Comes Around Again (Gigolas & Bagginshield)

A Luke-Warm Lake Welcome

To Legolas's surprise, Thranduil was waiting for them at the gate, dressed in his robes of state, though his crown was not upon his head.

They came in at a jog, dragging their prisoner behind them, and stopped before their king, bowing with their hands to their hearts in Elvish fashion. At their feet, the orc hissed and spat.

"Report," Thranduil said. He seemed to ignore the orc at his feet, though Legolas saw how his eyes flicked downwards.

"We followed the orcs in their pursuit of the dwarves down the river, and have slain all but this one," Legolas said, and Tauriel kicked the orc in punctuation. "The dwarves have passed beyond our borders, but we may be able to get some information from this filth. Why they dare cross our borders so boldly." Maybe Legolas thought, if the orc speaks, father will listen and we will no longer be bound to inaction.

Thranduil looked the three of them over, his eyes lingering longest on Legolas, and at length he spoke, eyes flickering down to the orc struggling with his bonds. "Such is the nature of evil," he said, slowly. "Out there in the vast ignorance of the world it festers and spreads. A shadow that grows in the dark. A sleepless malice as black as the oncoming wall of night." He paced around the creature, and its eyes followed him. "So it ever was. So will it always be." He looked up at Legolas. "In time, all foul things come forth." Thranduil stepped back, and looked down upon the orc. "You were tracking a company of fourteen Dwarves. Why?"

"Not fourteen. Not anymore," it croaked. "One we stuck him with a Morgul shaft. The poison's in his blood. He'll be choking on it soon, and the others will fall before they reach the mountain."

"The Mountain!" Tauriel exclaimed. "What business has your masters there?"

The orc spat, the reeking globule landing on the stone at her feet, and Tauriel drew her knives as quick as thought.

"I would not antagonize her," Legolas warned, even as he held its head back, exposing its throat.

"You like killing things, Orc?" Tauriel hissed. "You like death? Then let me give it to you!" She stepped forward, but Thranduil halted her with a single hand.

"I do not care about one dead Dwarf." Thranduil said. "But the mountain... Answer the question. You have nothing to fear." Thranduil's voice was smooth as silk, and Legolas found himself frowning. He had no patience for such honeyed ways. "Tell us what you know and I will set you free. You had orders to kill them. To stop them from reaching the mountain. Why? What is Thorin Oakenshield to you?"

"The Dwarf runt will never be king," the orc said with a nasty grin. Legolas tightened his grip. The orc was right, of course, though Legolas knew Gimli meant to change such a fate. Still, the orc's words rang with the deep resonance of prophecy. Could Gimli actually change that fate, if the powers of the Maiar was against it?

"King?" Thranduil scoffed. He began to walk slowly around the Orc. The creature tried to follow him with his eyes, turning his head and forcing the blade further into his neck. "There is no King Under the Mountain, nor will there ever be. None would dare enter Erebor whilst the dragon lives."

"None, save Thorin Oakenshield," said Legolas quietly, without thinking. Thranduil shot him a look, but the orc spoke first.

"You know nothing," it said. "Your world will burn." It took dark glee in telling them such, and Legolas remembered the ashes of Laketown, the fire upon the water. He remembered Bard and his children, soaking wet and shivering with cold, smelling still of smoke and ash. Too, he remembered the aftermath of the War in the North, of the burning of the Greenwood and the siege of Erebor, of which he and Gimli only saw the aftermath. All too well could he see his childhood home in flames.