Work Text:
Title: The Elfling Who Cried 'Orcs'
Author: Sivan Shemesh sivan325@walla.com
Beta: Aranel
Disclaimer: Not mine, even though I am claiming that I own Legolas to my own…
Rate: K+
Warning: Angst, mere violence, death… AU.
Summary: Eldarion and his friends lying, and the king decided to educate them with a tale.
A/N: Written for Prompt #11: Lies of 12 Stories at LJ communities
Eldarion came running toward his adar, saying that there were orcs coming to eat him and his friends.
King Elessar frowned, not knowing what his son was talking about; he had not seen those creatures in his palace for quite a long time.
"Eldarion," The king called his son, and then when Eldarion was close enough, he asked, "Where did you see the orcs?"
Eldarion pointed toward the exit, which only led the king to wonder if his son was lying – he might have just learned to lie from his friends.
"Come with me, I will make sure that there are no orcs in here." Aragorn told him, and then holding his son's hand in his, they left the room, the king searching for any creature that might want to harm his son. When he did not see any, he turned back to the boy, surprised to see Eldarion's friends come by, laughing at him.
"Doran, Rolir, come here." The king commanded his son's friends.
The boys came toward the king, still smiling.
"Do not lie about things like this. Do you not know that orcs are evil creatures?" He said sternly, looked at their expressions and sighed heavily before he continued, "Maybe you don’t seem to know, but let me tell you a story."
The boys smiled, as they enjoyed reading and hearing stories from their parents, and felt themselves rather special now that the king was telling them a story.
"It happened many years ago, when darkness and shadows invaded Mirkwood...
King Thranduil had only one son, as he had lost his wife in the war against the orcs and creatures Sauron sent, and the king knew that he needed to keep his son safe, or at least close to him, and yet he did not want to live in fear..."
Aragorn was interrupted by Rolir who was curious and wanted to know more, "Who is Sauron?"
"Sauron was a dark lord who wanted to conquer every kingdom, and as Mirkwood was in his way, he wanted King Thranduil's crown for his own." Aragorn explained, and then he glanced toward the boys, noticing the curiosity that lay in their eyes, he asked, "Do you want to know what happened in our story?"
The boys said nothing but just stared at him, clearly looking forward to hearing more.
"The princeling’s name was Legolas. Legolas was a very mischievous elfling..."
The king stopped again, as he noticed Doran raised his hand as though he would touch the ceiling, he asked, "What is the matter, Doran?"
"What is an elfling?"
Aragorn smiled, as he responded, "An elfling is a child like you."
"As I was saying, Legolas was a very mischievous elfling who loved to play around, make friends, and yet the darkness seemed to have touched the princeling as well...
It would seem that Legolas' friends taught him how to lie and said that it was all right to lie. So Legolas listened to his friends, and ran toward his father and alerted everyone that the orcs were in the area, and he had tried to fight them..."
"What did the king do?" Eldarion asked, and Aragorn could see the tension playing in his blue eyes.
"The king sent his best guards over to where his son pointed out, but when the guards came back, they told the king that they saw nothing, and Thranduil stared at his son, not knowing if Legolas was indeed telling the truth, so he decided to wait.
Some days later, at night, Legolas did the same thing, calling, shouting that there were orcs coming after him, and yet again the king sent the guards, only to be told that maybe his son had lied, as there were no signs or tracks that the orcs were even there.
A week later, Thranduil was watching his son closely, and noticed his son' friends asking him if he had succeeded, and Legolas nodded a 'Yes'. The king wondered what had just happened, and why his son was lying to him when he should know that he should not lie to his father of all people, much less so cruelly? The king hoped that his son would stop lying, because if he did, neither he nor the guards could believe what he said anymore."
"What happened next?" Eldarion asked, looking up at his father with those pleading eyes he knew he would not resist.
"Well, it happened again. As the princeling walked in the forest, the darkness came and he was face to face with a group of creatures. He shouted for help from the forest, screaming as loudly as he could for anyone to come and save him from the orcs. But no one came; no one answered his call... and the princeling met his death, knowing that he had failed his adar, and could only think of his naneth as the creatures pierced his body with their dirty blades.
The guards heard the princeling calling for help, but as the king had ordered them, they did not respond to the lying princeling, though they informed the king.
Every time after the princeling lied, he would hurry toward the palace because he knew he needed his sleep at night, but this time, he did not come, and Thranduil could feel the fear that clenched his belly the way it did when his wife was killed. He quickly alerted the guards, and told them to check where his son was..."
"What happened?" Doran asked him as soon as he paused.
Rolir stared at the king, as nervous as his friends were. He asked as little tears fell from his eyes, "Did Legolas died?"
The king sighed heavily, but he was pleased to know that they were listening to him.
"The king walked with the guards in the forest, and was shocked to find his son on the ground, with a long and dirty sword piercing through his body... Thranduil collapsed, took his son's lifeless body in his arms, and wept, murmuring to Legolas, asking him why he lied all those times. But there was no answer, and as Thranduil mourned for his son, he remembered his son's friends and cursed those tools of Sauron... The End..."
The king paused, then asked. "Have you understood what the story was about?" He looked at each of Eldarion's friends, and then at his son.
"I do." Doran replied and nodded toward the king.
"I do, too." Rolir nodded as well.
Eldarion looked at his father and remembered how frightened and yet how concerned he was. He replied, "I understand, adar."
"Good, now I hope I will not hear another lie from you that would make you end up like Legolas did," Elessar told the boys, then smiled, "Now off you go."
"Thank you adar." Eldarion walked toward his father, hugged him and kissed him on his cheek.
"I love you, my son; I do not wish to lose you."
"I love you too, adar."
When the boys had left, a figure came behind the king, seemingly startling Aragorn as he asked menacingly, "Why did you kill me in the story?"
The End...