Chapter Ten

“You and Glorfindel were in Greenwood with Mordraug?” Elladan asked, obviously surprised.

“Yes,” was Elrond’s simple answer. Then, he continued. “When the bodies began showing up, Thranduil asked for help. Glorfindel and I went there, as did Lord Celeborn from Lorien. We spent many a day trying to untangle the mystery of who could be killing the elves of Greenwood. We finally found the murderer, or rather, he found us.”

“He wanted to be found?” Elrohir asked, still fascinated by the story, though the gruesome details were most distasteful and disturbing.

“Mordraug was waiting for us, as we rode with an escort of ten warriors into a forest near Greenwood that none of us had ever been in before. Mordraug simply appeared on the trail in front of us. Incredibly, he was alone. He introduced himself and arrogantly told us his story. He beleived that he and his little pet could easily defeat all of us right then and there and take over not only Greenwood but Imladris and Lothlorien all at the same time. That idea was just too tempting for him to ignore, so that’s why he came forward to meet us.”

“I am assuming that all this happened before Sauron built Dol Guldûr,” Elladan said. “Mordraug wouldn’t dare have challenged him.”

“No, I dare say not,” Elrond agreed. “This happened almost fifty years before Dol Guldûr.”

Going back to the subject of the evil elf appearing alone, Glorfindel added, “Mordraug also wanted us to know that he needed no army to defeat us. The bastard is beyond arrogant.” The elf practically spit the last sentence out. “He might well have challenged Sauron, thinking he and that snake of his could actually win.”

Elrond made no comment on Glorfindel‘s words. “The snake was loosed among us without warning. It was a dire battle. There was only the one snake, yet it was so fast, it looked and acted like a whole writing mass of them. There were fourteen of us, but we couldn’t kill the thing. The four of us were saved, because our escort protected us. The snake managed to kill all but three of those brave, unselfish warriors.”

Elrond closed his eyes at the memory. “For some unknown reason, Mordraug called the snake back to him, and he disappeared into the forest. We came to the conclusion later, that the snake must have had a limited amount of venom. Too many of our escort were killed, using it up, we assumed.

“We were left to watch as they died in agony, cruelly being twisted and broken in the way I described to you a moment ago, their bodies tortured first with burning fever and then bitter cold---fire and ice. You cannot imagine the horror of watching something like that. And, nothing I did could help them.”

“Their screams will forever haunt my memories,” Glorfindel said, his eyes shimmering with unshed tears. “Those of us not bitten managed to escape, though at the time, it seemed a hollow victory. Mordraug was obviously furious that the four of us got away safely.”

Memories of that day flooded back to Thranduil, as Elrond and Glorfindel relayed the tale. He looked at each of the younger elves and even the human. His gaze finally came to rest on Legolas, as he spoke. "After that, he chose just one elf at a time to kill. We found that odd at first, but then a pattern emerged. Each one killed was closer to me than the one before, until..." The woodland King couldn't finish. An involuntary cry of utter pain and anguish escaped his lips, as he closed his eyes and put one hand over them. His face had paled to match that of his recently ill son.

Legolas looked at Thranduil in bewilderment. He hadn't seen his father crumble this way since his mother's death, even though he had been a small child, when it had happened. He remembered the agony his father had gone through then. He had known from an extremely early age that elves could die of grief, and for a long time, he was terrified his father would do just that.

Legolas's brothers and sisters had assured him their father would not die, but it took Thranduil himself to convince the little elfling that he wouldn’t leave them all without a parent. The elven King believed that it was his children, especially his still growing youngest son, who had saved his life. Without them he knew he would have grieved until he joined his wife in the Halls of Mandos.

As Legolas thought about what his father had just said, his eyes suddenly got wide. "Ada?" When his father didn't answer, Legolas said more desperately, "Ada?" The truth hit him like a physical blow. He pulled his hand free from Thranduil's grasp. He had to grab the edge of the table to keep himself from falling out of the chair he sat upon. "Did Mordraug kill Naneth?" His voice was barely above a whisper, but it was filled with horror. The question begged for denial.

When his father continued to say nothing, Legolas began to shake. Thranduil's failure to answer was all the confirmation the archer needed. Suddenly, anger overcame shock, as he said, “How could you have kept such knowledge from me?” Legolas wanted to run screaming from the room, but he couldn’t move or utter another word. He clutched the edge of the table in an iron grip.

Aragorn and the twins were stunned. None of them had ever heard how Legolas's mother had died, only that she had been killed. And now, to hear that she had died a horrible death at the hands of Mordraug was incredible.

Estel wanted to hug his friend in sympathy and comfort, but he didn't dare. With things suddenly so raw between Legolas and Thranduil, it didn’t seem the right time. But, Aragorn vowed the elf would not go uncomforted for long.

As proud as Thranduil was, he couldn't keep the tears out of his eyes. With his head again lowered, they fell down his face. The memory of the heartbreaking death of his beloved wife had hit him full force. He was also feeling horribly guilty that his son was finding out about his mother's death this way and in front of others. He should have told him years ago. He took his hand away from his eyes and looked at his son. "I wanted to protect you, Legolas. You were so young." It was all the explanation Thranduil could get past his lips.

"Protect me? How can keeping the truth from me, protect me? Were you not the one who constantly told me to always tell the truth? You said that, when all was said and done, a person's word was the most important measure of that person’s character."

The woodland King had indeed taught all of his children that and was proud that they had each learned that lesson well. He now felt shame that he had not followed that sage advice himself where his youngest child was concerned.

After a pause, Legolas asked, “Why did you not tell me, when I got old enough to understand? You just told Elrond and Estel that you had a right to know about my condition, well I had a right to know how my mother died.”

“I wanted to tell you, but the time never seemed right. And, then I just wanted to forget how it happened.“ Thranduil looked and felt miserable. He wanted to hold his son and tell him how sorry he was, but he didn’t think Legolas would let him, and he couldn’t bear to be rejected. So, he just sat in misery.

For a long time, no one broke the fragile silence. The twins, though in total sympathy with Legolas, were still anxious to know what had happened to Mordraug to make everyone think he was dead all these years, but they didn’t believe now was the time to ask. It was a question to tuck away until later.

Finally Elrond sighed. He also had a great sympathy for the young prince. Even though he didn’t agree with what Thranduil had done, he did understand it. He knew that Legolas and his father would have to sit down in private and sort all of that out between them.

Now, there was one last thing that Elrond needed to tell the young elf. He didn't want to, especially now after all that had just happened, but it was part of the truth, and he didn’t want to fall into the very trap that had just been exposed.

"Legolas, there is one more thing you need to be told." Despite his determination to continue, Elrond's voice lacked conviction.

After a moment, the young archer looked at Elrond. His eyes weren’t completely focused, giving him a dazed look, like someone who had just been hit in the head but was still partially conscious. There was aslo a deep sorrow there that made the elf Lord cringe. A look of betrayal resided in the blue-gray depths, as well. Elrond could well imagine the young elf’s reeling mind and emotions.

Reluctantly, the Lord of Rivendell realized now was not the time, after all. He would have to do it, when Legolas was better able to understand and handle the news . After everything that had just gone down, how could he tell Legolas that the poison that the snake had injected into him was still in his system and could be activated by Mordraug at any time?

TBC