Sitting on the rock silently absorbed in his thoughts, his memories, he stared out into the dense forest and unconsciously listened to their conversation.

“Stop it Pip, that hurts,” Merry was saying whilst trying to stir the sausages and eggs around the greased saucepan. Pippin continued to punch his arm and giggle trying to get to the food, early might I add. Aragorn stepped forth and pulled them apart and away from the fire.

“Now you young lads give it a rest, we don’t want a fire running amock here,” he said sternly, Legolas smirked while listening then he looked down at his hand. He could feel himself dissolving into large halls where your voice would echo and two young elflings would run free.

“Now young lads, stop it, I have a council meeting in a minute, what are you fighting about? Melrue? Legolas?” The stern voice of his father played in his mind; he could feel his face burning like it had that day. His older brother, Melrue had stolen the beautiful rock of Rose stone he had found earlier. He could not bear to get his brother in trouble so little Legolas kept his mouth firmly shut. Still panting from the fighting all up the hall Melrue said in an innocent voice,

“Legolas stole my rock Ada!” Thranduil looked down severely into Legolas’s bright blue eyes and said,

“That is not nice to take something that is not yours Legolas, now go to your room.” Legolas shuffled his feet and nodded and said very quietly,

“Yes Ada…” Melrue saw the sad look on his little brother’s face then exclaimed suddenly,

“Ada it was I who stole his rock, not the other way round, I am sorry.” He hung his head in shame but then lifted his head slightly and winked at Legolas. Thranduil sighed and rubbed his large hand over his handsome youthful face and sighed,

“Boys, I do not have time for you to tarry and lie, both of you go to your rooms and play. I am already late.” The two boys nodded then as soon as their father was out of sight Melrue grabbed Legolas into a head lock and they both started giggling. Then they ran outdoors into their mother’s garden and played with the rose stone and pulled petals off the flowers.

A wisp of a smoke ring wafted past Legolas as he sat on the rock, his quiver and bow next to him. He began to clean his ivory knives and watched Aragorn and Gandalf blow smoke rings. Boromir was standing intently with Sam and Bill the Pony, talking casually, and Frodo was asleep was exhaustion. Merry and Pippin were eating hungrily and laughing quietly. Legolas’s gaze was brought back to Frodo, asleep against the tree trunk, and he paused, feeling himself immerse into his Mother’s garden.

A single yellow petal floated down to the ground, a pair of bright blue eyes watched it and followed it down to the green grass. His eyelids heavy with tiredness, he felt himself slowly falling into a whole bed of petals. Melrue put his arm around his little brother and he also fell asleep into the bed of petals, the bed of dreams. Awakening with his back against the trunk, his brother’s arm around him, Legolas’s met his father’s face, looking very angry at the both of them. He quickly got up nervously and Melrue also awoke and jumped up. Both were afraid of what trouble they would be in, and then their father spoke.

“How many times have I told you, do not play in your dead mother’s garden!” He lifted up a dead stem of a rose with no petals and said, “You dare disrespect this, this life? Pulling off its petals and playing in them?” Legolas felt himself trembling and Melrue held his hand and said,

“We are sorry Ada but we miss her, I do.” Legolas turned and looked at Melrue, a single shining tear rolled down his brother’s cheek.

A confused expression flittered over Legolas’s face as he watched a single spark fly from the flames of the fire. He had never known his mother; she had died when he was born. Melrue had only known her three years of his life; Legolas had known her for none.

“She was so beautiful gwador, she had long brown hair unlike ours and Ada’s, big blue eyes, Legolas, just like yours,” Melrue said looking into his little brother’s eyes and smiled. He unsheathed his emerald encrusted ivory knife and said beaming,

“I come of age soon gwador, when you’re nine hundred years old we can be warriors together and go and fight the spiders like we used to pretend when we were little.” He laughed and held his brother’s hand and put it over the handle of the knife.

Swish, swis. The knife swerved from side to side, then another joined the first and the two knives danced in the air together. The Fellowship watched him in awe as he twisted the knives together, entwining them in movement as one.

They twisted and turned through the air, duplicating each other’s movements, swaying, spinning in the air as one like the knives. The two warrior elves, blond haired, one blue eyed, one brown eyed. Together they charged at the Warg and Melrue stepped forth and took one swipe at its neck, then Legolas stepped forth and stabbed him, right through the heart. It fell to the forest floor. They cheered in chorus then pulled each other into an embrace.

“Well done gwador, the student becomes the master,” Melrue said brightly and walked next to Legolas as they went back to the Kingdom. Legolas snorted and answered,

“Me the master, I doubt it gwador. I think it was dead before I stabbed it” They laughed together until they came to the city’s gates.

Laughter filled Legolas’s mouth and lips and he laughed quietly. Aragorn turned to look at him in the light of the flames. He walked over to him and sat with him on the rock.

“Mellon nín, why are you over here by yourself?” he asked Legolas, who was staring out to the starry sky, the smile gone from his face. He turned to Aragorn; his deep blue eyes pierced the air.

“I was just thinking of Melrue Mellon nín,” he said softly, then returned to staring at the stars lighting up the night sky. Aragorn nodded and sat there quietly with him and started singing an elvish folk tale gently. It wafted in the wind.

Through his high fever Legolas could hear his brother’s voice softly saying to him, his hand on his little brother’s.

Ihoss goloth Ioad an I talaf
Moe lamath glir ned mith lonnath
Al gwador nín car al pada ennas
Car al revia, car al revio
Erui gwilwileth erui sigil
Gwador sigil
Teli ad, teli ad

He felt himself cooling; the green liquid stopped flowing through the blood in his veins. The poison arrow no longer flowed around him, no longer killed him. Melrue sighed with relief as his brother went into a dreamless sleep, but the orcs who did this would pay.

The breeze shifted and Aragorn had left his side and had gone to sleep. The hobbits were also asleep; everyone was asleep except him. He looked one more time out into the dark night sky and thought of his gwador, then felt himself fall into a bed of petals, a bed of dreams.

The door of the palace was open as Legolas returned to his home once again. The nightmares of Melrue had haunted him the whole trip but so had the dreams. He could no longer feel the echo of children’s voices in the halls of Thranduil. But then he heard the small paces of a child running down the hall to greet him. Brown eyes met his and he bent down on one knee to greet Melrode, his nephew. Then in a loud voice that echoed Melrode exclaimed,

“Ada went hunting for those orcs who shot you that year, but Ada hasn’t been home in one month now.” Despair filled Legolas’s mind and he put his hand down to steady himself. Then he saw his father, his king. A look of sadness was on his face and he was holding an emerald encrusted knife; the bearer had gone to the Gray Havens.

Legolas put Melrode’s hand over the handle of the knife. Swish, swish. The knife swerved from side to side, then another ivory one joined the first and the two knives danced in the air together, as one.

Îdh ned sîd gwador nín

We are the two dancing knives

Rustling leaves float to the ground
Soft voices sing of grey havens
No my brother do not walk there
Do not fly there, do not sail there
Single butterfly, single knife
Brother knife
Come back, come back
Îdh ned sîd gwador nín- Rest in peace my brother

~~~
Ada – father
Gwador – brother