Many many thanks to Cathy for betaing and to Songbird for reading it for me!!!

Chapter Four

It was near noon before Lord Elrond Peredhel felt confident enough to take a few steps away from his son to sit down. He, Glorfindel, and many other healers had been working non-stop for the past several hours to keep Elrohir alive. Many times already the Elf-Lord had had to call his son back to the light. Even now the danger had not passed.

Little light poured in from the outside; the day was grey and overcast. Elrond looked down at his ring and wondered if he would still have four living children at the end of this day. Casting that thought from his mind, he decided that yes, Elrohir would live. Elrond would give his own life to make sure of it if he had to. Elrohir could not die.

“My Lord,” Glorfindel caught Elrond’s attention from the door. “Elladan and Arwen are pacing outside.”

Elrond rubbed his forehead with his fingers. “Let them come in,” the Elf Lord replied. Glorfindel nodded and opened the door. With a simple nod of his head, he let the two elves waiting outside know they could enter.

Arwen looked crushed when her eyes fell on her brother; tears came to her eyes and she slowly approached his bed, taking his hand in hers.

Elladan stood in the doorway for a moment, his face almost as pale as his brother’s. He looked at Elrohir with wide, uncertain eyes. Elrond had not seen that expression on his eldest child’s face since he was a young elfling.

“He will be all right, right Ada?” Elladan asked.

Arwen lifted her gaze to meet her father’s, also anxious to know. Elrond looked at her, then at Elladan, and then down at Elrohir. Keeping his gaze on the younger twin, the Elf-Lord replied, “I will make sure of it.”

*******

Aragorn awoke to someone calling his name. When he opened his eyes he saw Legolas standing over him.

“Elrohir?” the ranger asked his friend the first lucid thought to run through his brain.

“I do not know mellon nin. I came here to wake you up first.”

“I do not know how I even slept,” Aragorn mumbled as he got out of bed.

Legolas waited in the hallway for Aragorn to change and they headed down to Elrohir’s chamber together. The door was closed. Quietly, Aragorn opened the door just a crack, enough for him to look in and see what was going on. After a moment, he relaxed and opened the door more, and slipped into the room. Legolas followed him.

Elrond was standing next to Elladan beside Elrohir’s bed. Arwen sat on the other side of the bed, holding her brother’s hand. Glorfindel rested on the couch at the foot of the bed.

Aragorn took a few steps farther into the room, his eyes never leaving his brother’s limp, pale form. “How is he?”

For one second too long nobody said anything and Aragorn assumed the worst.

“He is alive, Estel,” Elrond answered softly, reading the fearful expression on his human son’s face. “For now let us be grateful for that much.”

Aragorn nodded in understanding.

“Would one of you now please tell me what happened?” Elrond turned to Aragorn and Legolas, his eyebrows raised.

Aragorn and Legolas exchanged a look, each dreading having to share what had transpired.

Seeing the hesitation, Elrond asked, “Would you rather discuss it with me in private?”

Aragorn nodded and let out a small sigh of relief. He looked at Elladan, who was frowning at him. The ranger broke their eye contact and followed his father and Legolas out of the room and into Aragorn’s chamber.

The Elf-Lord shut the door behind them and turned to the other two, waiting for one of them to speak.

“We do not know exactly what happened Ada,” Aragorn said finally. “We hadn’t even sensed any danger present. Suddenly Elrohir was on the ground with an arrow in his chest.”

“I didn’t see anything, Lord Elrond,” Legolas continued. “I looked in every possible direction. It was as if nothing was ever there.”

Elrond was silent. His brows were furrowed as he thought through what he had been told.

“There is something else, Ada,” Aragorn hesitated, walking over to his pack. “The arrow was an Elven arrow.”

“That explains why there was no poison,” Elrond replied. “I thank Valar for that.”

“Ada,” Aragorn said quietly as he pulled the arrow from his pack and handed it to his father. “This is the arrow that hit Elrohir.”

Elrond’s eyes widened as he took the bloodied arrow from the human. “You are sure?”

Aragorn nodded. “I pulled it out of him myself.”

Elrond looked paler than Aragorn or Legolas had ever seen. An awkward silence fell over the three; no one knew what to say.

“There must be another explanation,” Elrond mumbled, speaking mostly to himself. He raised his head to look at the ranger. “Elladan would never hurt Elrohir.”

“He was with you last night, Ada, right? He didn’t have in mind to come after us, did he?” asked Aragorn.

Elrond was silent.

“Ada?” he repeated.

“No, your brother was not with me last night, Estel,” Elrond replied finally. “But I am certain he did not leave Rivendell. There has to be another explanation.”

*************

Elrond stepped back into Elrohir’s room slowly. Arwen and Glorfindel had left; the twins were the only two in the room. Elrond paused in the doorway and watched Elladan sitting next to his injured twin. The Elf-Lord felt guilty as he wondered if Elladan was responsible for his brother’s condition.

He looked down at the arrow in his hands and then cleared his throat to announce his presence. Elladan turned around and looked at him. “May I speak with in the hallway Elladan?” Elrond asked as Aragorn and Legolas passed him to enter the room.

Elladan nodded and rose to his feet. He halted as he noticed Legolas’ intense gaze fixed on him. He said nothing to the blond elf as he turned and went into the hallway with his father.

Elrond studied his eldest child’s pale face for a moment before saying anything. Elladan kept his gaze to the floor and guilt was written all over his face. The Elf-Lord pondered why his son would feel so guilty if he had not been the one to shoot Elrohir. Mentally kicking himself, Elrond reminded himself that Elladan had always blamed himself for anything bad that had ever happened to Elrohir and Aragorn, even if he had not been present. Elladan could feel guilty merely because he had refused to go on the trip and then his twin brother had returned almost dead.

“Ion nin,” Elrond said as he brought his hand to his son’s jaw and gently lifted his head until their eyes met. “Are you well?”

Elladan nodded and his eyes shifted back to the floor. Elrond sighed and looked down at the arrow still in his hands.

“This is the arrow Estel pulled out of Elrohir,” he continued, catching his son’s attention again. Elladan looked down to his father’s hands. His eyes widened exactly as his father’s had when Aragorn showed him the arrow.

“Have you noticed any missing arrows?” Elrond asked. The younger elf shook his head, bewildered. “Did you ride out after your brothers and Legolas last night?”

“No,” Elladan insisted. “You think I shot him, Ada? I would never do that, and you should know that!” Elladan looked hurt at the accusation. “You believe me do you not Ada? Tell me you do not honestly think I would hurt Elrohir.”

“Of course I do not think that,” Elrond replied. “There are simply a lot of questions that need answering is all.”

Elladan nodded. Elrond opened the door to Elrohir’s chamber, effectively ending the conversation. Elladan came into the room after him and looked to Aragorn and Legolas. The Elf-Lord watched the three exchange expressions. Aragorn looked like he wanted to believe in his brother but was having difficulty. Legolas looked upon the older twin with much suspicion.

Elrond turned back to Elrohir and had to admit to himself that, despite what he just said to Elladan, in the back of his mind there was a small seed of doubt. Nobody knew for sure what had really happened. Elladan certainly seemed to be harboring a lot of guilt, even though that did not necessarily mean anything.

If Elrohir ever woke up, Elrond doubted he would be able to shed any more light on the situation. Elrond sighed to himself as he checked his son’s bandage. What a disaster.

TBC