He is Mine Now

Disclaimer: refer to chapter 1

Chapter 4: Worry and antics in Rivendell

**********

The Previous Night…

‘How long had Legolas been at Imladris that night, anyway?’ Lord Elrond asked himself, as he continued to stare off into the dark where he had just seen his youngest ride away. He could not figure out why Aragorn had left so quickly and was riding so urgently to catch up with the two young Elves. Estel had said that Arwen and Legolas needed rescuing. At least that’s the way Elrond had taken it. But he did not understand the circumstances. Perhaps they had been abducted by orcs or men. He knew he would have been alerted immediately if either of those parties had been there. So why did Arwen and Legolas actually need rescuing? The only idea he could come up with was for some reason, unknown to him, his daughter had been kidnapped by Legolas. But why would he do that? What a preposterous idea! Prince Legolas was such a kind and gentle soul that he would never…but you sometimes don’t know others as well as you think you do.

It was very strange that Legolas and Arwen should be leaving the area at that time of night, anyway. It was getting very late. And Arwen would never leave without telling anyone. But then he knew that Aragorn wouldn’t either. And he left. Perhaps they had just gone for a late night jaunt in the woods. Why? For a swim? Perhaps they had become very good friends in the 30 minutes or so that Legolas had been at Rivendell. Elopement? He strongly doubted that.

Lord Elrond’s train of thought was interrupted by Glorfindel and Erestor. They had heard the commotion outside and came running out to see what was happening and if they could be of any help. Elrond quickly explained the situation to them. “Now all three of them are gone and I still have no idea what really happened to them,” he replied apprehensively. So, we need to go and find out as quickly as we can. I am very worried about Arwen. And now Estel.”

Glorfindel then remembered Arwen and Legolas ‘playing’ in the hallway outside of Legolas’ room. Perhaps they hadn’t been playing after all…but he also knew they wouldn’t hurt each other. And he really didn’t want to upset his Lord any more than he already was. So he kept that incident to himself, unless there was need for it later on.

“Well,” Elrond started. “Someone has to go look for all three of them right now; to get those three out of trouble and keep them that way.” ‘Arwen,’ he thought to himself, ‘what is going on? Where are you?’

Erestor seriously regarded Glorfindel and turned to Lord Elrond. “Would you like us to go and look for them, my Lord? We would very much like to assist you in this. We would be very happy to.”

“Well thank you, but I believe I will send Elladan and Elrohir on this quest. Or should I say adventure, which I really hope it will not turn out to be. I think my three sons are quite capable of handling this situation whatever it may be.”

Lord Elrond glanced at the two of them standing there. “I shall return shortly. You two please wait for me here.”

“Yes, my Lord,” Glorfindel answered him.

**********

Elrond entered the palace, and hurried directly to Elladan’s room, where he knew the twins would still be, trying to work their problem or problems of the day out with each other. Elrond knew that could take a long time. He could hear them yelling when he came in the front doors of the palace. That meant that most people in Rivendell could probably hear them as well.

Elrond opened the door to his son’s room and was met with ear-shattering screaming. So he yelled right back at them, “what in all of Arda are you screaming about in here!? I demand an immediate answer!” So the two lowered their voices so they could be better understood; doing as their father asked. But the argument continued.

“Adar, Elrohir stole my favorite tunic and he’s wearing it!”

“I did not steal it, I borrowed it,” Elrohir replied. “There is a big difference.”

“Yes, you borrowed it without asking. That sounds a lot like theft to me.!!” Elladan answered him.

“And since when did this one become your favorite tunic?” Elrohir challenged him.

“Just now since you happen to be wearing it.” Elladan glared at him.

“Oh, this is ridiculous! I’ve borrowed your clothes a lot in the past. What is wrong with you, today?” Elrohir glared right back.

Elledan’s eyes turned to ice. Elrond and Elrohir shivered. It seemed to be a little chillier in the room than it had been before.

“I want my tunic back, now,” he growled. His voice seemed to have become as icy as his eyes at the moment. Elrond and Elrohir both took a step backwards without even realizing it.

“You want it back right this minute?” Elladan asked his brother hesitantly.

“No, you have worn it. It has to be washed first.”

“What? I have only been wearing it for about five minutes. It is not dirty, Elladan.”

“I can’t wear a stolen, worn shirt until it has been washed. Especially when you are the one to have worn it!”

**********

When Elrond didn’t come back right away as they had expected him to, Erestor and Glorfindel went to the nearest bench in the garden to wait more comfortably for Elrond’s return.

Erestor was getting so sleepy that he needed to sit down somewhere before he fell down; which would have been very painful when he hit the ground, undignified and difficult to explain. Erestor fell onto the bench instead, and Glorfindel plopped down beside him.

Erestor sat there for a minute, then leaned against the back of the bench, his long black hair covering his face. He leaned his head over the top of the bench, sighed deeply, and then started breathing heavily. He started sliding down the bench, which pulled his head forward, as he kept sliding downward, his legs sticking out in front of him. His hair was pulled up and now had odd tangles in it as his head slid downward with the rest of him. Glorfindel just kept watching him, fascinated. It was all he could do to keep from roaring with laughter, and he was having so much fun watching Erestor that he hated to wake him up.

‘How could anyone fall asleep that fast?’ Glorfindel wondered to himself. And Erestor looked so funny, besides. He raised one eyebrow, then quietly chuckled, as he pulled his legs up onto the bench and stretched them out, resting his crossed feet on Erestor’s stomach. He smiled again, looked at Erestor, then crossed his arms behind his head, deciding he might as well join him, until Elrond came back.

**********

Elrond was absolutely fed up with the twins’ argument. “Ok, enough of this, you two! That is enough! How do the two of you come up with so many unimportant trivial topics to argue about? Why can’t you be quiet and well-behaved like your younger brother,” he stated in all sincerity.

“Estel? You can’t be serious, Adar. How well do you know your own son? He must hide a lot from you. Our brother is the most annoying human at Rivendell. Well, he is the only human here, actually, but that is beside the point. He is worse than us. He torments, tortures, and pranks us all the time. He is always trying to play the two of us against each other. That’s where a lot of our arguments come from. And you wonder where he gets all those bruises when he hasn’t even left Rivendell? Or even the palace? Believe me, he has well earned every one of those bruises, cuts and scrapes that he has received here.”

“Elladan,” Elrohir grinned. “What about the time he was unconscious in his bed and hadn’t even left his room for the day, yet? It was morning and he was still in his room.”

“Oh, that was also his fault. He made us mad as usual, tried to run for the door to avoid us, missed it and smacked into the wall instead. He fell straight backwards. That was so funny! I think he really deserved that one too, though.” Elladan saw the very serious look his Adar was giving him, and the smile on his face disappeared. “Well, of course it was only funny after we knew he was all right. Before that we were very worried,” he quickly added. “And we did lay him on his bed.”

“Of course you were worried,” Elrond replied with not even a hint of a smile. “And how very kind of you to put him on his bed and not just leave him on the floor of his room, for someone to trip over. The maid, for instance. It seems I have taught my children very well. It would be nice if they could tell the difference between right and wrong, though, considering they are grown adults,” Elrond snapped at them.

“Well, you two,” he continued, “I know for a fact that you cause a lot of trouble yourselves, as well. Not just Estel. Although I am also very aware of his antics as well.”

“Well, yeah, but it is so much easier to blame Estel because he is younger and he can get away with more than we can. He has better excuses he can use to cover his tracks. We are older and excuses do not work well for us because we are not supposed to act that way. Adults, unfortunately, remember? He can be easily forgiven because he is Estel…little runt. And he is so cute,” Elrohir added sarcastically. Or so everyone around here seems to think. Isn’t he supposed to be an adult now, too? He is 20. It’s really not fair.”

“Of course, it isn’t fair, but that has never stopped you before,” their father grinned at them and shook his head.

The twins just looked at each other, feeling defeated., knowing they had lost that argument. As usual. Their father could be so annoying, they thought. Usually because he was right most of the time.

“Adar, I have just one question for you,” Elladan mentioned to his father, while leering at Elrohir once again.

“And what might that be?”

“You and Naneth had me and then you had to have him afterwards. Why couldn’t you have stopped with just one?”

“First of all you are twins. Secondly, we couldn’t have just put him back where he came from, could we? It doesn’t work that way. So you two are stuck with each other…for all eternity,” their father gave them a big grin and chuckled. Elrohir smiled smugly at Elladan and winked at him. Elladan just leered back at him.

Elrond’s countenance turned serious once again. “But I have a chore for the two of you that will perhaps take your mind off of that for awhile, and off of your silly arguments, as well.”

“And what is that, Adar. I’m not really in the mood for chores right now It’s late, I’m sleepy and I want to go to bed,” Elladan complained.

“It is not that kind of chore, my son. It seems Arwen and Legolas have ridden off together somewhere; I know not where. And Aragorn is chasing after them to bring them home as quickly as he can.”

“What is going on, Adar? Something we should be concerned about?” Elrohir asked his father.

“I have no idea what is going on. Aragorn left in such a hurry and was not very forthcoming with information. And yes, before you say it, it sounds just like Aragorn. He seemed very concerned. I thought perhaps orcs or men were involved, but I’m not so sure now.”

“What do you suspect is going on, Adar?” Elladan asked. He was very confused.

“Personally I have the feeling that Legolas may have kidnapped Arwen for some reason.”

The twins looked at each other and started howling with laughter. “You can’t possibly believe that.” Elrond did not reply. “You don’t do you?” Still no answer. “Adar?”

Elrond stood there very seriously looking from one of his sons to the other.

“Oh, Adar, you know Legolas. He would never even think about doing something like that to anyone. You have known him for years. You know his nature.”

“All I do know right now is that the two of them ran off in the middle of the night together. Legolas, the fiend.”

“Oh, don’t worry so much about Arwen. She will be fine.” Elladan began. “The two of them will look after each other. Besides, if anyone would try to mess with Arwen, she could probably beat them with one hand tied behind her back…literally. She’s quite an awesome force to deal with. Seriously though, we will go find Aragorn and the others right now, if that is your wish. Or even if it is not.”

“Yes, would you please follow Estel to make sure he is ok and stays out of trouble. I have the feeling he will be very upset if he finds out you followed him. Perhaps you can assist him in finding them, and protect him at the same time.”

“Oh, we can deal with him…little squirt. You know he will try to avoid and outrun us if he sees us. But that will never happen. He will never even know we are there.”

“Also, I want you two to retrieve and rescue Arwen and Legolas. That, of course, goes without saying. If he is guilty of taking her against her will, I will want him brought back and imprisoned in the dungeons here, awaiting his trial. Until, or if, someone comes forward with any proof to the contrary. Estel, for instance. Legolas will stay there until we know about his guilt or lack of it. And I’ll want him in chains…it will probably do him good considering what he has done. Don’t forget to take some rope with you. You might need it.”

“Adar!” Elladan scolded. “You can’t really mean that! I guarantee Legolas is innocent!”

“I don’t wish it to be so, but something tells me that it is. So you two get ready.”

**********

So as Elladan and Elrohir prepared to go, Elrond went outside once again to discuss another matter with Glorfindel and Erestor. He found them sleeping on a bench, snoring away. He just stood there and watched them for a minute, smiling, wishing he could join them. Unfortunately there was not enough room. Elrond sighed, not really wishing to wake them up, but he did need help.

“Glorfindel!” he yelled, sounding desperate, making Glorfindel wake with a start, wondering if perhaps all of Imladris was on fire. He sat up suddenly, wide-eyed, and tried to jump to his feet. As he did so, he tripped over Erestor’s legs and accidentally kicked Erestor in the head on his way down to meet the ground.

Erestor also stirred, still mostly asleep, tried to rise from the bench, and tripped on Glorfindel, landing on top of him. “Ouch!” he said.

“Ouch?“ Glorfindel just looked at him for a second, and pushed him roughly aside as he got up off the ground.

“Well, look at you two,” Elrond smiled as he looked them up and down. His advisors were a mess. They both had dirty, wrinkled clothes and long, tangled, messy hair. They looked like a couple of beggars who had come to Imladris asking for food. “Did you have a nice nap?”

“Yes, but it wasn’t nearly long enough. Why don’t you go away and come back in a couple of hours,” Erestor yawned.

Elrond knew he had to send King Thranduil a message immediately concerning Legolas. He didn’t really want to be the one to do it, especially with the way he was feeling about Legolas at the moment. So he thought he would get one them to do it for him.

“Glorfindel?”

“Yes, my Lord?”

“ I need you to do something for me.”

“Anything, my Lord.”

“Would you please send King Thranduil a message for me about his son going missing and having kidnapped my daughter. The scoundrel,” Elrondemoted spitefully. “ You can use my desk to write it on, if you like. Just please get it done.”

“You expect me to write it as well as send it?” Glorfindel looked at him uncertainly.

“Of course, Glorfindel. What did you think I meant?” Elrond asked.

“I will send it for you, but I will not write it, my Lord.”

“Why?” Elrond asked him dumbfounded.

“Because I don’t like him. I think I like him less than you do if that is possible. I have absolutely no desire to write him a letter.”

“All right, then,” he said, respecting Glorfindel’s wishes. Then he turned to Erestor, who was standing next to Glorfindel, unsteadily on his feet. Erestor had a very childish pout on his face. “How about you, Erestor?”

“No, how about not. I’m afraid of him. He has never been nice to me. He’s a bully. I’ve even seen him bully Legolas as well. I doubt Legolas would even write him a letter. Unless he absolutely had to. He’s a pompous king and he scares me.” He yawned again.

“Erestor! I am the Lord of Rivendell. Your leader…your Lord. You two don’t expect me to have to write a letter to that nutty Ellon, do you?” Elrond asked them, a little taken aback.

“It couldn’t hurt,” Glorfindel replied.

“Better than us,” Erestor also agreed.

Lord Elrond was starting to get a little frustrated. He couldn’t even get his own advisors to help him out.

“Elladan!!” Elrond yelled as loud as he could.

“NO!” he heard from a distance. “I hate him, Adar!”

“Elrohir?”

“NO!”

“And why not? You are my sons and are expected to do as I say. Aren’t you?”

Elrond asked very loudly.

“I think he likes me a little too much, so he gives me the chills, Adar!” Elrohir yelled as loudly as he could. “I always catch him behind me looking at my hair. At least I hope it’s my hair he’s looking at. He’s not coming here, is he?” There was a little panic in Elrohir’s loud voice.

“You know you two could come out here to talk, then we wouldn’t have to keep yelling at each other!” he yelled. “And yes, I’m sure he will be coming here when he gets the message. That is what the letter is all about, letting him know the trouble his son is in. When he finds that out, nothing will keep him from coming here.”

“We’ll be there in just a minute!” Elladan yelled back at his Adar, again, then lowered his voice to talk to his brother and avoid being heard. “If Thranduil is coming here, this would be a very good time to go out hunting for Aragorn. And I think we should take our time. Maybe even a side trip to Lothlorien afterwards would be in order, don’t you think?” Elladan asked.

“Definitely. And let’s take our time getting there, as well.”

“Maybe we could even stay there for a couple of months. Nobody would miss us here, anyway. Well, except for maybe our fights,” Elladan grinned.

“It sounds like a plan to me. You’ve got my vote.” Elrohir replied to Elladan.

The twins then gathered their weapons and their packs stuffed with all the items they knew they would need for this trip, then hurried outside where the rest of the crew were waiting.

**********

“My Lord,“ Glorfindel started. “You write most of the messages yourself. Why, honestly, is it any different this time? I know you don’t like him and you are not very trusting of Thranduil, but what is the problem, other than you don’t like him? Obviously none of us do very much. Are you really that angry with Legolas? You don’t even know what really happened, yet.”

“I can’t help but believe the worst, Glorfindel. This is my daughter, after all. I do not want to take any chances that there might be something going on with the two of them. I don’t know how to explain it. I just have a very strong feeling about it. A hunch. And there is also the fact, once again, that you both work for me. And being the Lord of Imladris gives me the right to tell you what to do. So Glorfindel, please go write the letter.”

Glorfindel looked cunningly at Elrond. He obviously was up to something. “My Lord, I am very sorry to have to bring this up, but do you remember the time that you and Galadriel…”

Erestor just snickered, staring at Glorfindel.

“What?” Elrond answered him, with a somewhat shocked expression on his face.

Of course the twins arrived just at that moment, overhearing what Glorfindel had said. So, Elrohir invited himself into the conversation.

“What about our grandmother and you, Adar?” Elrohir was intrigued., wondering where this conversation was going. “What happened?”

Glorfindel grinned at Elrond. “Well,” he began, “your Adar didn’t know it was her…”

“Will you please be quiet and go get me a piece of parchment, a quill and ink?”…he interrupted angrily.

“But what happened, Adar?” Elladan asked him as he irately went over to Glorfindel and Erestor’s bench. Elladan followed him and sat down beside him. “So, what really happened, Adar? You and Glorfindel can’t just leave it like that! I’m too curious, now. I have to know.”

Elrohir also joined them and stood in front of his Adar. “I agree. I think this is something we should know.”

Elrond had quickly calmed down. “Perhaps you will hear of it one day, but not by me. I hope it is a long time before you find out from anyone. It is really not that big a deal, though.”

“Well if it not that big a deal, why won’t you tell us?”

Elrond thought for a moment. “No. Shouldn’t you two have left to find Aragorn some time ago? Your brother will be so far ahead of you, that you will never catch up with him.”

“His trails are so easy to follow, we’ll be with him by tomorrow afternoon at the very latest.” Elladan replied.

“And what if it does turn out to be orcs or something else? What will you do then?”

“We will do what we must to make sure everyone is alright. I’m really not that worried at this point, Adar. I honestly think the three of them can take care of themselves. But for everyone’s peace of mind, we are leaving right now.”

The twins went to the stables, readied their horses, then led them outside. “So, do you think there is any chance that they are all going to Mirkwood? We won’t have to go there, will we?” Elrohir asked his brother.

“Nope,” he replied. If Aragorn’s going there, he is on his own.”

So the twins then led their horses out into the garden, then walked them over to the bench where their father was. “We will be back as soon as we can, Adar. Remember, they will be fine.”

“Good luck, you two. Tell Arwen I love her and wish her to come home safe. Tell her to come home right away if she is able. I want news of her as soon as possible. I love you two as well. Be safe.”

“Goodbye, Adar,” Elladan gave him a very encouraging smile, then they mounted their horses and started down the same path Aragorn and the others had traversed to attempt to find the three of them.

Glorfindel had returned as they were leaving and waved goodbye to them. Then he looked down at his Lord, regretfully.

“I will have a talk with you later,” Elrond smirked. He glared at Glorfindel.

“Would that be a conversation about something in particular, or just a general chat,” Glorfindel asked sarcastically. “ I will be around here somewhere if you want to chat. Oh, I almost forgot, here is your parchment and pen, and I will leave you to write your warm message to his Majesty. I’m sure he will love hearing from you.” Then he smiled over his shoulder at Elrond as he walked back to the Last Homely House, with a grinning Erestor right on his heels.

‘If he did kidnap and harm my daughter in any way, it will go very hard for him. And in the end, Thranduil can have him back and take him to Mirkwood, for he will never be allowed to set foot in Rivendell again. How could you, Legolas?’ he thought to himself.

He laid the paper down on the bench, picked up his pen and began to write, “My Lord Thranduil. I am writing this to let you know that your son has been very troublesome, to put it very mildly. He has run off with my daughter to no one knows where. I believe he has kidnapped her. He also has beaten Estel, my son and supposedly your son’s very good friend. I have never known him to behave like this before. I am asking you to come here to take him back to Mirkwood as soon as possible. He is now banned from ever stepping foot in Rivendell again. If he is innocent, which at this time he does not appear to be, he will be free to come and go at will. However if he is found guilty, he will suffer the consequences. He will go to trial and will be forbidden to ever return here. Come and get your son.

May the Valar be with you,

Elrond

To be continued…..

Hopefully the next chapter will be written and posted much, much sooner…