Honour Before Love

Chapter Seven - Helms Deep & Back In Imladris

'This is too dangerous,' the dwarf growled at the golden elf who
stood before him. 'You should not risk yourself in such a way.'

'I will stand by yours and Aragorn's side as always,' Legolas replied
stubbornly. 'I will not cower and hide in fear with the women and
children.' He looked at the dwarf he now considered his dearest
friend, through narrowed eyes. 'Besides,' he said more softly. 'I
know you will not let anything happen to me.'

'I will do my best as ever,' Gimli replied. 'But this will be a full
blown battle and I cannot guarantee I will be able to stay beside
you.'

'Then I must take my chances like everyone else.'

'If you do not think of yourself, think of your child,' pleaded Gimli.

Legolas placed a hand on his still flat stomach.

'I would rather my child had a free world to come into, than be born
into the darkness of Sauron's reign. Better we both die here than
submit to that.'

'What the hell is going on?' demanded an incensed voice from the
doorway. Both Legolas and Gimli spun round to face Aragorn.

'Nothing is going on,' Legolas said quickly. 'We were just talking.'

'Aye, I heard you talking and I heard more than I wanted.' The
ranger stared at Legolas. 'Is what I heard true? Are you with
child?'

Meeting his gaze, Legolas slowly nodded his head.

'Unbelievable,' Aragorn whispered, looking dumfounded. 'I had heard
tales of such things being possible among elves, but I never thought
they were true.'

'Believe it, Aragorn,' the elf told him wryly. 'Galadriel herself
told me.'

'Galadriel?' he said, his temper flaring again. 'You have known
about this since Lothlorien and yet you did not tell me. If I had
known I would never have let you come this far...'

'And you wonder why I did not tell you?' Legolas replied
angrily. 'It was my choice to follow you and I do not regret it for
a moment.'

'Even though we will possibly all die tonight?' Aragorn asked, eyes
flashing.

'I regret nothing,' the elf repeated icily. 'And I will do all I can
to prevent that outcome.'

'No you will not,' the man replied, equally coldly. 'You will stay
down here, away from danger.'

'Danger is everywhere,' snapped Legolas. 'You are my friend and I
follow you gladly, but you do not rule me. I will do what my honour
as a prince of Mirkwood tells me to do.' He looked at his friend
challengingly.

Just then Gimli touched Aragorn's arm.

'It's no good arguing with him, he will do as he sees fit,' the dwarf
said gently. 'Besides even those still in their childhood are being
made to fight.'

'But not an unborn babe,' protested Aragorn.

'This is my child,' Legolas said quietly. 'I do not make the
decision lightly, but I *have* made it.'

'And what of the father?' demanded the Ranger. 'Does he have no
rights?'

'No he does not. He is far away and knows nothing of this child.
And I do not know if he would even care...' Legolas finished sadly.

'Whose is it?' Aragorn asked, almost gently. 'For a brief moment I
hoped that it was Elrond's and you and he had reconciled, but your
words lead me to believe this cannot be.'

'You are half right, Ranger,' the elf said with a sad half
smile. 'We have not reconciled, but we did spend the night together
before we left Rivendell, and the child I carry is indeed his.'

Aragorn was suddenly struck by a thought. 'A brother or sister to
Arwen,' he said with wonder.

'A sister...or so Galadriel has foreseen.'

'And yet you still expect me to let you fight?' he asked
exasperatedly.

'I expect you to *let* me do nothing. I *will* fight regardless.'

'Then let us hope we prevail.' Aragorn said, finally accepting the
elf's determination.

'Do not worry, Aragorn. I will stay close by him.' Gimli reassured.

Aragorn, put a hand on Gimli's shoulder.

'I'm sure you will be a staunch ally as ever,' he said soberly. He
flicked a glance between the dwarf and the elf. 'Now I see why you
have become such friends.' And with that he left them alone.

'Well that could have gone better,' remarked the dwarf.

Legolas sank down to his knees, his legs no longer able to hold him
up.

'He will tell Elrond,' he whispered, his face pale. 'And then what
shall I do?' His only comfort was that Aragorn did not know Jarab's
true parentage.

Gimli stared at the elf, but saw the question had been rhetorical and
he had sunk into a deep reverie.

''Tis all for the best...probably,' muttered the dwarf. But just
then there were cries from above and battle was upon them...

*******

Elrond sat in his study, but work was the furthest thing from his
mind. Messengers from Lothlorien had informed him that the
Fellowship had passed through there and of the fall of Gandalf, but
since then he had found the Istari was very much alive. Now, he felt
that the war against Sauron and Saruman had come to a critical
point. One that his foster son and his love were deeply embroiled
within. Now his sons were also travelling towards Rohan to who knew
what danger. Though, even if he had been able to, he would not have
stopped them.

He was startled out of his dark thoughts by the entry of Glorfindel
looking strangely agitated.

'What is it?' he asked resignedly.

'There is an elf from Mirkwood wishing to speak with you.'

Elrond nodded tiredly. He had been expecting something from
Thranduil for a long time. He imagined he was most displeased that
his son had not returned home.

'Send him in,' Elrond replied.

'Don't you want to know his name first?' Glorfindel asked with an
inscrutable look on his face.

'Why? Do I know him?'

'You have not met him, but you have certainly *heard* of him.'

'Just tell me who he is,' the half-elf said irritably. He was in no
mood for games.

'He says his name is Prince Jarab, son of Legolas.'

Elrond stood up in shock. 'What is he doing here?' he demanded.

'I have no idea,' the Eldar replied composedly. 'He said he would
speak only to you.'

'Then send him in,' he repeated.

Glorfindel bowed and left the room. A few - very impatient - minutes
later, the door once again opened and a young, golden-haired elf
stood there.

Elrond gazed at him for a moment and got the strange feeling that the
elf reminded him of someone - but that person wasn't Legolas. Yes,
the son had his lover's colouring, but the eyes were more grey than
blue and there was an air of regalness that Legolas had never
possessed, few did, and certainly not at this age. He also did not
seem to have the litheness one would expect of a wood-elf; he seemed
more sturdy somehow. Elrond could not help but wonder if there was a
hint of human somewhere in Alemi's bloodline...

Suddenly he realised he was staring and quickly composing himself, he
went through the usual formalities until they were both settled,
drinks in hand.

'So what brings you to Imladris, Prince Jarab?' Elrond asked.

'Just Jarab will do,' the young elf replied. 'The reason I have come
here is that I need to know what my father is involved in and whether
there has been any news of him since he left here?'

Elrond nodded gravely. 'I can understand your concern and your wish
to know more.' And with that he proceeded to tell the young prince
of the quest and as much as he knew of what had happened since. Once
he had finished, Jarab frowned.

'So it is true what he wrote then, that this quest is incredibly
dangerous?'

'Yes,' replied Elrond. 'But I have every confidence in your father.'

'More confidence than he had in himself then!' Jarab retorted. He
reached into the pocket of his tunic and brought out a rather ragged
piece of paper. 'This is the only message he sent my mother during
his stay at Rivendell and there does not appear to be much hope in it.

With a worried look, Elrond took the paper from the extended hand and
read it through. His face grew paler as he read it through and he
could barely stifle an exclamation as he read that Legolas had
dissolved his marriage and abdicated his position as Crown Prince.
Finally, with a sigh, he put it down and looked levelly at the elf in
front of him.

'What do you expect me to say?' he asked.

'I want you to tell me to whom he refers when he says his heart was
already taken before he married my mother?'

'Somehow I think you already know that,' Elrond replied.

'I have what my mother has told me, but I wish to hear it from your
lips,' Jarab said angrily. 'And I also want to know if *you* are the
reason my father has left my mother and his home for good?'

'Not knowing what your mother has told you, I can only tell you what
is true. Yes, Legolas and I were involved for several years before
he married your mother. It was he who ended it and chose instead to
honour his father's wishes for him to marry your mother.' He took a
deep breath. 'As for the rest of your question. No, I am not the
reason that he has decided not to return to Mirkwood - in fact until
I read this letter I had no idea of his plans. But I *can* tell you
that the blame rests firmly on your grandfather's shoulders.' He
looked at the Legolas' son sympathetically. 'Legolas is a free
spirit that your Thranduil wished to chain down - and succeeded - but
there would always come a day when he would rebel. I just hope you
can forgive him.'

Jarab looked at him strangely. 'There is nothing to forgive. I am
not stupid, I knew how my father felt about his duty towards
grandfather and our kingdom. However, I do not believe that this is
enough for him to sever all ties with us. Please tell me the
truth...Are you still in love with him?'

Elrond bowed his head, unable to meet the piercing grey of the
other's eyes.

'Yes,' he admitted in a low voice. 'Even when I hated him for
leaving, a part of me still loved him. Seeing him again made me
realise that I will never stop loving him.' He raised his eyes
challengingly, not sure what he would find there. What he had not
expected was the beginnings of a smile.

'I am glad,' Jarab said softly. 'My father deserves some happiness.
I am sorry if I have pressed you so far, but I needed to be sure.
The reason for that is there is something that I must tell you
now...something you may find difficult to believe...something even I
found hard to believe when my mother told me!'

Elrond could not keep the confusion from his face. 'What?' he
managed to say weakly, wondering what more this strange young elf had
to say.

'Alemi is not my natural mother,' he replied.

'What? Then *who*?' asked Elrond in astonishment. Jarab gave a
faint laugh.

'I suppose you could say my father is really my mother. He is the
one who carried me for more than a year. He is the one who gave
birth to me.'

Elrond's jaw dropped as this revelation sank in. 'Then...?' He
stopped, unable to put into words what this meant...or what he hoped
it meant.

'*You* are my father.' Jarab said firmly

Suddenly, to Elrond, everything fitted into place. The vague hints
from Legolas, the scar that was obviously from the birth and the
vague notion of familiarity about the other elf. Now that he knew,
it was obvious that Jarab reminded him of himself!

'I never realised,' he said shakily. 'I had heard rumours of male
elves that could have children, but I did not believe it was true.'
He looked at his new found son. 'So where do we go from here?'

'I would like to stay here for a while if that is acceptable to you,'
the young elf replied, for the first time showing a hint of
trepidation. 'I would like to have a chance to get to know my
father.'

Elrond carefully kept hidden the wave of anger that went through him
at the realisation that Legolas had deprived him of seeing his son
grow up. Had not even had the decency to tell him. Instead he
smiled and replied, 'I would like that very much.'

But deep down, he was not sure if he would be able to forgive this
latest act of treachery by his lover. That was, he realised with a
sense of forboding, if he ever saw him again...

TBC.