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Faded Light: Book II	By : Laurin Category: -Multi-Age > Slash - Male/Male Views: 11944 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Characters and places belong to JRR Tolkien and to his estate. I own only my OC's and twisted storylines.

Chapter List
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(For additional notes and disclaimers, please see top of Chapter 1.)
= Here’s the next one, which turned into a Thranduil, Elrond chapter...enjoy, and please, don’t forget to review... =

Chapter 31
Adar hon Emel Pt.1

“I want you to stop meddling, Elrond...”
“Meddling...?” the Elf Lord’s eyebrow went up in that way only he could manage...
“You know what I’m referring to,” said the Elvenking, his smooth, ageless face inscrutable, except for something in his eyes that reminded Elrond of Princess Mereniel in a similar mood. They were very much alike the two children of Oropher, in looks as well as temperament.
“You and my dear sister have taken seriously what her daughter was going on about before, about that boy...” the King went on.“Especially after that daft business in the garden...
“Whatever you and Mereniel are up to, let it go...”
“...do you fear the truth so much, Thranduil?” asked the Elf Lord deciding there would not be a better moment to speak plainly.
“You and I have known each other a long time,” said the King,“and I have no doubt it has been, in no small part, your skill that has kept me from fading these past years...but I will thank you to stay out of my head, Lord of Rivendell...”
“As you wish,” said the Healer. “But no doubt the same thoughts must have crossed your mind that have been in Mereniel’s,” he added calmly.
“I know you always feared the trait of Thalielwen’s blood being inherited by your sons...and I know your reasons...”
Elrond watched as the Elvenking finally tensed and got to his feet to cover his reaction, pacing his sitting room before he stopped at one of the large windows.
“...I’m not like Ruthlagor, Elrond,” he said, his tone hard,“I don’t have some irrational prejudice about males together; I think I’ve proven that when it comes to Leralonde and Saelbeth’s relationship...and if I did, I’m sure I would not have raised Feredir as my son even if it was Thalielwen’s wish...”
“...but...?”
“But you’re right...that so-called gift was a thing I always hoped Thalielwen’s line had not passed on...I had no desire to see either of my sons share Orel or Palanel’s ill fate, and you have no idea how glad I was when Feredir wed Alatariel...
“But you don’t know everything Elrond,” he said enigmatically after another moment, still gazing out the window where a number of the Palace servants were busy readying the large garden for the upcoming celebration of Prince Ethiel and Lady Glaerwen’s wedding.
Most of the Palace grounds and every large Hall was being prepared for the imminent festivities.
It had become a rare thing in Mirkwood this joyful atmosphere; though the King in all these years had never failed to mark his son’s Begetting Day, which some had come to frown upon thinking it too morbid a practice...
“And there are things of which even my ever-so discerning sister, who lets little escape her notice, is unaware...” Thranduil went on.
“I know as much as anyone about anything that happened back then...” said the Elf Lord, wondering at the gravity of the King’s tone.
“You know that Orel died bearing Oropher’s child,” Thranduil said, coming back to where they had been sitting in front of the fire and leaning casually on the back of the padded chair he had been occupying,“and you know that I was more than angry with my father back then for his endless succession of male lovers, which drove my mother to Valinor...”
Thranduil paused for several seconds before making a revelation the other Elf Lord had not expected.
“But Orel’s child did not pass to Mandos with him, as Oropher led everyone to believe,” he finished.
“What did become of the child?” asked the Lord of Rivendell, frowning after a moment to process Thranduil’s words and thinking of what a devious old Elf Oropher had always been.
“A respectable Woodelf family was entrusted with its upbringing. And Oropher made sure it was well provided for, in case he did not return from the Last Alliance...”
“Is he in Mirkwood still?”
The Elvenking smiled slightly,“You don’t expect me to tell you that, do you? Or who it is?”
“Or, apparently, even whether this secret younger sibling of yours is an Ellon or an Elleth...” said Elrond his curiosity deepening. And he couldn’t help thinking about where this person’s place might fall in the line of succession, according to the laws of Mirkwood, if it ever came to that...
“Nay, not even that,” said the King, serious again.“Though...this person was told the truth on coming of age, as was our father’s wish...
“It has been a well kept secret all these centuries, Elrond,” added Thranduil,“so I expect you will keep what I have just told you to yourself...you are a Healer, so I know I can trust your discretion...”
“But I can’t see why you bring this up at all now,” said Elrond,“it was the boy we were discussing...”
“...Oropher knew the bad as well as the good that comes with even a hint of Royal blood,” said the King.“That is why he let his child with Orel have a different life...
“You are not doing that boy a favor by trying to prove that he has anything to do with Legolas...whatever my niece may think she senses...even a Cleric can err, Elrond...
“My son is dead,” he said,“I have known that for years...I have learned to accept that I will not see him again on Arda...”
The Elf Lord’s heart went out to the King...and though he himself had lost loved ones in his long life, parents, wife, brother, too many friends; he knew the cruelest loss anyone could suffer, the loss of a child, was a heartache he had until now been spared. Though the day may come when he would have to endure a similar grief, if any of his own children eventually chose to remain on Middle Earth and a Mortal life...
“Melon...”
“I am perfectly aware of the dark fate that must have befallen my son,” the Elvenking went on after another long pause, thinking of the marauders Ruthlagor had had put to death years ago and the terrible truths they had learned from one of them... “but there is a part of me that may never really be able to acknowledge that truth...
“...there is a terrible dream I have had, Elrond, for many years,” he admitted, unable to keep the pain out of his voice.
“I’ve never had the heart to speak of it, not to anyone...
“There is a room in this dream...” he said slowly, turning away slightly, so the Elf Lord mostly saw his profile.“I am standing in the doorway, and I see my son; he is pale, so wasted, his eyes have no light left in them...
“He is on a bed, bound, not moving at all, and there is a Man...he uses him in the vilest ways...
“Then the Man is gone, and I hear a babe’s cries...I see Legolas rise then, and he goes to pick up the child...a tiny Elfling, as pink and fair-haired as Legolas when he was just a newborn...
“You are the wise Elf, Elrond,” he said looking at the Lord of Rivendell once more, the pain that had been in his voice masked again.“What do you think these things mean...?”
“It could be a vision,” said the Elf Lord tactfully,“or something created by your grief...
“You think Benain could be the child in your dream...?”
“It is a thought that has not been far from my own mind since he has been here...”
“And if somehow he really were the child of your child, would you not want to know...?” asked the Lord of Rivendell.
“Not if I must acknowledge to myself what he probably went through to bear him...suffering, alone, far from any who might offer comfort...
“You know, Elrond,” said the King, a haunted, faraway look in his eyes,“that it is much more common for fertile Ellons to die in childbirth than Elleths, as Orel did...and many Elves who endure being ill used and conceive survive just long enough to bear their child and then give up their life...
“I don’t have the strength for this, Elrond...” the King turned away again with a sigh, rubbing his face tiredly, but Elrond rather thought he was trying to get his emotions back under control.
“Would you really blame that boy, if these things were true...?” asked the Elf Lord with a frown.
“Of course not...you cannot blame a child for his circumstances...
“And what kind of a black heart could blame such a sweet child for anything...?
“I am sure there is no one in the entire Palace he has not endeared himself to,” he added and Elrond could see the stern King too had been won over by the Elfling.“The Court will feel a good deal gloomier, I think, when Alatariel takes the children to Lorien...
“From what Feredir has said,” he went on, “he has been through enough hardship in his life; I doubt he could have better than Feredir and Alatariel to look after him. He is well and safe as he is...
“So unless, you have more evidence than an eccentric Royal Cleric’s ramblings, even if she is my niece, saes let this go, Elrond...” it was almost a plea, which was completely out of character for the proud King of Mirkwood...
“...very well,” conceded the Lord of Imladris, but looking to not commit himself too firmly,“unless something else reveals itself, for now, I won’t pursue this further...I’ll try to find some excuse to get Mereniel to back off too...
“But you know your sister, Melon Nin,” he added.“There, I can’t promise you success...”

TBC...

Elvish Translations:
Adar hon Emel / Father’s Heart
Melon / friend
Ellon / Male Elf
Elleth / Female Elf
Mandos / The Elf afterlife, where Elves who fade or die in battle go before being reborn or going to Valinor.
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A Few Author’s Notes:
- The Part about Thranduil’s dream, some of you might remember from Book I; it’s the scene after Benain’s birth that Thranduil has this horrible vision of Legolas. Though it’s implied there that he’s had this nightmare before, so I’m not sure if I’m being a little inconsistent about that.
- The origins of this chapter go back to a question someone asked once, I’m not sure whether it was this site or another one, about what Thranduil’s attitude was about Benain...I started several versions of a chapter trying to look at that question and they never quite worked...finally, I settled on a combination of suspicion, denial and a justification for that denial.
My view is basically that there are things in life that we all refuse to acknowledge because, mentally, we just can’t afford to admit them to ourselves; it would turn something in our inner world completely upside down, so we refuse to see, sometimes even when whatever that thing is is right front of us. For some people it is literally better to not know some things even in the face of their own suspicions...I hope that all makes sense...(I’m not a trained shrink, but I’m a lifelong student of people, and I’ve known individuals who are psychologically wired in just that way...)
- About Oropher’s rather complicated love life, I’ve been throwing around brief references to it almost from the start, but I’ve tried to keep it as a lesser plot point...
I’ve read a lot of stories where Thranduil and Oropher have a difficult relationship and this is sort of my take on that. I don’t think Oropher was a bad guy or a bad father, as some authors suggest, though I do think he was shrewd, ambitious and I just don’t see him as a very family oriented Elf. His marriage to Thranduil’s mother, in my story, was very much a marriage of convenience, as many marriages in most societies were prior to modern times. (There will be more in future chapters about Oropher and the various skeletons in the Mirkwood Royal family’s closets, including the identity of Oropher’s third kid...)
- And finally, for anyone who’s curious, the part about the marauders who were questioned and executed by Ruthlagor is also in book I, mainly in the second half.
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- 31
- 32
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Faded Light: Book II