The way to Gondor (Aragorn and Legolas fanfic)

A new way of action

Éowyn POV

Legolas returned to the cave and went straight to his bed. I just noticed out of the corner of my eyes, because I was occupied with my brother, who had become better during the day, and was snoring peacefully. When I was done with seeing to him, I walked up to the elf. He owed us an explanation about his behaviour.

"Where've you been?", I asked him, but he just stared at the ceiling, sprawled out on the ground. "Hey, talk to me, Legolas! Don't you think you should tell us, we pretty much had every man search you the whole morning!"

"Why do you care?", he answered indifferently. 

"We all care", I told him. "You're a true friend, and a very good person. Why shouldn't we care?"

He closed his eyes once, sighed, then sat up. 

"I'm not as good of a person as you think", he started. "How's your brother, by the way?"

I knew he wanted to change the topic, but I answered anyways.

"He's sleeping now, he's ok." Suddenly I remembered something. "But...during the night he was having a really bad fever, and in his dreams he talked about someone, something. He always said: the elf. Do you know what was bothering him?"

Legolas face had gone dark, and he'd apparently shut the doors to his mind for me. This topic didn't delight him either, it seemed even worse than the question of where he had been. I wondered, why that was.

"No, and I'm sure it's nothing important. Now go look after him again, he surely needs his sister's care."

I was dismissed.

Third person POV

Three people were ill in the fortress, Éomer, Haldir and Legolas. Nothing new was to say about Haldir, he still hadn't woken up, but Éowyn's herbs had steadied his heart beat, and he was breathing normally. Éomer was asleep, but over the worst, and in a few hours he'd be on his legs again. Nobody knew what was wrong with Legolas, and he didn't want to talk to anyone. Dinner he had on his own, and only Mattei, the boy, was allowed in his company. 

Aragorn had gone out on the wall and tried to figure out where exactly he had failed, and what he had done wrong. In his eyes, it was obviously his fault, that Legolas didn't want to see him anymore, and it painfully reminded him of the weeks in Meduseld, where he'd been the one to refuse the other's company. Therefore he hoped that maybe the elf had some sensible reason for acting like he did, and he desperately wanted to know what it was. But not being allowed anywhere near him took him the chance of finding out. He'd have to come up with another idea.

Said idea came to him, when he spotted the little boy named Mattei in the hallways. He knew he had been very rude to him, and wanted to apologize, so he took him aside.

"You're Mattei, right?",  he asked him. The boy nodded. "I am sorry for how I acted when you showed us where Legolas was. I hope you forgive me."

"Of course, sir."

"I was just upset that he had disappeared like that. And now I can't speak to him, and I don't even know if he's alright."

"He's as alright as he can be, sir. But he didn't eat any dinner", the boy answered.

"What do you mean? Have you spoken to him?", Aragorn questioned. A hidden path had suddenly appeared before him, and it was the perfect way to get what he wanted.

"Yes, I'm his servant right now. He doesn't want anyone else."

"Could you do me a favor?", the man asked with a gentle voice. "Could you find out for me what happened last night? You see ... he's very dear to me and I'd like to know the reason for his behaviour."

"I'm sure, sir, I'll do my best!"

Mattei was very happy about this task, as it satisfied his curiosity, and made him feel important at the same time. With a light step, he hopped away.