Fan Fiction ❯ Demons in the Dark ❯ Chapter 14

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Italics indicate memory or dreams.

Commonly used Sindarin words:

Ai: Oh!
pen-neth: young one
muindor: brother
gwador: sworn brother, not those by blood
Ada: dad
melethron: lover
a'maelamin: lover
ernil-nín: my prince
ion nín: my son

*~*~*

Estel was waiting for them when they rode into the manor. Grooms took charge of the horses as they hustled to get Legolas off his mount and into the Houses of Healing. "Ada is waiting," Estel said as he led the way.

Legolas weighed nearly nothing in Elladan's arms. How could it be possible, after only two days? Despite the lack of weight in his arms, Elladan swayed, dizziness washing over him. He clutched Legolas tighter, refusing to drop him or let him go.

They found Elrond waiting in the Houses of Healing, water hot and bandages laid out. "Set him down gently, Elladan," he instructed. "Then sit down before you fall over," he ordered, seeing the slightly unfocused look in his oldest sons eyes.

"I can help," he protested, depositing his charge on fresh linens.

"No, you can't, pen-neth," Elrond said gently. "You're injured, and I need focused hands. Let Estel look at you. You can stay here," he said before Elladan could protest.

"Aye, Ada," he responded meekly, eyes tracking his father, twin, and lover. Glorfindel and Erestor stood by to help father and son healers.

Estel knelt between Elladan's knees, pulling his injured arm into his lap. "Elladan?"

"Hm?" He tore his attention away from the bustle at the bed across from him and locked gazes with his human foster brother.

"How do you feel?" Estel unwrapped the bandage Elrohir had placed earlier.

"Dizzy. Off balance. What's happening?" he asked, turning his attention back to his father.

"They're doing all they can, Elladan," Estel assured him, choosing from the herbs and leaves at his side to put together a mix that would draw the toxin from his body and slow the spread.

Elladan only half heeded his own injury, focusing his eyes and ears on the elves tending to his lover.

"Where did you find him, Elladan?" Elrond asked over his shoulder.

"In a cave. A small room at the back of a series of caves." Elladan reported, ignoring the prodding his foster brother was giving his arm. "Why?"

"His healing reflexes are much diminished. For one as close to the trees as your Greenleaf, being kept from that would have prevented him from healing, as much as being surrounded by orcs."

"Got it," Elladan heard his brother say in triumph, though he didn't know why.

"Well done, Elrohir," Elrond complimented.

"You might want to restrain him," Elladan spoke up from his chair. "When you're done. He likes to sleep on his stomach."

Elrond looked over his shoulder with a soft smile for his eldest son. "Thank you, ion nín."

"Is he going to be all right, Ada?" Elladan asked, feeling very much like a lost little elfling.

"I think so. Do not despair."

Elrond shifted and Elladan got a glimpse of his lover. Legolas was breathing on his own, and it seemed less shallow than it had been. They hadn't yet bound his chest, Elladan could see, because they were in the process of setting him up to tend to his back.

A pain in his arm brought Elladan's attention back to Estel. "Sorry," his foster brother muttered, cleaning the wound and applying the herbs he had selected.

"Estel," Elladan spoke softly, looking into the bruised mass in the center of the young Man's face. "I'm so sorry."

"I know." Estel smiled. "Consider it another lesson taught to me by my big brother. Think first."

Elladan found a half smile for Estel, before turning back to where his father worked. He couldn't see anything beyond the backs of the Elves as they tended to his wounded lover. He wanted to ask, but knew better.

"There," Elrond pronounced. "Let's get that back dressed and bind his chest. Erestor, find something soft we can use to restrain the Prince, to keep him from rolling over. Glorfindel, bring those bandages."

Erestor moved off without replying and Glorfindel fetched the pile of clean bandages from a nearby table. Elladan watched as they dressed the ugly cut on Legolas' back, which didn't look so horrible once it had been cleaned, but still, the signs of infection were vivid.

"Tightly now, but careful," Elrond advised as the prepared to bind the Prince's chest. Glorfindel propped him up while Elrohir and Elrond passed the strips of fabric back and forth.

Elrohir pulled tightly on the bandage to take up a little slack, and with a moan, Legolas' eyes fluttered open.

"Elladan!" Elrohir beckoned.

"You are safe now, ernil-nín," Elrond soothed as Elladan lurched to his lover's bedside. "You are in Imladris and you are safe. Rest."

"Elladan," the Prince wheezed. "Sorry." His eyelids drooped, falling almost closed, and they all watched as the bright blue eyes dimmed, Legolas falling back into a healing rest. That his eyes remained even slightly open gave hope to all who watched. Already, surrounded by elves he loved and with the knowledge he was safe, Legolas was healing.

"There's nothing to be sorry for, melethron," Elladan whispered, stroking hair away from his lover's face. "Everything is going to be fine.