Nin Chronicles: My Word

I Am Hated

Thank you to MOStar598, nathalieAlice, joellamariah, fateclaws, and PackWolfLegolas for their never ending inspirational votes and comments! 

Thank you to JhaslynBajamundi, itsmhe13, MiamaeGigantoca, and itsme222 for sharing the story by adding it to their reading lists! 

As you may or may not know, I flew for the first time by my lonesome self to Arizona! Here I am in Tucson, with the desert sun rising, sharing this from a whole new world. You can bet I wrote many more chapters on the plane. 

Legolas licked his lips as he cracked his eyes open, his head throbbing as he moved. He swayed as he sat, his arm hurting from being crushed under him, and tried to focus on the wall opposite. A cold draft made him shiver.

"Ada?" he whispered.

A hand touched his shoulder and Thranduil's warm body moved closer to him. "I am here."

"Where are we?"

"We are in the dungeons."

"The dungeons?" Legolas faltered. "Does anyone know we are here?"

"I do not know. But even if the royal guard found us, they would be hard pressed to rescue us. We are hostages and a knife at my throat will stop any attempts made by Hyrondal to save us."

"What will happen to us?"

"You are here to pay in blood for the ruin you have brought to Mirkwood."

Legolas jumped around. The woman from the hallway stood leering at him in the doorway to the small room. Four elves stood behind her.

"Who are you?" Thranduil asked.

"You do not even know who your people are. Such a person is not fit to lead, especially when he lets his brat bring destruction to Mirkwood."

"I acknowledge I made a mistake," Thranduil said quietly.

"I accepted responsibility for my actions," Legolas said.

The woman smacked him. "You are fool to think such a gesture makes this right. You have been running loose for too long; if you were my child, you would be on a chain."

Legolas shivered. "People like you ought not have children."

"You are not one to judge."

"What is it you want?" Thranduil asked. "Let us resolve this and move on."

"You will give me what I want whether you want to or not," the woman answered. "I do not need a large following. All I need is you. And I am the one who will be moving on."

She wrenched Legolas away. Thranduil cried out his son's name, Legolas's fingers slipping through his grip as three elves subdued him.

"Ada!" Legolas wailed as Thranduil was smashed to the floor.

The woman's rough fingers dug into his neck as she forced him to watch. Tears dripped down Legolas's face as his father groaned under the kicks and fists on the elves assaulting him.

"That is what your father deserves," the woman whispered into his ear. She shoved him to his knees and shut the door behind her.

Legolas scraped his hands as he fell. He scrambled to his feet as the fourth elf walked toward him, rolling up his sleeves. Memories of Lord Katar came swirling back. Legolas curled into a corner and took the beating with his eyes squeezed shut.

When the door slammed, Legolas dropped his sore arms and crawled to his father's side, the cold floor digging into his knees. He touched his father's arm. Thranduil sat up, wiping blood from his split lip.

"They hate us," Legolas said.

"There is always someone with a heart full of hate," Thranduil answered.

"What if we miss the summer solstice and cannot perform the ritual in time to help the forest?"

"I will do everything I can to make sure that does not happen. Whatever these people want, I will give it to them."

Legolas's lips were dry when he licked them and his stomach growled. The feeling was old but familiar and he knew no full table awaited him.

"Come sleep," Thranduil said. "It will make you feel better."

In the far corner of the room, Thranduil rested his shoulders and back against the wall. Legolas curled in his lap, his head against his father's chest. He felt the pain radiating from Thranduil's hurt heart until his eyes closed.

Thranduil hugged Legolas closer to him as his son slept, unable to find the same peace in oblivion. The Forbidden Grove and Lord Katar's tortures were fresh on his mind. Lord Katar had almost separated him from his son. He could not let that happen again.

But he could not see a way to prevent it.

OoOoO

"—Ozorne."

Thranduil knew it was the name of the woman who had brought him and Legolas here. A moment later he grunted and his eyes fluttered open as a swift kick to his ribs jerked him from uncomfortable sleep.

Instinctively, Thranduil shifted to keep Legolas safe from future kicks. His effort only caused the elf behind Ozorne to reach for Legolas quicker.

"Please do not take my son from me," Thranduil pleaded.

"He is not yours to keep," Ozorne replied. "And I do not care to hear about how my argument is with you and not him. My argument is with both of you."

Legolas's frightened whimper cut a piece out of Thranduil's heart as the elf grabbed the elfling by the hair and slapped him to wake him up. Two elves held Thranduil's arms as the elf king rose to his feet. Father and son were marched into the dungeon halls.

At a dingy intersection lit by smoking torches, a dozen elves stood with Onyx at their head. Onyx's hand slid to his sword hilt and a vein in his neck popped out at the sight of the bruises on the king and prince.

"Onyx!" Legolas cried, bounding for the safety he saw behind his uncle.

Onyx held out a hand and the elves behind him covered their mouths as the elf holding Legolas belted him across the face. The elfling trained his eyes on his hands and watched his tears drip into the cracks on the floor.

"No," Onyx whispered.

"You cannot help him," Ozorne said. "We have proven we have the king and prince. If you do not leave us in peace, their lives will end all the faster."

"Leave us, Onyx," Thranduil said wearily. "You can protect us best by doing nothing. I will give these people what they want and be free."

Onyx bit his lip, his eyes hurt under his frowning brow. Ozorne smiled. "Listen to your king while you still can, elf. He will not be king for much longer."

Legolas watched Onyx leave, his back taunt with anger. Ozorne lingered until the soft fall of elvish footsteps faded before she gestured for her people who take Legolas and Thranduil back to their prison.

"I do not understand what we have done," Legolas sobbed, as he lay on the floor of the prison where his guard had tossed him.

Thranduil rubbed his son's raw hands, scratched by the rock floor. "Neither do I, my little leaf. We have survived worse then this and we will live to see a happy dawn."

"What if we miss the Summer Solstice and cannot save Mirkwood?" Legolas asked.

"We will not miss it," Thranduil said, his eyes betraying the conviction in his voice.

"I do not care," Legolas wailed. "I am so hungry."

Thranduil held Legolas to his chest, rubbing his back to calm him. He tried to imagine how Legolas survived Lord Katar's abuse alone and failed.

Always there is someone who hates the King. But wicked are those who hurt the children.

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