Honour Before Love

Chapter One - Return to Rivendell

Legolas rode in through the gates of Rivendell head held high. He
was determined not to show the quaking fear that was in his heart at
the thought of those he must face. It did not help that the first he
encountered were the dark-haired twins, Elrohir and Elladan.

'Why on Arda are you here?' was the unfriendly greeting he received,
but still he knew it was more than he deserved. Gracefully Legolas
dismounted and pulled the reins over the horse's head so he could
lead him.

'I have come with news for your father,' he replied.

'I doubt that there is anything from your mouth that our father would
wish to hear.' Elrohir spat. Two pairs of grey eyes, so much like
their father's that it made Legolas ache, glared at him.

Any reply he could make was superseded by the arrival of the twin's
foster brother.

'Legolas!' came the cheery greeting. 'I had not expected to see you
again so soon.' *And certainly not here*, he thought.

Legolas let go of his horse's reins and hugged Aragorn, pleased to
see perhaps the only ally he had left in Rivendell. Aragorn was too
young to know the events that had led to the prince's disfavour here,
and he sincerely doubted that any had spoken of it to him, especially
not Elrond.

'It is good to see you again, old friend,' Legolas said with
pleasure, ignoring the snort that these words elicited from
Elladan. 'I am afraid I do not come with good news though. There is
much darkness in Mirkwood these days and events have caught us
unaware.'

'There is much darkness everywhere,' Aragorn replied gravely. 'But
your timing is excellent. Tomorrow Elrond has called a council
meeting scheduled to discuss many serious matters. Perhaps your news
would be best discussed there?'

'I expect you are right, Aragorn, but I think I should at least let
Lord Elrond know what events have transpired in Mirkwood before the
council.'

Aragorn nodded his head, containing his surprise that Legolas wished
to see his foster father. He knew that there was no love losttweetween King Thranduil and Elrond, but it had never been explained to
him why exactly this seemed to have been inherited by his son. The
prince's name was never spoken in front of Elrond and more than once
he had heard his foster brothers muttering darkly about him. Even
his beloved Arwen would not discuss the matter, only telling him that
it was in the past and nothing good could come of knowknowing.

It was all very mystifying to Aragorn. He genuinely liked Legolas
and believed he would make a good king if his father ever decided to
leave for the West.

Aragorn beckoned to a groom standing nearby to take Legolas' horse to
the stable.

'I will show you the way to Elrond's study,' Aragorn said.

'I know the way well, but I would still appreciate your company.'
Legolas replied, once again surprising Aragorn.

'You have been here before?' he blurted out, without thinking.

Legolas gave him a strange look.

'I spent much time here when I was younger,' he said, his tone
indicating that was all he would say on the subject.

Lord Elrond sat in his study, lost in thought. The hobbit, Frodo,
brought great danger to his realm and, though he knew what must be
done, he did not know who would have the courage and strength of mind
to carry it out.

He was interrupted by a quiet knock at the door, followed by the
entry of his oldest friend, Glorfindel.

'Is something wrong?' Elrond asked with a frown. He hequeequested
specifically not to be disturbed this afternoon.

'Prince Legolas has just entered Rivendell. I believed you would
want to know.' Glorfindel replied evenly.

Elrond could not hide the faint start that this news brought. It had
been over two hundred years since he had last seen that particular
fair face and, though the rational part of him tried to argue that
this was not long enough, the romantic part desired to look upon him
one more time. Without meaning to, Elrond fell into the p


Flashback


'I will be back before the first snow,' the golden-haired elf
promised, dropping fervent kisses on his lover's face.

Elrond held the strong, slim body against him, not wishing to ever
let him go. He had a strange foreboding about this trip, but how
could he ask his love not to visit his sick brother?

'I must go,' Legolas murmured. 'I have many miles to cover today.'

'Hurry back,' Elrond whispered sadly, hating himself for the weakness
he could not hide. 'My arms and our bed will be empty without you.'

Legolas pressed one more kiss to his lips.

'I swear I will be back as soon as I am able.' And with that he had
left his Lord's arms, mounted his horse and rode away.

Never to return.

End of Flashback


Glorfindel recognised the faraway look in Elrond's eyes and left
quietly. He knew his Lord had never really recovered from Legolas'
betrayal, only hidden it better. He hoped the young Prince was not
here to cause more trouble, as he was not sure Elrond could survive
that again...

Elrond came back to the present when he heard the door quietly close
and realised he was alone. He silently cursed himself for not being
able to hide his feelings from his friend. If he couldn't do that,
then how on earth would he be able to face the one that had caused
them?

He found he was soon to find out when there was another knock at the
door.

'Enter,' he said firmly.

The door opened and there stood his golden prince, looking as
beautiful as the day he had gone away. He stood up as Legolas
approached the desk.

'Welcome to Rivendell, Prince Legolas,' he said formally, offering
his hand to the younger elf.

'Greetings, Lord Elrond,' Legolas replied equally formally, reaching
for the outstretched hand. Both felt the tingle as skin met skin,
but neither acknowledged it.

Aragorn watched the stilted meeting from the doorway, his confusion
heightening. They seemed almost afraid of each other, to his way of
thinking, which seemed strange as he thought they hated each other.
That was why he had hovered in the doorway - to stop things if they
got out of hand.

'You may go, Aragorn,' Elrond said calmly, his eyes flicking to him
briefly, before returning to the one in front of him.

Aragorn nodded and closed the door, rminrmined to find either the
twins or Arwen and get the truth out of them. However, his plans
were abruptly changed by the appearance of Glorfindel.

'Is Legolas in there?' Glorfindel asked sharply.

'Yes he is,' replied Aragorn. 'And he and Elrond were acting very
strangely.'

'Hardly a surprise,' Glorfindel said, the worry plain on his
face. 'Do you know why he's here?'

'Apparently he brings bad news, but I know not what.'

'Just his coming here is bad news enough,' the elf muttered under his
breath, turning away from Aragorn as if to leave. Aragorn quickly
put a hand on Glorfindel's shoulder and turned him back.

'Why will no one tell me what's going on?' he hissed angrily. 'I
thought they loathed each other, but all I saw was fear.'

Glorfindel studied his face carefully.

'At first, no one spoke of it because you were too young and we did
not believe the past would affect you, but then, when Elrond learnt
of your friendship with the Prince of Mirkwood, he did wishwish to
interfere. He did not want you to be influenced by past deeds and
feel that you had to give up your friend.'

'Why would I feel the need to give up my friend? Did Legolas do
something terrible to Elrond?' Aragorn asked in disbelief. He found
it hard to believe that his gentle friend would be capable of hurting
anyone outside of combat.

'Yes, he did the most terrible thing he could to Elrond,' Glorfindel
said sorrowfully.

'What?' asked Aragorn impatiently.

'He left him,' the elf replied simply. 'He chose to honour his
father's wishes over the love he felt for your foster father.'

Aragorn stared at Glorfindel in amazement.

'They were lovers?'

'Yes, but it went far beyond that...it was very intense. In all the
thousands of years I have lived I have never seen anything like it
before or since. Which makes Legolas' decision all the more
difficult to understand.'

'Then why did he leave?' asked Aragorn in confusion.

Glorfindel sighed. 'I have already said more than I should and I do
not know all the reasons. If you wish to know more, I suggest you
speak to Legolas.'

'I'll do that,' said Aragorn, determination written on his face. 'I
will get to the bottom of this.'

The tension in the air in Elrond's study was palpable. For several
long seconds they stared at each other until Elrond broke the silence.

'Please, sit down,' he said, gesturing to the seat in front of his
desk.

'Thank you,' Legolas replied, pulling the chair out and sitting down.

'I take it there is a reason for this visit,' Elrond said evenly.

Legolas surveyed him with solemn eyes.

'Yes, there is. I'm afraid I bring grave news from Mirkwood. The
creature, Gollum, entrusted to our keeping, has escaped.'

'Escaped!' exclaimed Elrond, unable to hide his dismay and
displeasure. 'How could you let that happen?' he asked accusingly.

'I'm afraid we were too kind to him,' Legolas replied
solemnly. 'Though we guarded him day and night, we allowed him into
the woods to climb a tall tree he favoured. A guard was set at the
bottom so he could not escape. Then, one day, he refused to come
down and the guards did not wish to climb up after him; so they sat
by the tree into the night. It was that night Orcs came upon us and
though we drove them off, we discovered afterwards that Gollum was
gone and his guards were slain or taken. It would seem that the
attack was made for his rescue.'

'This is indeed a most serious occurrence,' Elrond said with
vexation. 'Your guards must have been very lazy and careless to
allow themselves to be caught so.'

Elrond was startled when Legolas jumped from his seat and slammed a
fist down on the desk. Nor did he expect the anger flashing in those
usually gentle blue eyes.

'My younger son was one of the guards that was killed,' he
hissed. 'He was neither lazy nor careless. Do not dishonour my
family by speaking such words.'

Aghast, Elrond also rose.

'I'm sorry, my words were thoughtless,' he apologised. 'They were
spoken out of anger at the situation, not those involved. I am sure
any son of yours would have fought bravely to the end.'

Legolas gave him a strange look that Elrond could not decipher,
before bowing his head and staring at the desk.

'He was very young,' Legolas replied, voice thick with some inner
conflict. 'That was why he was assigned to the job. It was not
considered dangerous...' his voice broke. Instinctively Elrond
circled the desk and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder, trying
to ignore the inappropriate arousal that awakened at their close
proximity.

'It must be terrible to lose a child,' he said softly, unable to stop
himself thinking of how he might lose Arwen to Aragorn and mortality.

Legolas turned his head to look at him, that strange look back in his
eye.

'He died honourably in battle,' Legolas replied in a low
voice. 'Others have suffered worse fates...'

Elrond was slightly shocked at the callous attitude. If he had not
seen how emotional Legolas had been a moment ago, he could almost
believe he did not care. Suddenly he realised what he meant.

'You mean your brother, don't you?'

Legolas looked away into the distance, a faraway look on his face.

'No one should have to die like that,' he said in a hoarse
whisper. 'I watched him waste away before my eyes. There was
nothing anyone could do to save him from the poison once it had taken
hold.'


Flashback


The snow had come and gone from Rivendell, the leaves had once again
greened the trees, but still Elrond heard no word from Mirkwood. He
had sent many messengers, but all had been turned away before they
could even enter the forest set seemed that Mirkwood had shut itself
away from the rest of Middle-Earth.

The snow had once again started to fall before he heard anything.
Elladan and Elrohir had insisted on going to Mirkwood to try their
luck, knowing how much it hurt their father to not have Legolas with
him.

Elrond looked up eagerly when his sons entered his study. They had
been away longer than any of the other messengers, so he was full of
hope that they brought tidings of his beloved.

One look at their faces filled his heart with dread.

'Is he alive?' Elrond asked, fearing the answer.

'Yes, he's alive,' Elrohir replied. 'Unfortunately his brother is
not.'

'Glarand is dead?' Elrond asked in disbelief. 'How can that be?'

'He never recovered from the sickness that took Legolas home. But
that's not all...'

'What?' demanded Elrond, losing patience.

Elrohir swallowed hard. 'As he is now crown prince, Legolas decided
that...He felt that...'

'Oh for Elbereth's sake, Elrohir!' interrupted Elladan in
disgust. 'Father, what he's trying to say is that Legolas has no
plans to return to Rivendell. What's more, he has since married the
elf-maiden who was betrothed to his brother and they already hav son son from the union.'

The twins looked on in horror as their father went pale and tried to
stand only to fall back down, eyes closed.

'How could you just blurt it out like that?' Elrohir said in anger to
his elder brother. He rushed to his father's side. 'Can I get you
anything?' he asked anxiously.

'No,' said Elrond in a barely audible whisper. 'Just, please, leave
me be.'

'But father, we can't leave you like this,' began Elrohir anxiously.

'Just get out!' he replied in a louder voice. 'I need to be alone.'

As his sons left, Elrond sunk his head in his hands, his mind filled
with images of his beloved. Images that now included a beautiful
wife and a gurgling baby son. At that moment he hated all three of
them...


End of Flashback


Elrond's grip on Legolas' shoulder tightened as he relived the past.

'Your brother was a good and noble elf,' he said thickly. 'He is
sadly missed.' Indeed he had been one of their chief supporters when
their relationship had become known to King Thranduil, and had argued
vehemently for him to let Legolas follow his heart. The result had
been a brief two years of happiness for them. 'But enough of old
sorrows, when there are such terrible new ones. Tell me, how do your
wife and other son bear up under the loss?'

'Alemi is full of grief,' Legolas replied dispassionately. 'He was
her favourite and the loss is almost unbearable to her. Jarab...he
blames himself, believing that he should have been able to save his
brother. Though truth be told he could have done no more than he
did, he killed many Orcs that day and I am proud of him.'

'Why are you here?' Elrond asked suddenly, dropping his hand to his
side. Legolas could not help but notice the vague sense of loss even
through his surprise at the question.

'As I have told you, to inform you of the escape of Gollum.'

'Anyone could have conveyed that message,' the Lord of Rivendell
replied gently. 'I mean why are you here when you should be at home
grieving with the rest of your family?'

'I did not wish to grieve anymore,' he replied stiffly. 'I wished to
*do* something. There is far more going on here than the escape of
one creature and I wish to help in any way I can.'

'But surely those in Mirkwood need you...'

'They do not need me,' replied Legolas sharply. 'Alemi has more than
enough willing comforters and Jarab is strong and understands my wish
to help. He would have come with me if I had allowed it.'

'And didndidn't you?' Elrond asked curiously.

A look of regret crossed the younger elf's face.

'He is too young and my only heir...and there are other reasons that
I cannot discuss.' Legolas replied evasively. There was a very good
reason why he did not want Elrond and his son to come face to face,
but certainly not one he could reveal...

TBC