Disclaimer: Not one Elf.

Author's Note: This follows on from Where Battle Ends (Chapter 4 of Mirkwood Matters) and Hours of Darkness, and it'll probably make a lot more sense if you've read those first. Practise to Deceive, (Chapter 3 of The Toys of War) refers to events in this. It picks up almost immediately after the end of Hours of Darkness. And, now that I think about it, it also references the events of Falling Shadow. (Sorry. *blushes* I can't believe I wrote something so... sprawling.)

It's complete in six parts and I'll try to update at least twice a week.

I owe a great big thank you to Melethril and Elliska, who always know when to prod. ;-)

Rating: PG13

Summary: Legolas has been summoned before the King's Council to answer for a mission that went disastrously wrong. Sequel to Hours of Darkness.

Tangled Web

Part I: Council

A hush fell over the Council Chamber as Celephindeth got to her feet. Grey eyes raked Thranduil. Then she said, voice loud and clear in the still room, "I call Legolas Thranduilion before this Council."

Thranduil nodded to one of the pages, who slipped out.

The Council waited in uncomfortable silence. They bickered and squabbled and schemed, but even the most cantankerous of them would normally draw the line at involving the warriors in their political games, especially now. Legolas, as Thranduil's heir, was somewhat less exempt than the others, but they all knew that he risked his life to keep them safe, and summoning him to be scolded like an Elfling who'd broken bounds was extreme.

Thranduil let out a breath when the door opened and Legolas, Saeldur and Aeroniel entered together. Aeroniel had not been due to return for two days, but it appeared Saeldur had managed to get a message to her.

Thranduil had expected no less. The archers were fiercely loyal to their beloved commander, and they would never dream of leaving him to face the Council alone. Especially not a Council that Celephindeth had summoned for the exclusive purpose of avenging herself for her son's death.

Legolas seemed less than steady on his feet. He was not protesting Saeldur's supporting hand on his back. Thranduil's eyes widened for a moment – he had looked in on Legolas that morning, and his son had not seemed that badly injured. The walk from the royal quarters across the stronghold to the Council Chamber must have done more damage than he had expected. Feredir would not be pleased about that – or about the fact that, judging by the small spots of blood on the front of his tunic, Legolas had apparently torn a couple of stitches.

Thorontur would have to a face a very angry son in the evening. It had been on his insistence that Thranduil had scheduled the hearing as soon as Celephindeth had made the demand, without giving Legolas even a day to recover from his injuries. Thorontur had felt it would make the Councillors feel sympathetic and guilty.

Judging by the flushes and sidelong glances he could see around the room, Thorontur had been right. All the same, he would have difficulty justifying himself to Feredir, who could be as ferocious as any warrior when it came to the wellbeing of his charges.

When they reached the centre of the room, Saeldur, after ascertaining that Legolas could stand without assistance, took a step back and to the right. Aeroniel mirrored his position on Legolas' other side. It was a gesture of solidarity that said more than all Thorontur's speeches could have done – especially, under the circumstances, coming from Saeldur.

Celephindeth's eyes were narrowed in anger. Before proceedings could begin, she snapped, "Saeldur!"

Saeldur turned to her. "Lady Celephindeth."

Thranduil winced for her. He felt no particular affection for her at the moment, but he knew better than anyone how difficult it was to hear your child address you by your formal title. And Saeldur's voice was cold.

"What are you doing?"

"I am standing with my brother-in-arms, my lady."

"That will do," Thorontur said, although Thranduil noted that he had given the Council a moment to absorb Saeldur's words first. Thorontur could be a consummate statesman when the need arose. "Saeldur, if you wish to address the King's Council, do so in the proper form."

"Forgive me, my lord," Saeldur said unrepentantly.

Thorontur turned to Legolas.

"Legolas Thranduilion."

"My lord," Legolas said quietly.

"You have been summoned before the King's Council to answer the charges laid against you by Celephindeth Thínoriel. It is alleged that you, by your negligence, caused the death of Candnaur Belegurion, and that, in defiance of our laws and common decency, you attempted to compel Saeldur Belegurion into battle against his will, without allowing him a period of mourning for his brother."

"He has taken one son from me!" burst Celephindeth. "And now he would take the other."

"Calm yourself, Celephindeth," Arbellason snapped. "You said you wanted satisfaction and we are here. Nobody will make Saeldur fight if he does not wish it."

Arbellason had not yet entirely forgiven Saeldur.

Saeldur must have sensed the unspoken reproof, because his cheeks were scarlet. His voice was steady, though, when he spoke.

"Legolas asks nothing of me that I do not give him willingly, my lord. I chose to be an archer."

Thorontur smiled. "Lady Celephindeth, have you anything to say?"

"This is absurd. You cannot listen to him! Saeldur is trying to protect Legolas."

There was a moment's silence, broken by Norgalad. "Lady Celephindeth," the diplomat asked, "are you accusing your son of perjuring himself before the Council?"

"He is trying to protect his friend. His intentions are honourable, but he is misguided."

"I speak only the truth!" Saeldur said angrily. "I chose to be an archer! You know this! Lord Thorontur knows this! I chose to be an archer, and since I am older than Legolas, he was not even of age when I made that choice! If anything, he might argue that I influenced him."

"You cannot deny that he would have forced you when you did not wish to fight. I heard him," Celephindeth snapped.

Shocked silence followed her words. Legolas and Saeldur looked at each other in bewilderment.

Finally Thorontur said, "What did you hear, Celephindeth?"

"Barely two weeks past, I heard Legolas attempt to browbeat Saeldur into taking the novices on their training rounds."

Legolas stiffened, exchanging another glance with Saeldur – one of horrified understanding, this time. Thranduil knew at once what Celephindeth meant – he had heard about it, after all. But she could not have been further from the truth.

Arbellason was gazing at the elleth with a mixture of disbelief and disgust. He knew what had happened as well, and everyone would make allowances for a mother's grief, but this was taking matters too far.

"Celephindeth," he said, and although his voice was light, Thranduil was not misled. "Do you truly want to discuss that now?"

"And why not?" she demanded.

"Because Legolas was not at fault," Saeldur said.

"What happened, then, Saeldur?" Norgalad asked.

"Legolas ordered me off patrol. I… was unhappy about that. And I fear I was unreasonable." Saeldur was flushed with a mixture of embarrassment and shame. Thranduil could see how much the admission cost him. "Legolas suggested the novice rounds because they would give me something to do without putting me in undue danger."

"But you wanted no part of them!" Celephindeth insisted.

Saeldur's flush deepened. "As I told him, and as you heard, my lady. And since, in the end, I did not take the novices on their training rounds, you can hardly suppose that he forced me to do anything."

"But –"

"No!" Saeldur snapped, and Thranduil could not bring himself to reprove him for the interruption. "If you want to call Legolas to account for what happened to Candnaur, that is your right and I cannot stop you. Although, I must confess, I am astonished that the King's Council could not bear to wait until Legolas could at least walk unaided."

"Saeldur!" Legolas protested.

Saeldur gave a curt nod. "As Legolas points out, it is not for the King's archers to question the will of his Council. It is your right to ascertain what happened to Candnaur. But do not expect me to have any part of this. I chose to be an archer. And, with all due respect to Lord Thorontur, I want no commanding officer other than Legolas. You will not use me as a weapon against him."

"Thank you, Saeldur," Thorontur said, directing a grim smile at the young Elf. "That will do. Unless anybody has any objections, we can, I think, dismiss Lady Celephindeth's second charge. That leaves us with the first."

Thranduil heard Legolas' sharp intake of breath, and more than anything he longed to say something in his son's defence. It went against both his wishes and his instincts to leave Legolas to fend for himself in what had the potential to deteriorate into a deeply unpleasant situation. But it would do more harm than good for him to interfere, especially if the Council thought he was biased. He was forced to trust Thorontur and Arbellason to handle it.

"He shot Candnaur!" Celephindeth burst. "Let him deny it!"

Legolas paled, but answered. "I do not deny it, Lady Celephindeth. I shot him. The only alternative was to let the Orcs have him, for we could not have rescued him with our numbers."

"You could have tried!"

"We would have failed," Legolas said, with the calm certainty of a warrior who had spent countless years defending his realm and his King with bow and blade. "He would have been taken in any case, and his torments would have been terrible."

"Why was he even there?"

"That was not Legolas' doing," Arbellason said. "Ellaurë was the one who gave Candnaur leave to go. And I knew of it as well."

Thranduil had a feeling that, had Ellaurë been in the stronghold, Celephindeth would have summoned her to stand right beside Legolas. She looked as though she longed to begin hurling abuse at Arbellason, but even she did not quite dare.

"Legolas gave him leave to stay, though, did he not?" another Elf asked.

Heads turned towards the speaker, a dark-haired Elf who looked at Legolas with a mixture of coldness and contempt.

"You seem knowledgeable for one who was not present, Míron," Arbellason said, equally coldly.

"My son told me this."

"Your son? Was Arahael present, then? Did he transfer from the Southern Guard to the Colhador without our knowledge?"

Míron glared at him. "He had it from Saeldur, who was present. And who, I imagine, can be expected to remember the events that led to his brother's death."

There was utter and complete silence, during which Saeldur squirmed under the weight of glares from Arbellason, Thorontur and Aeroniel. What made him lower his eyes to the polished stone floor, though, was Legolas' brief glance of horrified disbelief.

"Saeldur?" Thorontur asked. "Have you anything to say?"

"There is no need, my lord," Legolas said tightly. "I was not pleased that Candnaur came, but I did give him leave to stay."

"Why?" Norgalad asked.

"Under the circumstances, I could ill spare a warrior to escort him back. I thought he would be safer with us than attempting to return through the forest alone. It was only the grace of Elbereth that let him reach our camp safely. The area was overrun with Orcs."

"Had you told him to return to the stronghold, the grace of Elbereth may have kept him safer than you could."

"The grace of Elbereth may do many things we cannot, my lord. We are only Elves. I did what I thought was best."

"What you thought was best for Candnaur?" Míron asked. "Or what you thought was best for you?"

"I have not the honour of understanding you," Legolas got out.

"Candnaur was the King's heir before you were born. And it is no secret that many of us would consider him far more… suitable… than the whelp of a Wood-elf."

Thranduil's eyes blazed, but before he could say anything, Thorontur said, in a voice that conveyed a world of menace, "Speak a single word against the memory of our Queen again, Lord Míron, and I will not be answerable for my actions. If you have anything to say that is worthy of this Council's attention, say it. We do not summon our warriors to listen to idle speculation and baseless accusations."

"Arahael has told me Saeldur thinks –"

"Lord Míron," Arbellason growled, "it may have escaped your notice that Saeldur is in this room. If this Council wants to know what Saeldur thinks, it will ask Saeldur. Do you have anything to say?"

"Only that I always knew no good would come of letting Legolas command the archers!"

"You sleep safer in your bed because the warriors hold our borders. You would do well not to speak of matters of which you know nothing, Míron."

Thorontur shot his friend a brief, warning glance.

"In any case," he said, "Legolas' fitness to command the archers is not the matter at issue."

"It is if it was his poor judgement that led to Candnaur's death. If he cannot be trusted to keep one Elf alive, how is he to be trusted with the King's archers?"

"We are at war, Lord Míron," Thorontur replied. "Each life lost is a tragedy, but, as Legolas pointed out, we are only Elves. We do all that we can, and sometimes that is not enough."

"I do not dispute that. I only question whether Legolas' judgement in this issue was clouded by his relationship with Candnaur."

"I had no quarrel with Candnaur," Legolas said.

"You barely knew him!" Celephindeth snapped.

"I knew him only as Saeldur's brother, my lady. He chose a different path from mine."

"Yes," Míron agreed. "And what influenced your path, Legolas? Only duty? Or were you misguided by the Kinslayers whose company you keep?"

"The sons of Elrond are my friends, but they have slain none of their kin, Lord Míron. My decisions are my own."

"Your decision killed my son!" Celephindeth snapped. "You let him stay with you, which was bad enough, but when he was captured you shot him."

"Because I asked him to!" Saeldur burst out. "Can you not see that it had to be done? We had no hope of rescuing him – the Orcs were too many. If they had taken him alive, his suffering at their hands would have been unimaginable. We would have done the same thing if one of us had been taken."

"You are warriors," Míron responded. "You chose this!"

"None of us chooses the life of a warrior, Míron," Arbellason said. "We do what we must because we must. When Candnaur asked to go to the warriors' camp, he knew the risks."

"Why Legolas, though?" Norgalad asked. "Even assuming that you wanted to spare Candnaur's suffering, Saeldur, why not do it yourself?"

"He was my brother, my lord. I could not have done it. And in any case, I had no clear line to him."

"So it was Legolas' shot?"

There was a moment's pause, during which there seemed to be silent communication between Legolas, Saeldur and Aeroniel. At last, Aeroniel, speaking for the first time, said reluctantly, "It was my shot, my lord."

"Then why did Legolas take it?"

"I did not want to risk it. Legolas' hand is steadier on the bow. Even without as clear a line as I had, I knew he would make a cleaner shot."

"And why was your hand so steady in the act of Kinslaying, Legolas?" Míron murmured. "It is an act most Elves would find abhorrent."

There was an instantaneous, horrified hush.

Thorontur broke it. "There is a limit to how much I will suffer one of my archers to be browbeaten, Míron, even for the sake of Celephindeth's right to answers. Be grateful that you have never seen a battlefield, or you would know something of the carnage and blood and fear that makes killing an act of mercy."

Míron glared straight back at the Archery Master. "I only ask because it is extraordinary how often Legolas' company appears to be fatal for his kin." Cold eyes turned on the Elf-prince. "I am not the only one who says so. His own second agrees with me, even if he will not admit it now. After all, we have only his word for it that the Queen whose memory this Council honours so highly was slain by the traitor Bregolien and not by his own hand."

Legolas flinched, even as Saeldur and Aeroniel stepped closer to him on either side.

Thranduil's fists clenched on the table, but before he could react, Arbellason put a warning hand on his arm.

Thorontur got to his feet. "This Council is in recess," he announced. "I will not have Legolas tormented like this for your amusement, Míron. Celephindeth, if you have any further questions about what happened to Candnaur, Legolas will return to discuss them with you this afternoon."

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