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Interrupted Journeys 9: Bitter Paths by elliska	7 Review(s)
Jay of Lasgalen	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 1/31/2013
What an impossible position for Thranduil. There is no right answer or easy solution. But Manadhien will never rest until Thranduil and his entire family are dead or gone - I don't see her ever being reconciled to his rule, and I wouldn't believe it. Killing in the heat of battle is one thing. A cold, judicial execution is quite another, but lifelong imprisonment is a slow and lingering variation of the same judgement. And if Manadhien ever escaped ... Author Reply: I admit that I am mean and I made this problem absolutely as bad for Thranduil as I believably (I hope) could. It is a great struggle and one that is very Tolkien for me, since he set up the horror of the kinslayings for us. Thranduil is struggling with this one, given his past. But he is a king and he has to protect his people, ultimately. Hard choices! Good to hear from you Jay! Thanks so much for the reviews! I really appreciate them!

Fantasia	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 1/31/2013
Yes, Legolas is right. The fear of the death of your love ones may make you to take action in your hands that your not capable to handle. That is exactly what happened to Tulus and Thranduil and his brother are part responsible for that, hopefully the King will learn. My, I wish I can help Tulus, but he is responsible as well, no way he will be Legolas' bodyguard again. A shame, because he is incredible loyal to him and has repeatedly put himself in danger to defend legolas. But I love Legolas in here, so wise, so much compassion in his heart, he will be an amazing ruler. At the end, when he quoted Gandalf, I remember Cervantes, so I went to find one of my favorites quotes from him "Among the attributes of God, although they are all equal, mercy shines with even more brilliancy than justice." If someone have told that to Thranduil and his brother time ago...I have a teacher that once told me that all the answer to my questions were on the Quixote, I thought that he was crazy, but boy, how right he was.... So sad for Tulus, to know that your son doesn't love you enough to back up from the conspiracy in order to save his father's life. What a mess! Well, I was thinking on their little problem, what to do with the elves, if they were men, no doubt I will have them executed. In this case, why not to send them to the Heavens, ship them to Valinor, to be judge by the Valar themselves, Namo will be there anyway, no need to kill them for that. I don't know, it is the only solution that I can think of. Even if I have my complaints about Thranduil, I'm impressed with his logic about the information extracted from Fuilin, he knows that he was incriminating the "traitors" and saving the only one useful. I have to go back and re read the conversation between Tulus and "don't remember her name", I know that she blackmailed him with the letters, but they were from his son, maybe he was incriminating his Father as well? You can see that I really, really like your story. Thank you. Author Reply: I absolutely love Don Quixote. There is so much wisdom in that book, it is so true. Now you've made me want to read it again! Tulus's day is about to get a lot sadder. And I will be mean and make you wait for the last chapter to see what Thranduil decided to do with everyone. Legolas is struggling in this story. So is Thranduil too. These are choices he did not anticipate ever having to make. Thanks so much for the reviews! I appreciate them so much!

c_belle_a	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 1/31/2013
Another wonderfully intense chapter! I love it how we get to see Legolas slowly growing up from an innocent but more or less sheltered prince to one that must face all the challenges of royal life. Standing with Thranduil as he sort of tortured Fuilin and seriously considered killing him must have been so hard for Legolas- and it must have been a wake up call to how difficult it can be as king. I also love how you always manage to incorporate Tolkien's world into your sentences- for example, having Thranduil say he is going to send Fuilin to Mandos instead of saying he is going to kill him. It feels like I'm really living in the world/ religion of Middle Earth when I read sentences like this! Tulus has guts to admit everything about his son to Legolas (and consequently the king). I can't imagine how hard that must have been- I hope that Legolas finds a way to help him so that Thranduil doesn't really kill him on the spot...nervous laugh And, of course, what did the House of Oropher do to the Ulcamartos? Thranduil's right- what a bunch of crazies in that house! Thanks for writing! Author Reply: Yes, Legolas is getting a full education in this story. No more innocence for him after this. I also love how you always manage to incorporate Tolkien's world into your sentences Thanks! I love that sort of stuff too and make a real effort at using it! Tulus is in a lot of trouble. He's made some mistakes and he is going to pay for them. We get some hints at why Manadhien hates Thranduil so in the next chapter. Thanks so much for the reviews! I appreciate them so much!

CandissD	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 1/30/2013
Another great chapter! I hope you will update soon to see how this all turns out Author Reply: I'm glad you're enjoying. School is slowing the updates a bit, but they are on their way. One more chapter in this after the one I just posted and then the next story is the aftermath. I hope you continue to enjoy and thanks so much for the reviews! I really appreciate them!

Charmel	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 1/30/2013
There's definitely a lot of meat in this chapter. I must admit that I am waiting for Legolas to have a breakdown. He is still young and there's so much going on forcing him to act well above his age. Poor Thranduil is stuck between a rock and a hard place. I have been mulling this over myself. What do you do with an immortal criminal? An irredeemable immortal criminal who you cannot/should not kill. hmmmm Not even the Valar will have anything more to with him. What do you do? Tulus - I have little sympathy for him. He should have told Thranduil about his son. They may have been able to work together to a common good. Now, he has thrown himself under the bus. I'm foreseeing a long trip over deep water for him. Keep it up. Cant wait for the next chapter! :) Author Reply: :-) Legolas's breakdown is on its way. But I've put the real aftermath of this story in the next one, so you'll wait just a little longer. Sorry! He is definitely doing well, mostly, for right now. Thranduil is in a horrible place. I intentionally made dealing with Fuilin et al as impossible as I could. What do you do, indeed! Tulus made mistakes. He knows it. And he'll pay for those mistakes. In this story and in a future one. No doubt about that. Thanks so much for the reviews! I appreciate them so much!

daw the minstrel	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 1/30/2013
Oh bless you. This made my day. I thought it was striking that Thranduil and Legolas both saw the sunrise differently on a plain than in the forest, which makes sense. But then there's that reminder of Dagorlad which calls up the issue of violent death Legolas is struggling with. Actually, I always find allusions to that part of ME history interesting. One of the big advantages of writing about Tolkien's story is that you have this deep history that reverberates in the characters even when you don't spell it out. There's always subtext you can draw on. "I want some answers from you before I send you to Mandos to answer for your crimes." Man, Thranduil is scary. His manner to Legolas at the start of this scene is interesting to me because Thranduil is plainly concerned but he's not babying Legolas. His manner is what I'd call fatherly rather than motherly. And then there's that squashing the air out of the prisoner thing. Well deserved of course. In a way, Thranduil's duty is not to be merciful. His family's safety depends on his actions, as does his realm's. So all the discussion of that that comes a little later was really interesting. I had to laugh at the "what in Arda is your tutor teaching you?" moment. Most parents have been there, though perhaps not over language instruction. Did Dolwon aid you? Glilavan? Tulus?" Legolas drew a sharp breath when his father named Tulus. "Yes," Fuilin replied, easily. "All of them but Glilavan Thranduil makes me proud when he immediately suspects that Fuilin is speaking from Opposite Land and Glilavan is the only one helping. Or still helping. Poor Legolas. I'd have trouble keeping quiet too. "Adar will kill you where you stand," That's a simple and powerful statement showing Legolas's understanding of his father and a king's rights. I read it over a couple of times because it says so much in very few words. When I started writing original fic, I realized how convenient it was the Tolkien had created Orcs and characters could kill them without conflict about it. The conversation between Legolas and Anastor was touching. The fact that Anastor sought it out is a sign he's been working through that original anger. Maybe he even gives Thranduil something to think about as he talk of how impressed his father was with Legolas advocating for Demil. Great chapter, Elliska. Author Reply: :-) I enjoy thinking about how people in a society that would spend most of their lives in the same 20 mile radius would react to different sights. How amazing Legolas's travels with the Fellowship must have been for him because every land was so physically different from his forest. I like that kind of stuff and can't resist it! I also love King!Thranduil. I don't think he'd be one to mess with at all. Legolas is almost of age in this, so he's not going to submit to babying, so Thranduil knows it's a waste of time. He also wouldn't do it, at this stage. I don't think. Legolas is his first born in my little world. That requires Thranduil to treat him a little differently. Fuilin isn't going to fool Thranduil! :-) And yeah, Legolas is definitely coming to an understanding of a lot of things here. Thranduil's rights and responsibilities (and his own), not the least. Anastor is learning too. Struggling. Not used to learning. But he is doing it. This experience has major implications for him later in life. I'm glad you enjoyed it@ Thanks so much for the reviews. I appreciate them so much!

Fallen_Angel	Reviewed Chapter: 6 on 1/30/2013
I really, really love your series thus far. All of them...I've been a lurking fan ever since the beginning lol! I love the way you've dealt with the kinslaying, and the circumstances in which it was committed. I'm looking forward to reading the reactions of Legolas' family to what he has been through and been forced to do. The kinslaying is a very interesting concept and one that I've not seen done, especially for these characters, at all. In all, I love this story and I cannot wait to read more :) **Please forgive me if anything I've typed doesn't really make sense? It's 5 past 2 in the morning here and I'm exhausted! Author Reply:* I am so sorry, I usually respond to reviews much more promptly than this. School has been keeping me insanely busy this semester... Thank you so much for the review. I love hearing from new people in the reviews. It is so much fun. I find the kinslayings, from the POV of the Sindar, and Silvan, really fascinating and I have a lot of fun thinking about what impact those experiences would have on people's actions. It's obviously a big part of this story (and will be in the next one, that has a lot of the aftermath of this story). Again, thanks so much for the review! I really appreciate them. I hope you continue to enjoy!

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