Legolas was bored.

Ever since his last ‘Great Adventure’, during which he had managed to almost get himself and Aragorn, killed, his father and Lord Elrond had decided that it would be best to keep the boy and prince apart for a while, for their own safety and protection.

When he found out about this Legolas was furious!

“How could you do this, Father?!” he yelled. “Estel is like a brother to me!”

“As I said, it’s for your protection,” Thranduil replied, calmly.

“My Protection?!” exploded Legolas. “Father, I admit that Estel and I do seem to get into a few scrapes here and there, but how can you do this without at least discussing it with me first?”

“Because I am your Father. From now on you are forbidden to leave this palace without first consulting me and I don’t want you anywhere near that young man, understand? And don’t even think about sneaking out to Rivendell to see him because Lord Elrond is as adamant as I am!”

Unfortunately, that was exactly what Legolas was thinking about.

Sitting on his balcony, Legolas could see out over the courtyard and already had his escape plan mapped out. He had woken up that morning with it firmly logged there and he intended to act upon it.

The first thing he had done was to send off one of the palace messenger eagles to Aragorn asking him to meet Legolas at the ruins outside Rivendell at noon the next day.

After that he had rushed back to his room to prepare for the journey (and any adventures they might have along the way!)

Now all he could do was wait for Aragorn’s reply.

Unfortunately, this was taking rather longer than expected to come.

It was now three hours since he had sent the message and still there was no word from Aragorn.

Legolas was getting impatient, but he decided to give it one more hour, which was good because had he not waited, he may never have got the reply at all.

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In Rivendell, Aragorn was also bored.

His brothers had left the day before in response to a threat of orcs on their northern border and had yet to return.

Without them or Legolas around, life in Rivendell and turned incredibly dull.

After giving him a severe warning about sneaking off to meet up with Legolas, his father had suggested that he do something constructive like practicing his archery of sword techniques but even that lost its appeal without the twins.

At this moment, Aragorn was sitting in the gardens contemplating how dull his life would have been had he never met Legolas and how that concept compared to now when, out of nowhere, a scroll dropped to the ground at his feet.

Looking up Aragorn could just make out the eagle that had brought the message descending into a nearby tree. He knelt down and took the scroll in his hands.

It wasn’t very long or large and felt incredibly light. Turning to the name, Aragorn immediately recognised the writing. There on the top of the scroll, in smooth, elven script was ESTEL.

Almost dropping the scroll, Aragorn hastily turned it over and stared at the emblem on the seal. There it was, the tree of the Royal House of Mirkwood. Surely this was an invitation from Legolas asking him to visit at once.

Then Aragorn remembered his father and what he had said about Legolas. He decided that it would be safer to read this letter in the private of his own chamber.

He hurried inside, and almost ran straight into Arwen.

“Hey, hey! What’s all the rush?”

“Nothing!” Aragorn lied. “Just got to do something.”

“Alright, but remember what Father said about Legolas,” replied Arwen, and continued her way into the gardens.

Aragorn stared after her. How much did she know? But there wasn’t time to worry about that, he had a letter to read.

When he reached his chamber, he quickly closed the door and windows and sat on the bed to read his letter.

Inside was a hastily scrawled message with no signature, though none was need as Aragorn already knew perfectly well who it was from.

He read it through once and then reread it to make sure he understood what it was saying.

‘Father says we are not aloud to meet but it’s so dull around here. Would you like to meet anyway? How about tomorrow at noon by the old ruins?’

After the second time the meaning began to sink in and Aragorn sprang from his bed. Grabbing a scarp of paper off the table he hastily scrawled a reply to the affirmative and rushed to the aviary.

After send the message with one of the fastest eagles he could find and set off back to his chamber to prepare fro the journey.

It was 11 now and he would have to wait for cover of darkness in order to go unnoticed. That gave him 9 hours to prepare and 17 hours for the journey, which would be plenty of time for both endeavours.

With his pack ready and waiting by his bed, Aragorn settled down for a long wait, imaging Legolas’ reaction upon receiving his reply.

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Finally the answer arrived.

Tired of watching for it, Legolas had drifted off to sleep, only to be woken moments later by something tapping him lightly on the head.

Looking up he saw a large eagle heading back across the sky towards Rivendell. This must surely be the answer then.

Legolas grabbed the letter off the floor, where it had landed at his feet, and tore it open.

He had only to read the first line to know that the answer was ‘Yes’.

In a moment he had grabbed the pack from his bed and was halfway down the tree that grew near his balcony. He hurried to the stables, making sure all the time that he was not seen by any of the stable hands.

Quickly he strapped his pack to his stallion and rod out of the stable towards the gate.

It was only when he reached the gate that he realised that it would never open to omit him because his Father had forbidden him to leave the palace without an escort.

Quickly and quietly he wield his stallion around and instead made for the side gate near the mountains that was hardly ever used anymore.

Luckily he was seen by no one and managed to lip out undetected…

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As darkness began to fall, Aragorn slipped out to the stable.

His brothers hunting horns could be heard in the distance, announcing their return and he just hoped he would be able to get away before they arrived.

In the stable he silently saddled his horse and led it slowly into the deserted courtyard towards the gate.

He then realised that the gates would never open for him. How was he going to get out?

He pondered this, absently listening to the horns of his bothers.

The suddenly, the idea hit him.

He shrank back into the shadows produced by the walls and waited.

He did not have to wait long as, with an extra long and loud blast, the horns called for the gates to open to omit the tired hunting party.

As they rushed through Aragorn past unnoticed into the darkness outside.

With one quick glance over his shoulder, at the closing gate, he mounted his horse and rode off into the trees, never noticing the dark eyes that watched him leave, nor the silent feet that followed him…

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