Broken (sequel to Caught)

Of Course

Thranduil was not at all formal the next day at breakfast. There were about three other elves in the dining hall, all of which he knew fairly well, so he was very relaxed during the early-morning meal. It was five o'clock in the morning, and no one was usually up. Legolas was the only one who usually woke up so horribly early, with a few exceptions.

Anomeda happened to be one of those exceptions, apparently.

"Good morning, Thranduil," she said, settling beside him with a plate of food in her hands. She lifted a pastry to her mouth and closed her eyes, savoring the taste.

"'Morning," said Thranduil, mumbling it through a mouthful of food. Looing briefly up at him, Anomeda burst into hysterical laughter.

Thranduil looked at her inquisitively.

"What?" he said, and she laughed all the harder.

"You...look like...a chipmunk!" she said between laughs, referring to his cheeks, which were full to the brim with food.

Thranduil swallowed, and his face returned to its normal size. He allowed himself a small smile as he took the next bite, going slower this time.

"So, why are you up so early?" Thranduil asked, picking a strawberry up from his place, looking at it for a moment before putting it down again, not having the heart to eat it. Legolas had loved strawberries.

"I am always up at this time," she said. "Although I must say I am surprised that you are. Usually only prince Legolas was in the halls at this hour."

Thranduil nodded, looking once more at the strawberry. A few moments of silence passed before Anomeda piped up again.

"I was reading last night, and I came upon the strangest custom of the other races."

"What was it?" Thranduil asked, lifting his eyes from the strawberry to look at her face, which was glowing in the early-morning light.

"Humans, and dwarves, I assume, remarry after a spouse dies. Can you believe that?"

Thranduil blinked in surprise.

"I did not know that," he said, and he thought about it. "Although I suppose it makes sense, given that they do not know if they will meet again after death or not."

"I still don't understand it," Anomeda said, shaking her head. "Then again, I have never really felt love before...but I guess there is still time. Plenty of time."

Thranduil smiled.

"There's always more time for an elf," he said, and handed his plate to a nearby servant, who took it to the kitchens to be cleaned.

He stood, giving her a small bow.

"Well, excuse me but I need to go get back to my oh-so-tempting paperwork." She laughed at that.

"See you at the meeting?" she said, referring to the council meeting scheduled for later that day.

He nodded to her and turned, robes dragging as he walked back to his office, a small smile gracing his face.

O:o:O

Legolas woke up once more from a long sleep, having dropped off in Elrohir's arms minutes after their conversation. He heard the door creak open, and someone stepped in. Well, two people did. Their footsteps were too light to be human, so he smiled in the direction.

"Hey," he said.

"Good morning," the twins chimed at the same time, and their footsteps shuffled around the room. Legolas involuntarily tensed as Elladan's hands touched his shoulders, but he relaxed as he felt how warm they were.

"You're freezing, Legolas!" Elladan exclaimed, and Legolas gave a small smile.

"I was travelling in the snow for five weeks, Elladan," he said, assuming it was Elladan because of the sound of his voice. He did not mention that even if he should've warmed up by now, the sea-longing and his wound both slowed the speed at which he recuperated.

"Five weeks? What were you, walking?" Elladan joked, assuming Legolas had just ridden slowly.

"Yes," Legolas said, and Elladan's eyes widened.

"What? You walked here from Eryn Lasgalen? Legolas, that's over a hundred leagues!"

"I know. That's why it took me five weeks," Legolas said. "Don't worry. Just forget about it."

"Still..." Elladan said, and his voice was firm. "Let Elrohir look at your wound."

Legolas nodded, not bothering to ask how Elladan knew he was wounded. The tunic was carefully pulled off of his head, and he winced as he had to put his arms over his head. Then his undershirt was unbuttoned, and his skin met the warm air of the room. He felt the tenseness leave his muscles at the heat.

Another pair of hands—Elrohir's, he assumed—unwrapped the bandages wrapped tightly around his torso. The smell of infection filled the room as the bandages were removed. He winced as Elrohir carefully forced the bandages off. He hadn't thought to bring any medical supplies. He had noticed the infection setting in the last few days as he travelled, but he could not take the bandages off and risk worse consequences.

Elrohir winced in sympathy as he looked at the festering wound. It seemed to have closed mostly, but there was pus leaking out of it slowly and the skin around it was red and inflamed.

"We need to clean this up," he said, and he looked at Elladan, who immediately knew what he wanted and went to heat some water. Elrohir sat down on the bed, taking Legolas's cold hand in his own.

"How did this happen, Legolas?" Elrohir asked, and Legolas gave a bitter smile as he replied.

"Somehow a spider got into a council meeting. I had to defend the council members. I got bitten and poisoned, but I'm alright."

Elrohir gave a sad smile.

"Of course you are."