Galion was glad that he wasn't the only one in the tent when he finally brought Legolas to see his father, Lord Ferdan had taken up a permanent residence at his bedside as a self-appointed guard. And as one of Thranduil's dearest friends, he was nearly as familiar with the king and his son as Galion himself was.
He had seen Thranduil after the dragon fire, but Galion still winced when he led Legolas into the tent. At least after the burns, he was screaming, at least they knew he was very much alive. In excruciating pain perhaps, but alive. Now, he lay paler and stiller than ever in a mound of blankets in a desperate attempt to keep him warm.
The king had not even fluttered an eyelash the entire time the healers treated him. Even worse, he didn't react to the only thing that could always reach him, his son in any kind of distress.
The moment Legolas stepped into the tent whatever facade he had managed to keep together in front of the rest of the warriors, crumbed away back to reveal a terrified and heartbroken son. Too young to be the king of a world so dark.
"He's alive, I assure you." Ferdan hastily interjected before Legolas had a chance to fully take in the scene.
Galion had expected Legolas to rush to his father's side, like he had done early in the day but he seemed frozen in place, "Is he?"
"Yes, dear child."
Slowly he approached his father and sat on his bedside, taking one of his limp hands while pressing his free hand to his father's face. Potentially checking to make sure he didn't have a fever which usually meant the orcs had been dipping their weapons in spider venom again.
He turned watery eyes back to the Lord, lower lip trembling in a desperate attempt at keeping his composure, "I can't sense him."
Galion had to turn away briefly to blink a few tears from his eyes but still heard the archery masters kind voice, "He is very weak, it is true. But he's still there."
When he turned back Legolas had taken both of his father's hands between his own, "His hands are cold."
The prince seemed frozen again, staring at their linked hands, body there but mind impossibly far away. Thranduil would be heartbroken when he learned about this, and likely be furious with himself for not waking to comfort his beloved Greenleaf.
Soon, much too soon a messenger very cautiously entered the tent, "My prince, I'm sorry to-"
"What is it?" Legolas snapped, wincing slightly at his own tone in surprise as his hands tightened over his father's.
The poor elf also winced, "Avaleina sent me, sir-"
Legolas gestured for him to stop, the very embodiment of his father for a moment, and then looked to Galion just like the last time he had seen him. He tried to give what he hoped was a reassuring look and mouthed, One breath at a time.
The prince closes his eyes briefly as he took a great deep breath.
Opening his eyes he turned to look at his father, "Ada, they will be taking you back home soon and I do not think I will be able to see you again before then. But I will see you there soon." Leaning forward he kissed his father's cheek and pressed a bright green leaf into his hand.
Galon had no idea in the slightest where he found such a leaf in late autumn in such a cold place, but he hoped that was a sign Kementari had been listening. If that wasn't, the fact that Thranduil's fingers curled around the leaf just a little bit was.
Legolas took another deep breath and stood and turned to Ferdan, "You're staying with him?"
Ferdan pressed a hand over his heart, "Until the day I die of old age if need be."
With a nod, Legolas stalked out of the tent following the messenger as he scuttled in front of him towards where he was needed.
Galion looked at his king for a moment, as Ferdan spoke to him gesturing towards the tent doors, "And you're staying with him."
"Until the day I die of old age if need be." Galion agreed, after tipping his head in respect he raced after Legolas.
….
Legolas had stopped paying attention hours ago, and at this point, he didn't care who noticed. They had been having this argument for weeks: What to do about the 'master from beyond the woods.'
It was the same argument they had been having for almost months with his father before this. Legolas had intended to tell Mithrandir, regardless what anybody wanted to do. He had trusted the wizard completely.
But then the first time he had seen him since learning the news was after his father had already been injured. Injured in a war they had no intention of fighting, because he had counseled some dwarves to wake a sleeping dragon.
Some had pointed out it could have been with an intention of convincing Smaug to join the dark forces in Dol Guldur. Which would have effectively ended his people, and destroy their forest.
Which seemed very much like something a 'master from beyond the tree's might do.
Even if it was not the wizard, there were very few being left on Arda that might be able to rival the master the dark city had just had. It also did not seem like a coincidence that Lady Galadriel had appeared to 'banish' the first master.
An act that had only made matters worse, as the only restraint on the Orcs inherent and foul nature had been removed and allowed them to rule themselves as they would.
There was nothing on Arda that Orcs hated more than Elves.
If it was not Lady Galadriel than perhaps it was Saruman. Apparently, he had sent the Lady away with Lord Elrond. Who's to say it's not him when there are no witnesses. Legolas himself did not believe that Elrond would ever be apart of such things, but others accused him as well.
He hadn't learned any of this information from any of them, of course, but from Radagast who had long been an ally to the Greenwood. All Elves, tree's, and creatures of light alike within it. Radagast had been waiting for him in his father's office when he finally returned from the slaughter at the mountain to tell all he had just witnessed, along with a carefully brewed tea he hoped might help his father heal.
"I've said it before and I'll say it again: Who's to say that it's not all of them, knowingly or not?" A counselor close to him shouted over the rest, looking towards Legolas is if he expected to find some support. He received none.
Who indeed was it to say wasn't just one of them, maybe it was two or three. But shouldn't they tell someone? Warn them?
Who do you tell when you do not know which one is attempting to ruin you?
His father had been trying to warn them about the coming darkness, tried to warn them that the trouble to their lands was more than just lack of jewelry. But they had not listened. They never listened, who's to say they would listen now?
But maybe they could get help from the other realms finally since they at long last seemed to realize the threat they had been struggling against.
They hadn't helped Greenwood before, why would they now?
"But who are we if we live them in the midst of one touched with such darkness?" Somebody somewhere responded. Legolas was too disinterested to determine who the voice belonged to.
"Who are we to spill our secrets to others who have already displayed no compassion in the past who might now be leading the forces that are currently burning our trees and killing our children!"
And so the argument had gone in endless circles for endless days.
His father had only woken three times since he had returned from the battle, and not a single time had Legolas gotten there in time before he had fallen back to sleep. The healers said they weren't sure how well he would be able to use his legs after such an injury. He had learned from Galion however that he was able to wiggle his toes. He had learned from Galion because he was always away, doing the same things, having the same arguments.
"Enough!"
Legolas was slightly surprised at his own tone, as he often was these days. It did the job well though, and all the counselors finally fell quite for seemed like the first time in days.
"If we do not know who we can trust, then we will trust no one. They have left us to rot in the corner, I don't care what they do anymore. Close the borders. Nobody is allowed into these woods, and no letters are coming out of it. Let them eat each other alive if they so wish. We have our own problems."
There was a general stunned silence in the room as they all glanced at one another, Legolas stood up and leaned his hands on the table, "Anything else you would like to discuss?"
Mutley they all shook their heads, "Wonderful. Lastly, if anybody sees Gandalf let him know that if one single strand of his grey beard enters these wood, I will personally feed him to the largest spider I can find."
….
Galion had come with the pretenses of only dropping off a meal for Legolas in the king's rooms since he had taken to sleeping on the couch in his father's bedroom in hopes he could be there for the few times Thranduil woke up.
Usually, when Thranduil woke up Legolas was in the middle of something, somewhere, and by the time somebody had found Legolas and brought him back his father had already fallen back to sleep.
Thranduil had been like this for months. When Galadriel banished the Necromancer she did nothing about those that followed him. She took away the only restraint against the orcs animalistic hatred and left them while they took torches to the wonderful trees of Greenwood.
The only thing that had saved them while they grew accustomed to the new and more ravenous war, was the power Thranduil allowed the woods to take from him. As a result, he was unable to heal himself. Sometimes it still seemed as if he struggled to stay alive.
The healers kept insisting that he was not aware of anything, not even the power he was allowed to be leached out of him. But he and Legolas knew better than that, the king knew exactly what he was doing.
Although, it was possible he wasn't aware of what it was doing to Legolas.
Galion pulled a chair up to his king's bed, and sat cross-legged in the seat, "You would have been so proud of Legolas today. He told one of the members of your council to stop talking in the middle of his sentence. It was beautiful."
"I think I have spent too much time with you, my king because I could hear you laughing in my head. Both Lord Ferdan and I had to excuse ourselves in case we couldn't contain ourselves." He almost expected to see Thranduil smile, just a little bit, but he did not so much as flutter an eyelash.
"The warriors keep getting reports about the 'a powerful new leader outside the woods' from interrogated orcs. They keep taunting that we think them a friend, apparently. Legolas isn't convinced that Mithrandir is free of guilt."
He could remember disturbing what appeared to be a very heated argument between Legolas and the wizard on the night after the battle, as ordered Galion went to fetch the prince the moment he was needed. He had never seen Legolas like that before, so angry that he was cold.
'You had better hope I am still a prince the next time you see me Mithrandir, and not a king. For your sake.'
Galion learned later that he had also all but thrown Gandalf out of the Elven camp, and banned him from returning to Greenwood. His heart and ears stinging with the taunted promise that it was someone they knew.
"He closed the borders, Thranduil. Just this morning he sent a letter back to Lord Elrond unopened, even you never had the gall to do that."
Thranduil didn't move a single inch. Galion sighed, "You need to wake up soon, my king. Your son misses you."
…..
The very moment the door handle to Thranduil's private rooms dared to even move a single inch, Galion foot shot out from the couch he had been sleeping on to hold it in place. The elf on the other side of the door did not dare try and open it more after that, which was lucky for them because the attendant was in no mood for such a thing.
He had spread the word to all the messengers and servants that Legolas was not to be disturbed under any circumstances, and any who dare to do so was going to be eating plain burnt oatmeal for the rest of their natural lives.
He hoped the elf on the other side of that door liked oatmeal.
Carefully Galion sprang from the couch, opened the door in the special way that didn't make it squeak - Thranduil himself tinkered with the door in a fit of frustration so that it squeaked every time it was open to keep a very young Legolas from sneaking away without him noticing - and stepped into the hall.
By the look on the poor messenger's face, he did not like oatmeal, but judging by his heavy breathing it seemed he had just sprinted here. Galion glowered down at him nonetheless, "The prince is not to be disturbed. Come again later."
The messenger held out a piece of paper and Galion recognized Avaleina's handwriting immediately.
He snatched the paper to read it and judge its importance, grabbing the back of the messenger's shirt when he made to move out of arm's reach: They broke through and I ordered a retreat, the forest burns around us. I'm sorry.
Not looking him in the eye the younger elf muttered, "The forest says not all of them escaped the fire. Farlen and his men are searching for the rest of them now but have yet to locate anyone from the outpost."
Galon signed, and released his shirt, "Stay here, I'm sure Legolas will have ordres for you to convey in a moment."
He back inside, still keeping the door from squeaking. Moving around the couch he had dragged to the door he cross Thranduil's living room and slipped into the bedroom where the royal family slept.
After a quick glance at the king to make sure he was not awake, more out of habit than anything he knelt beside the extra bed he had ordered be brought to the room where Legolas slept. He was dismayed to find that he slept with his eyes closed, an uncommon habit for elves unless heavily injured or exhausted.
As gently as he possibly could Galion pressed a single finger to Legolas shoulder, not surprised when the jolted awake as if he had just been stabbed, "I'm sorry to wake you."
Legolas blinked sleep from his eyes, "What time is it? Nevermind I don't want to know. It feels like I've only had an hour of sleep in a week, I think I can taste sounds."
"Well then I'll just show you the note instead of telling you what it says, I'm certain it will taste just as bad as it looks." With that he passed the prince the note, glancing over to Legolas' uneaten dinner on the table with further dismay while he waited for him to read it.
He crumpled it in his hand when he read it and tossed it into the fire, and hung his head in his hands for a moment. After a very long, deep breath, he raised it again and swung his legs out of bed. "Okay, I'm coming."
….
Waking up this time felt like being dragged from the very depths of the earth, he didn't remember why. His back ached with a fiery fierceness, and it echoed down both legs but especially his right, he didn't remember why.
He didn't remember why it had become so important to wake up.
He opened his eyes slowly, not recognizing where he was right away but eventually working out that he was in his bedroom. He didn't know how he had gotten here, it felt as if he had just been somewhere else.
Or had he?
It felt as if this had happened before, that he had woken with this heavy confusion fluttering around his mind. There was something in his hand, it felt familiar.
All thoughts vanished from his head, "Legolas?"
His voice sounded awful even to his own sleep dulled ears, like had swallowed gravel only moments ago.
"Ada?" His son's voice drifted over from somewhere to his left that he did not see, voice sounding off for some reason.
A second later that was a weight on his bed near him and finally, his beloved Greenleaf came into view. His blue eyes looked beyond hopeful, but were haunted by a darkness that nearly stopped Thranduil's heart. Now that his fare face was in sight it was obvious that he had just been crying.
Carefully he lifted his hand to wipe the tears from Legolas' face, ignoring the pain that shot through him as well as how weak he felt, "My little leaf, do not cry"
In response Legolas nearly burst into sobs but managed to suppress them, "Ada please you have to come back."
Come back? Where had he gone? It felt like he should know, but didn't remember. It didn't sound like him, he had promised his son long ago that he would never leave him, and he had meant it.
"I'm trying my best, I swear that I am but it feels like everything I do is wrong. So many of our people are dying, so much of our forest burning and it's all my fault. I can't do this Ada. I'm so sorry."
Not caring in the slightest about the pain that nearly blinded him, Thranduil reached up and pulled his son against his chest, holding him the best he could manage as the sobs overtook the restraint.
He was almost certain that Legolas had not wept like this since before he became of age, and it broke his heart while his blood boiled with anger. Whatever had happened, he was going to fix it. Nothing was going to hurt him like this again. He would make sure of it.
…..
Hello thanks for coming I hope you enjoyed it, please leave a review!
Chapter three coming soon.