Part Three

Erestor was beginning to sincerely regret his position as Chief Advisor to Lord Elrond, Master of Imladris. Erestor had held this position for several millennia now, had known Elrond long before that, and had always liked and respected him, but today, as they entered the gloom of Mirkwood Forest, he wished he had stayed home to look after Lady Arwen, or better yet, sailed to Valinor with Lady Celebrían ten years past.

Five of them had made this excessively dangerous and (in Erestor's opinion) unnecessary journey to visit King Thranduil -- himself, Elrond, Lord Glorfindel the War Councilor, and Elrond's twin sons, Elladan and Elrohir. Elrond claimed he had business to discuss with the Elvenking which could only be conducted in person. It irked Erestor to no end that Elrond did not choose to share exactly what that business was with him, which as the Chief Councilor he took great offense.

This insult was only part of what had made him so irate, however. Erestor hated traveling, knew that Mirkwood was full of monsters -- orcs, goblins, trolls, giant spiders, who knew what else -- and held a very low opinion of King Thranduil, who in Erestor's opinion was little more than a barbarian. He lived in a cave, after all! To make matters worse, Lord Elrond had not spoken a word in two days, his sons had begun bickering constantly, and Lord Glorfindel had given himself over to telling long, gory stories about elves he had known who had met violent deaths while traveling in Mirkwood.

"I wish you would stop singing so loudly, Elrohir," Elladan snapped at his twin brother.

"I wish you would stop breathing so loudly, Elladan," Elrohir replied in a falsely sweet voice.

"In some woods, breathing too loudly can get you shot," said Glorfindel.

Erestor silently wished that he could shoot all of them, but he was not well-skilled with a bow even if he had been so inclined. He was, however, a good hand with a long knife, and one of those he did have strapped to his thigh beneath his robe. His fingers flexed as he imagined gutting Glorfindel with it and making him the star of one of his own stories. At least when they finally arrived at Thranduil's palace he could get out of their company for a while -- and Thranduil could always be counted on to have wine available.

"We are not far from the palace," Elrond said at last. "Elladan, Elrohir, I trust you will be on your best behavior during our visit."

"We are hardly elflings, Father," Elladan said, lifting his nose slightly.

"We are over two thousand years old," Elrohir added unnecessarily.

"Closer to three," said Elladan.

"Closer to three," Elrohir agreed, the first thing they had agreed upon in days.

"In those nearly three thousand years neither of you has ever visited King Thranduil at his home in Mirkwood," Elrond pointed out.

"We do not care for him much when he comes to Imladris," said Elrohir. "Why should we have come to pay him a call?"

"We might have come to see Legolas," Elladan said with a look in his eye that made Erestor narrow his own. He hoped the Prince of Mirkwood was good at fending off unwanted advances.

Last time Legolas and Thranduil had visited Imladris had been a dozen years ago, before Lady Celebrían had sailed to the west. Legolas had been coltish and shy, spending most of his time with the Lady Arwen. Erestor was surprised that Arwen had seemed to enjoy his company so well when Legolas was arguably the only elf there who surpassed her in beauty. Erestor had never seen anyone so fair as the young Prince, and even Lord Elrond, happily wed at the time, had cast the lad an appraising eye.

"I do not think Legolas cared for me very much," Elrohir said, grinning.

"Maybe you should not have chased him around the gardens quite so much," said Erestor.

"Legolas is the best shot I've ever seen, and by now he may be able to match me with his sword," Glorfindel said thoughtfully. "Thranduil trains him well."

"He rather has to, living here," said Erestor disdainfully.

"Do not worry, my friend," Glorfindel said throwing an arm around him. "I shall keep you safe from all harm until we reach the palace."

"And there it is," said Elrond dryly as Erestor shrugged off the golden-haired elf's embrace.

"Do me no favors," he muttered.

The palace rose out of the wood like a giant crypt, Erestor thought. They had been walking alongside a river and he saw that they would have to cross a large bridge to approach the entrance of the palace. Elrond led the way up the bridge, and Erestor saw another party just ahead of them on the walk. There were six of them, three dressed in the green and brown of Mirkwood and three in the Galadhrim greys of Lothlórien. As they grew nearer Erestor realized that two of the Mirkwood elves were wet -- one soaked, the other with just his blond hair wet.

He frowned, recognizing the Galadhrim as Elrond called out a greeting and all six turned to face them. Haldir, Rúmil, and Orophin often escorted Lady Arwen to visit her grand-parents in Lothlórien. The elf with the wet hair was Prince Legolas. Erestor sensed the eyes of all his traveling companions drawn to him immediately. The Prince was even more beautiful than he remembered and his face lit up as he saw them. The wet hair made his companion look bedraggled, but on the Prince it was alluring.

"Lord Elrond! I knew not that you were expected in Mirkwood," he said, stepping forward to bow politely. "Elladan, Elrohir, I am pleased to see you again. It has been too long."

"Too long, indeed," said Elladan, smiling warmly. Elrohir simply smirked and raised an eyebrow.

"I sent word to your father that I would be arriving this week," said Lord Elrond.

"Perhaps that explains his excessively bad mood," muttered the soaking wet elf. Erestor would have laughed if it had not been so completely inappropriate, so he fixed the bold elf with a glare instead. Elrond ignored him and went on.

"I did not know that Galadriel had sent emissaries as well. Haldir, Rúmil, Orophin -- I am always glad to see you."

"As are we to see you," said Haldir. "I will bring your tidings to Galadriel."

"Thank you."

Legolas introduced his two companions and gave the proper greetings to Erestor and Glorfindel.

"I hope you have brought many books with you, Master Erestor," he said, "For I find you always know of the most interesting and informative titles."

Erestor found himself flattered in spite of himself. He reminded himself that Legolas was just an elfling with a very good sense of protocol, despite his boorish father, and tried not to fall under the spell of his beauty as the rest of them already had. Elrohir was already whispering something to his twin which was making Elladan grin wickedly. Saelbeth and Silindë were glaring at them.

"The few books I have with me are yours for the asking if you so desire them, Prince Legolas," Erestor replied kindly. "I will be happy to show them to you later."

"Forgive me, I should inform my father that you all have arrived. He will be anxious to see you all," Legolas said, and indicated to Saelbeth that he should open the enormous stone portal of the palace.

It turned out, Erestor thought many hours later, as the five of them and the Lórien party stood gathered in the throne room, that King Thranduil was not all that anxious to see them, as he had not yet turned up. Legolas had disappeared with Silindë, leaving Saelbeth to bring them refreshments. Hours passed and even Lord Elrond was beginning to lose his famed patience… but there was nothing they could do but wait.

And wait.

And wait…