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A liaison in the Great Greenwood	By : Azukiel Category: +Third Age > Het - Male/Female Views: 7956 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any copyright to the Tolkien/ Middle-Earth fandom, nor to any of his canon characters or languages. I do not make any money from this fanfiction. Original characters however, are my property.

Chapter List
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   “Adlanniel?” Legolas stood there, numbed, as he watched the silk of her night-skirt disappear over the parapet. He had turned to look upon her before leaving, not knowing that it may very well have been the last time. “ADLANNIEL?!” He screamed her name then as he bolted to the parapet where she had fallen. He looked down into the river in a panic, the water, though mostly frozen from the winter’s snows, still had a strong current underneath. She was nowhere to be seen; only the remnants of the broken shards of ice and the rapids that now bubbled over them were in view.
He had not heard others racing into the room behind him as he screamed her name again, nor did he choose to acknowledge them as he flung himself down the cliff-side; using old vines and gripping onto the jagged stone to scale along it as quickly as he could in the hopes to catch even but a glimpse of her location.
He leaped from stone to stone, rock to rock, iceberg to iceberg and tree root to tree root, raggedly crying out her name in desperation, yet there came no answer but the rushing of the water. His head raced with a barrage of panicked thoughts as he contemplated many times to jump into the water himself. He knew, however, that doing so would be futile.

   After some miles, he came to a standstill on a rocky embankment, those that had followed him crowding around him. Their voices were a mere buzzing to his ears as he fell to his knees in the water, reaching down to clutch a lone piece of ripped white silk floating by.
“A...Adlanniel…” His voice choked painfully, the tears freezing to his cheeks as he held it close to his face. His eyes shifted across the water then, in one last hope to see her, but already she was gone; he had not been fast enough to save her. Echoes of the last words she spoke to him reverberated through every crevice of his soul. Soon the voices that were calling his name rang through to him and he looked up in a daze.
There stood Glorfindel and Melethril, along with a few other guards behind him, appearing as panicked and worried as he.
   “What has happened Legolas?” Glorfindel demanded as he took the prince by the shoulders and hauled him to his feet.
   “She...she...fell...she…” The words choked in his throat. Immediately Melethril and the other guards raced off down the river in search of her.
   “Legolas!” Another familiar voice behind them. It was his father, whose flaxen hair flicked in the wind as he ran down the rocky slope to reach them. “Where is she?” His voice was desperate. Legolas’ eyes pierced into his. “You did this to her…” He hissed through gritted teeth. His voice raised then so that it echoed through the ravine. “You did this to her!” He grabbed Thranduil by the collar and shoved him away violently. The Elvenking stumbled, but recovered his footing, taking a step back. “Legolas…” His eyes paled as he gazed at his son remorsefully.
   “You did this to her!” Legolas repeated once again, holding up the almost frozen piece of silk to his father’s face. “This is what remains!”

   “Adlanniel? Adlanniel?? Where is my daughter??” Celebrian rushed down to the embankment with Gwendalyn and more guards shortly behind her. Both Thranduil and the prince turned sharply to look at her, their faces identical masks of regret and pain.
She haphazardly rushed straight to the prince whilst Gwendalyn fell to the ground in a daze.

   The sharp slap across his face made him stumble. Clutching his cheek, Legolas stared at Celebrian in dumbfounded shock.
   “I...I’m so sorry...Lady Celebrian...I…”
   “Still your words!” She shouted at him. “You did this to her! You with your damned stubbornness! She would still be here if you had of just been reasonable in her weakened state as I had asked you to be! She is gone because of you!” She screamed, before spinning to face the king, slapping him harshly as well. “And you! YOU started this whole catastrophe! YOU are just as much to blame! My daughter is GONE because of the both of you!”
   Legolas’ eyes pinned to the stones below. “She’s gone…” He repeated, in a shocked realization.
   “Not yet, but if we do not find her or if she does not get herself out of the water somehow, she will be,” Glorfindel replied calmly, placing a gentle hand upon Celebrian’s arm. “And already I am afraid she does not want to be found.”
   “What? No…” Legolas went to bolt back down to the shore, but Celebrian tore herself away from Glorfindel and pulled the prince back. “Don’t you dare go near her.” She hissed with contempt. Glorfindel pulled her back into an embrace and she sobbed into his chest. He looked at both Thranduil and Legolas, disappointment and a deep sadness apparent in his pale eyes.
   “Lasgalen has already done too much, it is the time for Imladris to take matters into its own hands.”
   “I need to at least try.” The prince’s voice broke with tears once more.
   “Then go, but do not expect to find her..”
   The prince took off after Melethril and the other guards who were now far ahead.

   Once Legolas was gone from sight, Thranduil fell to his knees and wept against the ground.
   “You destroy everyone you touch.” Celebrian hissed after watching him with eyes as cold as the snows that now fell around them. “First Silveth, and now my daughter… You have done this to her. With the guilt and shame you have wrought upon her I may never see my beloved daughter again! You…”
   “Enough.” Glorfindel calmed her as Thranduil looked up to them helplessly, his hair strewn in a damp mess around his face. “Her loss, and the loss of those babies is all of ours to bear. We can only hope she chooses to be found before it is too late.”
   “I fear that hope is already a lost cause.” Celebrian sobbed, looking back to Thranduil. “And that lies solely on your shoulders Thranduil.”
   “Come,” Glorfindel continued. “Let me take you back to the palace. We must notify your husband of what has transpired this day.” And he turned away back up the path, shouldering her and Gwendalyn away from the scene.

    Thranduil heaved a painful breath at those words. And yet, it did not matter to him now. His vine had withered once again, torn away cruelly by fate itself. It was Eru Ilúvatar’s punishment for his indiscretions, and this time the price was too high to pay; two innocent lives yet to be born.

           **********************************************

Adlanniel and the prince’s footprints were still marked in the snow as Gwendalyn slowly made her way out onto the balcony, almost expecting them both to still be there. She had even brought out her lady’s comb with her to comb her hair. The shock that Adlanniel was now gone still had not quite sunk in. That is, however, until she wondered upon the parapet, and set her eyes upon the dent in the snow caused by Adlanniel’s fall. The comb in her hand tumbled to the ground, not even making a whisper of a noise upon the soft white underfoot.
   The wail she let out then caused the sparrows within the vines to flutter off in fright. Tears streamed down her face as she fell to her knees in the snow. Her brother was gone, and now her best friend as well. She had held herself together for so long, for the sake of herself and her remaining family, but now the two whom she had cherished and loved were gone. Adlanniel’s essence no longer lingered, and though Melethril was out with Legolas trying to find her, Gwendalyn feared for the worst.
   “Adlanniel…” She wept into her hands. “Those poor, innocent little babies…” She looked up at the blanket of clouds above her, whispering snowflakes fluttered down to her face.
“Why?” Her voice choked as she continued to gaze up at the heavens. “Did their transgression really deserve this punishment? Those innocent children!” She slammed her hand into the snow beneath her. “You have given me Melethril, but you have taken my brother and my best friend and her children as payment. How is this fair? How is any of this fair? Do not tell me this is fate!” She wept. “Those little babies did not deserve any of this…”

    **********************************************

   “Be careful, for this is a message of utmost urgency.” Glorfindel began as he stroked the falcon’s soft, feathered breast. “May the wind carry you swiftly, my friend,” With no more words to be shared Glorfindel released the bird into the air, returning then from the balcony back into the chambers of the Lady Celebrian.
   He sighed inwardly as he looked over her, her head sunken and her hands still shaking in despair. All her radiant color had been drained from her skin, and tears continued to trickle in a perpetual flow down her cheeks. Quietly he moved to be before her and knelt down, taking her lithe hands gently within his.
   “I should have come sooner… I should have done something sooner… I should have…” She broke down once more and her golden-haired counterpart moved to sit beside her, wrapping his arms around her body in an effort to comfort her in some way.
  “You cannot blame yourself, my dear Celebrian, we cannot always control our fates.”
   “But we can take actions to divert them!” She protested, looking up into his pale eyes then. “I should have taken her far from here… I should never have allowed her to come to this wretched place to begin with!”
  “None of us could foresee what was going to transpire, not even they could,” Glorfindel replied, looking back out the window then.
   “They both knew where this transgression would lead them.” Celebrian’s voice became bitter, angered thoughts of the elvenking flooded her mind.
    “They did and they both were trying to end it Celebrian, you know that. But as I said, none of us, including them knew that this was going to happen. Alas, it has, and now our beloved Adlanniel is so engulfed in guilt that she will not allow any of us to find her, even the one who deserves the answers.”
   “Legolas…” Celebrian’s voice trailed off, her eyes became almost blank as she could see him rushing frantically along the tree line of the river, desperately trying to find the love of his life.
   “We have all made mistakes,” Glorfindel then continued. “There are so many ‘what ifs’ to this debacle. None of us could have known the exact strand of the web to unravel.”
   “And now, this is our punishment,” Celebrian lamented as she stared down at the stone floor beneath them. “I can no longer feel her essence, and so now I will be tormented by not knowing whether she lives or has passed. I may never see her again, even in Valinor...”
   “That is a torment we all shall bear.” Glorfindel sighed.

    **********************************************

Time had passed, and the bleakness of the sky darkened ever still. The sleet had thickened upon his body. So still had he remained that his tears had frozen to his sallowed features, and icicles clung to his dark lashes like the snows to the eaves of the surrounding forrest. The frigid air burned within his lungs, yet his breath barely escaped his blued lips.
   He was prepared to depart the physical realm, so heavily the guilt weighed upon his shoulders. Perhaps it had simply been the sleet. It may have been anything except the hands of his beloved ones, as he had betrayed every single one of them. It was what he deserved. There would be no reprieve, even in death.

   Suddenly, he felt a heavy weight upon his back as he was shoved from behind. Thranduil struggled from the stiffness that had seeped into his bones, and fell into the snow after another hard push. As he rose, his eyes caught the frozen piece of ivory silk that he still clutched in his hand. Gazing upon it, he felt such a sharp pain in his gut, yet he had no time for contemplation as he was shoved once more into the snow. Turning his head to look upon the culprit, his eyes widened. There, behind him, stood a young stag of silver and white who’s colouring almost blended it into the snow. The stag brayed loudly then and tossed its magnificent head from side to side. Be as it may, Thranduil lowered his eyes and looked away. He could not face something so pure after all that had been lost. The stag shoved him again with its antlers.
   “Leave me be.” The Elvenking’s voice rasped as he tried to push the stag from him as it continued to nuzzle its face into his clothing. Yet, the beast would not relent. Taking Thranduil’s sleeve into its mouth it pulled hard, regardless of how much the Elvenking tried to resist. “What is it that you want?” Thranduil finally brought himself to his feet. The stag brayed at him once more and threw its head in the direction of the path nearby.
“Lest you know where she is, or have come to take me to my death, leave me alone.”
The stag snorted almost angrily now and, lowering its head, it headbutted him, almost making him fall back to the ground.
“What is this behaviour?” Thranduil snapped. The stag moaned at him again as it stamped its feet impatiently, and shoved him once more in the direction of the path.
“It leads nowhere…”
The stag did not heed his words and continued to shove him along, regardless of his displeasure to follow. Eventually, however, knowing that it would be futile to resist, he continued to follow the beast, albeit reluctantly.

   It did not take long for Thranduil to understand exactly where he was being lead, and yet his mind was still in too much of a stupor to completely comprehend it. Once they were finally before the great carven stone door, his heart felt like it has ceased all beating.
“Here?... Why here?” His reddened eyes searched the buck for some form of answer. Yet the buck merely lowered its regal head and nuzzled the door with its wet nose.
Much to Thranduil’s amazement the door slid open with neither words nor prayer spoken, and the buck then proceeded to nudge him inside. Once he had entered, the door slid closed behind him. He stood at the doorway for the longest time, staring blankly at the effigy of the queen as it glowed from the magic of the illuminance within the tomb.
   “So…” He finally began, his eyes pinned repentantly to her face. “You brought me here.”

   “Yes, Thranduil, I have.”
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A liaison in the Great Greenwood