Forget me not

Chapter 25

Elladan… Elladan… he is dead. He died. I loved him. I loved Elladan. He is gone forever. I cannot live without him. Elladan was in the garden. Was that Elladan? There is another. Elrohir. Was it Elrohir? Was it Elladan? I love Elladan. Elladan… Elladan… He is dead….

I could not speak; I could not think. I wanted to curl up in a hole and rot away for the rest of eternity. I wept. I shook. I was so scared. I was so tired. I wanted to sleep. I wanted to die.

Legolas was there, though. He spoke soothing words to me. He told me I would be all right. The pain would dull. I would move on. I only had to believe that I could do it. Elladan was gone, he had been gone a month. It still hurt my heart and my mind to know he was dead. I could not accept it. I clearly could not bear even to see his twin.

Legolas did not leave me. He stayed with me. He held me. He whispered soothing words to me. I loved him then. I loved his arms for being around me. I loved his words for soothing me. I loved his face for looking so caringly at me. I loved him. I loved him.

Elladan. I loved Elladan. I could not care for another as I cared for him, not now, not ever. It would be betrayal. He would never forgive me. He would never leave my heart, and so I could not make room for another.

*****

Legolas knew it was Elrohir at first sight. He knew that the boy had been seeking counsel with Merewen. He knew that he needed to talk to her for some reason unknown. Unfortunately, they all knew something would happen. They knew nothing good would come of his seeing her. She would melt down, she would scream. They did not know what, but they knew something.

Legolas held her and whispered to her before she fell asleep. He recognized this sleep as deep. He knew that she would be out for a long time, and though he did not wish to leave her side in case she awakened, he had to straighten a few things out with that Prince.

Legolas found Inwe who was screeching at the son of Elrond. She would never have yelled at anyone like this unless it was crucial and they were not understanding. Elrond stood by her side, looking at his son as if he would reprimand the boy at a moment’s notice. Legolas stepped up as Inwe ceased her spiel.

They all looked at Legolas, and he realized he must have looked very menacing because they all seemed to take a step backward at the sight of him.

“Do you realize what you could have done?” Legolas took the collar of the Prince’s tunic and forced him against the wall. “She may well not make it after your little prank. She was not stable, do you understand, she was on the verge of giving up. Every day I have to convince her that life is worth living, that I will be there forever, I will love her, Inwe will love her, she will never be alone, and you may have removed all evidence of our hard work. I would not be surprised if she reverted back to her comatose state!” He was shaking the elf. “I cannot watch her die, do you realize that would destroy me, that would destroy Inwe, not only her!”

Elrond had to take Legolas by the arm and pull him away from his son to get him to cease his rant. Meanwhile, though he did not hear it with his ire, Elrohir was retorting his own tirade.

“She does not love you! She never loved you! You were a means to an end. She has never wanted you! She will never want you! Elladan was her one true love, I knew it and Inwe knew it before she or Elladan did! You are tearing her apart! She does not want you!”

Elrond looked at them both, both were still screaming at each other. Immediately, though it was unknown how, Elrond seemed to grow before their eyes and his voice became booming and loud. “That is enough!” He hollered. “If you two wish to battle like children over who is right or wrong, then I suggest you do it elsewhere!”

They stopped screaming and stared at him, trying to hide their fear but not quite succeeding.

“Elrohir, it was a terrible thing you did. You had no right to intrude on them, you had no business betraying Inwe’s orders. She is in command when I am not, you must respect her as you respect me, as you would respect another of higher status than yourself.” He turned to Legolas as though to say more but was cut off.

“She is no higher than me! I had every right to be there! I had every right to see her! She does not belong to him! She does not love him! Elladan would be vengeful, he would hate to see another elf with Merewen! I am fighting for my brother’s honour!”

“Your brother gave her his blessings! He said she could wed another!” Legolas yelled back, remember the words spoken to Merewen the day of the battle with the spiders.

“No! He said he would return to her! He said whether she found another or not, he would be back!” Elrohir yelled back. “He said he loved her!”

“That was not a blessing? Elladan told her—”

“No! Not a blessing. Nothing! I told her nothing of the sort! I said I would always be there! I would be with her and she forgot! She will not forget me for you! She loved me!” Elrohir screamed, and everyone blinked in surprise. “I love her!”

*****

“I love her!” I stepped back and tripped over something behind me in the hallway. The only one that noticed was Elrohir. The rest were too taken aback to do anything but stare at him.

I scurried back away from him as he approached me. Legolas took his arm but Elrohir threw his body away from him as if it was nothing. Fear and panic grew in me. This was unnatural.

“You wench! How could you do that to me? I was there, I was right beside you! You left me and then returned only to be with him!” He gestured violently to Legolas who was getting up from the floor.

I stuttered but couldn’t say anything. He stepped closer to me and hauled me up from the floor. I felt his hand strike my face, and my head flew backward only for him to wind up to smack me again. He was about to repeat the motion once more when someone grabbed his hand from behind.

“You will not touch her in such a manner, Elladan.” The voice that spoke, Elrond’s voice, did not belong to the person holding his arm. Haldir held his hand back and blocked the other fist as it came crashing down toward him. Easily, he held the elf back against the wall and Inwe and Elrond approached him.

Legolas came over to me to pick me up from the floor. My eyes must have been wide and afraid because he cooed words of endearment into my ears to soothe me.

Elrohir’s body struggled, and his eyes were wide and bloodshot. “Release me!”

“Elladan! You will not take such a tone with me!” Elrond spoke to him, but Inwe would not control her ire so well. She raised her arm and slapped his face violently. Almost sending him sprawling on the floor if it weren’t for Haldir’s assistance.

Somehow, though the rest of us were baffled, Elrond seemed calm and in control. He somehow knew what was going on very nearly immediately, and he knew how to fix it all.