Part Fifty

"You volunteered my brother for this," Elrohir said softly in Legolas' ear as they headed through the Mirkwood towards the spot where Elladan, Saelbeth, and Glorfindel had been abandoned to their fate. "If anything has happened to him, I am going to hold you personally responsible."

Legolas shivered. He, Elrohir, Haldir, Rúmil and Orophin had been sent out to find the others, Elladan in particular. Thranduil had come to them privately, not wanting the general population of Mirkwood to know that he had rescinded the order that Glorfindel be left to his own fate.

"Forgive me, Legolas, for Glorfindel's crime was against you, but I should not have allowed the son of Elrond to be put in danger because of it," Thranduil had said.

"I imagine they have suffered well enough," Legolas had replied. "I am just glad that you have made amends with Lord Elrond."

"I do not wish to lose his affection," Thranduil had admitted.

"Nor do I wish you to. I will offer Glorfindel my forgiveness."

"You are generous, my son."

"My father brought me up well."

He had been pleased enough to go after Elladan. Legolas could not stop thinking about the night he and Haldir had shared Elladan in their bed, and the truth was, he wanted it to happen again. He loved Haldir, with all of his heart, but he could not help this desire. He had spoken to Haldir about it, but Haldir would only tell him that he must make his own decisions. It was impossible to tell how the elf of the Galadhrim felt about it.

When Elrohir quietly threatened him, Legolas felt a thrill of that same desire, but he knew it was only because Elrohir was Elladan's identical twin. Identical in face and form, but not in personality. Elrohir had clearly become devoted to Orophin.

Orophin slipped up beside them and laid a warning hand on Elrohir's shoulder. "Do not threaten the prince, my lord," he said quietly. "Not only will you find trouble with my brother, who is far larger than you are, but with Legolas' father and likely your own as well. Elladan will be fine. Have you forgotten already that we left weapons for them?"

Haldir slipped up beside them in time to hear Orophin's last words. He had been lagging behind, talking to Rúmil, but Legolas was glad to know that his lover was always paying attention, always watching him.

"I meant Elladan no harm," he tried to assure Elrohir.

"He told me everything you and Haldir did to him."

"Then you know that we caused him no real harm," Haldir said quietly. "Far less than he inflicted on Legolas, who was blindfolded and frightened and had no idea who was molesting him!"

Elrohir glared at Haldir, then he sighed, his expression melting. "Forgive me, both of you. It is just that I expected Elladan to have returned to the palace long before we came back from rousting the orcs."

"I will not forgive myself if anything has happened to him, either," Legolas said. "Or Saelbeth."

"And Glorfindel?"

Legolas shivered. "I will forgive him his trespasses but you must understand if he is not my favorite elf."

"He is not a bad creature at heart," Elrohir said.

"He is a little bit twisted," Rúmil piped up.

"I just want to forget about what happened," Legolas said, sounding more irritated than he meant to. "And I do not wish to deprive Lord Elrond of his War Councilor."

"Your father can be harsh in his judgements," Elrohir said.

"That is true. He does what he feels is for the best."

"I do not doubt that some of your people have learned a lesson from this incident," Orophin said smoothly. His words seemed to calm Elrohir, and Legolas was glad for his diplomacy.

"And have you learned anything, Orophin?" Haldir asked. There was a hint of amusement in his tone.

"Yes," Orophin said. "I have learned that Elladan probably deserved what he got!"

Orophin cast a sly glance at Elrohir, purposely baiting his lover. Elrohir growled at him, but even Legolas could see that it was all in play.

"I am going to give you a spanking!" Elrohir said. "Care to watch, Haldir?" Elrohir winked at Haldir then rounded on Orophin.

"Go ahead. He needs one!" Haldir said, laughing.

Orophin turned and ran through the bushes. Elrohir ran after him. Legolas could hear them laughing. It made him smile. He stopped and flung his arms around Haldir, kissing him on the mouth. Haldir made a noise akin to a purr and kissed him back, quickly mastering the prince's mouth.

A small noise from behind them reminded him that Rúmil was still there. "I am feeling left out here!" Rúmil exclaimed loudly, but Legolas saw he was only teasing.

"Unlike Elladan, I do not share my lovers with my brother," Haldir told him, smirking.

"Then do not make me a witness to this depraved scene."

"We can blindfold you. And maybe leave you tied to a spider web, or chained in a dungeon…"

"Oh, that is not funny, Haldir," Legolas scolded him, but he was laughing as well.

"Haldir!" The three of them heard Orophin shout his name from up ahead in the wood, and Haldir simply shook his head.

"Surely he does not expect me to rescue him from Elrohir."

"Come quickly!" Elrohir's voice joined Orophin's.

The three of them dashed forward towards the sound of the other elves' voices. Legolas felt his heart begin to race. He had not missed the sense of urgency in the tone. They skidded to a halt in the clearing which Legolas recognized at once. This was the web where they had abandoned Glorfindel, Elladan and Saelbeth. Elrohir and Orophin stood staring in horror at the web.

On the ground below the web lay the chain which had bound Saelbeth and Elladan together. It was broken and empty. Caught in the web was a torn blue cloak that Legolas recognized as belonging to Glorfindel. A ripped tunic that was identical to the one Elrohir had on… and Saelbeth's leggings! More ripped clothing lay scattered around on the ground and shredded in the web.

"No. Oh, no," said Haldir. He clasped a hand onto Legolas' shoulder. Rúmil stood in stunned silence. Orophin had his arms around Elrohir, who was trembling like a leaf.

"The weapons," said Haldir.

Elrohir pushed free of Orophin and dashed off. A moment later he was back, a pile of weapons in his arms. Tears stained his face.

"They never got to the weapons…"

"Well pass them around," Legolas said slowly. "We are going to need them."

He pointed at the spider web. It was full of round, throbbing objects. Spider eggs. Hundreds of them. And the eggs were hatching. Within minutes the entire clearing would be overwhelmed by foot-long baby spiders.