A/N I had requests to continue this story, so with the help of Eldhoron who Roleplayed this chapter with me, I was able to get a second chapter. Thank you, El, you are the best and I had a lot of fun with this
Thank you to Jesus' girl 4ever, TheConManAndTheGhost, Tori of Lórien, earthdragon, White Ithiliel, Eldhoron, portkeytoreality, Sonicscrewdriversinmiddleearth, Aria Breuer, ShadowTravel and quarterhorseranch for reviewing and to everyone who has followed and favorited this story.
Disclaimer I do not own any one recognizable in this story. The characters all belong to the wonderful genius JRR Tolkien. I am simply playing with them. Everyone else belongs to Eldhoron and myself.
Iondir watched the entire exchange between the two elven lords. So, Isildur King was dead, but how had that occurred? He thought he had heard something about his lord falling into the fiery chasm. Suddenly, a stab of suspicion shot through Iondir as he pondered about that, while still watching Lord Elrond closely. The elf lord was clearly grieved, but how does one just "fall into the fiery pit"? It just didn't make sense.
All around him, several other men were mumbling amongst themselves, some angrily others remorsefully. They were clearly not happy about what had happened knowing that soon questions would start surfacing. Iondir followed the elf with his eyes as Elrond went forth into the masses to begin to treat the many wounded.
The Gondorian soldier watched the elf go... so engrossed in watching the distressed elf lord he hadn't heard someone approach him until he felt a rough hand grip his shoulder. Jumping slightly, Iondir turned to face the newcomer. He immediately recognized him as an officer in the twenty second regime named, Duranthir. "What do you think happened?" His voice was level but his gaze was full of conflict.
Iondir turned back to watch for Elrond once again – there. He found him amongst the severely wounded. "I do not know, but I will find out," Iondir spoke with determination. He wanted to know the truth as well and he would find out. No one just fell into a chasm.
Elrond had been too preoccupied with his own thoughts and guilt, that he failed to notice Iondir staring at him suspiciously. While he was busy treating a critically injured man he heard the heavy sound of footsteps come up behind him and stop. Elrond instantly stopped what he was doing and turned slowly to see steel grey eyes piercing his.
"Lord Elrond." The raven-haired ellon turned to face the soldier. Behind him, Iondir felt a group of several other men forming behind him, led by Duranthir. Meeting Elrond's gaze he decided to just lance the boil and ask. He knew exactly what every other man was thinking and wondering. "What happened to our king?" he asked speaking those thoughts into the dry, ashen air.
He tried to keep the accusation out of his voice but it was near impossible. His captain and friend was dead and a small hint of anger was beginning to ignite within him. Iondir gazed at Elrond as he waited for his response.
Elrond frowned sighing heavily. He should have known something like this would happen. One just did not go up with the king of Gondor and then come down alone. It was folly. Unable to hold the young Gondorian's gaze any longer he turned continuing to work on the young mortal man. What should he tell them? Would they even believe him if he told the truth? Deciding that it would be best to keep it short Elrond told them his account of what happened.
"I took Isildur up to the cracks of Mount Doom to destroy the One Ring. By the time we arrived, the Ring had taken hold of Isildur, poisoning his mind and he refused to destroy it. An argument erupted and he attacked me. In self-defense, I fought back and he fell to his death carrying with him the Ring." When he finished speaking he had the sinking feeling that most of them would not believe him.
Iondir crossed his arms when the elf turned away from him. Almost feeling a growl escape his throat, he listened quietly for the elf to tell his tale.
As Elrond spoke, the man tried his best to keep an open mind and give Elrond the benefit of the doubt. After all, he was the herald of the fallen Noldo king and was respected by most. The men behind him, however would not. Iondir could feel the tension rising as the lord mentioned Isildur, their captain and king, succumbing to the call of the ring. Iondir knew how powerful the ring was but the thought of their lord giving in to the power of it was very hard to digest. It couldn't have been that way... the elf lord finished his tale and continued working on the wounded soldier below him. He wouldn't even look at them.
After a moment of silence one man spoke up from the crowd. "Isildur would not have succumbed to the Ring!"
Another chimed in "our King was strong."
"The blood of Gondor does not lead astray half elf!" cried another.
Iondir did not turn to face the men who had spoken up, but instead continued to bear down on the hunched down elf with his gaze. "Truly not, you must be mistaken; our king could not have succumbed."
Elrond knew deep inside that they would not believe him. He told himself to keep his cool but when he heard them call him a liar he could feel the heat rise in him and his eyes flashed with anger. Dropping what he was doing he stood up to his full height and faced the men who hours before, fought side by side as friends and brothers. "You dare to question my honor mortal?! Do you honestly think for a minute that I would murder one of my own brother's kin in cold blood after all the innocent blood that was already spilled on account of that accursed ring?! What would any of you have done in my place had you been there? I tell you now that if you had of been there Isildur would not have recognized you and would have attacked you as well to keep that ring for his own!"
In the distance, Elrond saw several elves walk over to where the confrontation was taking place. Among them were Glorfindel and Círdan looking at one another wondering if they should step in before things spiraled any more out of control.
By now men were getting rowdy... "Liar! Half breed!" Iondir heard several call out. The young adan looked up into the elf lord's eyes. Watching them flash, he was reminded of all the tales he had heard of the wrath of the immortals...
"What happened to the Ring?!" someone asked in a loud voice from the back.
"Yes, where is it?!" another spoke up.
"Lord Elrond succumbed and murdered the king! He took it!" That turned Iondir around to face the mob. These men were weary with exhaustion and confusion. He knew Lord Elrond would not have murdered or taken the ring. Would he? He glanced back at the half elf and met his gaze searching for any sign of deceit but found none. It was sincere...
The men were antagonizing the entire ordeal. They were yelling, speaking loudly with one another. This was not good, if things were not contained and soon, they would have a riot and possibly another war on hand.
"Lord Elrond would not have taken the ring," Iondir said finally. He was sure of that for why would Elrond have come down as he had? He struggled to keep his voice even.
The men were not listening and growing even more angry. Turning around he faced Elrond. "Where is it?" he demanded. He needed to know.
Lord Elrond turned to Iondir a sad, tired look appearing on his face. "The Ring fell into the fire along with your king. If you do not believe me, you may search me. I give you my word that I did all I could to save your king from the lure of the Ring. I never wanted him to meet his death." Elrond's voice trembled with exhaustion, his eyes holding unimaginable pain and guilt.
Iondir no longer felt any doubt in his mind as to whether Isildur's blood was unjustly staining the elf lord's hands. The grief and pain obvious in Elrond's eyes, burdening the elder's face was enough to cast aside any further doubts. Isildur had succumbed and Elrond was forced to kill him. The line of Kings was over. Iondir now only wished his countrymen could see the genuineness in Elrond's eyes. Keeping himself between the dark-haired lord and the growing mass of Gondorian soldiers a riot threatened to break out.
"Search him, Iondir!" One scruffy man in the front of the pack shouted… others agreed to the proposal.
Iondir shook his head. "I will not search him. He is sincere, I have plainly seen that."
Men's eyes flashed as they began to jostle forward. "It is PLAIN that he is using the ring on you, Iondir!"
"Find it!" said a large man with gleaming, mad eyes. He violently pushed forward barreling towards Elrond and Iondir.
Elrond just stood planted where he was. He had no intentions of even trying to defend himself as he watched the large Gondorian soldier charge him. He was tired of fighting and when he thought about it, why should he defend himself after what he did, even if it was self-defense and the only way to prevent evil from returning.
In his mind, he had no right to live. In fact, he had no doubt in his mind that this man would probably kill him when he searched him for the Ring. He was grateful that Iondir believed him, but what difference could one man make in a crowd of dozens who no matter what was said would never believe him that he had not taken the Ring nor killed Isildur out of malice? As Elrond braced himself for the impact out of nowhere Lords Glorfindel and Círdan threw themselves in front of Elrond with their swords drawn halting the burly man from attacking their Captain and friend.
The raging man stopped short of impaling himself on the elven lords' blades. Straightening himself up taller the hint of insanity lifted somewhat as he gazed steadfastly at the tall elves. "Get out of my way," he growled low in his throat.
Glorfindel glared at the man, showing just a hint of the power that was bestowed upon him by the Valar. "Unless you wish to be the next victim and find yourself on the receiving end of my blade, I suggest you watch your tone and depart from here at once," he spat. "You will by no means come any closer to Lord Elrond nor will you touch him."
The tall man stood dead on in defiance of the elf for a moment longer. "Filthy elf! I'll kill him instead for the murder of my king!" He launched himself forward at the golden-haired warrior, seizing the blade with his bare hands and wrenching it down into the dark, ashen ground.
Glorfindel didn't lose his composure for a second as the man proceeded to attack him. In one swift movement, the golden-haired warrior brought up his blade and thrust it through the soldier's gut. The man stunned, looked up into Glorfindel's eyes as the last of his life drained from his own and he slid to the ground with a thud.
The other men stood stock still watching with pale faces, as their comrade landed in a heap on the ground. Iondir couldn't take his eyes off this mighty elven warrior. His lightning fast movements had startled him, though he knew the large man would not have been reasoned with. He drew in a sharp breath and waited for the silence to be broken.
Wiping his blade clean, Glorfindel looked amongst the men who were motionless, staring at their fallen friend. Knowing that if something was not done soon, they would be in another war. Looking at Círdan, he motioned towards Elrond who was in a state of shock. They both knew that he was despairing from both grief and guilt. Círdan realized he had to get his friend out of here and to safer grounds. Nodding once to Glorfindel, he gently took hold of the raven-haired elf and led him away from the crowd leaving Glorfindel to deal with the men.
When the two elves were gone, Glorfindel spoke, breaking the silence of the crowd instantly with his resonate voice. "Now, if you are all done with your blood thirsty actions, you will all leave here and return to your posts. We did not spend seven long years fighting side by side, losing thousands of our friends and family just for you to accuse Lord Elrond, of maliciously killing your king to seize the ring for himself. If any of you still wish to continue your quest to lay hands on him and search him, you can join your fallen comrade," he said softly growling pointing to the dead soldier on the ground.
Many of the men shifted uncomfortably under the weight of the elf lord's gaze. They did not need any more examples to show them that he would not allow anyone to pass. Eventually they dispersed save a couple stragglers who finally moved away after a few more moments. Iondir himself did not know what to do. He was still partly in shock at the death of that man… looking up into Glorfindel's fiery blue eyes Iondir turned to face him.
He knew that fear shone in his own eyes, but there was no way of hiding it from the elf… he lowered his head, feeling like he should apologize. "I'm sorry for brining that rabble up..." he started stumbling to find the right words.
Glorfindel was not sure whether to be cross with Iondir or not. Although he had believed Elrond when he told them he did not take the ring for himself, none of this would have happened if Iondir hadn't of cornered him demanding to know what happened. Deciding that it was not worth getting more upset about, he sighed tiredly before he spoke. "It is alright Iondir. Leave and go to your tent and rest. Tomorrow, we will decide on the next course of action. Círdan and myself will stay with Elrond for I do not wish to risk any harm to him."
Iondir, bowed, starting to walk. Stopping a few steps later Iondir couldn't help but worry about the dark haired ellon. He knew that elves could fade from grief and it was apparent that Elrond was filled with it. "He will be okay, won't he?"
Glorfindel didn't know. Frowning, he shook his head, "I do not know. Only time will tell, but it will be a long and hard healing process and even I cannot see what the future will hold for him."
Iondir felt a pain in his heart for the Lord of Imladris. Not only did he have to deal with the loss of his best friend and king, but he had to deal with the death of Isildur by his own hands. No one should have to deal with so much, he thought to himself sadly as he began his walk to his own tent to retire for the night.
