Legolas and Aragorn sat in silence by the fire, the man silently fuming, and the elf lost in his thoughts. The elf sighed in frustration. Why had he ever agreed to come in this quest? It was proving more difficult to get along with the other members of the fellowship than to trek across Middle-earth. There was something wrong with that and he knew it. He cast a sidelong glance toward the human sitting next to him, Aragorn. The future king did not seem to want to understand anything Legolas would explain, he was just making things far more complicated than they should have been.
The blond elf stole a glance at Aragorn. The man sat no more than two feet away, and yet that seemed to Legolas an amazingly far gap. His gray eyes looked intencly into the fire before him, pointedly ignoring the elven prince.
Aragorn fumed, the elf was being extremely annoying, at least in his point of view. The ranger knew he was being stubborn, but he did not care. It wasn't his fault he was mortal, and if that meant he could no longer speak to someone who had been one of his closest friends... Well then he could damn well be angry couldn't he?
"It was millennia ago..."
Aragorn blinked. After so long in silence Legolas' sudden comment had startled him.
"The events that caused the banishment of men," Legolas said, explaining his earlier statement. He looked to the ground as he spoke, recalling the stories that had been told to him as a child. "A prince of Mirkwood, heir to the throne, met a human king, and fell in love."
Aragorn looked up now, though it seemed to him that Legolas would probably continue talking even if he did not listen.
"The elf's father saw no harm in this," Legolas continued, "And he allowed his son to go off and live with the man, and so he did. They were happy for a long time, but when the mortal king died the prince's grief was so much that..." the elf paused, "That he was consumed by it, he died. And so his father, grieved and angered by the news of his son's death, forever banished mortal men from his kingdom."
After Legolas finished speaking there was a long silence seeming to last for hours, yet was really only a few moments.
"I... I did not know," Aragorn said softly, and Legolas smiled faintly at him. "But It happened so long ago, surely it is not still relevant."
"My father thinks it is," the elf replied, "for the prince was his uncle."
I get it now. Now it all makes sense. I can see why Legolas' father would not want him to befriend humans. He does not want his son to have the same fate the other prince had.
And yet, I still do not like it. What right does Thranduil have to keep him from befriending us? What right does he have to say that Legolas cannot even speak with me? It is not fair to him, to anyone.
And it should not matter, especially in times like these. During this war he should be allowed to do as he pleases, to help where his help is needed, like in this fellowship. For in times like these the help of all kindred is needed, elves especially. Legolas will put this law out of his mind, I will make sure of it.
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Chapter end notes: Sorry that was kind of short, but I wanted to get the story out, and I couldn't think of anything else really to add to this chapter. The next one should be longer, because we've gotten off the law topic and now Aragorn seems fairly determined to make Leggy break that law. Uh-oh... That could be bad. As always, reviews are needed to feed the muses, and muses are needed to continue writing.
