Part Twenty-Four

A week had passed in the bloody pursuit of killing spiders. Thranduil felt like an elfling again, young and strong and dangerous. He was proud of the fact that only Lord Glorfindel, the War Councilor of Imladris, had made more kills than he had. So far the company had destroyed nearly two dozen spiders. Thranduil thought if they could do another two dozen, the wood should be a bit safer. There was no way to kill off all of them, but with the numbers reduced he would be pleased.

It was nearly midnight now, and close to dawn was the best hour for hunting, so they had stopped to rest, to eat, and to regain their strength. Haldir built a fire with wood gathered by his brothers, and Glorfindel spitted a brace of quail he had shot for them. Thranduil drew in a deep breath. He loved roast quail. He sent Legolas to find a few select herbs, then prepared the food himself. The opportunities for the King to cook were few and far between, but he knew he did it well.

Once dinner was underway, he sat back contentedly and looked around at the company. The younger elves seemed to have taken well to each other. Elladan, Elrohir, Orophin and Rúmil made a fine hunting pack. Thranduil wished they would include Saelbeth in their number, but the Mirkwood elf seemed to look upon them in scorn. Thranduil wondered why. He would have liked to take Saelbeth aside and speak to him, but there was no opportunity during the hunting party.

Haldir and Legolas, too, hunted as a team. In fact, they had been inseparable the entire week. Haldir seemed as stoic as ever, but there was definitely a change in Legolas. Thranduil smiled to himself. He could see it whenever Legolas looked at Haldir. No, Haldir was affected by his son as well, or perhaps as a protective father he wished to believe that were so. He did not want to see his son's heart broken. If Haldir hurt Legolas, he would find himself in for a long sit in Thranduil's dungeons.

Thranduil wondered if Elrond could see what was happening between them, or if he believed them just to be friends. Elrond would be devastated if Legolas refused to marry Arwen. In a way, Thranduil could not blame him for wanting to leave for Valinor to be rejoined with his wife, the lost Celebrían. Yet selfishly, Thranduil did not want Elrond to go. Though they argued incessantly and had not any chance for erotic sport during this hunting trip, he was fond of Elrond, and he knew Elrond was fond of him.

Yet more importantly than that, Thranduil wanted Legolas to choose the partner with whom he would be happiest. He also did not know if he was willing to let his young son go so soon, to either Imladris or Lórien. If Legolas fell in love with Haldir, as Thranduil suspected he was starting to do, what would happen when Haldir returned to Lothlórien? He did not think Haldir would give up the opportunity to be Marchwarden of the Golden Wood to stay in Mirkwood as the Prince's consort.

Thranduil supposed that Lórien was not so far away that Legolas could not travel between both places often enough to see both his lover and his father, and this was another reason to clear out the spiders and orcs. The way should be kept as safe as possible for Elven travelers.

He looked at Elrond, who wore his usual expression of disdain and slight irritation. Elrond caught his stare and lifted an eyebrow slightly. There was a gleam in the Lord of Imladris' grey eyes that made Thranduil ache slightly. The King of Mirkwood wavered back and forth between loving and hating what Elrond had done to him in the bedroom. He was not used to such rough treatment and that alone made it thrilling. Would it be safe for them to disappear into the wood together for a few minutes?

The quails were done, so Thranduil took them off of the fire and began carving them with a clean knife. His hunting knife was likely poisoned with spider blood. It would not do to get that in the food. The blood was not lethal but it could cause unconsciousness and a death-like coma that could cause an elf to be mistaken for dead, which was certainly a potentially dangerous situation. He had cooked some potatoes and carrots as well, and he divided these among the company.

"King Thranduil, your unexpected culinary skill amazes me," Lord Glorfindel commented.

"There is more to Thranduil than what he puts forth so brassily on the surface," Elrond said.

"And little more to Elrond than what he shows," Thranduil returned, but that was an exaggeration and they both knew it.

"My father is the best cook in Mirkwood," said Legolas.

"I heartily agree," said Haldir, sneaking a morsel of quail from the Prince's plate. He popped it into his mouth and Legolas seized his wrist. The Prince bent and licked Haldir's fingers. Thranduil turned his head away, though he was smiling. There were some things a father just should not see. His gaze fell on Saelbeth, who looked angry and disgusted. He was jealous, Thranduil thought. He sighed inwardly. Time to distract everyone.

"Tomorrow at dawn we will begin the next part of our hunt," he said.

"I wish to gather some small vials of the spider poison for experimental purposes," said Elrond. Saelbeth seemed to perk up at his words.

Thranduil frowned at him. "What experiments do you wish to conduct with a highly dangerous poison?"

"I would like to use it to make salves and potions which can be used in healing."

Elrond was primarily a healer, Thranduil thought -- one reason he had wanted the Lord of Imladris along on this hunt. If one of them were injured, he would be the best qualified to help.

"I will assist you in this, Lord Elrond," Saelbeth volunteered. Elrond smiled at him in thanks.

"Very well," said Thranduil. "And now we must rest. Elrond and I will take one last patrol to the left of the camp to insure our safety -- Legolas and Haldir will patrol the right."

He looked around at the company to see if anyone would protest that the King should not be sent on a patrol, but either none of them -- nearly all nobles in their own right -- thought of it, or none dared disagree. Legolas rose to his feet eagerly and Haldir, giving the King a polite half-bow, followed him. Thranduil smiled inwardly. Those two could use the time alone. Legolas was so itchy that Thranduil was afraid he would become distracted. He hoped Haldir was wise enough to take care of that.

Elrond followed him silently into the wood and Thranduil felt a slight thrill of anticipation. When they were far enough away so as not to be easily heard by the company, he turned to look at the Half-elven Lord. Elrond looked at him with a smile of slight amusement playing about his lips. His grey eyes glittered in the darkness. His long hair seemed crafted of that very darkness, falling in dark waves to his slender waist. He dressed still in robes rather than in the tunic and leggings that Thranduil adopted for ease in hunting, but Thranduil knew they were crafted for easy movement. The robe Elrond wore tonight was a dark blue which blended well into the shadows of the wood.

"Why have you lured me out here, Thranduil?" he said in a bored tone.

Thranduil slipped forward to press his body against Elrond's. He kissed the Lord's mouth softly. Heat seared him. He stood with his feet slightly apart to steady himself. Elrond returned the kiss with fervor, then put his hands against Thranduil's chest to place some distance between them.

"No," Elrond said. "This will simply distract us. Spiders are too near. Do you not see?"

Elrond pointed and Thranduil turned to see that they were indeed near a giant web, but the web was empty. He smirked at Elrond. "We cleaned that one out earlier today. Can you not smell the corpse of the spider? It lies just beyond the clearing."

"Ah, yes." Elrond disentangled himself from Thranduil to move closer to the web, examining it curiously. It hung up above their heads in the trees by a foot or so. "I have rarely seen such up close."

"Do not touch it," Thranduil warned. "You will be trapped."

"I have a knife," Elrond said as Thranduil came up beside him. "I wish to see exactly how sticky it is."

"More than one blundering elf has found himself caught and waiting for death when the spider returns to its nest," Thranduil said.

Elrond seized the King's wrist and thrust it against the web, up over his head. Instantly Thranduil found himself trapped and pull as he might, he could not get free. Elrond took a step out of reach as Thranduil growled at him and swung his free fist in the Lord's direction. Too easily Elrond grabbed that fist and twisted Thranduil's arm so that it joined the first. He cursed.

"Very amusing, Elrond. Cut me loose."

"Maybe in a few minutes," Elrond said. He moved forward and wrapped his arms around Thranduil's waist. Thranduil found himself instantly aroused and he sighed as Elrond kissed him.

"This really is quite dangerous."

"Is that not what makes it exciting?"

"Ah…" Thranduil said, his thought fading into a moan as Elrond began to untie his tunic and tug at his leggings.

"You are really too easy," Elrond said, chuckling. "And far too beautiful for me to resist."