Chapter Three

Elrohir sat in the halls of learning, reading over a book, when his brother entered smiling broadly. He looked up briefly and seeing the smile, smirked to himself and went back to his reading. “You seem cheerful, Ella. What has gotten you in such a mood?”

“Nothing out of the ordinary, except we have a slight problem.”

Elrohir looked up crinkling his forehead confused. “Oh?”

“We are to join father and the guests for lunch, but we never thought of how to elude them until the dinner feast.” Elladan sat down across from his brother, seating himself in his chair placed at the desk. Both desks faced each other, each with a tilted writing pad sitting on the desk for easy deciphering. Maps covered the tops, as did letters and scrolls. Both twins did their studies at these desks. A dark mahogany brown color, matching chairs and candles.

“Tell them I am not feeling well.” Elrohir shrugged, looking back down at the cursive script of elvish writing.

“Oh, of course, and then have father racing to see what ails you? Fool, elves do not get sick, remember?” Elladan grumbled.

“Well then tell them you could not find me.” Elrohir looked up from his reading once again and stared at his brother frustrated.

“Then leads to our next problem.”

Elrohir raised his eyebrow in question.

“You met the royal family, but I have not. How am I to pull this off without knowing who is who?”

The younger twin chuckled. “The youngest is Legolas, even younger then us. The second oldest, is around our age, but still a bit younger. The younger has light blonde hair, with an innocence of childhood. Also quite striking for a male.” Elrohir paused then laughed out loud. “The middle one is named Erysyn. His hair is slightly darker blonde, and his eyes hold some mystery. I do not know what however. The eldest you cannot miss. His name is Galen, he is the crown prince and he is far older then we are. He holds himself tall and proud.” The twin paused again thinking. “Actually, he holds himself much like father does when he has his no nonsense posture.”

“Oh great. Now what of the Queen and King?” Elladan leaned forward pushing the maps out of his way before placing his elbows on the desktop.

“Thranduil?” Elrohir whispered. “Very over powering. His presence is felt in the air. You know that he has been through much in his life, by the feel of the atmosphere. He frightened me a little.”

Elladan raised his eyebrow at this. “Really? You afraid of something besides spiders?”

“Let’s not bring that up, please.” Elrohir threw a glare in his twin’s direction shivering slightly. “I’m not afraid to be around him, but his attitude towards others, almost as though he has something against us. And father.” Elrohir shrugged. “The Queen is a beauty. Tall, blue eyed hair golden, and a peaceful air about her.”

“Alright, so there is nothing unusual about these five that should alarm me?”

“No, but keep your eye on Thranduil and Galen, they do not seem to miss much, and even though we are so alike, I would not be surprised if they could pick out our differences.”

The older twin groaned. “Well, that will not happen, as long as we keep our wits about us.” Elladan stood up and walked towards the entrance to the Halls of Learning. “I am off to lunch, I will find you after.”

Both twins nodded to each other, and Elladan slipped out of the room. He took a deep breath and walked towards the dinning halls to greet his father, and to attempt his meeting with the royal family.

Before entering the dinning room, he took another deep breath, straightened his tunic and cleared his throat before entering through the doors. He caught his father’s eyes and bowed. Once receiving a bow back he proceeded to the table and sat down in his chair.

Elrond frowned looking towards the doors. Leaning over after a moment, he whispered. “Where is your brother?”

Elladan turned and looked his father in the eye. “I do not know, I could not find him.”

Elrond sat up straighter, his scowl of disapproval disappearing from his face. He nodded towards the kitchen staff and dinner was brought out. The smell of fresh baked bread, and freshly churned butter filled the room quickly. Fruit and vegetables were placed on the table, along with steaming teas, and honeys.

While Elladan ate, he glanced up occasionally trying to distinguish between the brothers. He picked out Legolas immediately. His small frame and stunning beauty shocked the older twin. Erysyn he noticed was jovial and carefree, much the same as Elrohir and himself. When he looked at Galen he drew in his breath noticing the crown prince looking at him much the same way as he was. Smiling slowly, Elladan took another bite of his meal, and looked towards the King and His Queen. Elrohir had definitely been accurate on his descriptions.

The King regarded him warily, but smiled when he caught the older twin’s eye. The Queen was indeed beautiful. She seemed at ease with his mother, both of them chatting as though they were old friends.

Once Elladan had cleared his plate, he leaned back in his chair, glancing around the room portraying boredom. His father did not acknowledge him though. Sighing, Elladan looked towards the window, but a movement in the corner of his eye caused him to look. He gasped quietly when he caught sight of his brother poking his head over the rafters above. Elrohir smiled broadly at him, and then disappeared without a second glance. Lowering his head he stole a look around to see if anything had been noticed. Sighing in relief he turned to his father and whispered.

“May I be excused?”

Elrond raised his eyebrow, but after a moments pause nodded.

Elladan quickly rose to his feet, bowed to the royal family and walked out. Once the doors were closed, he fell back against them letting all his tension out. The doors opened, causing him to stumble and turn surprised.

The youngest prince of Mirkwood, lifted his hand to his mouth, and gasped out an apology. Elladan shook his head.

“No, it is alright. I am only happy to be out of there. Could you not feel the stress?”

“Yes, it seems that your father and mine are at odds with each other.” Legolas gave the older twin a lopsided smile.

“That is a gentle way to put it.” Elladan grinned. He nodded his head and said. “I am Elladan.”

“Legolas, we met this morning, do you not remember?” Legolas frowned.

“I remember, but we did not have the pleasure of speaking then.” Elladan quickly mended.

“Yes, true. I have yet to meet your brother, which your father speaks of.”

Elladan shrugged and started off down the hall. “He likes to disappear. Spends most of his time reading, out in the wild, or riding. Sometimes he takes to the training fields.” Legolas fell in step beside the older twin casually.

“He sounds much like my brother, Erysyn. Rivendell is nice. So much different than Mirkwood.”

Elladan glanced at the young elf. “How so?”

“Well, Mirkwood is dark and dreary, where here it is alive with song and sun.”

“I have never been outside Imladris; one day I will travel the world.”

Legolas giggled. “Perhaps one day your ventures will lead you to Mirkwood?”

Elladan shrugged. “Perhaps. I must be off. I must search for my wayward brother before the feast. Father will be most upset if he is not there.”

He turned and left the young elf standing there alone and seemingly upset. Darting around the corner, he went in search of Elrohir.

* * * *

Elrohir lay under a great willow tree soaking up the sounds of the birds around him. He was so lost within the sounds he did not hear the approach of feet, until deep blue eyes caught his. Startled he rolled over and sat up.

“I thought you went in search of your brother?”

Biting his lip, he mumbled. “I did, but I found him asleep in his bed. So I came out here to rest and listen to the songs.”

Legolas frowned. “Oh.” He sat down and lay back on the ground beside Elrohir. “You are wearing a different tunic then at lunch.”

Elrohir chuckled. “Yes, I changed, for I found I had dropped a bit of food onto it.”

Legolas mumbled something that sounded like, ‘sloppy for an elf.’ But Elrohir did not catch it for sure. He shook his head and lay back on the grass closing his eyes.

“Ro!” The younger twin sat up quickly.

He glanced at Legolas who lay next to him his eyes closed. Jumping to his feet, he dashed off into the clearing. Elladan walked out of the house, but stopped when he saw Legolas lying on the grass. He turned and darted back into the house, and ran right into his brother.

“Come, quick!” Elrohir hissed. He grabbed his brother’s arm and pulled him behind a tapestry. “I thought we were caught for sure when you called my name.”

“The elf must not have thought anything of it, or he knows.” Elladan whispered.

“Pray that he does not.”

“What were you doing in the dining hall this afternoon?” Elladan hissed.

“I wanted to see what was happening, to see if you botched things up.” Elrohir smiled.

The older twin grumbled something. “Come, it is almost time to head down for the feast.”

The twins carefully and slowly walked to their rooms to ready themselves for dinner.

Together they pulled out matching gray tunics, and black breeches. Then they faced each other arranging the diadems of ivy leaves on their dark heads. Next they slipped on their burgundy robes, and faced the mirror. Elladan smiled at his twin threw the reflection and received an identical one back.

“Time?” The older twin asked

The younger one nodded and grinned. “Yes.”

Both brothers turned and walked out the doors of the room, and headed towards the back gardens where the feast was being held. Both hand in hand, they did not notice the dark blue eyes that followed them down the hall.