With a secret mission to marry an elf, Wynne must join Legolas' and Elvenking Thranduil's new quest as a horsekeeper. She begins an adventurous journey, encountering orcs and monsters, friendly uruk-hai, a lady dwarf and many Fellowship heroes - but...
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~ Thranduil tries to get the truth out of his son and fails. He has a much needed talk with his best friend and another with his son. ~
62. Home to Greenwood
Traveling by boat was comfortable and Thranduil liked it a lot better than riding, though it made his shoulders ache from all the paddling. It was Galion's turn to manage the paddle now so he lazily let his hand slip into the river on the side, feeling the cool water caress his fingers. Soon they would reach their next destination, the tree city Caras Galadhon in Lothlórien. They had left the Anduin a couple of hours ago and were now traveling up the smaller tributary Celebrant.
Nearby, Legolas steered his boat clear of a branch and Thranduil felt his brow furrow. That stubborn elf! No amount of coaxing had loosened his son's tongue about his secret and the closer to home they got, the more disturbing it became. How could Thranduil plan his counteractions if he didn't know what Legolas had in mind?
For several weeks now, Thranduil had tried to figure it out, and he had some guesses but was yet to find out which one was correct. That it was something his son thought he would oppose was clear, both from his silence on the matter and from the faint nervousness he radiated whenever the subject was brought up.
Thranduil had already ruled out the more obvious ideas, such as their initial elopement plan – it made no sense in splitting up and going separate ways from Minas Tirith if they would run away together. Neither could it be the official betrothal and wedding Morwen wanted that would enable her to poison his halls and their marriage with her presence.
That left the more unconventional schemes. They could have planned to marry officially like the mother wanted, but then move to live with her in Rohan. When there, Legolas could protect Wynne from the woman's violence, and they could also try to counteract her meddling in politics. Maybe expose some of her secrets, gradually weakening her. And when she died, which should happen fairly soon for a middle aged human woman, they would return to Legolas' home, bringing all their inherited wealth with them. It was a dangerous plan, if this was it; the mother was sly and could easily outsmart such naive, young ones as them. Thranduil didn't want his son to live with her – he didn't even want Wynne to live with her. And though riches were always welcome – he did live in style after all, which wasn't cheap – he still hoped that was not what they had in mind.
Another idea could be for Legolas to renounce his birthright and move somewhere remote to live a secluded life as a commoner. The mother might lose interest in them if they were not royalty. That one was a horrible plan and he fervently hoped it was not it.
The final idea he had thought of was to let the mother come with Wynne to the palace and when she got there somehow frame her into committing a crime. Then Thranduil would imprison her in his dungeons, which meant she could do no harm in his realm while at the same time unable to rally the Rohirrim lords against him. That was actually a rather good plan and he hoped it was the one. He had even tried to talk to Legolas about it but he had just walked away, giving him the cold shoulder. The nerve of it!
