Winter Tears

Chapter 5
Legolas lay quietly on the bed trying not to wince or squirm as Lord Elrond of Imladris peeled back the last layer of bandage that had been crudely wrapped around his arm. They had arrived at the last homely house within the hour and Legolas had had no time at all to take in the beauty of the valley around him before he was being ushered into the house. There had been little formal introductions as Lord Elrond had met the party in the healing wing. To Las Las Lord Elrond seemed very much like his father although softer and far less battle hardened. There had been a small exchange of pleasantries as Elrond had been introduced to the prince and his tutor before the healer within the Lord had ushered everyone out of the room.

Having been in the company of the Lord of Imladris no longer than a few moments Legolas had been reluctant to be left alone but Haladin had reassured him in Sindarian that he would just be outside if the prince needeythiything.

“This is a nasty wound Legolas. Yourhershers concern for your health was genuine.” Speaking aloud, more to himself than the prince lying on the ElroElrond screwed his nose up a little at the pungent smell of raw flesh from Legolas injury.

“It was healing before…” Legolas’ reply ended quickly as he yelped in agony and tried to pull his arm away from Elrond as the elvan lord gently probed his wound. Elrond’s vice like grip on his arm however prevented the prince from moving and Legolas could only whimper and shake in agony as Elrond slid the tip of his finger under a substantial flap of dying skin around the top of the wound.

“I very much doubt that it was young Legolas.” Legolas squeezed his eyes closed tightly and bit his bottom lip hard as Elrond ran his finger the length of the wound gauging quite accurately where the infections had settled. “Ah there is the problem…” Again speaking to himself more than Legolas, Elrond gently wiped away a little of the blood from Legolas arm to reveal quite astonishingly a large fragment of Spider spine still trapped within the wound. “It is understandable the healers missed such a small slither but that is causing the infection.” Legolas wide blue eyes opened impossibly larger, and glistened with tears that the prince tried desperately to hold back. Sensing his patients fear Elrond lowered Legolas arm back to the soft cushion on the side of the bed before reaching up and brushing his clean hand over Legolas’ forehead in a soothing motion. “Do not be frightened Legolas, I will give you something to numb the feeling before I remove it.” Legoloddeodded weakly and relaxed his body into the softness of the bed he lay upon as Elrond rose from his knelt position beside the prince. “Lindir!” Calling to the scribe Elrond moved swiftly over to the small table on the far side of the room, already beginning to mix the elixir that would dull Legolas senses enough to operate safely. When Thranduil had told Elrond of his son’s injury Elrond had not quite fully understood the extent to which the prince had been maimed but having seen the depth of the wound Elrond was surprised the prince had even lived. A moment later Lindir entered the room, pausing briefly to bow respectfully to both Legolas and Elrond before moving swiftly over to where Elrond was pensively stirring his potion.

“Yes my lord what can I do?” Legolas could see Lindir glance at him over Elrond’s shoulder a brief warm smile from the scribe making Legolas feel only marginally better as he closed his eyes again and merely listened to the conversation.

“Have Lord Erestor sent up immediately with a few pitches of warm water and some clean fresh silk.” Lindir nodded and was about to leave when Elrond caught his arm and brought the dark haired advisor closer to him. Sparing a glance to make sure the prince was not wang tng them Elrond whispered softly in Quenya to Lindir. “Also have the fire stoked and the iron’s heating, the wound is deep and will have to be sealed properly.” Lindir involuntarily shuddered at the very thought of what the prince was going to go through. Having been apprentice to Elrond through the entire of the last alliance Lindir had seen the process of quaterizing and had smelt it for days on his clothes afterwards. Not even a strong sleeping elixir would dull the searing pain of the technique, and the scar would last a lifetime. Sympathetically Lindir glanced across at Legolas who had now reopened his eyes having heard the two elves whispering in Quenya. The prince looked scared and for the sake of small comfort Lindir smiled at him again before disappearing quickly to do his Lord’s bidding.

Having watched Lindir go Elrond turned back to his young patient and frowned at the blood that had begun to flow again from the reopened wound onto the clean white sheets. Legolas was shaking and was slightly cold to the touch and Elrond hastily cut away the rest of Legolas’ tunic and under shirt under draping a thick tapestry blanket over the prince, leaving his arm still exposed.

“When I am done with you, you will be as good as new I promise.” Talking as he had done so many times to his own frightened son’s when they were elflings Elrond soothed his hand back and forth across Legolas’ forehead. Sharing a little of his healing energy with the prince to calm him. “Elladan and Elrohir were eager to meet you. Perhaps they will take you riding when you are well enough. The valley is beautiful this time of year.” Elrond smiled in mild success as Legolas seemed to warm to him and relax a little more.

“You have to say that, you are the Lord of Imladris.” Hearing Legolas cheeky but weak reply Elrond chuckled to himself and nodded in understanding. Legolas was just like Thranduil, strong willed and determined even in the most agonizing of situations. The young prince looked like his mother in every aspect accept for his long blonde hair, a trait neither Thranduil or his wife shared. Blonde elves either hailed from Lorien or Gondolin and Elrond found himself intrigued by how an elf of Royal Blood from Mirkwood could come by his blonde hair. With a far more immediate focus Elrond pushed his little quandary aside for the moment and merely shook his head in continued amusement of the prince’s previous question as he replied.

“Aye that I do princeling but you can judge for yourself later if I am not right.” At that moment Lord Erestor swept into the room two young maids in tow, carrying four pitches of steaming water between them. Lindir trailed behind with a small pile of wood and two large implements covered from view by a thick cloth “Ah Err, cr, come and meet Thranduil’s youngest son.” Lindir had told Erestor on the way to the room about the prince’s situation and the healers chosen course of action. For a moment even Erestor’s emotionless face softened in sympathy for the young prince at the very mention of the procedure to come. Now though having entered the room Erestor read the untold fear in you young prince’s deep blue eyes and smiled as warmly as he could manage at Elrond’s attempt at lightening the mood and relaxing hatieatient.

“Your highness, I would say that I am happy to see you if the circumstances were different.” Gently Erestor eased himself down to sit on Legolas’ bedside his hand extending softly to greet Legolas’ awkwardly offered hand that snuck out from beneath the blanket.

“It is my own fault Lord Erestor I should not have climbed that tree. Haladin was right as usual.” Legolas lowered his gaze from the elvan Lord hovering above him. Lord Erestor seemed nice just as Lord Elrond and Lord Glorfindel had been to him. From the table in the far end of the room Legolas heard Lord Elrond chuckle to himself as the healer turned around and wandered back over to them with a tray of implements and a small bowl of orange coloured liquid.

“You do not have to tell Erestor that your tutor was right in his advice Legolas.” Elrond placed his tray of implements down on a small table the maids had brought over from the fireside before handing the small bowl of orange liquid to Erestor who carefully rested the bowl in his lap. Legolas watched everything happening around him with a worried glance but the most concerning of activities in the room was where the elf named Lindir was heating two similar sized metal rods in the fire at the end of Legolas’ bed. “Erestor here has tutored my own two son’s for nearly 500 years and he has always right in his advice, lessons for which both Elladan and Elrohir have scars roverove.” Legolas managed a weak chuckle but grimaced considerably as Elrond placed his entire injured arm intoute ute warm basin of water, an action Legolas had not seen coming. Hissing and wincing in pain at the sting of the water Legolas shifted restlessly on the bed, his breathing erratic and his body shivering at the agony of the touch.

“Come Legolas relax a little and it will hurt less.” Gently easing his hand over the prince’s forehead Erestor drew Legolas’ attention from where Elrond was patiently cleansing the infected bleeding wound on Legolas’ arm. Having glanced at the injury earlier Erestor was surely concerned for the young prince, having not seen such damage in an elf since the last alliance. Easily Legolas sought out the reassuring soft gaze of Lord Erestor’s chocolate brown eyes. It seemed strange to Legolas that an elf that wore completely black robes and no unique braids in his hair could be Elrond’s closest advisor. All of his father’s advisors wore colours and jewellery that fitted their rank yet Lord Erestor wore no sign of his distinction. Legolas had no time to ponder on that thought however when a slicing pain swept through his body make him screech in agony. Legolas went to turn to look at what Elrond was doing but Erestor’s gentle hand caught his cheek before he could see. Drawing the prince’s gaze back to his own Erestor kept his hand on Legolas’ cheek shielding the young prince from Elrond’s work. The elvan lord had re opened Legolas’ wound with a knife and was now bathing it in a new clean bath of water.

Legolas was obviously in a great amount of pain and Erestor tried to remain calm and sympathetic even as Legolas began to sob openly at the agony. The glistening soulful blue eyes of the young prince never left Erestor’s gaze even as the Lord dipped a cloth into the bowl of orange liquid in his lap and placed it gently over Legolas’ nose and mouth. Elrond had strung out Legolas’ pain threshold as much as he could until it was obvious the prince wasn’t coping, and so Erestor gently administered the elixir. “Shhh, deep steady breaths now Legolas.” Soothing his free hand over Legolas forehead and back to his cheek Erestor unwittingly reverted into Quenya forgetting Legolas’ title in the process. Elrond spared his advisor a brief moment away from his work somewhat confronted by how compassionate Erestor was being. Not even when the twins had been injured had Erestor comforted them in such a way. Still there would be time later to dwell on Erestor’s strange behaviour and Elrond turned back to his intricate task of ridding Legolas’ wound of what was left of the spider spines.

With the elixir making Legolas sluggish but still not completely masking the pain Erestor began softly telling the young prince one of his favourite fables in Quenya. It was the story of Smaug the Dragon, and while Legolas was sure to have heard before it as all elflings had Erestor continued to tell it to the young prince anyway. The constant warm voice of Erestor seemed to flow over Legolas in a wave of comfort and while the prince could still feel the pain in his arm it was far less important compared to Lord Erestor’s steady gaze. The feeling would not last however and just as it had been momentarily taken away the pain was soon to return but with twice the agony.

Elrond having satisfactorily removed any lasting remains of the Spiders spine and the infection, now gestured over to Lindir who was just finishing rotating the last of the metal rods he’d added to the fire. The tip of each rod glowed orange and white with heat and Lindir shivered as he drew one of them from the fire and handed it to Elrond’s gloved palm. The prince hadn’t seen it coming due to Erestor’s attentiveness but when Elrond applied the first searing rode to Legolas’ arm the entire realm of Imladris was woken by the prince’s scream. The bowl on Erestor’s lap fell crashing to the floor as Legolas buckled with pain, Elrond barely managing the keep the rod in place as Erestor leapt onto the prince’s body in an effort to keep him still. The putrid smell of burnt flesh filled the small room quickly. With the first end of Legolas’ wound sealed shut Elrond handed the cooling rod back to Lindir who quickly replaced the cold one with the next hot one in Elrond’s hand. Legolas’ scream had not ended nor had his desperate struggles against Erestor’s body weight crushing him to the bed.
“Glorfindel get in here!” Knowing his seneschal would be obediently outside thom com calming Legolas’ tutor Elrond called him into the room. Almost immediately Glorfindel stepped into the room managing to close the door behind him before racing over to where his help was obviously needed to keep Legolas still. The smell was foul and Glorfindel heaved a little as he sat himself down on Legolas’ legs behind Erestor as again Elrond applied the second rod to the prince’s arm. Glorfindel had to smile a little to himself as he glanced up at Erestor. The usually reserved, cool and immaculately dressed advisor now straddled Legolas’ body, the black formal robe hitched up to his waist and his hair in wild disarray. Yet beyond Legolas’ constant agonized screams for his father Glorfindel could hear Erestor telling Legolas the story of smaug the dragon ienyaenya, not put off by the prince screaming in his face. It was a strange sight but it warmed Glorfindel’s heart to see it. Erestor had his face pressed to Legolas’, their noses touching as Erestor held the prince’s face in his cupped palms, the prince’s other arm trapped beneath Erestor’s knee.

It seemed almost too long before Elrond applied the last searing rod to Legolas’ arm the final section of wound being burnt closed. Legolas had stopped screaming a while ago and in the silence of the room all that could be heard was Erestor still whispering the end of his story in Quenya. Legolas body fell limp below the two elvan Lords holding him down and reluctantly Glorfindel slid from Legolas’ lower half before helping Erestor do the same. Stepping back from Legolas a little Elrond surveyed his work. Despite the struggle he’d managed almost perfectly to sear the wound closed in a perfect line. There was still a little blood but after another gentle bath in cold water and some clean bandages Legolas would be well enough to be put into his own room to sleep.

Despite everything Legolas was still partially conscious a little dopey but aware. An orange patch marred his beautifully sculptured face from the elixir mask Erestor had applied earlier. Visibly exhausted Elrond sat himself down ungraciously on a small stool by the door to the room and gestured easily for Lindir to finish washing and bandaging Legolas’ wound with what remained of the silk. Obediently Lindir did as he was bid while Erestor dampened a face washer to clean Legolas’ face of tears and orange.

“Will he be well?” Moving over to his lord’s side Glorfindel eased a hand around Elrond’s waist helping the exhausted healer to his feet.

“Aye we must be careful he does not get infection or over tax himself again, and the wound must be rebound every morning but apart from that he should be well but only time will tell.” Glorfindel nodded understandingly before easing Elrond towards the entrance to the room with every intention of helping Elrond back to his own chambers for the evening.

“Erestor he can go to the room you made ready for him. There is a sleeping draft on the table over there to help him sleep but have his tutor stay with him incase he should wake before dawn.” Erestor nodded quietly as Glorfindel continued to walk Elrond from the healing wing, leaving the door open and Haladin free to enter. The moment he was allowed in Haladin was at Legolas side in an instant the tutor all but pushing Erestor out of the way to see how his charge was doing. Lindir was just finishing Legolas’ bandage and with a small gesture Haladin swept Legolas up into his arms. Grabbing the sleeping draft from the table Lindir quickly followed Haladin and his charge from the room leaving Erestor standing stoically amongst the mess the face washer he’d been soothing over Legolas’ face hanging limply in his hand. With a sigh Erestor put the face washer back into the bloodied water of one of the basins used to wash Legolas’ wounds before turning to the task at hand. Opening all the windows and balcony doors to rid the room of the putrid smell of burnt flesh Erestor rolled his sleeves up and took his outer robe off. It was Lindir’s job usually to see to the cleaning of the healing wing, Elrond have forbid the maids for touching anything within them incase of costly accidents with rare medicines and implements. With Lindir currently indisposed however the task fell firmly into Erestor’s lap and thus Elrond’s chief advisor began the arduous task of meticulously scrubbing every inch of the room. Elrond was extremely particular about his healing wing, and knowing the Elf Lord’s policy on preventing infection Erestor knew he was in for a very long evening. Had Erestor been any less tired himself he might have gone in search of Lindir to demand he do his job but Erestor was too tired to find argument and Legolas deserved the attention of Lindir’s own healing abilities. After all he was just Elrond’s advisor, the ability to scribe his only gift….

TBC>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

(A/N) Please note that I do have NO medical background thus I fully expect all medical proceedures to be wrong in this chapter..... but then again I have no intentions of ever becoming a doctor thus it's okay If I make this shit up......