The Prince by Sivan Shemesh
Title: The Prince
Author: Sivan Shemesh
Beta: Aranel
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Rate: K/G
Warning: AU.
Summary: Elrond promised so much to his son, but in this case he failed... Estel did make a good from it...
A/N: A response to the theme “Hit the Books”. My prompt: “The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli”
Word count: 870
Lord Elrond kept walking along the hallway, anxiously searching through every room he walked by. He just did not understand why the boy could not be found.
It was shocking not to find Estel outside joking and playing with the twins. Even they, too, were wondering if something had happened to their brother, and for once, Elrond did not have an answer.
“Estel, where are you?” Elrond called and still there was no reply.
“Estel?” The healer asked again, but heard nothing but the echo of his voice.
A crash of books caused him to jump, but he soon composed himself. Erestor was probably having trouble with his research.
But that thought disappeared as he saw Erestor coming toward him from the opposite direction.
Elrond greeted his advisor. He could still hear more tumbling of books and, much as he wished to find Estel, this was proving to be quite a pressing problem.
“Would you, by any chance, have been in the library a moment ago?” Elrond asked the advisor.
“Nay, I was not,” Erestor replied, somewhat puzzled.
Elrond sighed. That much was expected. “And would you happen to have seen Estel around?” he tried.
“Nay,” Erestor replied, tapping the floor with his foot as he wondered aloud, “It has been so quiet thus far, and I was indeed wondering where Estel might have been, but for now, I am more concerned with who is in the library, and who is this person creating such a ruckus in my library.”
“Do you wish to find out?” Elrond suggested. Something stirred within his heart, and he was having a somewhat unpleasant thought. Erestor was already headed toward the library, and Elrond caught up quickly, hoping that Estel would not happen to be there.
The doors to the library were flung opened and Elrond could see that Erestor was barely holding himself from weeping at the mess: the empty shelves, the chairs strewn around the area, open books on the floor, pages crushed, and a tower of books on the table. And yet, the one who responsible for all this was not to be seen.
But Elrond knew that his senses were not wrong; he could sense a small presence just behind the table.
Erestor was about to unleash his fury but Elrond reached a hand toward the advisor. He nodded his personal promise: he would see that all in the library was taken care of.
“Leave it to me, my friend,” Elrond told him and took a step forward. He walked through what remained of the aisles, towards the source of the tornado. When he found that familiar figure, he coughed, catching his attention. “Estel, my son, what are you doing?”
Estel barely raised his head from the book that he was reading. He probably noticed that his adar was there before him but he returned to the page, saying nothing at all.
“Estel?” Elrond called again as he walked closer to where the boy sat. He took a glance at the book; who would have thought that would interest the boy?
“I am reading, adar,” Estel replied, his eyes still locked on the book. He kept reading and moved on to the next page.
“So I can tell,” Elrond sighed and then he asked, “Reading about what, my son?”
“About the great King of Mirkwood,” Estel replied and then he finally turned to his adar, his eyes shining in excitement from all he had read. “Did you know that the king has a prince named Legolas?”
“Aye, I do, my son,” Elrond replied.
“Why did you not tell me about him?” Estel asked, still leaving the book open.
“I was going to, but someone did not wait for me,” Elrond replied, softly teasing the boy.
“Because… you are not there every time I searched for you. Either you are busy or you’re healing someone, and I’m bored, and the twins aren’t helping either,” Estel explained, his voice dropping softer with each word.
Elrond could see the pain in the boy’s eyes, and all he felt was sheer regret at not being there for Estel, even if it was a good thing to see the boy reading and enjoying all that he read.
“Well, then I must make more time for you, my son,” Elrond replied, ruffling the boy’s hair tenderly. “But now, after you finish reading, I would like you to help me fix the library.”
Estel looked around him and nodded, and then he asked, “After we finish, can I tell you a bedtime story?”
“I would love that, my son,” Elrond replied. He smiled, his adoration for his son shining from his eyes. There was no other way he could express how his heart leapt with joy and his spirit danced within him at the sight of the boy happy and contented.
“I love you too, ada,” Estel told his father sincerely.
~ Fin
Author: Sivan Shemesh
Beta: Aranel
Disclaimer: Not mine.
Rate: K/G
Warning: AU.
Summary: Elrond promised so much to his son, but in this case he failed... Estel did make a good from it...
A/N: A response to the theme “Hit the Books”. My prompt: “The Prince by Niccolo Machiavelli”
Word count: 870
Lord Elrond kept walking along the hallway, anxiously searching through every room he walked by. He just did not understand why the boy could not be found.
It was shocking not to find Estel outside joking and playing with the twins. Even they, too, were wondering if something had happened to their brother, and for once, Elrond did not have an answer.
“Estel, where are you?” Elrond called and still there was no reply.
“Estel?” The healer asked again, but heard nothing but the echo of his voice.
A crash of books caused him to jump, but he soon composed himself. Erestor was probably having trouble with his research.
But that thought disappeared as he saw Erestor coming toward him from the opposite direction.
Elrond greeted his advisor. He could still hear more tumbling of books and, much as he wished to find Estel, this was proving to be quite a pressing problem.
“Would you, by any chance, have been in the library a moment ago?” Elrond asked the advisor.
“Nay, I was not,” Erestor replied, somewhat puzzled.
Elrond sighed. That much was expected. “And would you happen to have seen Estel around?” he tried.
“Nay,” Erestor replied, tapping the floor with his foot as he wondered aloud, “It has been so quiet thus far, and I was indeed wondering where Estel might have been, but for now, I am more concerned with who is in the library, and who is this person creating such a ruckus in my library.”
“Do you wish to find out?” Elrond suggested. Something stirred within his heart, and he was having a somewhat unpleasant thought. Erestor was already headed toward the library, and Elrond caught up quickly, hoping that Estel would not happen to be there.
The doors to the library were flung opened and Elrond could see that Erestor was barely holding himself from weeping at the mess: the empty shelves, the chairs strewn around the area, open books on the floor, pages crushed, and a tower of books on the table. And yet, the one who responsible for all this was not to be seen.
But Elrond knew that his senses were not wrong; he could sense a small presence just behind the table.
Erestor was about to unleash his fury but Elrond reached a hand toward the advisor. He nodded his personal promise: he would see that all in the library was taken care of.
“Leave it to me, my friend,” Elrond told him and took a step forward. He walked through what remained of the aisles, towards the source of the tornado. When he found that familiar figure, he coughed, catching his attention. “Estel, my son, what are you doing?”
Estel barely raised his head from the book that he was reading. He probably noticed that his adar was there before him but he returned to the page, saying nothing at all.
“Estel?” Elrond called again as he walked closer to where the boy sat. He took a glance at the book; who would have thought that would interest the boy?
“I am reading, adar,” Estel replied, his eyes still locked on the book. He kept reading and moved on to the next page.
“So I can tell,” Elrond sighed and then he asked, “Reading about what, my son?”
“About the great King of Mirkwood,” Estel replied and then he finally turned to his adar, his eyes shining in excitement from all he had read. “Did you know that the king has a prince named Legolas?”
“Aye, I do, my son,” Elrond replied.
“Why did you not tell me about him?” Estel asked, still leaving the book open.
“I was going to, but someone did not wait for me,” Elrond replied, softly teasing the boy.
“Because… you are not there every time I searched for you. Either you are busy or you’re healing someone, and I’m bored, and the twins aren’t helping either,” Estel explained, his voice dropping softer with each word.
Elrond could see the pain in the boy’s eyes, and all he felt was sheer regret at not being there for Estel, even if it was a good thing to see the boy reading and enjoying all that he read.
“Well, then I must make more time for you, my son,” Elrond replied, ruffling the boy’s hair tenderly. “But now, after you finish reading, I would like you to help me fix the library.”
Estel looked around him and nodded, and then he asked, “After we finish, can I tell you a bedtime story?”
“I would love that, my son,” Elrond replied. He smiled, his adoration for his son shining from his eyes. There was no other way he could express how his heart leapt with joy and his spirit danced within him at the sight of the boy happy and contented.
“I love you too, ada,” Estel told his father sincerely.
~ Fin