Title: Abschied Author: Milly Author’s Email: ElrohiradoresElladan@gmx.net Pairing: Glorfindel/Erestor, Elrond/Thranduil, possibly other elf/elf Rating: R Summary: Well the last part of my little A-series. [Abschied means „Saying Bye’ or „parting’.] I will try to solve as much things as possible. If you have any questions in the end please ask. Disclaimer: They belong to me in my dreams and in my stories, but I understand and accept that this is life and I don’t hold any rights on them. I’m sorry if my playing with them offends anyone. Please show mercy though. It’s hard enough not to have them. Warning: mpreg, a bit of angst, au, implied non-con, possibly incest Authors Note: This is going to be the last story to this series and I do not believe that there will be a sequel to it. I promised to write a lot of other things and until those and the things I wish to write myself are finished I cannot even think upon the possibility. *smiles* I would like to thank all the sweet ones who gave me feedback on this story... thanks to Ava, to Blue, to Manon, to Para, to Sarah, to Mira and to my sweet Sera. :) Abschied Prologue [or rather; summary of Aroon&Adar&Anicroche&Affectus] [This is mainly written for the people who did not read the prequel and the main story and don’t intend to do so. And yes, the beginning of the prologue is the same as in the other stories; it’s about the same story, right? *smirks*] ~Mirkwood-Lórien~ In the past weeks my life changed gravely. The war, the death... and the new life. When Elrond came to Mirkwood to tell me that my father had died in War it felt like it would be the end of the world. But it wasn’t. It felt strange to lead a realm after being kept out of trouble for so many years. Still it was possible, first with Elrond’s help and then with that of Erestor and Glorfindel. It was hard to get used to leading a realm, make no mistake about that. But I would have coped with it. I would have led my realm and coped with my father’s death. It just wasn’t enough, it seems. My bad luck had but started when my lover came to Mirkwood. How could I know that I would become pregnant, that I am one of the few Sindar who actually still carry the trait of fertility? Had I known, would I have denied my love the right to make me his again? I do not know, but it is too late to change anything now. And no matter what will happen, I will not take my child’s life, I will love it if nobody else can. If my people will chase me from my realm and my lover will leave me for getting pregnant... it can still count on me. No one will do it any harm while I am around as I will be there to protect it. That knowledge is the only thing that comforts me since the day I sent Erestor back to Imladris and remain here alone, among people who still do not wish to accept the fact that my father died and I am their king now. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* As I saw my child’s life threatened I decided to leave my home and run, which didn’t seem to be my best idea as the Elves in Lórien scared me terribly. Luckily Erestor and one of my father’s advisors arrived in time to explain them that I feared they would abuse and slay me and they told me that my lover and they had been searching for me since weeks. They are worried about me; it’s hard to explain how much it calmed me to hear that. Elrond wasn’t mad that I didn’t tell him, not really at least. He was far too happy that we would have a child to really care and just told me that I have to know that he truly loves me and that he would rather harm himself than do me any harm. It was so sweet, he had tears in his eyes when he proposed to me and asked me to come to Imladris with him. And I couldn’t deny that I don’t want to go back to Mirkwood. Not yet at least, they would murder me if they knew that I brought more Noldo and even human blood into their royal family by permitting my beloved to impregnate me, even if I didn’t do it on purpose. Later they might see the good points for us, as having a strong bound between the leaders of Imladris and Mirkwood cannot be bad for them. But that is the future, currently I have just become father of the two cutest children one can imagine and bound myself in love to their father. We agreed that we will wait until our children are older before we celebrate the binding, but we had our best friends witness the ceremony held by Lord Celeborn. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* My children are both well and the cutest on the face of Adar. Still that wasn’t the only important thing that happened in Lórien... I have a new father. Or rather, I have had him since I was begotten, but I only found out about it a short time ago. My best friend... I still can’t believe it. He helped raising me, he is the person I always trusted the most and he didn’t tell me that I am his child. There has been some trouble when Elrohir vanished, but I think we all survived the shock, he has been found by humans and taken to Imladris where he was brought back to me immediately. I’m just happy that nothing happened to him while he was gone. The twins surely are a handful to take care of, but I love spending my time with them. However, what would live be without problems? Erestor and Glorfindel still decided that they love each other too much to break their relationship forever though they are still getting used to being together again, I think. And my Mirkwood people are upset, I heard. Elrond and I will have to go there as soon as my youngest is born. Or at least as soon as I can leave him in Erestor’s care... *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~* When we left for Mirkwood my heart was pained as I didn’t want to leave my children alone. Though I knew that they would stay with Erestor and that he would take good care of them. I didn’t really worry that they would misbehave either, but it saddened me to leave them. To know that they would miss me just like I knew I would miss them. At least Glorfindel and Erestor seemed convinced that they would be able to handle it and assured me that there wouldn’t be too much trouble, but I feared that they merely wanted to calm me, and I presume I was right about that. My former home was even worse than it had used to be when I still lived there. It wasn’t even that terrible that my children weren’t around, though I missed them sorely. But apart from father’s chief advisor no one really wished to speak to either Elrond or me. And after a certain, very embarrassing event my mate actually had to defend me from my own people. It was terrible, but apart from my hurt feelings I at least learned that it is senseless to try to deal with the Sindar. Helkafin, father’s former advisor and current leader of my realm agreed to come to Imladris with us for a while and the next day we left Mirkwood. We returned home and I noticed just how much I had missed my family... my sons and also my father and his lover. But my joy to be back in Imladris was clouded a bit by my worry upon Erestor’s behavior. His reaction upon seeing Helkafin wasn’t joyful at all. He pulled him away, muttering something about showing his home to him. Glorfindel and Elrond went after them and later, when my love returned to me he was reacting strange. It is seldom that I worry about Elrond’s thoughtfulness, but this time he managed to scare me. He just hugged Elrohir and sang to him softly. An ancient song he usually sings if his heart is troubled, but even after Elrohir finally fell asleep -he had been the most exited upon our arrival and had managed to stay awake until my husband returned from the discussion- he didn’t tuck him in. Instead he cradled him closer and he cried, scaring me with his silent tears and the way he clung to my child as if the sweet innocent elfling could comfort him. Chapter 1 ~Imladris~ “I hate the way he takes away ada.’ Elladan repined, looking at his twin for support. But Elrohir just shook his head, slowly and clumsily braided his hair and got up. “We must go and have breakfast, Elan. They will not wait for us and I want to ask Estor if he will read to me after it’s.’ Elladan just pulled a face but got up as well, smirking evilly at the badly plaited braids in his brother’s hair. Of course he hadn’t even tried to braid his own hair, but at least he didn’t do something that stupid, his twin looked like a foolish little girl now. They ran downstairs, meeting their family in the dining room. “You are late.’ Elrond pointed out, not really annoyed, but also not pleased about his sons’ behavior. “You are supposed to arrive on time and you do know that.’ Elrohir nodded and pointed to his braids. “I am sorry, I made Elan be late. But I tried to braid my hair like you asked us to.’ The bit of existing anger inside Elrond melted and he studied the braids thoughtfully. “You are doing well, my son that is very good for the beginning. Now please sit down, let us not delay our meal further.’ The twins nodded, taking their seats next to their parents and Elrohir leaned against Erestor. “Would you read to me if you have time?’ He whispered and Erestor smiled, suppressing the feelings of unconfined affection such a little question rose inside of him. “Of course I will read to you once I finished my reports, Elrohir.’ Glorfindel, hearing his lover’s comment, frowned. “But didn’t you say that we would go for a walk this evening?’ He asked, annoyed that it made him sound like a whiney child. Before Erestor could reply, however, Thranduil smiled at his son. “I would love to read to you, my son,’ he proposed and Elrohir nodded. “Hannad, nanada.’ Elladan, who had remained silent until then, suddenly pulled a face. “You mean that you will read to him if you are not too busy, taking care of your darling child.’ He hissed and then quickly got up to run from the room. The other Elves looked at Elrohir in confusion, hoping that he would be able to explain the scene, but he merely shrugged. Thranduil sighed and handed Legolas to Elrond who tried to smile, hoping that his lover would know what to do. “Do not worry, I am sure that he is just a little jealous, that’s normal for children.’ Erestor said, but knew that it would be useless if he tried to go after him. Elladan most certainly wanted to speak to no one at the moment, and if he did it was Thranduil who he wanted to speak to. Thranduil just nodded and left the room, but though he called for his son again and again he received no answer. “My lord?’ One of the servants walked towards him. “I saw your son just a moment ago; he was running in this direction.’ The elf pointed to the left. Thranduil smiled and thanked him hastily, trying to catch up with the confused child. “Elladan?’ He opened Erestor’s study and saw his son, sitting on the floor and crying. “Ai Elan, my sweet child.’ Thranduil gasped and quickly knelt next to the elfling, reaching out to pull his son onto his knees. But Elladan shook his head, obviously not only sad but also angry. “Do not touch me.’ Hurt by the rejection, but also unsure what else to do Thranduil remained kneeling next to his son in silence, waiting for him to calm down a little. Neither said a word for several minutes until Thranduil finally carefully started to stroke Elladan’s hair. “You are angry because I am spending so much time with Legolas,’ he asked gently and didn’t need to see the nodding of his son to know that he was right. “But... Elladan, I love all three of you, it is just that Legolas really needs me close right now,’ Thranduil explained, but knew that it was unfair to say so. The twins needed him as well, they needed him a lot and maybe Elladan was right, he hadn’t spend much time with them lately, far too busy with worrying about his own problems, with the feeling that Legolas didn’t eat enough, with the trouble in Mirkwood. “I promise that I will spend more time with you, Elan.’ He whispered and finally managed to pull his son to his lap to hug him close. “Do not worry, I will find the time for you and Elrohir.’ Elladan nodded, obviously still too confused to answer, but he slowly calmed down and leaned into his father’s hug, happy to finally have him for himself again. Not that it was bad to share his father with Elrohir. He loved his twin dearly and would have shared everyone and everything with him. But the stupid new child, the child of which no one had ever asked him if he wanted it close wasn’t someone he wished to share with. Chapter 2 ~Imladris~ Erestor looked up from his work, irritated by his lover’s presence, though Glorfindel was sitting there silently; obviously busy reading a thrilling book. But still it annoyed him that he could not work alone any longer as soon as the seneschal had finished his work. He just couldn’t give any reason why it irritated him, as he had more than often allowed the children to play in his room while he was working and they hadn’t been as silent as Glorfindel was. There was nothing he could blame his lover for, but still he felt like screaming, like hitting that lovely face, pull the golden locks and throw him out of the room. It was just... he couldn’t explain why and he had never attacked anyone without a reason before. The advisor forced him to focus on his work, trying hard to rewrite a report he had just covered with ink, but he couldn’t steady his hand. Glorfindel looked up from his book. “Shall I help you, melamin? I would love to if I could.’ He smiled and Erestor fought the urge to roll his eyes. There hadn’t been any trouble until Glorfindel had appeared and he did not wish for any help. But still he knew that his lover was merely trying to be nice and to spend as much time with him as he could. They had been through a hard time ever since Helkafin had forced him to reveal the nature of Oropher’s and his relationship. He knew that neither of them was to blame and so did Glorfindel. But still it was difficult to enjoy being around an overprotective elf. If one of the scribes made a joke upon him Glorfindel glared at the poor elf as if he wanted to cut his throat. If one of the soldiers tried to flirt with him his lover reacted as if the guard had attempted to rape him. And it became even worse once they were in their room. Once they went there Glorfindel would ask him what he would like to do, if he wanted him to sleep on the floor. Something he would never have dreamed of asking of his lover even if he had just been to battle for the past five weeks and had refused to wash himself. And when he had finally convinced him that he wanted him to share his bed he had to fight the same battle to be allowed get the arms he was used to sleep him around his body again. Of course he had known that it would be difficult for Glorfindel to accept such a thing. To know that he had lain with someone against his will and that his love would feel hurt and confused. But it was getting too much. It had been centuries ago and back then he had seen no other way. There wasn’t a reason to assume that he would ever make the same mistake again as no one held such power over his child any longer. If he ever feared for Thranduil’s well being he would take his son and his grandchildren and leave either for Mirkwood and Lórien instead of submitting to someone who would threaten to do ill to his child. It just wasn’t possible to explain that fact to Glorfindel without confusing him even more. And he did not want to find out if his lover would assume that he felt threatened by Elrond and try to help him by threatening their friend in return. Erestor sighed when he realized that Glorfindel waited for an answer and he almost yelled at him for the concerned look in his eyes. “I do not need any help, thank you,’ he replied politely and didn’t miss the stiffening of his lover’s body, knowing that he had hurt Glorfindel more than he wanted to, but unable to tell him that he felt sorry about that. When Glorfindel just sat down again, to resume reading, Erestor gritted his teeth. He had hoped for a little fight, something to finally make sure that his anger wouldn’t make him burst. But he couldn’t fight if the Elda didn’t react offended and he couldn’t tease him with cynical remarks, make him give up that silly, all concerned wish, to treat him more like an elfling, than Oropher had done with Thranduil. Suddenly he stared at the paper he was copying in shock. The last lines he had written weren’t like those above; he had used the old handwriting he had always used while writing letters in Mirkwood and the last word now read “Oropher’. He had never made such mistakes before. Not even while he had still missed Thranduil and Oropher more than anything and he had cried himself to sleep caused by the aching in his heart to hear the laughter of his child and to urge hold him after he had stumbled and fallen. “What is wrong, melamin?’ Glorfindel asked when he heard an annoyed sigh from the table, but Erestor just shook his head. “Are you sure that you do not need any help?’ The advisor nodded and glared at his lover who just frowned in confusion and returned his attention to his book. Erestor looked down again, trying to focus on a new paper, but he couldn’t. All he kept seeing was Oropher, kissing his lips after their first night. That had been such a wonderful day. But he knew that those images were ruined and he knew that he would be haunted by nightmares like every time he remembered them. It wasn’t that the time he had been with Oropher had been that horrible in the end. But the way that the wonderful love they had had, had been ruined by the actions that had followed later still haunted him and ever since Glorfindel was taking care of him like that they became more vivid again. He did not want to remember those years. To see those nights again, as if he was watching them, the way he had tried so hard to please Oropher, even though he did not want to any longer, the way Oropher hadn’t even understood that he was tainted the love they had had by his actions. And he shuddered unwillingly when he remembered how his former lover had continued to whisper the endearments he had used while they had still been mates. Chapter 3 ~Imladris~ ~Special thanks to Mira for entertaining me whilst I wrote this! :) ~ “He just doesn’t eat anymore,’ Thranduil told his lover, terribly worried about his baby’s behaviour. “And he doesn’t drink, he barely sleeps and I don’t know what to do. Even if he sleeps he whimpers and cries. And he closes his eyes while he’s sleeping lately. It’s really... scaring me.’ Elrond softly caressed Thranduil’s hair. “Please my heart, stop worrying like that; I am sure that it is nothing serious. As my child it isn’t unusual for him to close his eyes while he’s asleep, the twins do that as well.’ “But Legolas usually doesn’t close his eyes while he’s sleeping. And... Oh Elrond I am worried about him. The twins never cried like that.’ “All will be fine, my heart. Please go back to sleep,’ Elrond whispered and turned his back on Thranduil, hoping to end their conversation. “Nothing will be fine. And you don’t even care. He’s your son, Elrond; you should be worried just like I am. But all you care about is your beloved Imladris. You never ask the twins if they would like to spend time with you. You never hold Legolas in your arms anymore lately. All that troubles you is that your realm might suffer from my father’s worries. That you should take better care of it now that your chief advisor has trouble to concentrate. And you are scared that the youths from Mirkwood will lead a rebellion. Fine, I understand that. But you could at least *pretend* to care if your son is suffering from a sickness.’ Thranduil yelled and Elrond covered his ears, both annoyed that he wouldn’t get any sleep and angry at himself for annoying his lover. But it was also unfair that Thranduil always blamed him for any problems they had lately. For a moment he considered to defend himself, to tell Thranduil that he was worried about his family more than about Imladris and that he just didn’t wish to ruin his realm because the Elves trusted him to rule it wisely. It was just senseless as he knew that Thranduil wouldn’t listen to his words. “Let us discuss this in the morning, please Thranduil, I need to get a bit of sleep,’ he whispered, and sighed in frustration when he saw Thranduil’s expression becoming even more angry. The blond elf picked up their restlessly sleeping son from his cradle and announced that he would sleep in the guest rooms, but Elrond couldn’t bring himself to protest. /Well go and join your father. I’m sure he doesn’t share his lover’s bed anymore either. / When the door closed behind Thranduil, Elrond was about to cry in frustration. Lately everything went wrong. He had heard of things he was really worried about and knew that Thranduil secretly blamed him for knowing what was wrong with Erestor and not telling him. But they had promised that they wouldn’t tell Thranduil. And as much as he wanted his lover to calm down again he couldn’t break his promise to Erestor. /If only my head wouldn’t hurt like that. / Elrond leaned his head against the pillows, frustrated that he felt even worse now that Thranduil was gone. The aching head, the sneezing and the sore throat were already terrible enough and the knowledge that his lover had moved into the guest rooms and that he would cry himself to sleep now didn’t make things any better. But he was too tired to speak to his whining beloved and so was Thranduil himself. Neither of them was capable of a sensible discussion and instead of getting up to go after him, Elrond curled into his covers. The whole situation was difficult. His friends didn’t really speak to each other. They hadn’t fought, but though Glorfindel tried to be nice and kind Erestor reacted as cold as if he had been offended. The twins were unhappy that Thranduil was spending too much time with Legolas. Legolas seemed to be in a difficult phase of trying so hard to be like his older brothers to gain their affection and Thranduil was far too worried about him. And as for himself... he wished that he had never made love in the snow as it hadn’t done his health any good. Chapter 4 ~Imladris~ “He doesn’t understand me at all, ada,’ Thranduil complained and Erestor sighed, full of pity for his beloved son. He had never wished for Thranduil to fall in love with Elrond, but it was too late now. It wasn’t that he didn’t love Elrond as a friend and dearly so. But his son came first and everyone who dared to hurt his only child’s feelings harmed Erestor’s as well. Legolas woke in his father’s arms and Erestor took him, to walk to the window and show him some of the birds that were playing outside. “You should be patient with him, dear Thranduil, it is difficult for him to live with a sickness, he isn’t used to having those either. I am sure he will understand your worries again when he feels better,’ Erestor replied gently and kissed Legolas’ hair, feeling the affection for the little one rising even more when he once again realized just how similar his grandson was to his own child. “I think it isn’t that easy. He shouldn’t just care for himself and his realm only because he is sick! We have three children that need us. The twins are slowly growing mad because they don’t think we really care for them anymore. Legolas refuses to drink normally… and all he cares for are his beloved politics.” “But Thranduil, you have to admit that he has to care for politics as the leader of a great realm. He can’t only care for you and his family’s well being. It is his duty to lead the realm and I fear you are expecting too much of him. If he wouldn’t rule this realm in the way he is supposed to they would say that it is because you and your children are making him weak. And you’d suffer if you knew that would blame your little ones, wouldn’t you?” Erestor smiled, trying to calm his son, even though he understand his anger and considered telling Elrond to find more time for Thranduil’s worries already. Suddenly Thranduil sighed angrily and got up from his chair. “You love finding excuses for his behavior lately, is that a thing fathers have in common? Do you think he’ll grow to understand my worries again because you remember what it was like when father and you were together? Did you not care for me either when I was as small as Legolas is now? And now you are leaving my side again because my poor, poor Elrond needs your help? I thought Glorfindel is Elrond’s friend and you are mine. What do you think, dearest father, will Elrond stop loving his children and just leave them alone as well? It’s such a great feeling to know that you are my father and happily agreed to give me back to Oropher’s care when I came to you for help. Do you have any idea what he did when I was back in Mirkwood? How he caned me for leaving without his permission? You just send me back to him without ever caring what would happen to me.” Thranduil silently regarded his father’s face for a moment, but even though he knew he would feel sorry later he couldn’t stop himself from a last evil remark that helped soothing all the sorrow he had felt for years whenever he thought back at Oropher’s way to punish him. “I wish you well, father, I just hope that I’ll be more caring towards my children than my parents have been.” With that he snatched his son from Erestor’s arms and even ignored the protest Legolas uttered immediately. He left the room and his totally flabbergasted father alone, as he quietly closed the door behind him as if nothing had happened. -yes I know, I didn’t understand Thranduil either. He just did that and I was like “hey, he’s your father, he’d give his life for you!” but he shrugged and ignored me. :( Oh um… to those of you who did *not* notice it yet. Erestor *is* my favorite character, even though I like everyone in this story.- Chapter 5 ~Imladris~ Thranduil had started to think about his words and when eve was setting he decided to go and speak to his father. Sure, he had been angry and it had been his right to complain. But he had seen Erestor’s eyes and now, after he had calmed down a bit, he felt bad for hurting the older elf. So when Legolas fell asleep and Elrond agreed to stay with the children he walked to his father’s room and shyly knocked the door, hoping that he wouldn’t disturb Erestor and Glorfindel. But he didn’t. In fact only Glorfindel was around to hear his knock and call him inside. And suddenly Thranduil was unsure how to tell Glorfindel what had happened without making him angry. It wasn’t like the Balrogslayer had ever shown the greatest sympathy for him. They had spent a lot of time together, but they hadn’t ever shared interests or secrets. And Glorfindel would certainly not like to hear that Erestor was sad. As certainly he didn’t know of it yet, because he still looked friendly at his visitor. Thranduil smiled, suddenly feeling rather insecure. “Suilad Glorfindel. You wouldn’t by any chance know about Erestor’s whereabouts?” The golden haired shook his head. “No, I do not know about his whereabouts. I thought you were spending some time together. That’s at least what he told me when I last saw him. Didn’t you talk to him then?” “Actually… um… I did speak to him. But we had a little dissension and I left the room.” Suddenly he had Glorfindel’s undivided attention. “You had a fight that made you leave the room? Since when do you fight with each other? I never heard of such a thing. Do you have any idea where he went? I haven’t seen him since the morning… when did you leave him?” “A while ago… I sang Legolas to sleep and left him with Elrond before I came here. That would be… about two hours, I would say.” Glorfindel nodded, obviously relieved that it hadn’t been longer. “Well you can go to his study; he might just work there to distract himself. I’ll go and check the garden. He often goes there if he’s sad.” Thranduil bit his lip, feeling guilty that Glorfindel was so sure that Erestor wasn’t enjoying himself. The Elda’s words matched with the expression he had seen in his father’s eyes. And he quickly left to run to Erestor’s study. Chapter 6 ~Imladris – Mirkwood~ Erestor stared at the door. It had been minutes, maybe even an hour since Thranduil had walked out, but he just couldn’t understand what his son had said. Of course he had to feel hurt about what had happened back then. But the Chief advisor knew there wasn’t much he could do. After all he had always tried his best to help his child, not matter with which means. He would have done anything for the young king, but obviously that wasn’t enough. And as Erestor knew he would never tell him about Oropher’s and his pact, he couldn’t say anything to change Thranduil’s point of view. But it was hard to know that Thranduil felt betrayed, by both of his fathers. That he felt unloved and unwanted now. It never occurred to Erestor that his son’s cruel words had been unfair towards him, not while he watched the door and considered his possibilities and neither when he slowly got up to go to his room. He couldn’t speak to Glorfindel because his lover would be mad at Thranduil and he couldn’t talk to Elrond because his Lord would be mad that Thranduil had spoken to him about trouble he should have talked about with Elrond… and there wasn’t anyone who could listen. Thranduil surely was too mad to let him see the children and it was then that Erestor realized that he didn’t have many trusted friends he could turn to. Those he liked enough to talk to them were involved in the fight and he didn’t feel like traveling to Lórien to visit Celeborn either. Mirkwood however was a far better choice. There was someone who had to listen to his trouble, someone he hadn’t talked to in a long while and who most certainly wouldn’t turn him away. Someone who had never turned him away. And Mirkwood was, after all the place where all the trouble had started. Erestor smiled bitterly at the thought. And while gathering his clothes and putting on his riding clothes he relived the dreaded scene that had changed his life. It had been many years ago, back in Mirkwood when the loved and respected King of the realm had entered his room. But he hadn’t been like Erestor knew him at all. Oropher had been pale, with his hair hanging untidily over his shoulders and barely dressed. Pure terror had been in his eyes and once he had been in Erestor’s arms he had started to cry. Greatly worried Erestor had asked him about his fears, but he hadn’t gotten any reply for minutes. And then, when the proud ruler of Mirkwood finally lifted his face to look into Erestor’s eyes, he slowly and clumsily started to speak. His voice had been croaky from crying and he had stuttered like a child that was trying out the language of the adults for the very first time. “I am with child, melamin…” he had whispered and Erestor had known he was speaking the truth immediately. He understood his lover’s frustration, though it hurt him a little. Oropher, the great King of Greenwood, the fair ruler of a wonderful realm was known for his justice as well as his sternness. How could he soil his reputation by admitting that he had submitted his body to his advisor? Because lying about the child’s father would be senseless. Or wouldn’t it? Erestor started to consider the possibilities for a moment, but then returned his attention to his mate. “It will be alright, Laurealasse. We will find a way to deal with this. I will protect our child from harm, melme, you will see, it will be alright.” His soothing words had slowly shown their success when Oropher’s crying became lighter and the loved elf eventually drifted to sleep. “We will get through this, melme…” he whispered to Oropher, before he carefully caressed over the lightly swollen abdomen. “Laisi, I promise you, I will give my life, my position and my happiness for you. If there is anything I can do to grant you the life you deserve I will do it.” And, as if to reply to the gentle words, he felt a light movement beneath the pale skin of his lover’s body. While Erestor happily greeted his child he whispered softly: “Do not worry my child, with a father like Oropher you will be the sweetest and prettiest child Mirkwood has ever seen.” And Thranduil had been such a wonderful child… he had been gentle towards animals, friendly towards other elves and he had shown a sweet curiosity to life as well as an amazing intellect and a fair appearance. He had been perfect and Erestor had loved his child more dearly than anything, more than even Oropher himself. But still it was his beloved son who had changed his life, and even though Erestor couldn’t imagine life without him any longer he still felt sorrow whenever he thought of the love he had lost. It wasn’t that he did mind about giving up Oropher to his sister, but the love and the bond between his lover and him had been great and the mere thought of living without the love of his life pained Erestor far too much to stay in Mirkwood. Of course his lover had asked him to stay, had pleaded him, even tried to command him. But the thought to envy his own sister and to confuse his lover’s feelings had scared him and had shown him no other way then to leave his home. It had taken him reasonable words as well as tears to convince the father of his child that it was for the best if he left for a while… only until they had gotten used to the situation. Erestor sighed while he packed his last tunic. It had been useless to try to forget his lover or at least the love they had shared. Even in Imladris everything had reminded him of Mirkwood, of Oropher, of his first love. But then Glorfindel had appeared. The golden hair, the sparkling eyes and the most charming smile Erestor had ever seen. The Balrogslayer, a brave elf, who had won the advisor’s heart most quickly. And even though he had tried to ignore his feelings to honor the love he had shared with Oropher he had soon given in and thanked the Valar for the second chance to give his heart to a lovely elf. While Erestor walked to the stables to collect Hómir, who seemed rather surprised that his master came to go for a ride with him. “Hush…” Erestor whispered when his horse was about to greet him and Hómir kept silent obediently, knowing that Erestor meant his commands if he uttered any. “We will go to Mirkwood, my friend. Just you and me and nobody else, do you understand?” Hómir, of course, didn’t answer, but Erestor knew which reply he would have gotten. It always pleased his horse to ride alone, without Asfaloth at his side. And they started to ride swiftly as soon as Erestor had mounted. It took several hours until the chief advisor started to consider that it hadn’t been a good idea to leave without any message. The riding freed his spirit in a way he hadn’t experienced it since centuries. But even though his heart grew lighter there still wasn’t anyone back at Imladris who would seriously miss him. Or was there? Would Glorfindel come to search for him? Or maybe even Elrond? Thranduil had obviously no interest in following him… Well it was too late to just go back. If he turned to go home he wouldn’t arrive before they noticed that he was missing. And he just didn’t feel like seeing Glorfindel’s worried gaze upon him, when he lied about his reasons to leave. No, it was for the best to go to Mirkwood and take his time until he returned. Erestor leaned against Hómir’s neck and tried to relax, as he really didn’t feel like taking a break until they had arrived in Greenwood. Late during the following day Erestor and Hómir reached their aim, and, without being noticed they silently made their way through the woods. Once again Hómir proved that his knowledge of Northern Mirkwood and its guards was almost as good as Erestor’s and they reached the heart of the forest without the knowledge of its guardians. But suddenly Erestor felt guilty for worrying his lover and his friends. He gently touched Hómir’s nose. “You must go home and bring them a note, Hó. They have to know that everything is alright or they will be worried.” Hómir reluctantly did as he was told; hating to leave his master behind even though he had safely carried him to his aim. But when Erestor finished his note, tied it to Hómir’s hair and told him to hurry he started to run nevertheless. After all, his master hadn’t ever left a doubt that he meant a command if he said it and neither did he take back his orders just because he knew that Hómir disliked them. Erestor watched as his horse left and for a moment felt bad about sending away such a loyal friend. But there wasn’t anything Hómir could have helped him with in this situation. And there were some things he just needed to do alone. Melamin = my love Melme = love Laurealasse = golden leaf Laisi = new life Chapter 7 ~Imladris - Mirkwood~ Some time had passed until Glorfindel marched into Elrond’s room, almost waking Legolas and receiving an angry glare from his Lord. But he just frowned. “I will have to leave Imladris for a while. Your beloved mate must have upset Erestor enough to make him take Hómir from the stables without leaving me a note. You will have to excuse me now, my Lord; I will not stay here and wait if he returns to me safely or not.” For a moment Elrond stared at the angry elven Lord, but then he crossed his arms. “Glorfindel, you are perfectly aware that that’s a rather stupid idea. You should rather form a searching group that can help you seek him. If you ride alone you can be lucky, but it’s almost certain that you won’t find him. And if he’s as upset as you say you should rather think of his well being than of your pride. But well, that’s my council; I presume that you knew I wouldn’t like your decision.” Glorfindel tightened his lips and shrugged. “I am sure that you mean well, my Lord, I will do what I presume to be right though. With your permission I will take my leave now.” Elrond sighed and nodded, knowing that it would be rather senseless to make his friend stay if he wished to leave. He could still plan sending a team out later… “I wish you well on your trip, Glorfindel. And please tell him I’m sorry that our problems might have caused him difficulties. I most certainly did not intend to upset him.” It took a moment, but Glorfindel nodded. “I will do that once I found him. Or rather… a little after I found him.” A sly smile appeared on his face and he suddenly had a hard time to keep up his anger. He would tell Erestor that Elrond missed him. But first he would ensure that Erestor knew that *he* had missed him. After smiling at Elrond he quickly left for the stables. Asfaloth was faster and smarter than Hómir, no matter if Erestor wanted to admit that or not. And as his instincts told him that his lover would go to Mirkwood after leaving Imladris behind they were ready to leave and on their way in a rather short time. They had been to Greenwood often already and Asfaloth ran without being told. To Glorfindel’s surprise it seemed that he was eager to find Erestor as well. Or maybe to find Hómir, but the elf didn’t care about that… they were swift as the wind and that was all that counted. Chapter 8 ~Imladris~ (Btw, don’t be surprised, that certain chars never spoke yet doesn’t mean that they aren’t not able to speak/think.) “Everybody knows you are not father’s child, Legolas…” Elladan whispered, glaring at his youngest brother. “They just do not want to hurt your feelings, but they know that you do not really belong to us. You are a bastard, you aren’t my father’s child. But ada does not want to loose nanada… and that is why he accepts you. Did you never notice that he doesn’t hold you close like nanada does? That he never cares if you are well or not. When Elir and I were young he cared. But with you it is different.” The younger prince stared at his brother with tears in his eyes. He did not really understand, what Elladan was saying. But it was bad, it meant that he had done something bad, he was sure about that. He had always admired his oldest brother, but in return, Elladan had pinched him and scratched him whenever no one was looking. Elladan was right, older brothers were always right. And Legolas shivered as he remembered that Elrond hardly looked at him lately. Somehow he couldn’t remember that ever in his short life Elrond had actually held and comforted him like Thranduil had. Even Glorfindel held him more often than Elrond did. And whatever a bastard was, Legolas was sure that it was a terrible thing. Still he did not dare to ask Elladan, as his brother was already frowning darkly and he knew that both ada and Elladan were angry if they frowned. Elladan and Elrohir also looked like ada. Whilst his hair was white, almost lighter than Glorfindel’s. “Is… is that why you hate me?” Legolas whispered, close to tears. Being a bastard was bad. But being hated by Elladan was worse. It was just totally impossible for him to get along with Elladan… after all he wasn’t Elrohir and it seemed that Elladan only loved older people and his twin-brother. But maybe that was his fault.. Maybe that was caused by the fact that they weren’t real brothers, like Elladan had said. He felt the tears rising and tried hard to shallow them. Elladan hated seeing him cry. He said that only little babies cried. And Legolas tried his best not to be a baby. Even though it was hard. Everyone insisted on carrying him around and having him sleep on his lap… And now that he was alone with his brother for the first time, as the adults were busy with other things, Elladan told him that they just didn’t want to hurt him. His older brother just shrugged upon his question. “You are ugly, you are stupid and you cry whenever you don’t get what you want. Why should I like you? If you at least were my brother I might try to tolerate you. But you caused all the trouble. Before you came ada loved nanada, Erestor loved Glorfindel and everyone loved Elir and me. Then you were born and everyone started to fight. Do you not think that that is because you are a terrible proof for the fact that nanada must have been with another. Perhaps even with uncle Glorfindel?” Legolas stared at the older elf in shock. But then, Glorfindel had hair that was far more similar to his than Elrond’s. He wasn’t raven-haired like his brothers and ada. His hair was as blond as Glorfindel’s. And Elladan was right… the adults were fighting. They even said that Erestor had left the realm. All because of him… for a short moment he looked at Elladan, insecure about what to tell his brother. Then he turned and left the room, quickly making his way to the bedroom to cry. Ada = father Nanada = mixture of “nana, mother” and “ada, father” Chapter 9 ~Mirkwood~ “You there! Turn around! What are you doing at this place?” Slowly the darkly clad elf rose from where he was kneeling. “How did you manage to get into Mirkwood without having the guards see you?” “Who are you? How can you dare to come here?” One of the Sindar pulled the other elf’s arm, forcing him to turn around. Then, surprised by the sight jumped away. “He’s Noldo, he’s from Imladris, they are now sending spies here to see what happens as they couldn’t overtake our realm yet.” “It might be Lord Elrond himself.” Another member of the group shook his head. “No, no I have seen Lord Elrond. They look similar, but this isn’t him.” “He does not need to come himself to seek information about our realm. Noldo, does your Lord believe that we wouldn’t catch you?” “I could get into your realm without any difficulties. If I were a spy of Lord Elrond, do you not believe I would find a better way to hide myself? Like, for example putting on clothes different from the robes of Imladris? Seriously, children, you shouldn’t try to play this game. It seems that you do not have any talent for it. A good spy wouldn’t look like an elf from another realm, but like an elf from your own home. And what should I find out at this place? I came inside without alerting the guards; neither did any other elf notice me before I chose to come out of the shadows. So please do not tell me that you would believe a nemesis of your realm to be that stupid or your lives will be wasted far too early.” “You are rather foolish to walk into a foreign realm without any protection.” “And you will now tell us the purpose of your ‘visit’ or we will make you.” The eyes of the dark-haired became tired. “Oh please, you would not believe me anyway. So why should I tell you? And this is not a foreign realm to me, young friend; I first set my feet into this wood long before you were born. It seems strange that you consider the realm your King chose to live in as an enemy.” A fairly clad elf, who seemed to be the leader or speaker of the group, stepped before the other elves. “We do not consider Thranduil our King. He is the son of our King, but he is a prince, not a King. It is not to be doubted that the royal blood of Oropher runs through his body, but he is not the leader our realm, he’s the mate of Lord Elrond, it was his choice to leave us behind and we do not miss him.” Suddenly from two sides elves seized the intruder’s arms. “Let us take him away from here.” One of them suggested and the others nodded. But to their surprise their victim began to struggle and protest when they tried to lead him away. “You will *not* make me leave this place. It took me hours to get here and I will still here. If you wish to stay or leave is your choice and I do not care. But you will not force me to go somewhere else.” Totally surprised one of the elves stared at the dark-haired. “You do really believe you have a choice, don’t you? Who do you think you are?” The older elf rolled his eyes. “Who do you think you were raised by to show such manners towards an older elf? You are but a child, even compared to Thranduil. So maybe you should ask yourself if your mother does not expect you to be back for dinner yet. Really, children like you should rather go tree climbing instead of trying to hunt beasts and spies.” Somehow Erestor wasn’t even surprised that the Mirkwoodelves became angry after his tiny speech to mock them. But they were little brats and he was annoyed that they had disturbed his peace. Though he had to admit that it stopped being amusing when their leader commanded them to bind his wrists. It reminded them of the threat he had gotten shortly before Thranduil had send him home to Imladris and the thought didn’t please him at all. The first blow came unexpected, but instead of flinching Erestor just silently chided himself for not suspecting that the youths would use violence instead of words. It went on for a while, several of the Elves were angry enough to hit and kick him even after he had fallen to the ground. And even though physical pain had been welcome compared to the mental pain he felt, his head was suddenly filled with one small question… would the youths of Mirkwood be stupid enough to murder their King’s father? Would they seriously commit a new kin slaying, even though every elf was taught that the worst wrong one could do was to murder a fellow elf? And slowly, but even more nagging the question if he could seriously leave his beloved family behind without even wishing them a good and happy life… “Daro!” A commanding voice suddenly yelled and Erestor needed a while to understand it had been Helkafin who had interrupted the attackers. To his surprise the Sindar complied immediately, but he suddenly considered that he would have surrendered any weapon as well, at the sight of Glorfindel, the Balrogslayer who currently looked furious enough to eat all of them alive. When he saw Erestor his gaze softened and he knelt down next to him. “Can you get up? How badly did they hurt you?” Gentle hands caressed over his body and he heard Glorfindel’s sigh of relief that his bones hadn’t been broken. A fine, slightly sadistic smile lit his lover’s face when he turned to the now frightened youths. “You should be glad that he is more or less well. If you had done him any serious harm I would have skinned you alive and fed you with your own skin. And that is not a plain little threat but my serious point of view.” Against all odds Erestor started to laugh, relieved that his lover was with him, even though he had already noticed a dark little smile directed to him. And he felt Glorfindel’s lips near to his ear as the blond elf whispered something to him. “Love, this time you went too far. Be glad that they already gave you what you deserved or I would personally ensure that you would come to this state. I understand that your feelings were hurt, but your behavior was impossible. I was worried to death and I haven’t been the only one. What exactly were you thinking?” Erestor smiled and happily leaned his body against Glorfindel’s. “If you will finally stop being that overprotective towards me, I will agree that it was worth a few kicks to get there,” he whispered back and received and dark, almost angry growl in return. “You will come back to Imladris with me immediately. There we will show your son and Elrond that you are well. And after that I am going to tie you onto our bed until you become serious and apologize for endangering yourself, dearest love.” For a moment Erestor was unsure whether he seriously had to apologize to Glorfindel, but looking into his lover’s eyes for a moment told him that Glorfindel was far too glad to have him back to really demand an apology. And though Erestor felt he owned him one, he decided that for the moment he would prefer to finally have back his lover instead of the lifeless puppet that felt far too sorry for him to touch him passionately. Daro = Stop Chapter 10 ~Imladris~ Both Thranduil and Elrond were waiting anxiously for Glorfindel and Erestor to return. Though they knew it would still take long until they could really hope for them to come home, but still they children had started asking for them and they didn’t know what to reply. When Thranduil sighed, obviously still feeling both guilty and worried Elrond carefully placed an arm around his shoulders. “I am sorry about this, my heart. No matter what caused you to act like that I know that you would never have done that if you hadn’t felt terrible. But please remember to yell at me instead of Erestor if I am to blame for your trouble.” Thranduil shrugged and sighed. “Well it wasn’t easy to talk to you at all, lately; you will have to admit that. I just think that it might have been a better idea if I had gone home instead of starting to yell at my father. I placed all the blame on him, you know. It was wrong, and I knew it even then. But I told him that it was his fault that I got punished back then. I just got so angry… because he would always tell me that you are right and that you don’t mean to hurt me if Imladris comes before the children and me.” Next to him Elrond froze and stared at him in shock. “Thranduil, please, do not tell me the two of you thought that anything could ever come before you and the children in my heart. That’s silly coming from you, but Erestor should *really* know better than that. You have never been sick, my heart. I know that being pregnant has to be terrible, but you haven’t been ill without any reason. It’s terrible to feel like that, believe me. And even now that I’m starting to recover my head still aches. I apologize if I was grumpy towards you. That most certainly doesn’t mean that anything could be more important than you are; my heart. There are three elves that can compete with you and there might be more in time. But please, my heart, no matter what I might say or my beloved realm comes after you, not before you, will you remember that?” Thranduil bit his lip, surprised that he couldn’t say something snappy like “I’ll remind you of that...” in return. Instead he smiled and leaned against his lover, glad that their children were fast asleep and couldn’t hear that he was almost getting sappy over their father’s explanation. “Thank you, love, I needed that, I think.” Elrond smiled, caressing the blond strands of his lover’s hair. “And I regret that I didn’t tell you earlier, my heart. However, if you accept my sincere apology for ignoring your fears we can focus on hoping that Glorfindel manages to convince Erestor to return to us.” Chapter 11 ~Imladris~ ~I’m already getting embarrassed here. Don’t tell me that I should be ashamed of turning from fluff to angst and back that quickly. I know that myself… *sighs*~ Glorfindel jumped off Asfaloth and opened his arms for Erestor to jump into them. “Love, I promise that the next time you do something foolish like that you are going to regret it. But for today I am far too glad to have you back to be really angry with you. Although I am sure that I will find a suitable punishment for you once we’re back in our rooms.” He winked and was more than glad that he had finally found out why his lover had been so cold towards them. The talk on their way home to Imladris had done both of them good. And although it nagged at him that Erestor hadn’t just told him what he was angry about, he was glad that they had settled their argument… Erestor snuggled into his arms, for a moment just glad to be held close in his lover’s arms again. Glorfindel had promised not to be overprotective and stupid again… and he believed his beloved’s words. There was merely one thing he was still lightly troubled about. Thranduil. Even though Glorfindel had told him that it would be alright and that Thranduil was already sad and sorry about hurting his father’s feelings, he still worried, that it might not really be alright. After all he was right, he could have tried to protect his child from Oropher back then. But he had told Oropher how terrible he felt about his life and when he had been about to take his life on his former lover’s grave, those children had showed up and had forced his attention away from his mission. Of course he couldn’t tell Glorfindel any of it and after all he was glad that his beloved had agreed to treat him normal again. But still, concerning Thranduil he felt a nagging doubt if he should have gone through with his plan. He didn’t have much of a choice now though. As Glorfindel was already carrying him towards Elrond’s rooms, even though he had tried to convince his lover that it was absolutely not necessary for him to be carried. And that it was terribly embarrassing. But Glorfindel had just laughed, told him that it was a part of his punishment. And partly it even felt good. After all it showed everyone that Glorfindel was his lover and – even more important- that they were happy together. Perhaps it was just fair to allow Glorfindel a bit of fun after he had been worried for such a long time. Or maybe he *really* assumed that his lover needed to be carried because of the tiny amount of scares and scratches on his skin. One never really knew such things with Glorfindel… Chapter 12 ~Imladris~ When Elrohir went pass his little brother’s bedroom, he heard strange noises. Soft sobbing, like he usually only dared to utter while he was sure that Elladan wouldn’t pass by for the next hours. As their parents didn’t seem to have much time lately, all three of the children felt abandoned and unloved at times. Elladan more than Elrohir and Legolas, but still all three of them were unhappy. And Elrohir decided, that it couldn’t hurt anyone, if he tried to calm down the little one. Silently he entered the room, carefully closed the door behind him and went over to the bed. “What’s wrong, Lass?” Legolas just continued to cry, not looking up to acknowledge that he had heard his brother. And Elrohir sat down next to him to caress his hair. “It will be alright; Lass. There is nothing that could be a reason to cause you to cry like that, gwanur.” At the word brother, the younger elf stiffened and Elrohir realized that something had to be wrong about that. And he wondered why he hadn’t considered the possibility before. Elladan and Legolas hadn’t ever gotten along very well. But lately it was getting even worse. There was never a day without any trouble between them. If Elladan couldn’t dare to pinch or hit the younger boy, he at least found the way to destroy one of Lass’ favorite toys, pretending that he hadn’t done it on purpose. “I will try to tell Elan not to hurt you, if you want Lass. But don’t tell the others, they will be mad.” Elrohir did not wish to tell Legolas that he was more worried what their fathers would think a suitable punishment for Elladan if Legolas told them what he had endured during the last weeks. He just lightly caressed his little brother’s hair and smiled. “You will see, when ada comes to say goodnight he will not be mad anymore. After all you are brothers and brothers love each other.” Legolas sobs that had almost ceased, but at those words they started anew. Elrohir bend down, kissing his little brother’s hair. “Don’t be so sad. There is no reason to be, Lass.” The younger boy turned around, almost feeling new hope rising inside of his body. “Do… do you think there is hope that we are really brothers?” He whispered and Elrohir stared at him in shock. “What do you mean? Of course we are brothers.” “We are not. Elladan says we are no brothers because we are not children sired by the same elf. He says that Elrond is not my ada.” At those words he started to cry bitterly and Elrohir hugged him, feeling a numb feeling rising in his stomach. It made sense. He had been worrying about the many fights among their parents many times. And it was obvious that they would need a serious reason to fight about. Of course… if Legolas wasn’t their brother nobody would have told them. They would have tried to hide the truth and if Elan had overheard words, causing him to assume this… yes, it was logical, but still it saddened Elrohir. He liked Legolas, he did not want him to be sad and feel as the cause of all the sorrow. “You are not to blame for this. Ada might be. But it is not your fault. It wasn’t your choice to which parents you were born. Don’t be sad, Lass. Even if Elan likes you less, my brother you will remain…” Chapter 13 ~Imladris~ Both Elrond and Thranduil stared at them in shock while Glorfindel was carrying Erestor towards them. It seemed that the worst fears they had had through the last day and night had proved true and Erestor had been seriously hurt. But when he came closer and they quickly ran towards the two elves, Thranduil sighed with relief. “Ada, I feared for you, I am so sorry about my words.” Erestor smiled. “And I am sorry for just leaving instead of telling you that I felt like riding to Mirkwood to visit my dear former lover’s grave.” Elrond controlled his mien and didn’t miss the pinch Glorfindel gave his lover for that comment. But obviously Erestor was in a lot of pain from several wounds, so it was not a good idea to scold him for worrying them just yet. Also he was rather sure that it was better to leave that task to Glorfindel. Instead he gestured for them to follow him as he led them to his healing rooms. There he shook his head, mocking them with pretended shock. “Glorfindel, it is not a nice thing to hit your beloved like that for running away.” Glorfindel smiled coolly, seriously shocking Elrond and Thranduil by announcing that he would have been capable of hitting Erestor like that if he hadn’t been in the state already, when he found him. But to their surprise, Erestor seemed to enjoy the thought and Thranduil and Elrond silently exchanged a glance, deciding not to ask them about their private life so they would not be told any more dark secrets they did not wish to know about. The Lord of Imladris just shook his head and told his lover and his friend to fetch him some things before he made them leave the room. Both left without protest, which surprised, but also pleased him. Even though he understood their wish to stay with his patient usually, he wanted to check on Erestor closely, for he feared that his advisor might be too stubborn to admit that his wounds hurt badly. He applied light pressure to a bone and waited for a reaction. “Thranduil is really sorry for his words, Erestor. I know it wasn’t easy to deal with us lately, but I want you to know that it is alright again now. And I hope that you know that you are not to blame for what happened back then. My love cannot be blamed, he doesn’t know what Oropher might have done if you had acted differently. And as it is your wish to keep the past a secret from him, he cannot see it differently. He never even considered the possibility that Oropher might have hurt you or himself in a serious way. Please do not be mad at him, he means that he is sorry, I am sure about that, for I have seen his eyes when he told me about it.” Erestor smiled and shook his head. “You do not have to defend him from me, Elrond. I love my child and I know he is not to blame for not knowing what he said and how he hurt me. Still apart from the scares it might have brought me for a year or two, it helped to at least promise that he will try to give up being unbearable sweet towards me. And that alone would be enough to carry scares for the rest of my life. Still it was also nice to speak to Oropher. I told him everything he did right and wrong, how I loved him and how he hurt me. And in the end I forgave him. After all he was driven insane by a formerly pure and wonderful feeling. He gave life to my beloved child and I will thank him for that, nothing else matters upon him, but that he gave life to Thranduil. I forgave him about the rest, and now that Glorfindel seems to be willing to forget about it, I might be able to finally allow myself to love Oropher once more. As the wonderful elf he once was and as the father of my only child.” Elrond shook his head, smiling back at Erestor. “You are strange, my friend, but it is indeed good news, that your wound are beginning to heal. I will wish you well, even if you wish to leave us for a while.” Erestor looked at his hands for a while. “You know me well, my Lord. You already saw my wish, to return to my beloved Mirkwood again. I will stay there rule it until one of your heirs is old enough to rule the realm. It will not be easy to explain this to Glorfindel, but from what I have seen there it makes my heart weep that Oropher’s beautiful kingdom is dying. My hope is that you will accept my request and allow me to abduct my lover.” The Lord nodded thoughtfully. “I will miss both of you a lot. Especially, as you should have educated my children, my friend. But I am aware that it is the right choice. They have to accept you as Oropher named you as his heir if Thranduil cannot accept his task. And it is necessary that the realm is secure enough for my children when they are old enough to rule it. You will be sorely missed, but I understand your suggestion and I am thankful that you agree to look after Thranduil’s Kingdom for us.” Erestor smiled, glad that at least his Lord understood what he had meant and that it didn’t cause the difficulties he had feared. It would be difficult enough to leave Imladris, and especially Thranduil and his family behind. But he had seen Mirkwood and it had scared him, that even though, Helkafin was doing his best to keep the realm safe, the youths were trying to start a rebellion whenever a stranger entered it. He sighed, remembering how beautiful and peaceful it had been while it had been ruled by its beloved King. His beloved King. Erestor stiffened, not allowing himself to cry before Elrond and waited for the end of the examination. Then he got up with another sigh of defeat, leaving Elrond to inform Thranduil and his children, while he went to inform Glorfindel of his decision. He knew that Glorfindel, just like Elrond, would see the reason for his plan. But he felt insecure, if Glorfindel would actually agree to it, like Elrond had. There would certainly be a lot of talking to be done. Still there was just this choice, as Erestor knew that it would break his heart to see Mirkwood perish… Epilogue Four years after Glorfindel and Erestor had left to rule Mirkwood for Thranduil’s heirs, a fourth child, Arwen, was born. She was said to be more beautiful then the stars of the sky above and the Elves greeted her arrival. For the siblings, it became easier, as now Legolas could play with his little sister, while Elrohir and Elladan preferred to leave together and did not wish to share much time with their family anymore. They often traveled to see their former teachers in Mirkwood and enjoyed to spend their time with them a lot. Still it took many years until the twins understood that they were really Legolas’ brothers and when they finally learned the truth, they were too embarrassed to tell Legolas about it. Neither of them cared much about it anymore, as they loved each other too much to care for their siblings. And as they had learned the truth, they were sure that Legolas would hear of it one day as well. As the children grew up, it became clear that the twins did not intend to rule a realm, preferring to stay free and independent as they wished to travel through the realms. Legolas, who had been deeply hurt by Elladan’s insensitive words many years ago, did not wish to rule Mirkwood either. And it was only for his dear sister Arwen that he agreed to go to Mirkwood with her, to help her rule over the headstrong and sometimes difficult Sindar. Elrond and Thranduil truthfully enjoyed their peace and even though they loved to have their children around at times, they did not feel any further desire to create another child. They enjoyed greeting their friends in Imladris again, as when Arwen and Legolas had gotten used to ruling the realm, Erestor and Glorfindel had left to stay in Imladris again. And even though sometimes difficulties, fights and little tragedies sometimes caused sorrow to the elves of Mirkwood and Imladris, there was never a trouble, too bad to face or a problem too though to solve for them. And so they lived happily until the end of Arda.