Thanks for all the reviews! Here is the last chapter.

Congrats to The Randomer, who had a very good theory about what happened… maybe better than my explanation :-)

Chapter 3: Lessons

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Legolas stared in the darkness, absentmindedly playing with tunic. Arwen had given him a new one since he had torn his old one entirely to bandage his friend's wounds.

Every time he heard a noise in the corridor his head snapped up. He waited for the guards to come and tell him that Aragorn had awoken… or that he wouldn't awake. But every single time the noise faded away and nothing happened. Why was it taking so long?

Long ago had he lost track of time. Were it minutes or hours that had passed, he knew not. Was it day or night outside?

Footsteps were heard once again, and the door opened. Legolas jumped and stared at the guard. "Is he awake?" He asked softly, not trusting his voice.

The man shook his head and looked down, afraid to look the elf into the eyes. "We have no news. I am coming to bring you your meal."

Legolas' eyes widened. His meal? Meals to the prisoners were served twice a day – one in the morning and one in the evening. He had missed the morning meal because of his temporary escape. He had brought Aragorn to the healer in the late morning. So it was evening already.

He sat on the floor and buried his head in his hands. Fortunately the guards had not chained him this time, the elf had appeared too broken to attempt any escape.

"How could I?" He whispered softly. "How could I do that?"

Everything he had thought, everything he had planned had gone so wrong. He had never thought that any of this would happen. The mistake he had done was so great and he knew that it could cost him dearly.

Footsteps again. He raised his head, wondering if he could dare hope. But all hope faded when the ones walking passed by his cell.

I deserve this, the elf thought sadly. This punishment is hard, but it is not more severe than the wrong I have done.

Footsteps. The elf's head snapped up instinctively, and he tried to suppress the rising hope in his chest. He would not survive another disappointment.

A key was turned and the thick oak door opened with a crack. Legolas tensed. It could not be time for the morning meal already. Or could it? He had no idea how much time had passed.

Suddenly Legolas gasped and his jaw dropped. He had expected a guard to come and report about Aragorn's condition, he had never expected his friend to come himself.

The two guards, who were supporting their King, helped him enter the cell and carefully eased him down. Legolas rushed to help, but a look from Aragorn made him freeze in his tracks. "Leave us," the King said to his men.

They hesitated briefly, but finally obeyed the order. The door closed, leaving the two friends alone.

Are you alright, mellon nin? How is your leg? Let me take a look at your wound, Aragorn would have normally said. But he said none of that, and Legolas knew why.

"I know who burnt the house," Aragorn said instead, his voice unreadable. His friend said nothing, and he continued. "Let me tell you a story about an Elf, Legolas."

The man paused and his eyes had a far away look. "Once upon a time there was an Elf, who foolishly loved to visit various parts of the kingdom where he lived even though he was often met with hatred and fear. Nevertheless, he stubbornly wished to learn more about the people who were so suspicious towards him, and nothing could sate his curiosity.

"One day this Elf came to Teloth. It was just an ordinary village, and the people were resentful towards him as usual. In spite of that, he held nothing against them, thinking that they were not responsible for their ignorance. He never resented any of the villagers, until he met Moris.

"Moris was a greedy and a selfish man. The Elf had met many of those, and he wouldn't have cared, if it wasn't for the man's sick passion for hunting. True, the Elf was a hunter himself, a very skilled one actually, but he never killed an animal unless there was need for food. And every time he killed one, he sang a song to honor it and to guide it's spirit as it left its earthly shell.

"Moris, on the other hand, hunted for mere pleasure. He killed without need, and he often did not even eat what he had shot. His house was decorated with numerous hunting trophies, skins of bears and deer, stuffed with straw. The elf was saddened, not only because of the lives lost in vain, but also because he knew that the animals' spirits could not leave their bodies this way, and would be trapped forever within those prisons of skin and straw.

"He wanted to put an end to that. Unfortunately, no law against hunting existed, and any attempt to find justice would be forfeited. So he had to do it by himself. He knew that if the dead animals were burnt, their spirits would eventually be released and find peace. Furthermore, perhaps if he burnt the man's house, he would destroy the man's weapons, and, hopefully, would make him focus on rebuilding his property instead of on hunting.

"And he did it. Naturally, he made sure that no one was in the house when he set it on fire for he wanted to hurt no one. But the Elf was clever and wanted to make sure he was not discovered. He knew that a full investigation might have eventually led to the truth, so he had to free himself of all suspicion.

"And then an idea came to his mind. Many times before he had been accused of various absurd crimes, and always the King had written a letter, granting his freedom. If the same thing happened now, and he was arrested immediately and without any investigation, his foolish and naïve friend, the King, would assume that this had been caused by prejudice against elves and would release him. Once he had been released by a royal decree, he would be free from any suspicion. So he wanted to be arrested immediately after the fire. This is why he didn't disguise himself and made sure he was seen, thinking that his foolish friend would take the witnesses' claims as products of their fantasies.

"Do you happen to know this Elf, Legolas?" Aragorn's voice was quiet and controlled.

"I cannot change what is past," Legolas whispered, not letting his gaze leave the floor, "but for what it is worth, I am sorry."

"You are sorry?" Aragorn shouted and his calm façade melted away. "You are sorry! How dared you! I would have forgiven the burning of the house! True, I think that was the worst possible way to solve the problem, but I understand why you did it. But why did you lie to me? You shut me out as if I was a stranger to you!"

"I didn't wish to burden you with this, Estel" Legolas said softly and his eyes shimmered in the darkness. "If I had told you, you would have wanted to help me. Then you would have needed to either neglect your laws to help me, or to betray a friend to follow your laws. Both would have hurt you. This was my burden to bear."

"Stubborn elf!" Aragorn sighed in exasperation. "Will you never realize that your burden is my burden as well and always will be?" He paused and his voice turned colder. "I cannot forgive you. You manipulated me, you used me as a pawn in your own game!" His heart suddenly softened when he caught sight of his friend. The elf's slender form was shaking, and he was fighting hard to stop his tears from flowing. His anger slowly subsided, but his pride kept him from admitting it.

"I am sorry, Aragorn. I never thought any of this would happen. I thought you would just write a letter, I would be free, and everything would be alright. I did not even think you would need to come here, and this is why I was even planning to visit you after I was released. I have missed you," he whispered in between suppressed sobs. "I do not ask you to forgive me; I also will never forgive myself. But I ask you to know this – I have never wanted any harm to come upon you."

Aragorn watched his friend, torn inside between pride and forgiveness. At the end, pride won. "Because of you the bandits who planned to rob the mayor's house were arrested," he said. "Probably this will be taken into account at your trial and your punishment will be less severe." The man called for his guards and left the cell before the elf had seen the single tear that had found it's was down his cheek.

Legolas watched the closed door in horror. So his trial would be held after all. He cared not about the punishment, but the fact that his friend had rejected him hurt more than he had ever imagined possible. He could hold his tears no longer and felt to the ground, his face buried in the dirt.

---

Legolas listened dispassionately as a man was reading the charges against him and the proofs that he had set the fire. He listened to the woman who had seen him in the fire give her account of the story. He listened, but he heard nothing. Those were mere sounds that passed through his mind, but it didn't register them. His mind was somewhere else.

The sentence was pronounced and he came out of his trance. Twenty whiplashes.

It would be painful, but he didn't care. He had endured much worse. What hurt him more was that Aragorn was letting this happen. The man was not even present.

But he couldn't blame him. Legolas reminded himself that it was all his fault. He could only hope that one day his friend would forgive him, maybe in years, maybe in decades, but he hoped that this would eventually be only be a memory to laugh at.

The guards held him by the arms and led him forward. He was to be punished.

"Wait!" A melodic female voice suddenly called. All gazes turned back and eyes widened in curiosity. Hushed whispers passed through the crowd. Some had seen her portrait and others knew her not, but they soon learned it. Soon enough everybody present knew that this was Lady Arwen Telcontar, Queen of Gondor and Arnor.

Legolas vigorously shook his head. He should have expected that the kind-hearted elleth would not bear watching him punished, but he was afraid that she would bring her husband's wrath upon her. Obviously Aragorn didn't want him free, and he wanted no one else to get into trouble because of him.

Arwen walked next to Legolas, and an eleven-year-old boy with huge silver eyes and wavy dark hair followed her. Legolas shook his head in shock. The last thing he wanted was to get Eldarion involved.

"You cannot punish him," Arwen said. "He is innocent. I have a new witness."

Whispers passed through the crowd again and everybody tensed.

"The fire was started eight days before the new moon," Arwen said and turned towards the boy. "Eldarion, where were you eight days before the new moon?"

"I was here, in Teloth," the boy stated calmly, and Legolas groaned inwardly.

The crowd hushed in shock. "I didn't know that. I haven't seen him here," the mayor stated in wonder.

"Are you calling my son a liar?" Arwen enquired. Her eyebrow was raised, making her look very much like her father.

"No, no, my Lady!" The man quickly said. "Go on, my lad."

"What did you do on that evening, Eldarion?" Arwen asked.

"I went for a walk in the woods. I was with Uncle Legolas. We spent the entire day together and went back late after sunset."

Loud gasps could be heard coming from all directions. Legolas was completely shocked, there was no way to turn back now. Why did Arwen have to do that?

The mayor cleared his throat. "Well, maybe he is mistaken about the day. He is a mere boy, how could he know when the new moon is?"

"Are you saying that my son is uneducated?" Arwen whispered, and this time both of her eyebrows are raised. The mayor immediately shook his head. "Good. As you can see, there is no way Legolas could have started the fire. Your witness must be mistaken – there are other people with blond hair. Or the one she had seen might have been wearing a wig."

The mayor nodded. There was nothing he could say without offending his Queen, so he quickly ordered the elf to be released.

Legolas limped towards his saviors and Eldarion grinned. "Legolas, thank the Valar that I am here to save you from your mess! Honestly, elf, do you always need to get into trouble? How have you survived before I was born?"

The elf didn't return the smile, and Eldarion's eyes grew grave. "Legolas, I was only jesting! It is much more often you who have helped me!" He stared at his elven friend. The fair creature looked so sad that his heart nearly broke. The child quickly wrapped his arms around Legolas, but the elf didn't return the gesture. He gazed at Arwen instead.

"You shouldn't have done this," he whispered.

Arwen smiled brightly. "But, my friend, I had no choice. I couldn't disobey an order from the King."

Legolas gasped and almost lost his footing. An order from the King? "You… you mean that he…"

Arwen nodded. "He would have witnessed himself, but he had been here for several days and had not spoken anything about being with you, so it would have sounded suspicious. The same applies to me. Eldarion was our only option."

Eldarion released his friend from the embrace, winked at him and smiled brightly. The elf shook his head in disbelief. "Arwen, how come your son is such a good liar?"

The Queen laughed merrily. "He is not only my son, Legolas, he is also the son of a former ranger. And to be a ranger means to be a good actor and be able to fit into many different roles. Estel gave him a proper training."

The elf smiled a true smile for the first time in days. He could easily imagine Aragorn training Eldarion how to act as a witness and lie about being with him.

"You shouldn't linger here," Arwen said suddenly. "He wants to talk to you. Go!"

Legolas smiled and left, a new hope burning in his heart.

---

The man gazed quietly at the flowing river and put aside his pipe. His tall figure was casually leaned against a tree, and his thoughtful face was turned towards the water. Suddenly the softest footsteps were heard and he looked behind. "You are here," he observed when the elf appeared, his voice low and emotionless. "I want to show you something. Are you well enough to walk?" He asked, eyeing Legolas' bandaged leg.

"I am much better than you, human," the fair creature replied teasingly. Suddenly he froze and paled. Was he allowed to talk to Aragorn that way after all that had happened? "I apologize, my Lord Elessar," he murmured quickly and bowed his head in shame.

I am no lord to you, mellon nin. Legolas waited for these words, hoped to hear them, but they never came. "Follow me," the man said instead, his voice still void of any emotion.

Aragorn rose and Legolas hastened to his side to help him. The injured man accepted the help and led the elf down the river. "This is what I wanted to show you," he finally said. "Watch!"

Legolas' eyes widened in surprise and incomprehension. They were standing before an anthill. But when he noticed what the ants were doing, he gradually began to understand.

The ants were storing food for the winter. Each of them was carrying something – one was burdened with a straw, another with a wheat seed, a third with a sunflower seed. They were marching slowly towards their home, ready to contribute to the food for the winter with anything they could.

But there was one ant that seemed to be having trouble. It was trying to carry a huge blue grape, about fifty times larger than its own size. It seemed difficult, maybe even impossible. The ant tried lifting it a few times, and was finally about to give up, when another ant joined it. Together, the two lifted the grape and crawled after the others.

"Sometimes a burden is too heavy for one to carry," Aragorn muttered thoughtfully. "But if they share it, it becomes bearable. You should have shared your burden with me, Legolas."

The elf was quiet. He gazed at the ants in awe. It was amazing how he, who was centuries old, could still learn something from those creatures, whose lifespan was no more than three months. "I have to congratulate you," he said softly. "You solved the mystery. I thought I had hidden my tracks well. I am sure I was one of your least probable suspects."

"You weren't a suspect at all," Aragorn replied with the slightest of smiles. "It would have been so much easier if you had told me everything from the very beginning."

"There is another reason I didn't tell you," Legolas whispered, looking away. "I was afraid. I was afraid that you would condemn me, that you would be ashamed of me," he muttered, his voice becoming softer as he spoke. His face was burning with shame, and he blinked to keep the moisture in his eyes from flowing down.

Aragorn gasped and stared at the elf in shock. "How could you even think that!" He said almost angrily. "I would have never condemned you. I might have disagreed with you, but I would have tried to understand you. And I will never, never be ashamed of you, Legolas!"

The elf gaped, it was his turn to be shocked. He gazed into the man's eyes, afraid that he would find mockery there, but the grey orbs were honest and serious. "How is your leg wound healing, mellon nin?" Aragorn asked suddenly. "I would like to take a look at it."

Under normal circumstances the elf would have protested and would have claimed that his leg was perfectly alright. But as it was, he cried in joy and relief and tightly wrapped his arms around his friend. "So you have forgiven me?" He asked with a smile. A rough and strong hand caressed his long hair and his smile widened.

"Oh, Legolas," the man whispered softly. "Just how many times do I need to tell you that I cannot be angry with you for more than three minutes? I have forgiven you long ago, mellon nin. It was my foolish pride that kept me from telling you this."

"Estel, you are incredible," the elf whispered against his friend's chest. "No one else would have forgiven me this."

Aragorn smiled and pulled the elf closer. "You are wrong, Legolas. Arwen forgave you even earlier. But she has always been wiser than me."

Legolas chuckled. "Well, my unwise friend, if it is going to be any comfort, let me remind you that those ants just turned out to be wiser than me."

"You are right," the man said. "It seems wisdom doesn't necessarily come with age."

"True," Legolas agreed. "A certain human I know will never be wise, no mater how old he gets." He cried in surprise, when he was lightly pushed back.

"Be careful, elf," Aragorn warned, trying to suppress his smile. "We are still in Teloth, I can always change my mind and let you suffer your punishment."

"Oh no, you cannot," Legolas countered smugly.

"I cannot?" The human raised an eyebrow and looked at his friend. "How so?"

"Well, we are both injured and walk slowly," the elf reasoned. "So we both need at least five minutes to go back to the village. But we know that no matter what I say, you cannot be angry at me for more than three minutes, so you would have forgiven me by the time we get there."

Aragorn sighed in surrender, exasperated by his friend's logic. "Very well then," he said. "But I really intent to take a look at your injury."

Legolas was about to protest, but when he looked into his friend's eyes, his words froze at his lips. He smiled gently at the concern he saw there, concern that he had not seen in the grey eyes for a long time. It was an emotion that his friend had tried very hard to hide, replacing it with anger and hurt.

"Agreed, you can look at my leg," he said, much to his friend's surprise. "It is but a minor injury compared to another one I bore. I had a wound much deeper than this, but you cured it completely."

Aragorn smiled knowingly. "I only wish I had never induced it," he said softly, and bent down to examine the wound. "My heart sings to see you smile again."

---

The horses trotted forward, carrying the royal family, the Lord of Ithilien, who had readily agreed to pay his friends a longer visit, and the King's escort towards the White City. The sun was setting and they hoped to reach Minas Tirith before darkness had fallen.

Eldarion yawned and rubbed his stomach. "Nana, I am hungry!" He said. "Do you still have some of those strawberry tarts?"

"You ate the whole basket," Arwen reminded him with a fond smile. It was amazing how much a young boy could eat. "But worry not, if we ride hard, we will be home on time for dinner."

"And even if we don't get home on time for dinner, we will not starve," Aragorn said, and everyone looked at him questioningly. "Don't forget that we have a dangerous villain with us, and if we need food, he can always steal a pig." He winked at Legolas.

Eldarion grinned at the guards' shocked expressions, and Legolas blushed and started to protest. But Arwen's musical laughter interrupted him.

"And don't forget, my love," the Queen said, "that even if the pig owners come after us, he can always use his Elven Magic to turn them into scrambled eggs! Then we shall have plenty of food!"

The guards exchanged glances of complete shock, and Eldarion's grin broadened. "Legolas, do you think you could turn our escort into strawberry tarts?" He asked innocently.

The poor men exchanged another glance and slowed down their horses, increasing the distance between themselves and the royal family. Legolas couldn't help but smile. He had to admit to himself that he sometimes enjoyed this.

The walls of the City appeared and the guards breathed a sigh of relief. Aragorn looked at them amused, but slightly angry at their ignorance. But his anger disappeared when he looked at his friend. It was good to see the elf once again, away from prison cells and barred windows. And to see him happy again. It had pained him greatly that he had hurt his friend, but it had seemed inevitable.

Blue eyes locked with his and the elf smiled at the worried gaze. "I will never lie to you, again," he said softly. "I promise. Besides," he added with a shrug, "your mind is to keen and you will will always find out if I try to hide something."

"You also hide your tracks very well," the man admitted. "I have always thought you are exceptionally clever. At least for an elf, that is."

Graceful eyebrows were raised unnaturally high. "Oh? And what is that supposed to mean?"

"I think ada tried to say that elves aren't very clever," Eldarion said with a grin. "Good thing nana didn't hear."

Legolas was about to reply, but suddenly went quiet and gazed at the boy. "Your father is right, Eldarion," he said, almost making Aragorn fall off his horse in surprise. "Elves might live for thousands of years, but they also can made foolish mistakes. There are still some things that they do not know." In his mind he could clearly see the two ants, carrying the heavy burden together. "But they learn," he continued.

Oh yes, they learn. And I learned. I will never ever lie to you again, mellon nin. Never. I swear in everything I hold dear, I will always speak to you what is on my mind and on my heart. For I know that you will always help me. No, I will never hide anything from you again. His eyes found the man's and saw the silent understanding. However, Aragorn looked away too soon and missed the mischievous sparkle that had suddenly appeared in the elf's gaze.

Of course, it doesn't mean that I will never again burn a house if I think it is necessary.

THE END

Note: The idea that animals, whose skins are used for trophies, won't find peace, and their spirits would be freed if they are burnt, is mine, so don't try to find it in the books. Of course, you are welcome to use it in a story if you want, just be aware that it is not canon. As soon as I saw the prompt I wanted to write a story where the last possible suspect would be guilty, and who would be less suspicious than the poor elf :-) But it was hard to come up with a good reason why he would have committed a crime, so I hope this was believable.

To all readers of "Faces of Darkness": I haven't abandoned it, I was just unable to write for a while (this story was written before I posted the last chapter of FoD, but it was a part of an anonymous contest, and I wasn't allowed to post it before the contest was closed. By the way, you could have found the entire story weeks ago at the Teitho website, and some impatient readers did that.)

In this story there are two brief references to other stories of mine - one in chapter one, and one in this chapter. Hugs if you have noticed them ;-)

Thanks a lot for reading and feedback is much appreciated!

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