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Thanks to ShakNali, ilysia, Ocean's Nocturne of the COCA, ShaolinQueen, Escape my reality, Lady Ambreanna, Thranduils Heart And Soul, Silivren Tinu, ObiBettina7, Kimihaine, KyMahalei, darkdranzer, LunaQuetzal, Goldenbrook, RadioactiveSquirrel and White Wolf1 for reviewing the first chapter. *g*
Many thanks to my wonderful beta, Calenlass. *hugs*
Chapter 2: King Elessar's Decision
After breakfast the next morning, Arwen, Legolas and Gimli were grouped around a low table in the queen's sitting-room. Arwen and Gimli were engaged in a Mannish strategy game involving thirty-two playing pieces on a chequered board.
"I do not see the point of it," Legolas muttered, scowling at the carved wooden men. "Have you ever seen a horse take two steps forward and one to the left, and then just stand waiting? It is likelier to trample that little thing over there –" He indicated one of the pieces – "and then it will probably dodge through that second line, and meanwhile that thing that looks like a mûmak will have come to the front, so –"
"Ignore him," Arwen told Gimli. "Erestor once told me that Legolas argued with him for an hour about why the Elves of Gondolin did not try to plant trees inside the mountain. And this was when he counted no more than fifteen summers, mind."
Gimli snorted with laughter. "I can well believe it! That Elf is the most impossibly infuriating, exasperating – where does he think he is going?"
Legolas stopped short in the act of sidling towards the window. "I am not going anywhere," he said innocently. "I only wanted to smell the fresh air."
"Sit down, Elf!" Gimli barked.
"I will return long before Estel comes back for lunch," Legolas promised, walking to the window and leaning out. "He will never know."
"Return before – you plan to climb out the window, Elf? Have you lost whatever sense you possessed? Sit down and stop behaving like a half-witted child!"
Legolas put one knee on the windowsill. "I will not fall."
"You are right. You will not fall, because you will not climb!" Legolas lifted his other knee onto the sill, gripping the edge to keep his balance as he bent forward. "Legolas! Get down!" Gimli turned to Arwen. "Are you not going to stop him?"
Arwen smiled. "I gave up trying to keep him from climbing out of windows when he was a child. Do not worry, Master Dwarf. He will not fall. And he will return within the hour."
"You planned this between you?" Gimli demanded, staring from one Elf to the other, suppressing an exclamation of alarm as Legolas leaned out even further. "Where is he going?"
"To speak to Nemir. I have a feeling that he will refuse to see Estel."
"And he will see the Elf?"
"The Elf might find it... easier... to get himself an audience. Take your cloak, Legolas."
Arwen picked up the garment, which Legolas had dropped over a chair, and tossed it to him. He caught it in one hand, wrapping it around his shoulders with deft movements.
"You remember the way?" the Queen of Gondor asked.
"Perfectly. Do not look so scared, Gimli. Nothing will go wrong. Estel need never know."
And Legolas vanished, leaving Gimli to groan miserably and sink into a chair.
Legolas, one anxious eye on the sun, wrapped his cloak closer around himself. He had no hope of getting into the prison if anyone recognized him. After a particularly ill-fated attempt Legolas had made at disguising some years ago, which had nearly resulted in Aragorn having to write a very difficult letter to Thranduil, the King of Gondor had ordered that the son of the Elven-king was to be allowed nowhere where unsavoury men might gather.
He waited in the shadows outside the gate for several minutes, until, as Arwen had told him, a large cart loaded with food and supplies came up the cobbled street. Legolas drew as close to the wall as he could without being detected. When the cart drew level with him, hiding him from the view of the guards on the gate, he leapt onto the top of the wall and down to the ground on the other side more lightly and noiselessly than any human. Before anybody had noticed him, he had vanished behind the building.
He hurried around to the back. On the lower three floors, the windows had stout iron bars on them, but on the fourth, a long balcony ran the length of the building. Legolas was delighted to see that there was an oak tree growing beside the building, its branches stretching to the balcony.
Hello, he murmured cheerfully, scrambling up into it. I do not believe we have met.
The tree rustled its branches enthusiastically, but did not say anything. Legolas, realizing that it had probably never heard Sindarin before, tried again in Westron.
I am an Elf of the Woodland realm.
An Elf! the tree replied with enthusiasm! I have never met an Elf before. I have heard them mentioned by the Men who walk below.
Legolas could not help smiling as he patted the branch beneath him.
I am delighted to meet you. I will need some help.
A few minutes later, the Elf stood on the balcony. He paused to dust himself off and draw his hood up before he clambered through one of the doors that had been left unlatched.
The room in which he found himself evidently belonged to the prison guards. It had two beds, both neatly made, and a pair of identical wardrobes and wash-stands. In the middle of the room was a table with four chairs around it. Several books were stacked on the table.
Legolas crossed the room in three strides and opened the door at the far end a crack. He listened at it for a moment, but there were no sounds from the hallway, not even breathing.
He slipped through the door. He and Arwen had spent most of the previous night, after Estel and Gimli had fallen asleep, in the library. They had managed to locate a floor plan of the prison and they had plotted out his course very carefully. He found a flight of stairs, went down it, and passed through another door. He had his excuse ready on his tongue. Arwen had made him practice until his Common Speech was not tinged with the slightest trace of an Elvish accent.
But nobody had noticed his entry.
All eyes were focused on a pair of men who stood in the middle of the room. One was clearly the warden; the other, from his dress, looked like one of the stewards' junior aides.
"I do not care!" the aide was saying furiously. "The King wants to see him, and –"
"You know the King too well to believe that he will force his presence on any prisoner without cause," the warden said coldly. "Especially Lord Beron's son. The King knows that he is being well-treated. He does not want to see anybody."
"But –"
"I assure you, he will come to no harm," the warden interrupted calmly. "He is in the very first holding cell. He is not with any dangerous prisoners. He can summon us easily if he has need of anything."
Legolas smiled beneath his hood and edged along the wall. Had everyone's attention not been on the two arguing men, he could never have managed it; as it was, he moved through the shadows with the silent stealth of a trained Elven warrior, and no one turned for so much as a second glance.
The door at the other end of the room was open and unguarded. Legolas slipped through it and turned left.
In the first cell he came to, a man sat on a wooden bench with his head in his hands. A quick glance around told Legolas that the cell, if not quite as comfortable as the cells in his father's stronghold, was spacious enough to allow a grown man to walk a few paces, if he wanted to, and the pallet along one wall looked clean, if threadbare.
"Nemir?" the Elf asked softly.
The man looked up at once. "What, again?" he demanded. "I have told you before, I do not want to see the King!"
"It would help if you would not talk so loudly," Legolas said, drawing himself up a stool and sitting on it. "The warders will hear. I have not come to take you to see the King."
Nemir glared at him. "Who are you, then? And why are you here?"
After a moment's hesitation, Legolas decided on the truth. He reached up and lowered his hood.
"I am Legolas, and the King must not know that I have been here."
Nemir's eyebrows rose. "Legolas? The Elven-lord of Ithilien?" Legolas nodded. "And the son of the Elven-king of Eryn Lasgalen. I have learnt my history, you see. I know perfectly well that you are one of the King's closest friends. Why would I want to speak to you, Prince Legolas, when I have refused to speak to him?"
Legolas frowned. "Aragorn knows nothing of my visit here. I suppose I will have to tell him eventually, but... I thought you might be willing to speak to me when you heard that I have seen your sister."
"Nórui? How is she?" Nemir asked anxiously.
"Very upset, because she is convinced that you confessed to a crime you did not commit."
"She should not say that," Nemir whispered. "I know what I am doing."
"I find myself doubting that. Men seldom know what they are doing." Legolas paused. "In any case, Lord Nemir, your sister did not seem to me to be a fool. If she believes you are innocent, I am inclined to believe her. Why then did you confess? Lying to the King's justices is a crime."
"A worse crime than murder?"
"Sometimes."
Nemir nodded. "Perhaps I should explain."
"That is why I am here."
"But – you must understand – you must not tell anyone what I am going to tell you now. Not even the King."
"Not without your leave," Legolas assented.
"Then I can tell you – Nórui must have told you what happened that night? At least, she must have told you that she was in her dressing-room, and she heard the noise... Prince Legolas, she does not know that I saw her. After I went to bed, I wanted – oh, how can I explain? They say you have known the Queen for centuries beyond mortal comprehension and she has been as a sister to you. And your friendship with the King is well-known. But if you thought he was making her unhappy..."
Legolas nodded slowly. "Go on."
"Idhren was a friend of mine, but I had not seen him since before I went to Rohan – Nórui told you about that? Yes... And when I went to see them, she seemed – well, not unhappy, but she was not as happy as I have known her to be in the past. And there was an air of malice about the house and the family. I did not understand, because Idhren has always been a kind man, and I could not believe that he was mistreating her. But she is my sister – I had to speak to her of it. I went upstairs, and I saw her go into the bedroom she shared with Idhren – the bedroom, Prince Legolas, not her dressing-room. And later, when she said she had not seen him since dinner..."
"How did you know it was the bedroom? Have you been in the house often?"
"That part of it, only once before. But she could not have been going into her dressing-room. That is in the opposite corridor. Of that, at least, I am certain. If she was in his bedroom –"
"It may have been for a perfectly innocent reason. Perhaps she forgot she went in, or she went in and did not find him there."
"Perhaps – but I could not take that risk," Nemir said softly. "She is my sister, Prince Legolas. She would have told me if she had been inside – unless –"
"Will you give me leave to tell the King and Queen? It may be that somebody other than your sister is responsible for Idhren's murder. It would be terrible if you sacrificed yourself to protect someone who does not deserve it."
"I cannot take that chance."
"Lord Nemir, do you believe your sister killed her husband?"
"No – no, but others might not see it that way."
"Trust me, then. Let me tell Aragorn and Arwen what you have told me." Legolas heard distant footsteps, and quickly pulled up his hood again. "They will be here in a minute. Please."
"Will you promise me something?"
"What?"
"Do not tell Nórui why I confessed. And if you – if you find that she is guilty... I will not ask you to let her go; I know that is too much to ask. But send her to my father. He will ensure that she stays on his estates and does no harm to anybody."
Legolas nodded slowly. "I think Aragorn will consent to that. He will have no wish to grieve Lord Beron by subjecting either of his children to a public trial. But I think, Lord Nemir, that it will not come to that. You have said yourself that you believe Lady Nórui is innocent of any wrongdoing."
"Then you have my leave to tell the King."
Before Legolas could respond, two guards came in. They gave angry exclamations upon seeing him, each seizing one of his arms. Legolas let them drag him from the room, not trying to resist. Just as they pulled him out the door, he heard Nemir say, "If you ever want to speak to me again, you will not find me unwilling."
Instead of taking him back the way he had come, the guards hauled him down a passage in the opposite direction.
"I do not know who you are or how you got in," one of them grunted, "but I do not doubt that he will want to see you. And put you right, too! Sneaking into the holding cells and talking to a self-confessed murderer!"
They opened a door at the end of the passage and shoved him through it.
"Found him in the holding cells, my prince," one of them said. "Talking to young Nemir. Don't know why, but I'd bet he isn't up to any good. Dangerous, too, from the look of it. Do you want us to stay?"
The young man sitting at a desk flipping through the pages of a voluminous document looked up. Legolas was very relieved to see that it was Eldarion.
"You may go," Eldarion said. The men left, slamming the door behind them. After they had gone, the young man went on, "Who are you?"
For a moment Legolas stared in shock. Then he remembered that his hood was still up. He lowered it.
Eldarion raised one eyebrow, looking, if he had only known it, uncannily like his grandfather.
"If the date of your birth were not an indisputable, recorded fact, I would think that you were not even old enough to be allowed outdoors on your own. Sneaking into the prison? Unarmed? Have you any idea how dangerous that is?"
"Impudent child," Legolas muttered. "I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself, I will have you know. What are you doing here, if it comes to that?"
Eldarion rolled his eyes. "I had to see some records. Is there anything I can do for you?"
"I need to be back in Arwen's sitting-room before Estel comes in for lunch."
The young man laughed. "Ada is right. Elves have no sense of time. You have no hope of that... unless..." He shrugged and got to his feet. "They will not miss me for an hour or so. Come."
Eldarion opened a door in the wall that Legolas had never even noticed before. It led outdoors. The Elf-prince followed the young man to a large, ornate stone bench set against the outer wall.
"Two men to pull it from the wall," Eldarion said, eyeing the bench. "Or one Elf."
With a curious glance at Eldarion, Legolas grasped the bench and tugged. It came with surprising ease, tilting forward to reveal a hole in the wall.
"Have you ever noticed that on the other side of the wall, just here, there is a gatehouse? There used to be a gate on this side of the building, but they walled it over because it was difficult to guard so many entrances. If you go inside, you will notice that it is far smaller than it should be." Eldarion gestured at the hole.
"You want me to go in there?" Legolas asked, appalled.
"Not alone." Eldarion gave Legolas a light push. "I will come with you."
"But –"
"Trust me," the young man said calmly. "I know how Elves feel about tunnels, especially tunnels like this, but I promise you, it is perfectly safe. I have used it several times. I will be with you."
Legolas sighed and lowered himself into the hole. "You are just as bad as your father."
He found himself standing on what looked like a floor laid with large white paving-stones. Ahead of him, a tunnel snaked forward into the darkness. He shivered, and suddenly there was a warm hand grasping his.
"I am going to shut the entrance," Eldarion said, his voice echoing in the enclosed space. "Otherwise the guards will think a prisoner has escaped and follow us. I can open it from the inside easily enough when I come back."
Legolas nodded. A moment later, he heard a grating sound, and then the tunnel was plunged in pitch blackness.
The Elf took several deep breaths, willing himself to stay calm, while his eyes adjusted to the darkness. Evidently some light was filtering in from somewhere, because in a minute or so he could see the twists and turns of the tunnel and the pale stones beneath his feet.
"Come," Eldarion murmured. "This will not take long."
Half an hour later, Eldarion pushed at a rough stone in the tunnel wall. It swung outwards, revealing a passage that Legolas recognized as the one leading to Aragorn's audience chamber.
"You can find your way from here," Eldarion said, smiling.
Legolas stared at him. "You are going back? Alone?"
The young man laughed at his horror. "I will be fine – I have done it more times than I can count. I do not have your Sindarin aversion to enclosed spaces. But I will want to hear the whole story later."
Legolas, grinning at him, stepped out into the corridor and hurried to Arwen's sitting-room.
Arwen and Gimli were still playing their game. In fact, it seemed to Legolas that no more than three moves had been made in all the time that he had been away.
"At last," Arwen said, not looking up from the board. "Gimli was beginning to worry."
"Worry?" the Dwarf grunted. "Certainly not. If the Elf wants to get himself killed, what concern is it of mine? I never agreed to be responsible for him. Idiot child if ever I saw one! If you ask me, Aragorn should just let him get himself killed. That would be a relief to everyone."
As soon as he took his place at the head of the table, Aragorn noticed something odd in his wife's manner. He did not comment on it, but when he turned to Legolas to raise a quizzical eyebrow and found his friend just as restless as Arwen, he frowned. He said nothing until his daughters had left the table. Then he addressed Gimli.
"What did they do?"
"I think I will let them explain themselves," Gimli growled, glaring at Legolas over the rim of his large flagon of ale. With his beard beginning to acquire a frosting of white, he looked like nothing so much as a stern and disapproving uncle.
Legolas glared back at him before turning to Aragorn with an expression so eager to please that the man laughed.
"When you look at me like that, Elfling, it always means you have done something absurdly foolish and you are afraid I will tell your father. What is it this time?"
A quick glance was exchanged between Legolas and Arwen, one that Aragorn did not miss. Then, hesitantly, Legolas said, "We thought that Nemir might refuse to speak to you. After all, he has steadfastly refused to see his sister all this time."
"Go on."
"So I thought – that is – surely it was better not to present him with a choice at all? You, of course, are King of Gondor, and so you cannot do such a thing without being accused of tyranny. I, on the other hand –"
"Tell me now, and I will consider not reporting it to your father."
Legolas sighed deeply. "I spoke to Nemir. I went to the prison –"
"The guards let you in? They have strict instructions not to let you go anywhere dangerous within the city! Especially not –"
"It was not their fault," Legolas said quickly. "I sneaked in. In any case, that is irrelevant. The point, Estel, is what Nemir had to say."
Aragorn groaned.
"Thousands of Elves in Middle-earth, and I have to make friends with the only one who will enter a prison by stealth – an activity, I might remind you, which has in the past nearly resulted in you being killed – and speak to a man held on suspicion of murder, and then tell me that his actions are irrelevant. Well, I suppose I will have to hear the story. Get on with it. What did Nemir tell you?"
Legolas recounted the tale to the accompaniment of Arwen's enthusiastic nods and more than one sceptical mutter from Gimli.
When he had finished, Aragorn shook his head.
"I suppose we will have to look into this, or neither of you will give me any peace. I cannot imagine how we are going to manage it, though. I am the King; I cannot be seen to be interfering in the affairs of the city guards in a matter that is outwardly so straightforward. It will undermine their authority. Since the two of you want this, the two of you can think of something."
To be continued.
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