Disclaimer: I take no credit for Tolkien's characters and storylines. I only take credit for my own character, the rest belongs to the great writer himself.

Author's Note: Hi again everyone! So begins the sequel to By Blood and Bond. Please Review!

Kersi

Chapter 1: In the Name of Love

She was on her knees, with the tip of a sword to her throat. She was out of breath from running through the woods. She looked at the Elf in front of her. Indeed, rage was in her eyes, and a deep sadness marked them, the Elf was speaking to her but she could not hear anything but the ringing in her ears. When no response came forth, the tip of the sword dug slowly into her skin. For a moment she closed her eyes, she knew what the Elf was capable of, or at least from her faint memories as a child she remembered, and that is why she hated her.

"I asked you a question!" shouted the Elf.

She only looked at her, her eyes blinking blankly, and then she remembered why she was at death's mercy. "I have nothing to say to you."

Despair almost showed on the Elf's face. "I will have to kill you then."

She smiled. "At the risk of never finding your child?"

"You have betrayed me, and my family, you have betrayed all those who love you." Responded the Elf coolly.

Hate rose inside of her. "Liar!"

Surprised by the conviction in her voice the Elf gripped her sword more forcefully. "I still love you, but you leave me no choice."

The woman smirked "There is always a choice, kill me and you will never find your child."

The Elf shook her head. "You will never tell me where he is, hate has corrupted you." The Elf looked into the eyes of the woman. "This is what you wanted, to see me in despair, you have accomplished it…" The Elf looked as if she was going to plunge the sword deep into the woman's throat, but she only dropped it. "I cannot kill you, but then you knew that, didn't you?"

The woman rose slowly, pushing herself off of her knees. She was weak, but she knew she had beaten the Elf. "I counted on your weakness."

The Elf looked beaten; her shoulders slumped forward in defeat. A cold expression came from her eyes as she looked at the woman in front of her. "Is he alive?"

"He is dead as far as you know. Perhaps if you beg I might spare some mercy on you."

The Elf's eyes widened. "You have taken a child from a family that loves him."

"As you took me! From a family that loved me!" The woman picked the sword up from the ground; it was surprisingly light.

"Who is it that has twisted your mind so? Do you not remember what we did for you?" asked the Elf in disbelief of the woman's words.

"You did nothing for me."

The Elf shook her head. "Will you leave me to look for my child?"

"No. It is of no use."

The Elf frowned.

"Do you regret now what you did?" asked the woman.

"I did nothing wrong." Said the Elf.

The woman swung the Elven sword in the air.

"Perhaps…" said the Elf slowly, almost whispering. "I regret not loving you enough…I thought that I had given you all that I had, but perhaps it was not enough for you."

The woman pointed the sword at the Elf now. "All this talk of love…" She shook her head. "You never loved me."

"Of course I love you!"

"Lies, all lies! I was told you would try and seduce me with them."

"Told? By Whom?" There were no answers to her questions."What do you plan to do…kill me?"

"Yes."

"You will fail." Said the Elf, once more standing tall. "You will not be able to kill me. And we will find our son. If you surrender to me now, I will see to it that they are lenient in their punishment to you."

"You think your mate will be able to find your child?" The woman laughed.

"Yes, my husband will find our child. Bonds between Elves and their children are different, we can feel when they are near, and our son is very near, and we will find him soon. May mercy be with you if he is hurt." The Elf hid the lie she had just told under an icy expression, though part of what she had said was true.

The woman looked away; no one had ever told her about the bonds between Elves and their children, she knew she should have taken the Elven child further away.

Noting that what she had said had had an effect on the woman, the Elf dared to take a step closer to the woman, who still held the sword pointed at her. "Tell me where he is." Desperate and annoyed, the Elf repeated herself. "In the name of all that is sacred, tell me where he is!"

The woman flinched at the tone in the Elf's voice, and in utter futility swung the sword, cutting the Elf's arm slightly.

The Elf recoiled for a moment.

"He is dead!" screamed the woman. "I killed him!"

"What?"

"I killed him!"

Tears welled in the Elf's eyes. "Is this the truth?"

The woman now seemed crazed and took delight in the pain she could see coming from the Elf. "Yes! Yes! Poor little thing, never knew what was happening to him…"

"Stop!" cried the Elf. "Have you killed my son!"

"That is what I said you stupid creature! I let him bleed to…" Before the woman could finish her sentence she felt a harsh blow to her chest and it knocked her to the tree behind her. She could not breathe, as she looked down she noticed the back of an arrow sticking from her chest, it had gone right through her. She was in a great deal of pain. She dropped the sword and just held on to the arrow in her chest. Her vision was going blurry, but in the distance she saw the silhouette of a figure she knew very well, it was Legolas. He was the only one who could have ever hit her with such accuracy and know how painful this slowly fatal hit would be. Her vision of Legolas was blocked by the Elf now, tears still falling from her eyes.

"Before you die, tell me again…is my son dead?"

The woman wanted for the darkness of death to take her, but by some force she was still able to live a few moments longer. She would not give this Elf any pleasure in her last minutes. "Your son…is dead, killed by my own hands…"

The Elf nodded, and a great cry escaped her delicate lips.

The woman smiled in her wickedness.

Suddenly a flash of silver was seen, and the woman's eyes widened before the light disappeared. "I loved you as a daughter; in the name of love I release you from this world." The Elf had slit the woman's throat. A slight gurgling was heard before the last breath of the woman was drawn and released to be her last. The Elf watched as the woman died, and she took no pleasure in it. The Elf did not know how long she stood there, for time did not exist for her anymore, not then. A hand appeared upon her shoulder, and she turned around.

"Aurel?" His eyes too, were full of tears.

She had no words to spare him. She only held a hand to his face.

Legolas only looked into his wife's eyes. "He is not dead. I have found him."

It was then that she collapsed into her husband's arms. "She…"

"I heard what she said. She wanted death."

"Oh Elebereth!" cried Aurel. "I have killed her…"

"She left us no choice." He said. "Had she been taken back to the palace there would have been no mercy for her, she would have been left to die slowly in the dungeons."

Aurel composed herself. "Is he hurt?"

Legolas shook his head. "He is unharmed. A little hungry perhaps. He wants his mother."

Aurel wiped the tears from her face and nodded her head. Legolas helped her up. She turned to face the dead woman. "Spare me a few moments. I wish to be alone with her."

Legolas hesitated. "Aurel, I do not think…"

"Please?" Her voice broke. "I loved her Legolas…no matter what she did; I would not be able to leave her like this."

Legolas nodded slowly. "I shall leave my horse for you, call and he will be at your command." He walked away, wishing he did not have to leave her, but he understood why she felt she needed to stay.

Aurel approached the dead woman, who was still leaning against the tree. "Forgive me. I thought you had killed my son." She lifted her hand to touch the dead woman's face. "Why would you lie to me? Why?" Then she looked down at the arrow embedded in the woman's chest. "He did not aim with the intent of keeping you alive." Aurel did not judge Legolas, no one had more reason to kill this woman than he. Aurel wrapped her small hand around the end of the arrow and swiftly broke it in half, pulling out the end of the arrow from the woman's chest. The woman's blood was still warm; it almost brought tears back to Aurel, almost. She gently leaned the woman against her own body, and slowly lowered her down to the leaf covered forest ground.

Aurel began her prayers and closed her eyes. "May your soul now be in a place where it feels loved." She knelt next to the woman's body and pressed her forehead against the woman's cold forehead.

The next few moments began to bring Aurel memories of what had begun to happen a year and a half earlier, before the happenings of Eryn Lasgalen had nearly destroyed her family.

To Be Continued….