Disclaimers and Acknowledgements: As in Chapter 1

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Chapter 28 – Placing Blames

Taken aback by his son's reaction, Elrond pulled Aragorn's hands away from his face. “Killed who?!” he shouted at the almost hysterical human.

“The village chief! I killed him! The bruises...” the young man trembled violently at the thought that he had indeed murdered Medovir.

“Estel!” Elrond shook his son hard trying to bring him out of his trance to no avail. “ESTEL!” the elf lord slapped him across the face and the stinging pain snapped the human back to reality.

The ranger gaped at his father for a fraction of a second before collapsing into his open arms. He buried his face in Elrond's robe, the young man cried.

Rocking his son back and forth, the elf lord rubbed Aragorn's back as the sobs wreaked his body. “Listen to me Estel, the demon feeds on a person's essence.” Elrond hoped his words would somehow get through to his son. “Legolas told us that the chief was stabbed to death and they had found the murderer. You did not kill him. Do you hear me? You did NOT kill him!” For a long moment the crying continued and he thought that Aragorn had not hear him but the sobbing subsided slowly and the human shook his head, face still buried in his father's embrace.

“It's partly my fault,” his muffled voice could barely be heard. “If I hadn't weaken him...” his sentence was cut off by a hitching breath.

“You cannot blame yourself. It was not you who attacked the Chief, just like it was not Legolas who attacked Glorfindel and Elrohir. Would you blame him?” Elrond asked his human son.

“No. It wasn't him,” the young man defended his best friend.

“Exactly,” the elf lord said gently,” just like it wasn't you. Do you understand?”

Realizing what his father was doing, Aragorn answered with a small sob. “Yes Ada, I understand.”

Elrond stroke his son's hair and Aragorn pulled back slowly, wiping his eyes with the back of his hand. “You need to be strong for each other. Legolas feels as guilty as you do for attacking Glorfindel and Elrohir. But now, I need to move you over to my bedchamber.” The elf explained his actions to his youngest son.

*****

Legolas avoided eye contact with Glorfindel, his guilt prevented him from accepting the fact that it was not his fault the elf lord and Elrohir were almost killed. He reached out gingerly to touch the dark purple bruise on the elf lord's wrist but his hand recoiled sharply as the tips of his fingers brushed pass the cool skin. Fresh tears welled up in his eyes and his heart twisted in his chest until it was almost painful to breathe. The prince turned away from Glorfindel, his head hung between his shoulders. Tears of guilt flowed uncontrollably down his face and his body shook with each sob.

“Legolas!” Glorfindel spoke softly but sternly trying to get the prince to look at him but the guilt-consumed elf ignored him, still trapped in his remorse.

His body ached all over, his most recent activity did not agree with his various injuries and they were now protesting angrily. He wished to wake up and find that it was just a nightmare but one did not feel pain in dreams... and the pain he felt now was very real. Pulling his knees against his chest, Legolas drew himself into a tight ball, rocking back and forth as he wept. Although he knew that the others did not blame him, he could not help blaming himself. After all, he was the one who had led them to the box. If he had been more careful and not fallen, they would never have stumbled upon the cursed object.

Glorfindel moved to sit on Elrond's bed. He reached out and stroked Legolas' long golden hair attempting to calm the distressed elf. The wood-elf's head snapped up at the touch and stared blankly ahead.

“I'm so sorry,” he sniffled and wiped the tears from his face with the back of his hand.

“You have to stop blaming yourself,” Glorfindel said trying to convince the younger elf, “it's not your fault.”

“He is correct,” Elrond's deep authoritative voice drifted into the room before he and Aragorn appeared through the doorway.

The dark haired elf lord half-dragged and half-carried a very distraught ranger into the room. Aragorn's disheveled appearance matched those of the prince's. His eyes were red and puffy, an obvious sign that he had been crying too. Hand clutching tightly at his side, his face was contorted from the pain that he was unsuccessfully trying to hide. The young man limped over to the bed with the help of hi father and Legolas automatically moved over clearing a spot for his friend.

Setting his son down onto the bed, Elrond turned to Legolas and took in his demeanor. Clearly the young prince was taking the guilt trip that his son had taken earlier. The elf lord moved to the other side of the bed and climbed into it, moving next to Legolas. He took the elf's hands in his own and gave them a gentle squeeze. He younger elf tightened his fingers around the elf lord's hand in response and Elrond pulled him into a fatherly embrace.

“Let go of your guilt my child. The blame is not on you but on the demon who has violated your body.”

Biting back a sob, Legolas nodded slightly against Elrond's chest. The elf lord stroke the younger prince's back affectionately offering him comfort and strength. All this while, Aragorn watched in silence. Never had he seen his immortal friend display such raw emotions openly and it unnerved him. Legolas was always calm and rational, always being the one who talked sense into his head. He had never seen his friend break down like this before, blaming himself for something that he did not do on his own free will. His father was correct... like he always was. They had to be strong for each other at this particular moment.

Releasing the elf from the embrace, Elrond leaned him back gently against the headboard, propping him up with several pillows, Legolas was amazed by the amount of pillows Elrond actually had on his bed.

*No wonder Elladan, Elrohir and Estel love pillows so much, it must be inherited*

At that thought, a small smile crept into the wood-elf's pale face. Elrond raised an eyebrow at the elven prince and decided that he didn't want to know what the young one was thinking. Returning the smile innocently, the elf lord scooted off the bed and made his way to Glorfindel's side.

*****

To Be Continued...

A/N: I'm going away for 4 days so I thought I'd post this chapter today so that you won't have to wait soooo long. No cliffie so no worries. :) But the bad news is the next post will be the last one until December 15. I know! I know! But I can't help it. I'll be “exiled” to Singapore for 2 weeks. :P But I promise you next chapter will not have a cliffie either :D