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Scarred Fate	By : Massanie Category: +Third Age > Slash - Male/Male Views: 2051 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings, nor the characters from it. I do not make any money from the writing of this story.

Chapter List
- 27
- 28
- 29
CHAPTER 28: Greenleaf

CHAPTER NOTES

SCRIPTS:

'Thoughts'; ~visions~; **mind speech**; -l-Letters-l-

Two and a half days after Glorfindel and Elrond had again passed the top of the High Pass they reached the Great River by following the Forest Road leading to Mirkwood. The Ford was protected by the elves of Mirkwood, and long before the Noldor arrived, their keen eyed Woodland kin had spotted them.

It was Legolas Greenleaf himself who lead the unit that was stationed there. The young prince had bidden farewell to their guests a little bit more than a week ago when they had left their kingdom and he had then taken the watch at the Great River.

And as he now greeted the lords of Imladris once more with a deep bow, the late afternoon sun caught in his hair and his sparkling eyes.

"My lord Elrond, lord Glorfindel! Have you by any chance forgotten something in our Greenwood, that you grace us again so shortly after your departure?"

But his eyes curiously wandered to Glorfindel, knowing that something grave must have happened for the seneschal of Imladris to be here. Elrond could never have reached Imladris and returned to Mirkwood in merely one week. That left as only explanation that the balrog slayer had caught his lord on the High Pass.

"None of that sort, dear prince." Elrond replied and dismounted, his soldiers following his lead, relaxing now in the company of their Woodland kin.

"We are here in search of someone; a black haired young ellon probably in the company of some of your sentries."

Legolas cocked his head ever so slightly. A troop of twenty heavily armed soldiers on horseback following one Noldorin Elf that accompanied a troop of Sindar? That meant the black haired ellon was either a criminal whom they sought, or ... else missing.

"I am not aware of sentries having left our realm, lord Elrond. Who is this ellon that you search, if I might ask?"

Elrond chewed on his lips for some moments, wondering how much he should tell the bright young ellon. "It is a very long story, my prince, but he is my chief advisor. Erestor. I am sure you never met him."

Trying not to show his surprise Legolas answered lord Elrond's unasked question. "The last elves that crossed the ford were you, my lord. None has ventured here since, not that I am aware of at least. But we do not control the Carrock and there are other places where one might cross the river."

Glorfindel approached, standing close to Elrond he quietly asked "could it be that they are behind us?"

"If some of my father's sentries are involved in this somehow, I would like to know why you are searching for him." The young prince requested and wonderingly watched as the lords before him started to hem and haw. He had to bite down on the insides of his cheeks to stop himself from grinning at this rare sight.

Elrond coughed. "It's ... rather ... complicated."

Maybe it was disrespectful: the Elves in front of him were many times his elder, they had seen things he only could wish to never be forced to face. But to see the mighty lords of Imladris that flushed ... it was priceless.

Legolas leaned forward conspiratorially whispering to the brunet lord "I think I might just be able to understand." He winked.

Elrond sighed. He liked that prince, he really did. But he was not in the mood for foolery.

"Erestor has been kidnapped. Galadriel is in Imladris, as she was trying to prevent it. And the worst is: we know that he has been kidnapped by elves from Greenwood ..."

The young prince blinked. "That cannot be true ..."

"... and he will die, if we do not find him in time."

Legolas head whirled. Valar, what that would mean for the relations between Imladris and Greenwood.

His mind screamed in denial.

"This is not funny, my lord."

"I agree, it isn't."

"None of my people would be so insane as to kidnap your chief advisor, lord Elrond. This is just not possible."

Glorfindel stepped forward "Prince Legolas, Lord Elrond by no means intends to be disrespectful and we understand that none besides the kidnappers were involved in this treachery. Lord Elrond only asks for the permission to enter Greenwood to search for lord Erestor and maybe, if you will grant it, your assistance."

Legolas nodded solemnly. "You will have both, my lord, though I sincerely hope that you are wrong ... but where to search for him? Greenwood's chaparral is impermeable. If they are hiding, it will be neigh impossible to find them, especially since you claim that they hail from here."

Elrond swallowed. He had not thought about the possibility of the culprits to hide in the undergrowth, but had hoped that Brandon would keep Erestor close and therefore in reach of one of Mirkwood's fortified villages. Now that Legolas mentioned it, it seemed to be the more logical choice to hide his chief advisor far away from searching eyes, protected by some guards with whom Brandon could keep in contact using messenger birds; at least for some time.

"I'm afraid that his kidnapper is one of your father's advisors. An ellon named Brandon, do you know him?"

Legolas' eyes went wide. "Brandon? Of course I know him!"

'When it rains, it pours!' Legolas thought. Although he had never liked the haughty, arrogant, devious fox, his father was quite fond of him. Taking Elrond's elbow, he steered the elven lord away from curious ears, followed only by Glorfindel.

"My lord, if I may be so bold as to advise you: do *not* accuse Brandon openly, save you have certain proof. My father will not take it lightly."

Elrond looked to his lover for a moment. He remembered well how adamant Erestor had been when he refused to reveal the identity of his family members; he had said that no one would believe him. He seemed to have been right about that. They needed to catch Brandon in the act then...

His thoughts faltered as more and more Erestor's behaviour made sense to him. If they found the dark ellon – or his body at least – with Brandon, his guilt would be proven.

Forcing himself to concentrate on the young prince in front of him, Elrond managed a smile.

"You give good advice, young prince. What do you propose we do?"

Legolas bit his lip in obvious discomfort. Thranduil would certainly go through the roof if he knew what Elrond wanted to do, telling him was no option ... but he could not go against his father, could he?

Besides, he would not be able to keep this a secret from his father: Brandon lived in his Thranduil's halls.

"Whatever we decide to do: we could not forbear to notice that you have not rested this midday and I would invite you and your soldiers to rest some at our fires. We would not reach the forest before nightfall anyway and it is not good to travel these parts of Greenwood in the dark, the star's light does not pervade the treetops."

The prince of Mirkwood gestured to the camp behind him. "Let me be your host. Please come to join us at our fires. And while you eat we can decide how to proceed."

Legolas inclined his head as lord Elrond thanked him and the Imladrian soldiers unloaded their horses and joined their Woodland kin at the fires.

Sometime later Elrond, Glorfindel and Legolas sat some metres away from the other elves to discuss their course of action. They had told the Mirkwood prince all they knew about Erestor and although Legolas still felt enormously sceptical about the whole matter, he assured them to give them the chance to prove their story and lead them personally to wherever they wanted to search.

"There are many possibilities: they could hide somewhere in Greenwood's thick undergrowth, in this case odds are against us and we will most certainly not find them. However ..." he added as Elrond and Glorfindel looked to each other in worry.

"... I do not think that to be the case. If what you told me is true, then they wouldn't move him too often. I heard stories of your advisor; the danger of him outsmarting his kidnappers is too high. *I* certainly wouldn't risk it."

Legolas could well remember how disgruntled his father's advisors always were when they had had to deal with that fire ball of a chief advisor. Not to mention his father when his counsellors returned after all but having been talked under the table, made contracts that Imladris benefited significantly but not egregiously more from than Greenwood. And after the first few times they had even been dead certain to have gotten the better of Erestor.

"Besides: there are always my father's guards and the great spiders and other wild animals to worry about when freely moving around in Greenwood.

The second possibility is that Brandon brought him to his residence within my father's halls ..."

"He is not going to be anywhere near the king's halls!" Glorfindel interfered. "The danger of being caught is too high, no sane elf would risk this!"

"Exactly (although I certainly wouldn't consider him sane). That's why I think he would be in a certain northern outpost or near it – if he is in Mirkwood at all. In the one I mean there are mostly members of Brandon's family or his narrow circle of friends and their families. It's one of the few outposts, where whole families live ... the danger of spiders is not as high as in the central regions of Greenwood and there wouldn't be any by chance meetings with other guards."

Elrond nodded, pleased with the prince's preliminary estimate. "Will you take us there?"

Legolas looked back to his men. "Yes, I will; personally. But I need to send word to my father according to protocol via a messenger bird."

Urgently Legolas looked into Elrond's eyes. "I'll warn you though: if my father acts at once and sends guards there, too, he might get to the outposts before us ... or soon after."Merely half an hour later the Imladrian soldiers remounted their horses to depart for the northern outpost. Two of the men would share one horse so the prince could ride alongside them.

As Legolas sat on the bare dark back, gently stroking the short fur he saw Elrond steering his large mount towards him. The elven lord gave him a curt nod and smile.

"Thank you, my prince."

"What for, lord Elrond?"

"For your considerate actions. I was afraid you would send us to your father's halls first and I fear that this would have been Erestor's death sentence."

Legolas thoughtfully looked to the Noldorin lord. "I do not yet believe you. But my father would not have allowed you to see for yourself if Brandon was guilty. As it is, I do not like him, and I would not think it beyond him to kidnap a fellow elf.

My father will investigate though and send some guards and I will have to answer for not accompanying you to his halls. I hope you will not make me regret it."

Elrond smiled and shook his head. Now everything depended on Erestor's whereabouts and if they had been able to guess correctly.

CHAPTER END NOTES

ellon ~ male elf
- 27
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- 29
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