Part Twenty-Nine

"Your majesty!" Silindë banged on the door of the King of Mirkwood's bedroom. He hated to disturb the King at his rest, but the prospect no longer held for him the same sort of fear it once had.

He had come a long way over the past few weeks. He and Erestor had kept the kingdom under control while Thranduil had been gone, and the King had done nothing to break him and the Chief Advisor apart when he returned. In fact, he had been very friendly and kind to Silindë, and Silindë felt almost a shame of his long-standing fear of the King. He had come to see Thranduil in a whole new light.

Legolas, as well. The close friendship they had once had as elflings, which had been strained by their unfulfilled attraction to each other, had been repaired now that they were each in love with someone else. Oh, Legolas had not told him that he loved Haldir, merely that they were lovers, but Silindë could see it in his eyes. He only hoped Haldir would not break the Prince's heart.

Silindë had been promoted to Chief Advisor of King Thranduil rather than being reassigned as Legolas' guard. This made him a social equal of Erestor, and he knew that by giving him this title, Thranduil was doing the both of them an enormous favor. Silindë had offered his grateful thanks and not pointed out that Thranduil had never had a Chief Advisor before, and probably did not need one. Thranduil had assured him that one of the jobs of Chief Advisor was to travel to other Elven cities and learn from other Chief Advisors.

Saelbeth and Haldir were left to guard Legolas, though Silindë suspected that Saelbeth had very little to do at this point. In fact, he was slightly worried about his friend, who seemed to spend a lot of time skulking about the palace and drinking more wine than he was accustomed to. He wondered if he should speak to Thranduil about his concern, but decided that he would approach Legolas first.

He had gone to the Prince's chamber, knowing he was possibly going to be interrupting something, but his concern for Saelbeth was great. Erestor had encouraged him to go.

"The two of them can certainly stop making love long enough to hear you out," Erestor had said coolly. "Just go, set your mind at ease. Your loyalty to your friend is admirable, and it seems that Saelbeth needs a friend just now."

Silindë had found Legolas' door open a crack, so instead of knocking, he had pushed it open. He had found Haldir's body.

He ran to the King, banging upon his door. He was only mildly surprised when Lord Elrond opened the door. Elrond was wearing one of Thranduil's robes, Silindë noticed. It hung too loosely on him as he was more slender than the well-muscled Elvenking.

"Silindë, what is it?" Elrond had snapped irritably.

"I must speak to the King!"

"He is rather tied up at the moment," Elrond drawled.

"Then I must insist that you untie him!" Silindë said. "It is an emergency."

He was on the verge of pushing Elrond out of the way and forcing his way in to Thranduil.

"Let the lad in, Elrond," Thranduil said.

Elrond stepped aside and Silindë entered the room and bowed to the King, never minding the fact that Thranduil was chained by one wrist naked to his bed. Thranduil sat up as best he could, but did not bother to cover himself. Silindë had spent more time with Thranduil unclothed than clothed, so he did not suppose that it mattered, especially not right now.

"King Thranduil-- Haldir of Lórien is dead, and your son appears to be missing."

The roar that Thranduil let out surely shook the entire Mirkwood. He yanked at the restraint but could not pull free.

"Elrond, unlock this blasted thing. Silindë, tell me what happened."

Elrond did as Thranduil bade him, looking just as worried as the Elvenking. "Where is Haldir? Where did you find him? Does anyone else know? How did this happen?"

"He's in Legolas' room, cold and stiff. I went to talk to the Prince and found him. The door was open."

Thranduil started for the door the moment he was unchained, flying off of the bed like a bird. Elrond stopped him, thrusting a robe towards him and insisting he dress first.

"Thranduil, stay calm. I will help you through this."

"Elrond…" Thranduil looked at the Lord of Imladris for a long moment, grabbing his shoulders, then he kissed Elrond roughly on the mouth. "Thank you," he said softly, then he tore out of the room. Silindë glanced helplessly at Elrond, then ran after Thranduil. Elrond followed.

Legolas' room was not far down the hall from his father's. Silindë ached inside when he saw Thranduil on his knees beside the bed, examining the beautiful, lifeless body of the elf of Lórien. Elrond moved beside him, closely regarding Haldir as well. Silindë stood trembling in the doorway.

"There are no marks on him," said the Lord of Imladris.

"He breathes not," said Thranduil. "How could this happen? And my son--"

"We will find him," said Elrond. He took a step back, examining the room. There were some empty wine cups on the table beside the bed and he picked one up, sniffing it. "Haldir has been poisoned."

"Galadriel will have my head for this," Thranduil muttered. "And his brothers-- they are going to be devastated, lost without him. He was a fine elf."

"By the stars! What is this?" shrieked Saelbeth, appearing in the doorway behind Silindë. Silindë turned towards him.

"Haldir is dead," he said softly. He knew there was no love lost between them.

"Who killed him? Where is the Prince?" Saelbeth demanded.

"I want the palace searched at once. I want Legolas brought to me when he is found," said Thranduil. He stood up from beside the bed and approached the doorway.

"Do you think Legolas did this?" Saelbeth asked boldly.

Thranduil rounded on him. "Of course I do not think that. Get out. Find the sons of Elrond and the brothers of Haldir and send them to me, now. Silindë, you and Erestor will lead the search for my son."

Thranduil pushed them out of the room and closed the door. Saelbeth at once stomped off down the hallway. Silindë stood there for a moment, feeling lost. He was about to leave when a gut instinct told him to press his ear to the door. He could hear Elrond and Thranduil speaking in low voices.

"No, I do not suspect Silindë-- I trust him," Thranduil said.

"And Saelbeth? He has seemed troubled of late."

"I do not know, Elrond. Nothing like this has ever happened in Mirkwood before. It is a grave matter indeed."

"I agree with you. Thranduil, Haldir is alive. I know the scent of this poison. It came from the spiders. He is only in a coma. He will awaken in a few days time."

"I know. I recognized the signs as well," said Thranduil. "Do not forget that I have lived in this forest for a very long time. Yet I would let the others besides his kin and yours to think he is dead yet. For the sake of his safety, until we know the meaning of this plot."

Silindë felt relief fill him. He was glad to know that the elf of Lórien was not dead. Now it only remained to discover who had poisoned him and where Legolas had gone. He set off to conduct the search, vowing not to let anyone else know Haldir still lived so long as Thranduil meant to keep it quiet, or even to reveal that he knew himself.