A/N: Okie dokie, I've got a few things to explain beforehand...
-First of all, Aragorn is once again, not thought of as someone only half-elf; his heritage is pretty much nonexistant and no one really cares about it here.
-Second, I know all these people are different ages, but for the sake of the plot - the twins, Haldir, Haldir's brothers, Legolas and Aragorn are all around the same age (15, 16 or so, by *our* standards), kay?? Cool. That's all!
-Third, I don't quite think that Mirkwood's royalty dwelled within a castle, but in this story - they do! Hah!
-Fourth, I've looked everywhere for the name of Thranduil's wife and/or Legolas's mother but I couldn't find it! So I made one up. ;)
(ehem, it's Queen Amilasse; I rather like it)
Disclaimer: Tolkein and New Line Cinema own everything. The fantasy, however, is mine to share ;)
Warnings: AU!! Majorly AU. And ah... Slash! Beware of the slash! This whole story has been ripped to shreds by a me, a slasher! You were warned...
And now, please, do proceed, madams and sirs...
********************************************************************
The road to Lorien was bumpy, knotted and downright rough at times and Legolas had to hang on inside his little carriage for dear life. Three times already he'd loosened his grip on the side railings and been swiftly tumbled to the floor of the vehicle.
Of course, under normal circumstances, the young Prince would not have minded rolling around on the floor of his personal caravan - for it was, indeed, rather fun and far more entertaining than sitting around having his head smashed into the ceilings at every rock in the road - but Legolas refrained from doing so for the sole reason that if his father caught him, there would be no end to the inevitable lecture he would receive.
Instead, the Prince sat, straight as a rod, uncomfortably so, and held tight to the railings for hours between rests all the way from Mirkwood to Lothlorien, bored as a rock, with no one to talk to.
Just then, however, a crowned head was suddenly thrust through the window to Legolas's right.
"All right in there, son?", His father asked, leaning in from his seat on his horse outside and taking a glance around the carriage.
"Yes, Father", Legolas answered. This was the third time someone had checked up on him since the last rest stop. But... ever unsatisfied, his father continued to peer around the carriage, inspecting for the thousandth time the walls, seats, ceilings and floor of the vehicle. A little impatiently, Legolas continued."Really! I am perfectly fine, and in no particular danger as I have firmly assessed that there are no orcs lurking about beneath the opposite seat."
The King cocked an eyebrow at him.
But, unable to resist, Legolas added,"Although, there does seem to be a rather suspicious looking ball of lint in that corner, just there. The fact that it hasn't moved at all in the past hour suggests an unnaturality that leads me to assume that it may be of some evil origin, Father. Shall we alert the guards?"
His father grinned, despite himself. "I was only checking... you never know, you know."
"Of course", Legolas couldn't help but smile, too. "How much longer til we're there?"
"Just a little bit. We won't even need to stop for a rest again", his father answered. His eyebrows furrowed a moment, before his head disappeared back out the window and then reappeared a second later,"I'd better get back. Your mother is giving me some fishy looks."
Legolas smiled again and nodded before his father's head, after giving a departing grin, ducked back out of the carriage, leaving only the curtains swinging to and fro from the window.
It seemed that all his life, Legolas had been supremely over-protected. His safety was of prime concern to his parents to the point where it was extremely embarassing. Everywhere he went, guards trailed along behind him and (or) crowded round in front of him. His location, whether it be inside his own home or inside his own kingdom, was always double checked, charted, cleared and guarded before he was permitted to go some place. But there was such a fuss whenever he wanted to leave anywhere, that Legolas had long ago given up traveling outside his home down into the kingdom and now, usually kept himself within the confines of the palace. (Which was pretty hard on the royal interior repair squads - the poor guys were constantly having to fix up the holes in the walls from the Prince's numerous archery practices that took place within the long halls of the castle.)
This trip, in fact, was his first ever trip outside of Mirkwood.
It had come as quite a shock to him when his parents had called him into their private study three weeks earlier and, hands trembling and locked together, told him that he would be attending the Elven Youth Tournament in Lothlorien, as required of all elves of nobility who had not reached their majority yet, in Middle Earth. Of course, he'd had no idea what the Elven Youth Tournament was, but who cared? He would be leaving Mirkwood finally! He would see new sights, explore new things, meet new people.. the tournament itself was barely a whisper of the fun he would finally have.
Prince Legolas was even more surprised to learn later on that not only would he be traveling outside of Mirkwood, but he would be staying in the entirely new place without the supervision and smothering-guardianship of his parents! They would be traveling back to Mirkwood upon dropping him off! It was almost too good to be true...
In the meantime, however, Legolas was even more coddled by his parents than usual.
Not only was it ridiculous for an elf, any elf - young or old - to ride within a carriage instead of on a horse, it was excrutiatingly humiliating. His cheeks had went up in scarlet flames as soon as he saw the bumbling little buggy hauled out behind four horses when he and his parents were about to embark on the journey. Standing there, his parents demanding that he get inside of it, rattling off the all the terrible things that might happen to him if he rode a horse that long way, was horrible what with those guards standing around barely trying and desperately failing to conceal their laughter. Without a word and in a rage, he'd scrambled into the carriage, mostly to get away from the jeering looks that everyone except his parents were giving him.
It wasn't only the fact that he was riding in a carriage that put him off a bit, but also the fact that inside the carriage he didn't get to see the trees, or the new woods and scenery that they were entering. He didn't see the new birds that flitted back and forth above the path, he couldn't feel the sun brush it's yellow warmth against his skin, and he couldn't breathe the air that was so exotic and fresh tasting to his lungs...
And this was because each and every time he'd leaned out one of the windows to get a peek, his father or mother would ride up and shoo him back inside.
"What if you fall out? Lose your balance? Get back in there! Have you lost your mind?!"
"Suppose you peep out just as we're passing a branch, eh? You'll get knocked right out and then where would you be, eh? Get back in there! Have you lost your mind?!"
Actually, his parents had been doing an excellent job of driving Legolas out of his mind since the minute he was born. Of course, he didn't tell them that... it would only do him more worse than good. They might actually take him seriously and have all the Middle-Earth psychiatrists brought in to see him. Nope, it was better not to mention his current mental state at all.
But... such was the burden of an only child.
Sighing and still hanging onto his railings, Legolas just prayed that he would make it to Lorien with most of his wits still intact. Another bump jolted Legolas out of the reverie he sank into, but wasn't enough to keep him from giving into traveling-exhaustion and falling asleep, which he promptly did.
~-------------~-------------~
In Lothlorien, hours later.
~-------------~-------------~
"Legolas", an odd, foggy voice called from a distance,"Legolas!", it was a little clearer now,"Legolas, wake up!", it was Thranduil, of course.
Legolas blinked his eyes, and squinted at his father who was leaning in the window again.
"Awake? We've arrived, my son", said the King, smiling broadly."You might want to straighten your clothes a bit. Come on out now."
The King's head slipped out the window again. The Prince balled his fists, rubbed the lingering sleep from his eyes, yawned, stretched and then sat back in the carriage limply.
The carriage had stopped, and so had the rumbeling of the wheels upon the road. Instead, alien voices were floating in from outside. Young voices mingeling with the deeper chords of the old. It seemed there were many attending this Youth Tournament his father had told him about.
*Well, the more the merrier!*, Legolas thought. He smiled, happy at the recent turn of events and at the prospects of the near future. It was a few more moments before Legolas blinked, glanced down, straightened his clothes as his father told him to and then climbed out of the carriage and stepped lightly onto the silvery grass.
They were parked in front of a very large and very tall building with many windows and balconies, there were bunches of elves scattered about, laughing, talking and unloading their parcels. Horses stood around patiently, here and there, waiting for their elves to lead them to the stables for a refresher. It was a pleasantly busy little spectacle amid the glory of this elven realm.
Legolas gazed up and around at his new surroundings.
Lothlorien's dream-like haziness was a far cry from the darker, gloomier atmosphere of Mirkwood. Everything around him seemed to sing softly in peacefulness, and sparkle with a silvery sheen. The new forestry was breath-taking - pale leaves, with intriciate veins in beautiful patterns clouding around the golden star-like shapes and twinkling forms of flowers he'd never seen before.
The very air itself was alive and refreshing. A soft breeze lightly lifted the platinum tendrils around his fair face and felt very comforting as it gently caressed his smooth, pale cheeks.
When his wandering eyes fell back to the elves around him, he was startled to encounter a dozen blunt stares from his fellow elven youths. Some of them, he just now realized, had been standing around, mouths ajar, brazenly gawking at him.
Quite suddenly, Legolas's stomach was filled with the dizzying sensations of nervousness and anxiety.
*The carriage!*, Legolas thought suddenly; and humiliation was added into the already uncomfortable mixture of feelings he harbored. A quick glance around told him that no one else had arrived in a carriage, as he did. *Oh, how embarassing...*
His eyes went south towards the ground, while a heated flush shot up his face. But a savior cloak was suddenly thrown about his shoulders.
"It's rather cold here", his mother said, tying the cloak at his neck."So keep this on as much as you can, all right?"
Legolas nodded mutely while the elves that had been staring quickly returned to their business. The Queen of Mirkwood hadn't seemed to notice the tiny stir in the crowd her son had caused. Instead, she pulled his long blonde hair together, tucked it beneath the fabric of the cloak, and pulled the hood up over his head.
"Your father's just speaking with the Tournament Overseer, there", his mother told him, she pointed to her right."His name is Glorfindel. You've met him before, do you remember?"
Again, Legolas nodded, without a word.
The Queen Amilasse smiled at him. "Nervous, dear?"
Legolas truthfully answered,"Yes."
"Well, so am I. But honestly," his mother said, with a glance towards King Thranduil,"I think your father might be more so than the both of us put together", she laughed, and patted his arm."Come. Let's go join him."
Legolas obeyed and followed along behind his mother, silently, still stinging from his disgraceful arrival.
In his shame, he did not take notice of the fact that many of those eyes that had been widened at his arrival, were still glued to his form, through rather discreetly; nor did he notice the fact that the widened eyes were not filled with shock at his carriage, but instead, filled with shock at the vision of loveliness he was.
One sets of eyes in particular were especially drawn toward the Prince of Mirkwood; and they belonged to an awed and momentarily stunned young noble of a neighboring valley.
The dark-haired youth from Rivendell watched, enamored, as the unwitting blonde floated by, luminous blue eyes and shining golden locks only silghtly visibly beneath his black cloak.
~-----------~----------~
Later on for Legolas...
~-----------~----------~
It had been an hour since their arrival.
After meeting and greeting politely the overseer of the tournament, Legolas had stood idly by while his parents shot question after question at poor Glorfindel about any and all the security precautions and safety measures that would be taken to ensure that their only son would not be in any way injured during his stay. Finally, calming their fears enough to slow the pace of the interrogation, Glorfindel had slipped in that they could, at their leisure, see for themselves the room Legolas would be staying in. All too happily, the King and Queen agreed and were hastily shown away to it, Legolas once again, trailing behind.
The rooms, the Mirkwood royal family discovered, were -thankfully - large and airy; with canopied beds, higher and thicker and plainly more comfortable than the ones back at Mirkwood. Plush rugs lay about on the floors, not quite so pleasing to the feet as grass would be, but still quite soft and lovely to the touch. Plants and small trees were placed in every dark, and unfriendly corner to brighten the rooms and make the elves feel closer to the earth. The small comforts worked and Legolas felt right at home.
"Well, it's a nice room", King Thranduil said, throwing open some curtains at the window."You've got a great view of a little courtyard."
Legolas plopped onto his bed, testing it's firmness, as his mother went around scrutinizing the room for the slightest flaw in it's security.
"Is that a crack in the wall?", she asked to no one, hurrying over to a corner.
"That's the last of it, your highness", a servent named Nerfion said upon entering. He set the last of Legolas's luggage down beside a table and a chair situated beside the door.
"Oh, good, good!", the King said, turning to nod at him,"Ah.. Please, do tend to the horses now. Water and feed them, if you may, for we shall be leaving home quite soon."
"Of course, your majesty." The servent bowed and was turning to leave when the King's voice stopped him.
"And Nerfion?", Thranduil smiled.
"Yes, my king?"
"See that you and all of my other hard workers are watered and fed, as well."
Nerfion smiled and bowed again."As you wish, your majesty." The smile widened as the servent departed.
The Queen stood, pausing in her inspection, and smiled sweetly at her husband. "I want to give them a feast upon our return."
"We will, my love. And it will be the biggest one yet!", was the enthusiastic reply.
Mirkwood's royal family was known for their almost over-the-top treatment of their servents... not at all a bad thing, in actuality. The King's heart was a soft one, it seemed, and of that, Legolas was very proud. He gazed at them, suddenly realizing that despite his desire to be free and on his own for a while, he would, indeed, miss his parents terribly.
The little family inhabited the room for quite a while, conversing idly, before a knock echoed across the room and everyone's faces turned towards the door. Glorfindel stepped in, smiling.
"I see you've found the room", Glorfindel nodded to the King and Queen,"I hope it's satisfactory..."
"Oh, yes", Legolas's mother answered, as she crossed the room to stand at her husbands side."It's quite charming. I'm almost envious of my son", she laughed again, as did the King.
Glorfindel chuckled lightly, before looking towards the youth sitting silently upon the bed,"And the Prince? What does he think?"
Legolas looked towards the old elf at his doorway and gave him a winning grin,"The Prince believes the Queen to be rightly envious, for the room *is* rather nice and seems very comfortable."
The overseer smiled broadly at the youth."Well! That's certainly reassuring. Thank you for your praise, little prince."
*Little prince!*, Legolas thought wrathfully, behind the sweet expression on his face. *Elbereth, don't tell me I'm going to be babied here, as well! Ugh!*
The Queen was speaking now,"Legolas, of course, will only be entering the archery end of the tournament."
"Oh?", Glorfindel said, eyebrows lifting. He was aware of Legolas's skill as an archer, but had expected the youth to be entering more than just one segment of the tournament, as all other participants were going to do.
"Ah, yes", King Thranduil said,"We'd prefer this, actually. For his own safety, you see. Our only son... why, we couldn't bare it if he were hurt in any way."
"I understand." Glorfindel nodded. Legolas rolled his eyes, a small gesture of annoyance that only Glorfindel didn't fail to notice.
*But maybe the Prince would have it otherwise*, Glorfindel noted privately as continued conversing with the King and Queen of Mirkwood.
Forgotten for the moment, Legolas leaned back on the bed thinking about all the elves that had been staring at him earlier. He wondered how he would ever fit in with any of them when and if they all began to make fun of him for the whole carriage incident. He hoped that no one would remember him as the elf that had to be carried like baby to his first tournament.
~---------------~------------------~---------------~
A little earlier, back down in the welcoming yard:
~---------------~------------------~---------------~
Aragorn, having been already set up in a room with his twin brothers the day before, had been helping to unload luggage from various other elves' horses when the little carriage had driven up.
He gave the thing a strange look as it came lumbering up the road, slightly amused that someone attending the tournament would be so ... *delicate* as to need one. Shrugging and setting down the box he'd just unstrapped from a horse, Aragorn decided that the carriage was probably carrying someone's pregnant mother.
So you can imagine his surprise when, instead of a small elf woman with a great big belly being helped out of the buggy, a slender elf, with long shining locks of blonde hair, leaped lightly out without any sort of assistance.
Surprise, however, was quickly replaced with wonder as he gazed at the carriage-riding elf a little closer. Crimson lips, a perfect pout, glowing and flawless skin, with the most innocently teasing cerulean-blue eyes...
*......*, Aragorn's mind went blank. He could only gawk, speechless, as some of the others were, at the figure that stood gazing around almost indifferently, the pale cheeks of the elf coloring up in a pretty flush, probably because of the cool breeze.
Feeling himself drift lazily into a reverie, Aragorn shook his head and blinked his eyes. The elf from the carriage was being draped in a large, thick shapeless cloak by a woman wearing a crown.
A crown.
Not just nobility, then... the elf was royalty. Having no choice in the matter, for Aragorn's heart had just won control over his bodily movements, the dark haired Rivendell boy was forced to stare at the elf, completely enraptured, as he was lead away by the crowned woman around a corner and out of his sight.
*What an interesting tournament this will be*, Aragorn thought.
~-----------------~----------------~
Back to Legolas's turmoil...
~-----------------~----------------~
"... And make sure you draw the drapes in the evenings", The King of Mirkwood was saying,"You don't want it to become too cold in here, you may get sick."
"Elves don't *get* sick, Father, you know that."
The King paused,"Er... Right. Anyway - If you have any questions go directly to Glorfindel. He will be happy to assist you."
Glorfindel had respectfully left the room a little while ago, leaving the royal family to say their Goodbye's.
"And there are messages that can come quickly to us, if it is your parents that you need", the Queen added lovingly, cupping Legolas's face in her hands and rubbing her nose to his. "My baby!"
The Prince silently thanked Elbereth that they were still within the privacy his room and that no one else was present. As soon as the Queen released him, King Thranduil swooped in to embrace his son, lightly crushing the slight boy in his fatherly affection.
"Well... We'll see you at the end of the tournament, then, son", the King said gravely, letting Legolas loose. Thranduil's great, old eyes teared up and his bottom lip trembled before it disappeared beneath the upper one; his wife was in a similar condition, her sniffeling barely audible.
Legolas smiled reassuringly,"I'll be fine. You don't have to worry."
His parents nodded, straightening up.
"Of course," Thranduil said gruffly, and gently taking his wife's hand."I know you'll behave yourself. Goodbye, son."
"Farewell, father, mother...", Legolas said, ushering his parents out the door. They moved robotically outside and stood to face him,"Have a good trip!"
They nodded, wordlessly, and began walking slowly away. Legolas shook his head and shut the door.
*At last*, he thought.*Alone! At last!!*
Grinning from pointed-ear to pointed-ear, Legolas leaped onto his bed and bounced up and down happily before settling back against his pillows. Despite his worrying about what the other elves would think of him being babied in a carriage all the way to a battle-skill tournament, he couldn't help but feel a little better because of his new-found freedom.
There were still a few hours before having to go down and join the welcoming feast, so Legolas decided to catch up on the snoozing he had been cashing in on before being so rudely interrupted. So - sighing and burying his head within the feathery comforts of the bed, the Prince of Mirkwood fell peacefully under the foggy spell of sleep...
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To be continued... BUT - *only* if I know people are actually going to read this thing...
So, shall I keep going? Is this drivel? Should I just delete it and forget about it?
Blah... =T Review and lemme know, kay?
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-First of all, Aragorn is once again, not thought of as someone only half-elf; his heritage is pretty much nonexistant and no one really cares about it here.
-Second, I know all these people are different ages, but for the sake of the plot - the twins, Haldir, Haldir's brothers, Legolas and Aragorn are all around the same age (15, 16 or so, by *our* standards), kay?? Cool. That's all!
-Third, I don't quite think that Mirkwood's royalty dwelled within a castle, but in this story - they do! Hah!
-Fourth, I've looked everywhere for the name of Thranduil's wife and/or Legolas's mother but I couldn't find it! So I made one up. ;)
(ehem, it's Queen Amilasse; I rather like it)
Disclaimer: Tolkein and New Line Cinema own everything. The fantasy, however, is mine to share ;)
Warnings: AU!! Majorly AU. And ah... Slash! Beware of the slash! This whole story has been ripped to shreds by a me, a slasher! You were warned...
And now, please, do proceed, madams and sirs...
********************************************************************
The road to Lorien was bumpy, knotted and downright rough at times and Legolas had to hang on inside his little carriage for dear life. Three times already he'd loosened his grip on the side railings and been swiftly tumbled to the floor of the vehicle.
Of course, under normal circumstances, the young Prince would not have minded rolling around on the floor of his personal caravan - for it was, indeed, rather fun and far more entertaining than sitting around having his head smashed into the ceilings at every rock in the road - but Legolas refrained from doing so for the sole reason that if his father caught him, there would be no end to the inevitable lecture he would receive.
Instead, the Prince sat, straight as a rod, uncomfortably so, and held tight to the railings for hours between rests all the way from Mirkwood to Lothlorien, bored as a rock, with no one to talk to.
Just then, however, a crowned head was suddenly thrust through the window to Legolas's right.
"All right in there, son?", His father asked, leaning in from his seat on his horse outside and taking a glance around the carriage.
"Yes, Father", Legolas answered. This was the third time someone had checked up on him since the last rest stop. But... ever unsatisfied, his father continued to peer around the carriage, inspecting for the thousandth time the walls, seats, ceilings and floor of the vehicle. A little impatiently, Legolas continued."Really! I am perfectly fine, and in no particular danger as I have firmly assessed that there are no orcs lurking about beneath the opposite seat."
The King cocked an eyebrow at him.
But, unable to resist, Legolas added,"Although, there does seem to be a rather suspicious looking ball of lint in that corner, just there. The fact that it hasn't moved at all in the past hour suggests an unnaturality that leads me to assume that it may be of some evil origin, Father. Shall we alert the guards?"
His father grinned, despite himself. "I was only checking... you never know, you know."
"Of course", Legolas couldn't help but smile, too. "How much longer til we're there?"
"Just a little bit. We won't even need to stop for a rest again", his father answered. His eyebrows furrowed a moment, before his head disappeared back out the window and then reappeared a second later,"I'd better get back. Your mother is giving me some fishy looks."
Legolas smiled again and nodded before his father's head, after giving a departing grin, ducked back out of the carriage, leaving only the curtains swinging to and fro from the window.
It seemed that all his life, Legolas had been supremely over-protected. His safety was of prime concern to his parents to the point where it was extremely embarassing. Everywhere he went, guards trailed along behind him and (or) crowded round in front of him. His location, whether it be inside his own home or inside his own kingdom, was always double checked, charted, cleared and guarded before he was permitted to go some place. But there was such a fuss whenever he wanted to leave anywhere, that Legolas had long ago given up traveling outside his home down into the kingdom and now, usually kept himself within the confines of the palace. (Which was pretty hard on the royal interior repair squads - the poor guys were constantly having to fix up the holes in the walls from the Prince's numerous archery practices that took place within the long halls of the castle.)
This trip, in fact, was his first ever trip outside of Mirkwood.
It had come as quite a shock to him when his parents had called him into their private study three weeks earlier and, hands trembling and locked together, told him that he would be attending the Elven Youth Tournament in Lothlorien, as required of all elves of nobility who had not reached their majority yet, in Middle Earth. Of course, he'd had no idea what the Elven Youth Tournament was, but who cared? He would be leaving Mirkwood finally! He would see new sights, explore new things, meet new people.. the tournament itself was barely a whisper of the fun he would finally have.
Prince Legolas was even more surprised to learn later on that not only would he be traveling outside of Mirkwood, but he would be staying in the entirely new place without the supervision and smothering-guardianship of his parents! They would be traveling back to Mirkwood upon dropping him off! It was almost too good to be true...
In the meantime, however, Legolas was even more coddled by his parents than usual.
Not only was it ridiculous for an elf, any elf - young or old - to ride within a carriage instead of on a horse, it was excrutiatingly humiliating. His cheeks had went up in scarlet flames as soon as he saw the bumbling little buggy hauled out behind four horses when he and his parents were about to embark on the journey. Standing there, his parents demanding that he get inside of it, rattling off the all the terrible things that might happen to him if he rode a horse that long way, was horrible what with those guards standing around barely trying and desperately failing to conceal their laughter. Without a word and in a rage, he'd scrambled into the carriage, mostly to get away from the jeering looks that everyone except his parents were giving him.
It wasn't only the fact that he was riding in a carriage that put him off a bit, but also the fact that inside the carriage he didn't get to see the trees, or the new woods and scenery that they were entering. He didn't see the new birds that flitted back and forth above the path, he couldn't feel the sun brush it's yellow warmth against his skin, and he couldn't breathe the air that was so exotic and fresh tasting to his lungs...
And this was because each and every time he'd leaned out one of the windows to get a peek, his father or mother would ride up and shoo him back inside.
"What if you fall out? Lose your balance? Get back in there! Have you lost your mind?!"
"Suppose you peep out just as we're passing a branch, eh? You'll get knocked right out and then where would you be, eh? Get back in there! Have you lost your mind?!"
Actually, his parents had been doing an excellent job of driving Legolas out of his mind since the minute he was born. Of course, he didn't tell them that... it would only do him more worse than good. They might actually take him seriously and have all the Middle-Earth psychiatrists brought in to see him. Nope, it was better not to mention his current mental state at all.
But... such was the burden of an only child.
Sighing and still hanging onto his railings, Legolas just prayed that he would make it to Lorien with most of his wits still intact. Another bump jolted Legolas out of the reverie he sank into, but wasn't enough to keep him from giving into traveling-exhaustion and falling asleep, which he promptly did.
~-------------~-------------~
In Lothlorien, hours later.
~-------------~-------------~
"Legolas", an odd, foggy voice called from a distance,"Legolas!", it was a little clearer now,"Legolas, wake up!", it was Thranduil, of course.
Legolas blinked his eyes, and squinted at his father who was leaning in the window again.
"Awake? We've arrived, my son", said the King, smiling broadly."You might want to straighten your clothes a bit. Come on out now."
The King's head slipped out the window again. The Prince balled his fists, rubbed the lingering sleep from his eyes, yawned, stretched and then sat back in the carriage limply.
The carriage had stopped, and so had the rumbeling of the wheels upon the road. Instead, alien voices were floating in from outside. Young voices mingeling with the deeper chords of the old. It seemed there were many attending this Youth Tournament his father had told him about.
*Well, the more the merrier!*, Legolas thought. He smiled, happy at the recent turn of events and at the prospects of the near future. It was a few more moments before Legolas blinked, glanced down, straightened his clothes as his father told him to and then climbed out of the carriage and stepped lightly onto the silvery grass.
They were parked in front of a very large and very tall building with many windows and balconies, there were bunches of elves scattered about, laughing, talking and unloading their parcels. Horses stood around patiently, here and there, waiting for their elves to lead them to the stables for a refresher. It was a pleasantly busy little spectacle amid the glory of this elven realm.
Legolas gazed up and around at his new surroundings.
Lothlorien's dream-like haziness was a far cry from the darker, gloomier atmosphere of Mirkwood. Everything around him seemed to sing softly in peacefulness, and sparkle with a silvery sheen. The new forestry was breath-taking - pale leaves, with intriciate veins in beautiful patterns clouding around the golden star-like shapes and twinkling forms of flowers he'd never seen before.
The very air itself was alive and refreshing. A soft breeze lightly lifted the platinum tendrils around his fair face and felt very comforting as it gently caressed his smooth, pale cheeks.
When his wandering eyes fell back to the elves around him, he was startled to encounter a dozen blunt stares from his fellow elven youths. Some of them, he just now realized, had been standing around, mouths ajar, brazenly gawking at him.
Quite suddenly, Legolas's stomach was filled with the dizzying sensations of nervousness and anxiety.
*The carriage!*, Legolas thought suddenly; and humiliation was added into the already uncomfortable mixture of feelings he harbored. A quick glance around told him that no one else had arrived in a carriage, as he did. *Oh, how embarassing...*
His eyes went south towards the ground, while a heated flush shot up his face. But a savior cloak was suddenly thrown about his shoulders.
"It's rather cold here", his mother said, tying the cloak at his neck."So keep this on as much as you can, all right?"
Legolas nodded mutely while the elves that had been staring quickly returned to their business. The Queen of Mirkwood hadn't seemed to notice the tiny stir in the crowd her son had caused. Instead, she pulled his long blonde hair together, tucked it beneath the fabric of the cloak, and pulled the hood up over his head.
"Your father's just speaking with the Tournament Overseer, there", his mother told him, she pointed to her right."His name is Glorfindel. You've met him before, do you remember?"
Again, Legolas nodded, without a word.
The Queen Amilasse smiled at him. "Nervous, dear?"
Legolas truthfully answered,"Yes."
"Well, so am I. But honestly," his mother said, with a glance towards King Thranduil,"I think your father might be more so than the both of us put together", she laughed, and patted his arm."Come. Let's go join him."
Legolas obeyed and followed along behind his mother, silently, still stinging from his disgraceful arrival.
In his shame, he did not take notice of the fact that many of those eyes that had been widened at his arrival, were still glued to his form, through rather discreetly; nor did he notice the fact that the widened eyes were not filled with shock at his carriage, but instead, filled with shock at the vision of loveliness he was.
One sets of eyes in particular were especially drawn toward the Prince of Mirkwood; and they belonged to an awed and momentarily stunned young noble of a neighboring valley.
The dark-haired youth from Rivendell watched, enamored, as the unwitting blonde floated by, luminous blue eyes and shining golden locks only silghtly visibly beneath his black cloak.
~-----------~----------~
Later on for Legolas...
~-----------~----------~
It had been an hour since their arrival.
After meeting and greeting politely the overseer of the tournament, Legolas had stood idly by while his parents shot question after question at poor Glorfindel about any and all the security precautions and safety measures that would be taken to ensure that their only son would not be in any way injured during his stay. Finally, calming their fears enough to slow the pace of the interrogation, Glorfindel had slipped in that they could, at their leisure, see for themselves the room Legolas would be staying in. All too happily, the King and Queen agreed and were hastily shown away to it, Legolas once again, trailing behind.
The rooms, the Mirkwood royal family discovered, were -thankfully - large and airy; with canopied beds, higher and thicker and plainly more comfortable than the ones back at Mirkwood. Plush rugs lay about on the floors, not quite so pleasing to the feet as grass would be, but still quite soft and lovely to the touch. Plants and small trees were placed in every dark, and unfriendly corner to brighten the rooms and make the elves feel closer to the earth. The small comforts worked and Legolas felt right at home.
"Well, it's a nice room", King Thranduil said, throwing open some curtains at the window."You've got a great view of a little courtyard."
Legolas plopped onto his bed, testing it's firmness, as his mother went around scrutinizing the room for the slightest flaw in it's security.
"Is that a crack in the wall?", she asked to no one, hurrying over to a corner.
"That's the last of it, your highness", a servent named Nerfion said upon entering. He set the last of Legolas's luggage down beside a table and a chair situated beside the door.
"Oh, good, good!", the King said, turning to nod at him,"Ah.. Please, do tend to the horses now. Water and feed them, if you may, for we shall be leaving home quite soon."
"Of course, your majesty." The servent bowed and was turning to leave when the King's voice stopped him.
"And Nerfion?", Thranduil smiled.
"Yes, my king?"
"See that you and all of my other hard workers are watered and fed, as well."
Nerfion smiled and bowed again."As you wish, your majesty." The smile widened as the servent departed.
The Queen stood, pausing in her inspection, and smiled sweetly at her husband. "I want to give them a feast upon our return."
"We will, my love. And it will be the biggest one yet!", was the enthusiastic reply.
Mirkwood's royal family was known for their almost over-the-top treatment of their servents... not at all a bad thing, in actuality. The King's heart was a soft one, it seemed, and of that, Legolas was very proud. He gazed at them, suddenly realizing that despite his desire to be free and on his own for a while, he would, indeed, miss his parents terribly.
The little family inhabited the room for quite a while, conversing idly, before a knock echoed across the room and everyone's faces turned towards the door. Glorfindel stepped in, smiling.
"I see you've found the room", Glorfindel nodded to the King and Queen,"I hope it's satisfactory..."
"Oh, yes", Legolas's mother answered, as she crossed the room to stand at her husbands side."It's quite charming. I'm almost envious of my son", she laughed again, as did the King.
Glorfindel chuckled lightly, before looking towards the youth sitting silently upon the bed,"And the Prince? What does he think?"
Legolas looked towards the old elf at his doorway and gave him a winning grin,"The Prince believes the Queen to be rightly envious, for the room *is* rather nice and seems very comfortable."
The overseer smiled broadly at the youth."Well! That's certainly reassuring. Thank you for your praise, little prince."
*Little prince!*, Legolas thought wrathfully, behind the sweet expression on his face. *Elbereth, don't tell me I'm going to be babied here, as well! Ugh!*
The Queen was speaking now,"Legolas, of course, will only be entering the archery end of the tournament."
"Oh?", Glorfindel said, eyebrows lifting. He was aware of Legolas's skill as an archer, but had expected the youth to be entering more than just one segment of the tournament, as all other participants were going to do.
"Ah, yes", King Thranduil said,"We'd prefer this, actually. For his own safety, you see. Our only son... why, we couldn't bare it if he were hurt in any way."
"I understand." Glorfindel nodded. Legolas rolled his eyes, a small gesture of annoyance that only Glorfindel didn't fail to notice.
*But maybe the Prince would have it otherwise*, Glorfindel noted privately as continued conversing with the King and Queen of Mirkwood.
Forgotten for the moment, Legolas leaned back on the bed thinking about all the elves that had been staring at him earlier. He wondered how he would ever fit in with any of them when and if they all began to make fun of him for the whole carriage incident. He hoped that no one would remember him as the elf that had to be carried like baby to his first tournament.
~---------------~------------------~---------------~
A little earlier, back down in the welcoming yard:
~---------------~------------------~---------------~
Aragorn, having been already set up in a room with his twin brothers the day before, had been helping to unload luggage from various other elves' horses when the little carriage had driven up.
He gave the thing a strange look as it came lumbering up the road, slightly amused that someone attending the tournament would be so ... *delicate* as to need one. Shrugging and setting down the box he'd just unstrapped from a horse, Aragorn decided that the carriage was probably carrying someone's pregnant mother.
So you can imagine his surprise when, instead of a small elf woman with a great big belly being helped out of the buggy, a slender elf, with long shining locks of blonde hair, leaped lightly out without any sort of assistance.
Surprise, however, was quickly replaced with wonder as he gazed at the carriage-riding elf a little closer. Crimson lips, a perfect pout, glowing and flawless skin, with the most innocently teasing cerulean-blue eyes...
*......*, Aragorn's mind went blank. He could only gawk, speechless, as some of the others were, at the figure that stood gazing around almost indifferently, the pale cheeks of the elf coloring up in a pretty flush, probably because of the cool breeze.
Feeling himself drift lazily into a reverie, Aragorn shook his head and blinked his eyes. The elf from the carriage was being draped in a large, thick shapeless cloak by a woman wearing a crown.
A crown.
Not just nobility, then... the elf was royalty. Having no choice in the matter, for Aragorn's heart had just won control over his bodily movements, the dark haired Rivendell boy was forced to stare at the elf, completely enraptured, as he was lead away by the crowned woman around a corner and out of his sight.
*What an interesting tournament this will be*, Aragorn thought.
~-----------------~----------------~
Back to Legolas's turmoil...
~-----------------~----------------~
"... And make sure you draw the drapes in the evenings", The King of Mirkwood was saying,"You don't want it to become too cold in here, you may get sick."
"Elves don't *get* sick, Father, you know that."
The King paused,"Er... Right. Anyway - If you have any questions go directly to Glorfindel. He will be happy to assist you."
Glorfindel had respectfully left the room a little while ago, leaving the royal family to say their Goodbye's.
"And there are messages that can come quickly to us, if it is your parents that you need", the Queen added lovingly, cupping Legolas's face in her hands and rubbing her nose to his. "My baby!"
The Prince silently thanked Elbereth that they were still within the privacy his room and that no one else was present. As soon as the Queen released him, King Thranduil swooped in to embrace his son, lightly crushing the slight boy in his fatherly affection.
"Well... We'll see you at the end of the tournament, then, son", the King said gravely, letting Legolas loose. Thranduil's great, old eyes teared up and his bottom lip trembled before it disappeared beneath the upper one; his wife was in a similar condition, her sniffeling barely audible.
Legolas smiled reassuringly,"I'll be fine. You don't have to worry."
His parents nodded, straightening up.
"Of course," Thranduil said gruffly, and gently taking his wife's hand."I know you'll behave yourself. Goodbye, son."
"Farewell, father, mother...", Legolas said, ushering his parents out the door. They moved robotically outside and stood to face him,"Have a good trip!"
They nodded, wordlessly, and began walking slowly away. Legolas shook his head and shut the door.
*At last*, he thought.*Alone! At last!!*
Grinning from pointed-ear to pointed-ear, Legolas leaped onto his bed and bounced up and down happily before settling back against his pillows. Despite his worrying about what the other elves would think of him being babied in a carriage all the way to a battle-skill tournament, he couldn't help but feel a little better because of his new-found freedom.
There were still a few hours before having to go down and join the welcoming feast, so Legolas decided to catch up on the snoozing he had been cashing in on before being so rudely interrupted. So - sighing and burying his head within the feathery comforts of the bed, the Prince of Mirkwood fell peacefully under the foggy spell of sleep...
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To be continued... BUT - *only* if I know people are actually going to read this thing...
So, shall I keep going? Is this drivel? Should I just delete it and forget about it?
Blah... =T Review and lemme know, kay?
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