Part Forty-One

Elrohir stood looking at his father and the King of the Elves of Northern Mirkwood, who were glaring at each other in the way that only enemies who are lovers can do. Inwardly he sighed. He hated this whole mess, all of it. He hated the idea of Lord Glorfindel being in the dungeon, of Elladan being chained to Legolas' wall, and of his sister being forced to marry the Prince of Mirkwood.

"I think we should go home," he said quietly. "All of us."

Thranduil and Elrond both turned in his direction. They both frowned at him, but at least that meant they were not frowning at each other.

"I believe we have far too much to settle before that can happen, Elrohir," Elrond sighed. "Perhaps you should leave this discussion to Thranduil and myself."

"I will not be dismissed," Elrohir said, lifting his chin.

"Do you not trust the two of us to work things out?" Thranduil demanded, raising an eyebrow.

He was a handsome elf, Elrohir thought. No wonder his father had fallen in love with the Elvenking. Elrohir wondered if he even knew that he was, yet. There was something else here to save, he realized in a moment of clarity. The two monarchs needed each other. Yes, eventually they would have to part, just as he would have to part from Orophin, but it was imperative that they not part as enemies.

"The two of you are both too upset. If I leave you now, you will either kill each other or end up naked. Either way, nothing will be resolved," Elrohir said.

Thranduil chuckled, but Elrond looked aghast. "Elrohir! Have you no manners at all?"

"Actually, my manners are very good, for I was very well brought up," Elrohir said. "So are Elladan's. On occasion, however, we forget our places."

"That is quite evident," said Elrond. He folded his arms over his chest. He looked imposing, Elrohir imagined, but he had never been frightened of his father.

"You are bold, Elrohir," Thranduil said, "Yet in this moment I am inclined to think you may be displaying some small amount of sense and manners. Do you wish to speak on behalf of your brother?"

"Or perhaps you would like to speak on behalf of yourself," Elrond said. "The day before the spider hunt it seemed that Elladan was not the only one involved in attempting to seduce Legolas."

"Oh, we all tried to seduce him," Elrohir admitted without shame. "In fact, we even had a bet—"

"What?" Thranduil roared.

"You should be proud of your son," Elrohir said. "He followed his heart. He chose Haldir and no amount of persuasion could woo him away."

Thranduil seemed to calm down and consider this. "Although I do not like the thought of my son being the target of a bet, you are right in that this has proved a test of his mettle."

"Really, Thranduil," Elrond said in an irritated tone.

"May I continue?" Elrohir asked, continuing without waiting for a reply. "Elladan indeed made a bad error in judgement, for selfish reasons."

"That is evident to all of us," said Thranduil. "Do you find my punishment of him unfair?"

"You chained him to a wall!" said Elrond. "I offered to take responsibility for what he did. To…be punished in his place."

"I will be glad to chain you to a wall any time you like," said Thranduil. "However—"

"However, I have come to believe that your punishment of him is actually just what Elladan needs," Elrohir interrupted. "I trust both Legolas and Haldir. Father, do you not? They will not hurt Elladan."

Elrond appeared to consider this for a moment. "No," he agreed finally. "No, they will not."

"My request to you, King Thranduil, is that you will see to it that Elladan is released from his imprisonment by sunset tomorrow if Legolas and Haldir do not choose to release him before then," Elrohir said to the King as politely as he could.

"Very well," said Thranduil agreeably. "I agree that this is fair. I will release him myself, as Legolas does not have the keys to those chains. Are you satisfied with this arrangement, Elrond? Or do you wish to take his place and be chained to my bed for twenty-four hours?"

Elrohir had to stifle a laugh. Yes, this would be good for Elladan – to get exactly what he had asked for. He wondered if Legolas would punish his twin or if he and Haldir would simply find a new chamber to spend the night in.

"Thank you, Elrohir," said Elrond. "Thranduil, I will accept this arrangement based on my trust of Legolas and Haldir of Lórien."

"Perhaps he will allow you to chain him to the bed anyway," Elrohir said to Thranduil, grinning at him.

"Ah, but he is generally the one chaining me up," Thranduil replied, grinning back. Elrohir was amused to see his father blush, even as he looked more and more irritated.

"Elrohir—"

"Yes, yes, I know, you like your children to think you have no life in the bedroom, and perhaps you did not until we came to Mirkwood, at least since Mother left, but honestly, Father, we do not begrudge you this. Even Arwen would be glad to see you have found someone—"

"We will certainly not be discussing this with Arwen!"

"For one you hold so dearly, you discuss very little with her," Elrohir sighed. "Did you even tell her that you were coming here to betroth her to Legolas?"

"I did not have time to discuss it with her before she left for Lothlórien to visit her grand-parents. She is still there now," Elrond added for Thranduil's benefit.

"And you did not discuss it with Legolas," Elrohir said to the Elvenking. Thranduil's dark blue eyes twinkled.

"I certainly would have, once Elrond met my terms. But, now that the cat is out of the bag, so to speak, I suppose we could discuss whether this idea should be entertained any further."

"I am not ready to give it up," Elrond insisted.

"Then we will clean out the orcs from the southern corner of the Mirkwood, and discuss it again after that."

"Very well."

"I am always happy to fight orcs," Elrohir said, "But this brings me to Lord Glorfindel, who is also very good at fighting orcs…"

Thranduil turned into a thundercloud immediately, so much so that Elrohir felt vaguely unsettled. The King's large hand clenched into a fist.

"I may let him rot in my dungeon forever."

"Perhaps there was a reason for what he did," said Elrohir.

"There is no excuse for his behavior," Elrond said, shaking his head. "This time I am inclined to agree with Thranduil."

"Be reasonable, both of you. Father, Lord Glorfindel has always been loyal to you. At least hear him out. How long have you known him? Many thousands of years!"

Elrond nodded, sighing. "This is no light crime."

"And yet no blood was shed," Thranduil admitted. "You may speak to him, the both of you, if you wish, but I can promise no mercy in this moment."