The History of Legolas - From Light to Shadow

Author’s Note: First off, The Lord of the Rings and all associated characters belong to Tolkien and his estate. I am not making any profit off of this story, save the enjoyment I had making it.
Thanks to all my reviewers who keep correcting me – I am now at home for Christmas Break and all of my copies of The Lord of the Rings and The Unfinished Tales and the Silmarillion are at school, so I’m working off of what I have stored in my brain, which should be interesting (since I normally have nothing in my noggin anyway).



The first three centuries of Thranduil’s reign seemed to fly, somehow. Though Almwen had expected her husband to be busy, she had never expected him to be as preoccupied as he was.

The Disaster of Gladden Fields had happened just shortly after the beginning of Thranduil’s reign and had caused quite a stir among the elves of Greenwood. Thoughts of relocating to the north were being investigated. Many expeditions were launched to seek out a good place for a settlement, several of which Thranduil were present for. These expeditions took months, and in the months when he was not exploring with other officials, Thranduil was busy catching up with the politics of Emyn Duir.

By the time that the couple had gotten around to discussing having children, they had been married for nearly three hundred and fifty years. The couple had carried out their first attempt at child bearing on a night when Thranduil had returned from another expedition.

That morning, Almwen had noticed something very different about herself. When she woke up, she felt as though there were another presence about her, and it was not just Thranduil.

The elleth rose out of bed and wrapped a robe about her body and walked about their bedchamber, checking all the nooks and crannies to make sure that there really was no one else in the room. Finding it odd that she could sense someone there, she sat down on the bed and furrowed her brow, deep in thought. She couldn’t possibly be with child. Not on the first try.

…Could she?

Thranduil awoke to see his wife sitting on their bed, facing the other direction. He sat up and wrapped his arms around her shoulders and kissed her cheek.

“Good morning, my love.” He said sleepily.

“Good morning,” Almwen said, kissing him back tenderly.

“Did you have a good sleep?” He asked.

“A very restful one after such physical activity.” She commented, giving Thranduil a mischievous look. “And yours?”

The king laughed. “Very restful indeed.” He said.

Almwen grew silent, though she still smiled. Thranduil noticed that she was thinking about something and intertwined their fingers together.

“What is on your mind?” he asked, touching his cheek to hers.

Almwen did not answer right away. She had considered that perhaps she could be carrying a child already, but she did not want to get Thranduil’s hopes up, or hers for that matter. She did not want to lie to her husband either.

“I was thinking about how wonderful it is to think that we are starting a family,” she said lovingly, turning her head so that their foreheads touched. Thranduil smiled and kissed her on the nose.

“Melin le.” He said quietly. Almwen smiled back at him. The two sat in bed for a while, just staring into each other’s eyes before a bird singing its song outside the window alerted Thranduil to the time of day.

“The day beckons us to join it.” He sighed.

“Alas, all good things must come to an end!” Almwen lamented jokingly as she pressed the back of her hand to her forehead and fell backwards onto the bed, feigning distress. Thranduil laughed and stood up to go find his clothing.

“Yes, true. But if we never rise to greet the day, we will never know if there was anything better for us to experience during the hours in the sunlight.” He said wisely.

Almwen rolled over onto her stomach and held her head in her hands as she thought about her husband’s words for a moment. Smiling, Almwen rose from the bed to get dressed and go investigate this new presence that surrounded her.

~

Almwen sat on an examination bed in the healing houses as the healer, Nestadriel, examined her. Nestadriel was one of the Sindar healers. She specialized in midwifery and caring after elflings before and after their birth.

The healer pressed her hand to Almwen’s abdomen and closed her eyes, concentrating on something. The queen of Greenwood felt something stir in her and she gasped. Nestadriel smiled and pulled her hand away.

“I feel a child in you.” She said confidently.

Almwen, though she had been suspicious of what she could have been feeling when she awoke that morning, was nonetheless stunned.

“Are…are you sure?” The queen asked.

“Aye. The presence you feel is your child, my lady. In a years time, you will have a little elfling joining your family.” Nestadriel said.

Almwen smiled and touched her hand to her middle and felt the warmth of her unborn child. A wave of happiness washed over the elleth as she realized that she was to be a mother. She looked at Nestadriel with joy radiating from her face and the healer laughed a little.

“I suggest you go find the king and tell him the wonderful news!” she said.

“Hannon le, Nestadriel.” Almwen said, rising from the bed and going off to find her husband.

Of course, when she did locate Thranduil’s whereabouts, he was in a meeting in his study with some of his advisors. Content to wait, Almwen sat on a bench outside her husband’s study and dreamt of how wonderful it felt to know she was with child.

Thranduil’s meeting lasted an hour, but to Almwen, it seemed like an age had passed. While she had been content to wait, she was also eager to tell him the news. When the door to his study opened, she jumped out of her seat to greet him as his advisors left.

“Almwen,” Thranduil said, kissing her on the cheek. “What brings you here this afternoon?” he asked. The two entered his study and Thranduil shut the door behind them.

“Some very good news.” Almwen said, giddy. Thranduil looked confused, wondering what his wife could know that he didn’t. It didn’t even occur to him that what they had done the night before had actually worked the way it was supposed to, and that Almwen was about to tell him that they were about to be a bigger family.

“What news would that be?” he asked, smiling curiously. Almwen looked straight into his bright blue eyes with her brown ones and could hardly keep herself from bursting with happiness as she spoke.

“We are to have a child, Thranduil.” She said softly.

Thranduil stood frozen in shock for a moment as he let the words sink into his mind. Almwen was carrying their child. He was going to be a father. A smile crossed his lips as all of the thoughts registered in his head.

“A child!” He cried loudly as he reached out and took Almwen’s hands and swung her around, laughing joyously.

“Thranduil!” Almwen laughed as she allowed her husband to whisk her about the room.

“I haven’t felt this joyous in years! A child! Oh, Almwen! A child!” Thranduil said through his laughter. Almwen was laughing so much that she could not respond. They danced about the room a few minutes more before they both became dizzy and Almwen plopped herself down into a chair.

Thranduil knelt next to where his wife sat and pressed his hand to her middle. Almwen could only guess what her husband was thinking, for the look on his face was indescribable. Awe, happiness, and pride all wrapped into one expression on his fair face.

Almwen leaned over and pressed her lips to Thranduil’s forehead, never feeling happier in her life. Thranduil let out a sigh as he leaned back to look upon his wife, who lifted her face to look upon him. When their gazes met, Thranduil looked away for a moment. Almwen could see sadness flash in his eyes.

“Thranduil?”

“I only wish my father could have been here for this,” the king admitted, looking at the ground. Almwen smiled and gracefully slid from her chair to the ground and wrapped her arms around her husband’s shoulders.

“I’m sure that he would have been very proud, Thranduil.” She said comfortingly.

Thranduil pulled his wife closer to him and closed his eyes. He smiled, remembering the day when he and Oropher had left to join the War of the Last Alliance and the words he had said. Thranduil knew that wherever his father’s spirit now dwelt, that he was smiling.

“I know he is.”