I have revisited this chapter and decided to re-write with the concrit of Wendwriter and Virtuella. Thank you both for the help in setting up this chapter.

The Assassin

By Lady Akyrial

She walked slowly from the black woods – hoping that a human settlement would be near. The rustling and the sounds in the trees caused her to worry. Normally, she was comfortable with the sounds of the night…but not since she fled from the darkness. The night would have been her refuge, away from eyes that would hunt and track her, if she had stayed...but all of that was changed now. She sighed as her back continued to throb and ache, but the worst was the stabbing pain between her lower ribs. Why she had survived was beyond her knowledge, but she did…and now she would have to find help, or she would die anyway. How long was it now? Three weeks? A month? She couldn't tell…her only goal was to keep moving until she found the elves.

Later on in the morning, she stumbled on to a path. She could discern very faint signs and concluded that it was an ancient path. With a glimmer of hope, she followed it and stopped short as she crested a gentle slope. Below her was a beautiful panorama of lush, verdant foliage and a pristine house settled into a valley. She looked at the river which fed from a large waterfall in the distance…it was incredible – so unlike her home of the last sixty years.

She slowly began the descent to the city and traveled for about half an hour when she noticed a large contingent of riders quickly approaching her…too quickly. She peered intently and realized that these riders were elves. Sighing at the inevitable confrontation, she began to disarm slowly while they were still a distance away. Laying her knives down in front of her, she stepped back three paces before kneeling with her head bowed. Quietly she waited for her destiny…hoping that they would help her, or at least give her sanctuary long enough for her back to heal.

Glorfindel could hardly believe the news from the gate sentries. One of Sauron's generals was walking to Imladris. This was unprecedented and boded ill for the spread of evil across Middle Earth if they were getting this bold. Lord Elrond gave him leave to dispatch a full contingent and apprehend this adversary before any evil could befall Imladris.

If they could take this general alive, he would give him prime dungeon accommodations and interrogate him with the same mercies that they showed the beloved Lady Celebrian.

Odd, what is this general doing? He watched with curiosity as the lone figure laid his weapons down carefully in the path – all blades pointing away from the approaching Elves. He then gasped in surprise when the general stepped back carefully three paces and knelt quietly in the ancient form of surrender.

Elrond was working quietly at his desk signing some trade documents when Glorfindel burst into his study. Raising his eyebrow at the disruption, Elrond waited for his captain to speak.

"My Lord, the gate sentries have announced that one of Sauron's generals is walking toward the city. They see no other forces, but wait for my orders. What would you have me do?"

Elrond wondered at the situation. Vilya protected them by enchanting the rivers and borders of Imladris. He could neither feel nor sense evil in this stranger's approach. But still…it would be prudent to exercise caution. Sauron's strength was increasing and his tactics were changing as his influence spread across Middle Earth.

"You were correct to bring me this news. Send a contingent and bring this creature here. I will question him at length…Also, send in Idhrenion from the aviary. I want to send a message to Mithrandir." With a nod the Elf Lord dismissed his captain. Quickly, he composed a letter and prepared it for the carrier pigeon.

Glorfindel dismounted and walked up to the hooded figure sitting on the ground. His guards slowly surrounding this general. "Why are you here?" he demanded of the figure.

The figure responded in a low, raspy voice that spoke of thirst or pain…but neither were of consequence to the warrior. "I have come to seek a healer. I know that you have no reason to trust me or take me to your city… but I ask you for your help. Would you have a healer treat me outside your gates?"

"What are your injuries, minion and why do you seek help from the Eldar?"

"I have taken an arrow to my back as I fled from Sauron's gates…as to why I have sought you, I was told to seek the help of the eldar."

"We do not give spies assistance…show me your face!" he demanded.

"Please… no. I have not seen the sun for many years. Bind my hands if you will, but please do not pull back my cloak."

"As you wish." Turning to his guards, Glorfindel issued swift orders. "Bind his wrists and make him walk behind my horse. If he slows, motivate him."

She looked at the leader of the guard and caught her breath. He was glorious. His golden hair fell in waves about his face, and his body was perfectly chiseled. He was a warrior, proud and true.

He was uneasy around her. He didn't know that she was a female – he saw only her father's cape and his rank. His eyes were hard – trying to reach into her soul and punish her for all of the general's atrocities.

He gave the order to have her bound. At least she would be able to have a healer take the frigging arrow out of her back. She had tried to remove it no avail, only breaking it off below the skin. Later, it had started to close over and infection set in from the other injuries to her back.

Rough hands pulled her to her feet and it was all she could do to keep from crying out in pain. She stood nearly as tall as many of the guard, but not as tall as the leader. He was nearly half a head taller than her. She saw him look at her and try to discern her height and build from under the cloak. She was grateful that he had not pushed to see her...if he had, he might have treated her differently, and she did not want to be hurt worse than she already had been.

I thought that Sauron's general would be taller, more formidable than this one. What wounds did he sustain to cause him to flinch when lifted by the guards?

"Move, Minion, or you will not need a healer in Imladris!" With that, Glorfindel mounted his horse and led the general to the city…keeping a rapid pace that the she could barely keep up with.

After about a half hour, the leader stopped and dismounted in a large courtyard, outside of a large stone house. He reached up to his horse and untied the rope from the white steed. He then walked over to her and hissed at her, "Try anything, and you will feel the pain of my blade." He wrapped the rope about her tightly and pushed her up the stairs into the hall.

She looked about slowly without turning her head, and she noted that they were in a large room with a massive fireplace. This had to be the great hall. Two tall, dark haired elves approached and one asked if this was the "guest" that the Lord was expecting. The leader looked at him and then spoke in a language that she didn't know.

"Did you have any trouble, mellon-nin?"

"None, this 'General' is as tame as a kitten," replied Glorfindel. "If this is one of Sauron's generals, he must be recruiting inferior stock."

"No matter, Ada is expecting him in the healing wing."

"I'll take him up."

Turning toward her, one of the dark haired ones looked at her cloak. "Show your face and disrobe."

"My Lord, I will gladly disrobe to the healer, but I fear that my appearance would be too unsettling for you and your men. Please, I ask that you respect this small wish in lieu of my surrender." came the raspy voice.

"The healer is my father, and I also am a healer. I will see you in private before you go upstairs." With that Elladan dismissed the guard and asked Glorfindel to turn around to give this being privacy. What could he be hiding? Is he truly hideous? He reached out and lifted the hood away from the general's head. And stopped. In shock. Trying to hide her face was a very pale elleth. He put his fingers under her chin and lifted it, looking into her eyes. She just stood there, staring at him and shaking. Yes, she was shaking. What could have happened to her? She doesn't even look old enough to have reached the age of majority.

Without a word, Elladan gently untied her. Glorfindel turned around when he heard the motion and looked at the young Elf Lord's back. Why was he showing mercy to the Minion of Mordor? He was even more surprised when Elladan reached down and gently picked up the 'general' and ran to the healing wing. There is something going on here, and he ran to follow.

Elladan entered the healing wing and dismissed the guards. Glorfindel followed quickly and stopped short when he saw Elladan carefully place the "general" on the working counter. He looked again…the general was an elleth? Elrond stepped forward to assess her injuries.

"Little one, my name is Elrond and I am the Lord of Imladris. What is your name?"

"I am Inaria."

"You have asked for a healer, child. What are your injuries?" he probed suspiciously.

"My Lord, I have a broken arrow in my back and I suffer the marks of my father's wrath." came the simple answer.

Elrond moved behind her and looked at her back quietly. Seeing the extent of her injuries, he directed her quietly, "Come child, let us disrobe you and tend your injuries."

"My Lord, respectfully, I can not disrobe. I…I …I do not know these elves and I…am…" she dropped her eyes and bowed her head as a deep blush crept along her neckline and face.

"I understand, little one. Say no more. Elladan, I will have you stay. Glorfindel, my friend, you must wait outside." He commanded.

Glorfindel looked at Elrond with disbelief. He could not seriously mean to be alone with this spy? Unguarded… "My Lord, I will move out of the way, but I will remain. I do not trust this elleth…she is more than likely a spy."

Sighing, Elrond turned his attention to the captain. "Very well, mellon nin. But you will have to sit beyond that screen while we are treating her." Glorfindel nodded and made his way to the privacy screen and stood defiantly, willing her to act out inappropriately.

Turning back to her, Elrond smiled gently, "Now child, let us help you out of your clothes." He reached out and tried to move her hair, only to find that it was stuck to the dried blood on her back. Catching his breath softly, he directed Elladan to get him an Athelas infusion.

When Elladan returned, Elrond slowly began to soak her hair, working it carefully from the skin and crusted infection on her back. Each time the water hit her, she winced slightly, but did not cry out. Satisfied that he was able to remove her tunic, he frowned when he realized that the back of her tunic was in shreds and imbedded into partially infected skin.

"Your back is badly infected and partially healed over. I fear that you will experience discomfort as I remove your tunic and clean the skin…Elladan, boil a tea with Datura …his child should not have to suffer needlessly." Taking a small knife from his pocket, Elrond began to gingerly cut away the unattached fabric.

Inaria sat silently and began to tremble when the Elf Lord began to cut her tunic away. She crossed her arms in front of her body and held the tunic to her chest as the back piece fell. She heard the two lords gasp when they saw the full extent of injuries on her back and hugged the fabric to her chest even closer.

Elrond did not miss this subtle motion and walked around the table to stand in front of her. "Child, do you have other injuries on your front?" He grimaced when he saw her drop her head and knew that she was embarrassed.

Elladan also noticed her discomfort and retrieved a healing tunic with an open back from the closet. He held it up in front of her and smiled when she put her arms through the holes. Then he took the front of her tunic and placed it with the other scraps in the basket.

Maintaining her modesty, Elrond lifted the front of her tunic and noted that there was extensive bruising around her ribs. He probed gently with his fingers and noted her reactions. Stepping back, he gave her his assessment. "Inaria, your wounds are very serious. I am worried about the infection that has set into your back, and I am afraid that I am going to have to cut the arrow out. It will be very unpleasant, and I wish for you to sleep through this process. You must drink this tea and I will put you into a deep sleep with a spell."

Inaria just nodded, knowing that her fears were realized. She knew that there was a chance that she would not wake up, though this was unvoiced. Elladan handed her a steaming cup of tea, and she sipped it. While they were waiting for the tea to work, they asked her about herself and listened patiently.

"My father was one of Sauron's generals. He often went into a small human town and drank at one of the bars there. On one of those times, he met my mother and took her. I was born in the human settlement outside of Khand and raised in my mother's house. When my father found out that he had sired a child, he moved my mother and me to the country outside of Mordor. He was very kind to me as a child and played with me when he visited, then he taught me how to hunt. I lived there with my mother until she died of old age. He then told me that I would be the son he never had…and he taught me how to fight and kill.

When the day of passage came before my majority, I had to pass the trials of an assassin. I was to enter the town of my birth and kill the town leader because he had been keeping tributes…I…I couldn't do it. I couldn't kill him. I let him live and butchered a goat instead to bloody my knives and my garments. I returned to my father, hoping that he would accept my appearance as evidence…but I was mistaken. When I returned, I saw the leader of the village strung up and being tortured by the Orc-leader. My father then called me a weakling and coward and strung me up beside the leader. We were both whipped, and then my father walked to the man…and… and…slit his throat.

I wasn't so lucky… He ordered the Orc-leader to beat me senseless, then take me to the training fields where I would have to undergo the rights of majority and fight for the right to live as one of the under lords. After I was beaten, the Ord-leader cut me down and left me unattended for a few minutes. It was then that I made my escape…but I wasn't too successful, because the archers found their mark in my back.

I walked for about a half a league and my father met me in the woods. He ordered me to return and he would find a job for me in Barad-dur, but I refused. He then told me that if I left, he would not stop me; but when we parted, I would be his sworn enemy. He said that he would not hesitate to kill me if we met again. When I refused to go back, he walked to me and wrapped his cloak around me, then called me a peredhel disappointment. He laughed and told me to go live among the elves because men would never accept me. He said I would be lucky if the elves would accept me after they learned that I was an assassin."

After she told her tale, she sat quietly – waiting for a reaction from the two Elven Lords. Finally, the one called Elladan asked her why she hadn't told the guard that she was a woman.

"My Lord, I stopped at a few human villages south of here and they refused me shelter. When I tried to seek help from a merchant, he wanted to trade his services with me. I would rather have died than to be treated like that. I chose to remain hidden in the safety of my father's cloak rather than risk being taken against my will. I did not know how I would be treated when I met your guard, so I kept silent and hidden."

Elrond nodded at the wisdom of her logic, then saw her eyes start to get heavy. He laid his palm on her head then spoke an ancient spell for sleep and caught her as she slumped forward. He laid her on her stomach, then he and Elladan began to cut the rest of her dress out of her skin. Satisfied with their work, they then focused on the arrow lodged into her lower back. Elladan probed gently, and then pushed the skin to hold it taut while his father cut around the imbedded shaft. They opened the skin and watched a substantial amount of infection bleed out before they could even look at the direction of the barbs on the arrow-head. Slowly and methodically, father and son worked to remove the arrow and clean the wound. They encountered difficulty as the arrow head had lodged into Inaria's hip bone and they had to break the bone to release the barbs. When they had finished suturing her, they tended her front and sat her up with Elladan's support to bind her ribs. Elrond gently dressed her in the tunic and took her to one of the beds to recover.

Inaria slept soundly for the first time in many days, with no dreams or pain to haunt her.