Disclaimer: The world of Middle-earth and the characters of Legolas, Thranduil, Galion, Smaug, and King Girion of Dale belong to JRR Tolkien, and I am merely borrowing them for a short time. All others are mine. Direct quotes are from the books of JRR Tolkien. This story was written for my own enjoyment and, I hope, that of the readers. I am making no money from it. No horses were harmed in the writing of this story, however, one dragon was insulted.

My sincere thanks to my beta for this story, Lexin.

Epilogue: The Forest

The Elvenking's party made its way westward through the forest. Galion, newly returned from Esgaroth, rode beside his king. A few paces back, Tamin rode his own horse, and Tulie perched gingerly on Legolas's pony, which was being led by an elvish groom. Legolas noticed that both the Edain were looking a little wide-eyed at the dark vistas of the wood. Séregon and Magorion were there too, along with twice the number of archers and spearmen that had accompanied the king's party when it had left Thranduil's palace a fortnight before.

Legolas shared the great bay charger with his father, seated to the front and held tightly in Thranduil's arms. The hated mithril coat was gone now, and Legolas wished the dragon joy of it. His Ada's arms were all the armor he wanted or needed.

Legolas would have liked to have seen Dale before the Dragon burned it. He would have liked to have met Girion's youngest son as well, and he felt sadness for this young human boy who now had no father to look after him.

"Ada," he said. "When we get home, may I have a bow to practice with? Now that Tulie has given me the braids?"

He felt his father's arms tighten around him, and he felt Thranduil's chest heave with a sigh. "You are very young, Legolas, but I suppose it is time. Yes, you may have a bow."

"And knives?" He heard Galion cough and Magorion suppress what sounded like a laugh.

"Yes, my son. You may have knives, and my chief general will school you in their use. Will you not, Magorion?" said Thranduil. "Sharp knives."

Legolas smiled, as he saw the bridge come into view, with the vast stone gates of the palace beyond. Home was in sight, and all was well.

The End

Author's notes:

I am new to this archive and I am still getting used to the formatting. So far, I have not discovered a way to place an extra space or a placeholder between my scene changes within a chapter. Since this story cntains many changes of POV, this may be a bit confusing. Be assured, if I ever find a way that works, this will be rectified. Meanwhile, my apologies.

This story was written as a counter to the numerous tales of Thranduil being an abusive father and an unpleasant elf in general. I now realize that Thranduil hardly needs my defense, but the story stands.

In my opinion, this is a plausible way for Bilbo's mithril shirt to have gotten into the hoard of the dragon, Smaug. After reading The Unfinished Tales, I came to realize that Elven royal families were not exactly prevalent east of the Misty Mountains and that the mithril mail armor could well have belonged to someone we know. I had very seriously considered making the mithril armor a family heirloom belonging to Thranduil or even Oropher in childhood, yet in The Hobbit, Thorin says that the mithril coat was made by "his people." For the purposes of this story, I take it to mean it was fashioned by the dwarves of Erebor. It is a costly thing, and it symbolizes the love Thranduil has for his son.

Here comes my customary note on elves and saddles. For those who will insist that elves never use saddles, I cite the following example of an elf using both saddle and bridle. The horse is Asfaloth; the rider is Glorfindel:

"Suddenly into view below came a white horse, gleaming in the shadows, running swiftly. In the dusk its headstall flickered and flashed, as if it were studded with gems like living stars. ( . . .) the rider had reined in his horse and halted ( . . .)'You shall ride my horse,' said Glorfindel. 'I will shorten the stirrups up to the saddle skirts, and you must sit as tight as you can." Fellowship of the Ring, Chapter XII: Flight to the Ford

It makes sense to me that on an occasion when Thranduil and his retinue are riding in state to Dale, they will chose to use saddles.