrohir asked as they were seated.
Legolas looked up, glancing down the table to where the cousins sat. "Yes...Ceretín and Relfían. Their fathers served on the palace guard."
Looking around the room, Legolas began to recognize more of the faces he saw. He remembered the healer, Celebalqua, and a handful of the elves who had been in his brother-in-law's company. His heart caught in his throat when he thought he saw Amarthwen in the crowd, but realized a moment later he had just caught sight of the ice-blue eyes of a dark-haired elf.
He wrinkled his brow in thought as his father called for silence. That elf...he knew that elf. Legolas straightened in his seat imperceptibly. Of course! It was his old tutor, Thilator! He held in a grin as his father called him to stand, seeking out the older elf's eyes. He remembered that his father had said that Thilator had done something years ago, but that had been in the days before he left Mirkwood and he had long forgotten about it. All he could remember now was what Thilator had taught him, and how comfortable he'd always felt around the tutor.
The room suddenly fell silent, and with a slight wave of panic Legolas realized everyone was looking at him. His father was watching him expectantly, and he cleared his throat, mind racing for something to say. "Thank you," he called. "I-it's good to be home again. Thank you." With a nod from his father he dropped back into his seat. Elrohir patted him on the shoulder, and he caught a wink from one of his sisters. He glanced across the table, almost afraid to look at his brother, but relaxed when Belegdur merely looked up at him, then away with no venom in his gaze.
"That's the closest you'll get to a smile from him," Elrohir whispered. "I think his face would crack if he did anything else."
Legolas grinned at Elrohir's comment, and turned his attention back to the banquet.
Reviews? Flames? Tar and Feathers?
I cut this chapter a bit short to keep the end kinda happy...there's some pretty heavy-duty emotional angst stuff coming up next. I should have the next chapter up on Thursday.