XVI

A Bottle of Dorwinion

Stealing wine from lord Elrond, it turned out, wasn't as easy as it sounded.

Mountain storms swept the valley in thick snow for two days, and the biting winds forced everyone to stay inside. They gathered in the warmth and noise of the Hall of Fire and entertained themselves with games and songs while the winds raged outside and the pine trees creaked in protest. The birds sought shelter where they could find it. The wind shook the windows, howled through the corridors and blew out all the chandeliers so fast it was no use to light them again.

It was easy to slip away from the commotion of the Hall of Fire and steal down the empty and darkened corridors unseen. But once Legolas came to the long, carpeted hallway that led to the intersection where lord Elrond's chambers lay, somehow or other, he was always hindered. If lord Elrond himself wasn't there - and he often was - it was one of his counsellors in the room next door, or Arwen curled up in the window outside with a book, or someone sweeping the floor. He did not dare to linger outside for fear of waking suspicions, so for two days, he ran from the Hall of Fire and back several times, but he never got a chance to get inside the room.

On the third morning he woke not by the raging winds, but by a silence that was almost eerie after the storms. He could lie in the bleak morning light and listen to his own breaths and the sighs of the forest outside as the trees stretched and yawned, blinking at the first ray of sunlight. Legolas stretched too, like a cat on a sun-warm stone, and sat up.

Lord Elrond was bound to go outside after two days of bad weather. Today, he thought, today I can surely do it. He swung his legs over the edge of the bed and begun to stand when someone knocked lightly on the door.

"Coming", he said, thinking it must be Lindir or Ninneth, and pulled his trousers on before he opened - but it was Elladan, finally released from the healing ward. He was already dressed and had his hair in braids, and the colour had returned to his cheeks.

"You ready?"

"For what?"

"Archery", Elladan said, and smiled at the way Legolas brightened. "Get dressed and follow me."

They went outside. The world looked new and strange under all the snow. The courtyard was almost empty; it was too early for most noldor, but from the kitchen came the smell of fried eggs and newly baked bread, and the sounds of an axe against a chopping block echoed over the house. Elrohir waited by the armoury. He stood leaning to the sunny wall and for once he seemed relaxed, maybe because there was no one else around. He had brought two long daggers that he promised to show how to throw.

Inside the armoury, Elladan picked out a bow the right size, then helped strap a bracer to Legolas' arm and a quiver over his shoulder. He was quiet as usual, but not unfriendly. From the armoury they went in between the trees on the outskirts of the gardens and walked over the cliffs that surrounded the House of Elrond. That way they came to an archery range tucked away on the backside of the house. Legolas would never have known about it if he had not explored the house and its surroundings so thoroughly, and he had never seen anyone there, but he wasn't surprised the twins chose that place for their lesson.

"We'll start with something simple", Elladan said. "You'll want to get used to that bow, and I believe it was a long time since you last practised archery?"

"It was", Legolas said. The bow was heavier than he was used to, but Elladan had said it was the right weight, so maybe he had got stronger.

Elrohir sat on the fence under a large oak while Elladan went through a number of basic exercises, most of which Legolas had already done at home, to see his stance and technique. He said Legolas had had good training, but he needed routine - and the only way to get routine was to practise, and practise, and practise the basics.

"So?" Elladan said, kneeling beside Legolas to correct the position of his hands. "How's it going?"

"How's what going?"

"Your mission. With the wine." Elladan glanced down the length of the arrow and Legolas struggled to keep his hands from shaking after holding the bow drawn for so long. "The Midwinter market opens today and will close in exactly a week. By then, you'll need that bottle."

By then it would be too late, Legolas thought, if it wasn't already. Even if he stole the wine today and they rode off tomorrow, Tinuhen must already be on his way to Rivendell before Quick-wing could reach him; if he wasn't, he would never be in time for the council.

"I'll think of something."

"I'm sure you will. Now fire!"

The arrow buried itself into the edge of the target. In the last second, Legolas had lost focus of his aim and thought about something else. Mother would have said that if he didn't pay more attention, a bird could swoop down and steal his head and he would never notice.

It had occurred to Legolas that he might tell Elladan the truth. That if it had ever seemed reasonable to go against Tinuhen's orders it was now, and if there was anyone Legolas trusted it was Elladan. But Elladan would tell lord Elrond and lord Elrond would tell his counsellors and lord Glorfindel and Echail, and one of them - one of them could be the traitor. Unless he told about the traitor too, so lord Elrond would know to keep quiet about it.

But lord Elrond, Legolas thought as he reached for another arrow, would not believe a scrawny elfling of less than sixty summers rather than one of his most trusted counsellors. And again he thought that if only he had been older - if only he had been old enough to know what to do and old enough for people to listen to him... He drew and fired the second arrow just for the satisfaction of hearing it twack into the hay target.

To his surprise, it hit the centre.

"Look at that!" Elladan said and clapped his hands together. "Excellent shot, little one. Though I believe you didn't mean to do that, did you?"

Legolas lowered the bow. "No."

"Sometimes the best way to aim is not to aim at all", Elladan said. "Your head will never be quicker than your hands and your eyes, so sometimes you must forget to think and let your eyes and hands decide. That doesn't mean inattention is ever a good thing, though."

"I know." Legolas frowned. Why was it that adults always turned praise into lessons? He wouldn't have lost focus if Elladan hadn't asked him about the bottle. And he was tired of practising the basics - he had done that enough at home.

Elladan must have seen his disappointment. He took the bow and an arrow from Legolas' quiver, drew and fired in one smooth motion, then swirled around and shot three arrows in the fence behind them even before Legolas had realised he'd taken them from his quiver. He had seen the archers at home do similar things, but it was impressive nonetheless.

"During a hunt or a battle, it is all about quick decisions", Elladan said. "You may find yourself with enemies all around, or three deer fleeing in different directions, and if you hesitate ever so slightly they'll be gone. Or upon you, if they are enemies."

He fired another arrow, dangerously close to his brother. Elrohir, who had looked another way and seemingly been lost in thought, caught in in mid-air.

"You do not have as much as a heartbeat to think about the archery itself, which is why you must practise it until it is as natural as breathing. There comes a point when you can fire an arrow before you've even finished thinking about firing it, and that's when you'll know the true joy of archery."

Elrohir fiddled with the arrow Elladan had shot at him. Suddenly he threw it - it made a few perfect somersaults before it buried itself in the snow between Elladan's feet. Elladan twirled around.

"Are we throwing sharp things now?"

Elrohir did not exactly smile, but the corner of his mouth curved upward a little.

"Bows and arrows", he said, "can be used in many other ways than what they are intended for. For example, they make decent daggers is the need arises."

"And of course you had to demonstrate", said Elladan.

"You shot an arrow at me to demonstrate whatever you wanted to demonstrate."

"Fair enough", Elladan admitted. "Keep this in mind, Legolas - if you're ever in a tight spot, you must use what you have, even if it's unconventional. Arrows have many uses, and a bow can be used as a staff if you need one. They are good for hitting people in the head, too."

"Have you ever done that?"

"It has happened. And Glorfindel likes to hit his trainees if they do not pay attention. Or Elrohir, when he gets bored and start throwing daggers. Speaking of daggers, Elrohir..."

But when Elladan turned towards his brother, he suddenly became very still. Elrohir had frozen like a statue. Legolas followed their gazes - and jumped.

Neither he nor the twins had heard the elf-lord when he approached, but Glorfindel stood not far from the fence, watching them. He wasn't alone. While Legolas and the twins had been focused on the archery, a small audience had gathered around them, and lord Elrond stood in a window on the second floor looking out.

Legolas felt his cheeks heat, even though it wasn't him everyone was looking at. This must be the first time since their mother was attacked that the twins did something like this - something out in the open, with others, instead of hiding by themselves away from everyone. Elladan had smiled more today than all the other days Legolas had known him together. Of course the noldor must wonder why, and how, and if it would last.

But it wouldn't last, not as long as they were watching. As quick as April-weather goes from sunlight to rain, the twins had become silent and brooding.

Elrohir slipped from the fence. "Let's go."

Elladan hesitated.

"We will get no privacy here. The lesson is over, Legolas."

"Is it?" Legolas asked, looking at the older twin. "Is it over?"

Elladan gritted his teeth. He didn't look at Legolas, didn't seem to remember he was there - it was just Elladan and Elrohir and Glorfindel and their father, and months of silence and sorrow hung over their heads. Maybe the twins had cloaked themselves in grief for so long it had become a protection, the way lady Arwen cloaked herself in books and people, and lord Elrond in work. And when they chose to be talkative and friendly and have a lesson with Legolas, they left their protection behind and it made them vulnerable; and they could do it for him, but they weren't prepared to do the same for everyone.

Then Elladan looked down, and he could see Legolas again. He smiled. "Of course not it's not over. You read all that long story to me, and it would not be fair if all you got was to train some basics. We have at least one ting left. Elrohir, come over here! You did promise to show us some knife-throwing."

Elrohir, with his back pressed against the fence, shook his head.

"We all know you have the best aim", Elladan said, "so if I do it it's not use."

"I won't."

"Please", Elladan said. "Just this once."

Elrohir begun to shook his head again, but faltered. For a moment he stood still and his expression was unreadable. The elves around them had gone quiet; even the trees stood silent and watched, but Legolas could sense their earnest encouragement through the frozen earth and he hoped that somehow Elrohir could feel it too.

Then, as if a battle had been fought and a part of him that wanted to be happy again and friendly and talkative had won it, he left the fence and walked across the archery range, in sight of all those who had once been his friends - those he had once fought with and sung with and laughed with without fear - and though Elrohir didn't look at them he must feel their eyes on him. He stood close to Elladan and removed the daggers from their sheaths. Quietly he showed Legolas how to hold it and how to aim. Then he raised it over his shoulder and threw it.

Like the arrow it somersaulted elegantly through the air and hit the centre of the hay target. The second dagger hit another target to the right, not an inch from the middle. He asked Legolas to gather them, then threw them more three times - but that wasn't important. He didn't let Legolas try, and he ended the lesson quickly and left so that Elladan had to run to catch up with him - but that wasn't important either.

What was important, Legolas thought as he gathered the arrows and went back to the armoury, was that something had changed. He didn't know why, or what had started it, but the twins such as they had once been were returning.

Legolas left the armoury blinking in the sunlight, and found the practise ranges outside it full of people. Now that the weather was finally better everyone wanted to be outside. In a circle fenced off with rope and poles, Tilwine was sparring with Echail, who seemed to struggle to beat him in as little a humiliating a way as he could. A lot of elves were cheering on. Scead leaned to the fence beside Glorfindel, who seemed to have been training himself and was still in only a linen shirt and suede trousers, and Legolas stopped to look.

Tilwine did better now than earlier; maybe he had finally started to learn how quick one must be to fight an elf. But Echail was on a whole other level. His swordplay was a dance designed to put as little weight as possible on his bad leg while still maintaining perfect balance. Legolas had never seen anything like it. He could not imagine how much precise calculating it must take to leap to the side, swirl around out of reach for a sword-tip and at the same time sweep down with his own sword, and doing it all without straining the bad leg or losing speed. The way Echail did it, though, made it look easy.

Legolas stepped up to the rope beside Scead.

"He's good, isn't he?" Scead said.

"He's amazing", Legolas reluctantly admitted.

"The elves say he is one of their best swordsmen."

"Was", Glorfindel corrected him. "And of course he was. I trained him, until his injury. He showed great promise."

"Doesn't he still?"

Glorfindel frowned, as if he would rather talk about something else. "He cannot be as good as he was." He flexed his fingers, seemed to contemplate leaving them, then said: "Tilwine could win, if he knew how to. See how Echail avoids his blows rather than blocking them? Tilwine is heavy and can deliver powerful blows relying on his weight alone, but Echail must use his strength to block him, and that would wear him down. As it is, he if forced to move more than he should. If Tilwine knew how to use it..."

"I thought Men never stood a chance against elves", Scead said.

"Oh, you do - but it takes a different kind of swordplay. You have to rely on weight and power to balance our swiftness and endurance. You could not take any goblin-slayer to do the job."

"In that case", Scead said, "maybe Echail was rash in challenging us both at the same time. He said that if I joined, it might be more fair. Now I am no warrior - but had I been..."

"Then it might have been too much for him. Sometimes Echail likes to forget he is no longer fully able to fight."

There were times Legolas felt sorry for Echail, even though he was always mean. He supposed that for an elite warrior like Echail, someone who longed so desperately to prove himself worthy and who loved being the centre of attention, losing the ability to go to war was worse than dying in one. Maybe Legolas would have been grumpy too if he had been Echail.

"What happened?" he asked. "I mean... with his leg."

Glorfindel sighed. His gaze became distant. "I have no right to tell you that, if he hasn't chosen to."

"Echail doesn't like me. I don't think he'll tell me anything."

"Then neither shall I." Glorfindel was quiet for a moment, then said: "Echail doesn't like you? Why not?"

"I don't know", Legolas said. "He's always mean to me."

"And you, of course, are always nice to him."

"No", Legolas said, blushing, "but he started it."

Glorfindel smiled a little. "I heard a little from Erestor - he's not one to run with gossip, mind, but I think perhaps you and Echail came off at a bad start, but that doesn't mean it's irreparable. Maybe you should try to be friendly."

"I will be friendly when he is."

"Child", Glorfindel said, "you sound exactly like your king." Then he blinked, frowned, opened his mouth to continue - and was startled by a loud cry from Tilwine. It seemed Echail, who was out of breath now and leaned heavily on his good leg, had decided it was time to get the fight over with, and ended it with three determined blows that forced Tilwine to back into the rope and fall backwards over it.

"You bastard!" Tilwine yelled, flailing like a upside-down beetle. "You were just playing with me!"

"Of course", said Echail sweetly and offered Tilwine his hand. "What else did you expect?"

Tilwine roared, grabbed Echail's outstretched arm and pulled him down over him. Echail screamed. Tilwine tried to wrestle him down in the snow, but he was too strong, and they rolled around on the ground while the other elves scattered like birds for a cat to avoid their flailing arms. When Echail finally kicked himself free he was weak with laugther and had snow in his hair. He begun to rise, but fell back down and put out his hand for something to hold onto.

In the blink of an eye Tilwine was there and pulled him up as if he weighted nothing. Echail kept laughing - then he faltered, blushed, and unconsciously tucked a strand of hair behind his ear. Tilwine picked up both their swords. He handed Echail his making sure their hands touched.

They went back to the armoury together.

Glorfindel watched them leave looking oddly satisfied, then turned to Legolas again and opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything Lindir came running from the courtyard calling for him.

"My lord! Lord Elrond needs you - he just received a message from Saruman the White. He's in the library."

"Ah, finally. Thank you, Lindir. We'll talk again, Legolas, I'm certain."

Legolas did not breath out until Glorfindel was way out of sight. If he was lucky, Glorfindel would forget about him and the Elvenking if Saruman's message was interesting enough. He watched Tilwine and Echail walk into the armoury and wondered why Echail was no nice to the man but not to Legolas, and what had just happened between them that had made Glorfindel so smug. Then he thought about what Lindir had said. Lord Elrond in the library, Glorfindel with him - Echail in the armoury...

"Scead?"

"Yes?"

"Are you..." He hesitated. "Is it true that you are a horse-thief?"

"Ah", Scead said and looked down. "I suppose it was only a matter of time before that got out. Yes, I am a horse-thief, but I regret it now."

"Then you wouldn't... I mean... you wouldn't want to steal something again?"

Scead looked at him sharply. "What on earth do you mean?"

"Promise not to tell."

"If we are talking about stealing horses I cannot promise you that."

"It's not about horses", Legolas said told Scead about his bargain with Elladan. He explained that he did not need Scead to steal anything at all - but perhaps someone who could create a distraction.

Scead was quiet a very long while. Then, looking around to make sure no one overheard, he said: "So it is actually more of a... prank, than a theft?"

"I suppose so."

"I understand you", Scead said. "I want to get out of Rivendell too. But Tilwine and I won't be able to leave with the merchants, because I'm won't be well enough for a long journey before the market is closed. Lord Elrond says we can stay here over the winter if we need, and as grateful as I am for that my body doesn't like it. I would wish at least to see the market."

"So?"

"So we can make a bargain too", Scead said. "If I help you get that bottle of wine, you could ask the twins to take us with them. I suspect they would not have gone on their own anyway, since from what I've heard the elves wants a lot of wares from Netherford. So it should not be a problem."

"You'd help me?"

"I would."

"Now?"

Scead blinked in surprise, then nodded. "Now."

Scead made so much noise when he walked, Legolas left him at a safe distance from lord Elrond's door and went on by himself. The door beside lord Elrond's stood open to a slip, and lady Arwen sat in the window, looking out with the book forgotten in her lap and her hair like a veil over her shoulders. She heard him and turned.

"Oh, hello. Are you looking for someone?"

"Uh... no. I was just looking around. I won't bother you."

"You do not bother me", lady Arwen said. She seemed sad and gentle, but there was something wild and unruly about her too - something powerful, like a calm river that can turn into a roaring beast with the spring floods. "In fact, I have been very impolite. As the lady of this house I should have greeted you much sooner."

"It's alright", Legolas said, thinking she hadn't been the lady of the house for very long, because her mother's duty had fallen on her, and it must be a heavy burden to carry on top of everything else.

He was about to turn when she went on: "I have seen you talking to my brothers."

"Um... yes."

"They haven't let anyone that close for years. Not even me. Whatever it is you do, it is working."

"But I don't do anything", Legolas said.

Lady Arwen tilted her head to the side. "Maybe that is why it works. You do not try to change them. You do not remind them of anything - the way everyone and everything else around here does."

"I don't understand."

"You distract them", she said. "Everything else reminds them of our mother. Father, the valley, the elves - and me, of course. The mountains remind them, and the sounds of battle, and spring and the evening sun. But you? You are new and strange. You do not remind them of her." She paused and smiled, and it was like sunlight glinting on the surface of a dark lake. "Do not worry for them. Piece by piece, day by day, they will heal. You are a ray of light in their darkness, and that is all you need to be."

Legolas bit his lip and dared not look at her, so tall and queenly and sad. He had a mission.

"I have to go", he said and turned before he changed his mind.

"All clear?" Scead whispered when Legolas returned to him at the far end of the corridor.

"All clear."

"You better hide."

Legolas slipped in behind a tapestry and listened for Scead's heavy feet down the corridor. Now he must forget about the twins and lady Arwen and concentrate on that bottle. He supposed what she'd said made sense, but he could think about it later, when all this was over.

"Good morning, my lady", he heard Scead say, and balled his fists. Any minute now.

"Good morning", lady Arwen said. "Are you feeling better?"

"I, uh - I am, my lady, but... Your father has helped me so much. I should not complain."

"Do not say that", lady Arwen said. "Are you unwell? You look pale."

"Not unwell, just - dizzy..."

"Here", lady Arwen said, "are you unwell?"

Lady Arwen's feet padded softly against the floor when she slipped from the window-sill. "You have exerted yourself. Come, let me help you. We should get you to the healing ward."

"I'm sorry - I cannot - "

"Erestor! Come quickly!"

The door beside lord Elrond's was flung open. Legolas heard Scead sink to the floor and the soft rustle of Arwen's dress when she knelt beside him. An eternity passed before the elves got Scead to his feet and started leading him to the healing ward.

When he heard them retreat down the corridor, Legolas slipped out of his hiding and turned the corner just as they reached the far end. Scead staggered convincingly with one arm around Arwen's shoulder and the other around Erestor's. It would take them a while to get to the healing ward. He took a deep breath before he stepped up to lord Elrond's door, listened - then pushed it open.

The room was empty. Legolas hesitated but a moment before he stepped inside and shut the door behind him.

His feet sank deep into a rich red carpet, and he breathed in the scent of bee wax candles and lavender. He stood unmoving by the door and gazed at the tapestries and the white stone walls, the round mahogany table in the middle, the armchairs by the hearth, the suit of silvery armour by the far wall, the veily silk curtains billowing in a draft. Pushed into a corner stood a large, heavy-looking chest that looked very much out of place, made of oak and beech and with inlaid silver leaves; it could have been made in Greenwood, and given as a gift long ago when gifts were passed over the Misty Mountains. Nearby, between two tall windows, hung the tapestry of Ëarendil. Below it stood a rose-wood side-board.

Legolas could not spill time on looking around. He knelt by the side-board - it was unlocked, as most things in the House of Elrond - and found it to be full of goblets and jugs and wine bottles. Six bottles of Dorwinion stood on the lower shelf. Legolas swept one in a cloth so he could carry it unnoticed, then moved the other bottles so that the missing one would not be so obvious. He straightened, beginning to turn.

"...want to agree with Saruman but it does not seem entirely honourable..."

Legolas felt his stomach fill with cold dread. Glorfindel!

"Honourable?" came lord Elrond's voice from the corridor. "No, it may not be - but perhaps necessary..."

Legolas backed, slammed into the side-board and pressed the stolen bottle to his chest. A dozen apologies and explanations rushed through his head and he discarded them all; he could not let himself be caught, he had to...

"...and Saruman was very anxious to see the council take place before Yule." Lord Elrond's voice was now just outside the door. Legolas could hear the elf-lords' light footsteps as they approached.

He did the only thing possible and bolted for the Greenwood chest.

The door knob turned. Legolas pushed the lid open - the door opened - two long shadows fell on the doorstep - and Legolas slipped inside, curling up in the dark with the bottle cradled cold and smooth in his arms. He lay as still as he could, hardly daring to breath. There was a thin crack of light. He could hear the elf-lords enter, the rustle of parchment, the chink of silverware on the table, and the sound of liquor being poured into goblets.

"Is it truly so urgent we cannot wait for one of our own members?" Glorfindel asked.

"We do not know yet if Radagast will be unable to cross the mountains", lord Elrond said. "He is a wizard, after all, as much as Saruman likes to pretend he is not - Mithrandir has always said he knows more ways across the mountains than the goblins do."

Armchairs scraped over the floor. A goblet was set down on a table close to Legolas. The elf-lords had sat down by the fireplace, and Eru knew for how long they would stay.

"Then I do not see why we should count on him not turning up."

Legolas shifted quietly inside the chest, trying to find a somewhat more comfortable position. He didn't understand much from the conversation, but the elf-lords sounded tense, and it made him suspicious. It must be the meeting that Tinuhen was supposed to join. Maybe he would finally learn something of use.

When lord Elrond spoke again he sounded weary. "Saruman... he knows, or hopes he knows, something we do not know. We shall not count on Radagast not turning up, but he must prepare for the possibility. And if Radagast is not here in time, I am not sure we can wait."

"But we know he is on his way."

"And not only he."

"What do you mean?"

"Greenwood", lord Elrond said. Legolas inhaled sharply. "Both Radagast and Mithrandir has always spoken for Greenwood's inclusion in the council, and now they are here, almost on our gates, just in time."

"You do not think..."

"It is not impossible."

"Well", Glorfindel said with an unexpected laugh, "if anyone can persuade those stubborn old goats to seek our help, it is Mithrandir."

"You do not sound dissatisfied about it."

"I am not. Out entire council is made up of stubborn goats. Two more will hardly change a thing."

Legolas frowned, thinking he should probably not tell father that Glorfindel had called him a goat. He liked the elf-lord well enough and didn't want to see him killed.

"It is not so simple", lord Elrond said. "What do we know - for certain - about Greenwood? About their ambitions? About who do they consider their allies? Very little. I wish I could trust them, truly I do, but I dare not."

"But it is not the Elven King and Queen who are here, but this Beren. Surely they would not send him in their stead?"

"I think they might. The wood-elves are different - the King and Queen would not want to keep secrets from their guard's captain, because they see themselves as all of the same mind, none wiser or more capable than the others. Honourable as that is, and wish as I may that we would let them in, we made a decision - we decided not to include Greenwood in our council, not now; not before we know more of their motives." Lord Elrond made a pause as if to drink, then went on: "If they know about the council, and Beren is here to talk about it, we must of course let him talk. It would not be a bad thing - he could tell us more about the wishes of his King and Queen, and the council might decide afterwards. But if he is here to attend the council? We cannot let strangers into our midst. If we are to re-evaluate our decision and follow Mithrandir's counsel, then that must be done after careful thinking and planning, not in a haste because they are suddenly at our gates asking to be let in."

"Then it would be better if the wood-elves arrived after the council."

"It would."

"And Radagast", Glorfindel said, "may arrive with them, since they must both cross the mountains."

"And so we cannot wait for him either."

"The wood-elves would understand that, surely, if ever they found out."

"I rather think they would wage war on us."

"Not for the first time."

"Nor for the last, I am sure."

They were joking, but to Legolas' ears their jokes sounded forced. Soon they fell silent. Then it seemed they grew restless and could not enjoy their wine; their goblets chinked on the table, and they left.

Legolas was seething with fury. He had not understood everything, but this was clear: the elf-lords knew Greenwood wanted to join their stupid council, and they were going to stop them. As if Tuiw's death wasn't enough, now the council itself was turning against them. They were even going to leave Radagast out if that meant they did not have to confront Beren about it!

Legolas climbed out of the chest and slammed it shut. He didn't feel guilty for stealing the bottle of Dorwinion anymore; in fact, it served lord Elrond right. Hopefully he'd never get hold of another bottle ever in his life. Legolas was so angry he nearly forgot to listen by the door before he opened it, but in the last minute he remembered that lady Arwen might be out there, and then he calmed down. It would do no good to get caught now. He peered through a slit between the door and the frame; she was not there, and he slipped out and ran down the corridor as fast as dared.

But Gandalf and Radagast! Legolas had forgotten they would be on the meeting. As soon as any of them arrived, he could tell them everything - because they already knew about the traitor, and they would trust him. He felt as though something very heavy had just left his chest. Although he was alone for now, all the responsibility was not on his shoulders.

He had the wine-bottle, and Elladan's promise. Tinuhen would learn all about lord Elrond's scheming, and he could decide what to do about it.

We'll show them, Legolas thought as he looked around the corridors for Elladan. We'll show them not to play tricks on Greenwood.

I made a huge mistake by not including Arwen in the story in the first place. She's one of very few canon women and she deserves so much more than a mention here and there and a few lines. Not that I've ever learnt to write her well -.- I'm working on it.

Thank you for reading! :)