Author´s note: I was very happy about the number of people who have read the first part of the story, and especially about the reviews which are highly appreciated! Thank you all again! And now- on to chapter 2!

Enjoy!

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Chapter 2: A Reason For Dread

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Thranduil smiles as his son fondly greets him: "Well met, Legolas." "Well met, father."

They hug. Thranduil clasps Legolas´ arms afterwards: "I see that you have been quite successful, judging not only by your early return but also by the amount of prize!"

Legolas nods: "We have been blessed, thus we decided to come back already."

Thranduil assesses his only child: "You look tired." "I am tired, though I have to admit that I am excited as well. We have not had such a good hunt for a long time, and I long to tell you about it."

At this, the king laughs merrily: "I am sure it will be a delight. You shall be able to do so at tonight´s banquet, which I will hold in honour of the successful hunters!"

-

Legolas goes to get some rest, then; the hunt has been wearisome, and he is glad to be home again and not have to be watchful for once. Slowly, he walks to his room, starting to unwind for the first time in days. He cannot put his finger on it, but his mind has been growing strangely uneasy the nearer they had gotten to the palace.

Everything seems well, however, and his father seemed relaxed. Legolas resolves to ask him at the banquet nevertheless.

Thranduil is relaxed indeed; he has completely forgotten about the prisoner due to the unexpectedly early return of the hunting party, and even if he had been on his mind, would it not have bothered him greatly. He has decided not to put too much emphasis on the whole matter, and there are more important things on his mind now.

-

Merry voices, laughter and music fill the hall of Thranduil, the king of the Woodland Realm. It is a happy occasion indeed, as the coming winter does not hold the fear of starving anymore, and all the hunters have returned safe and sound.

Thranduil has keenly listened to their reports and is obviously in a good mood. Legolas watches him carefully but does not find anything which might hint that he is upset about something, though the prince´s inner discomfort has grown ever since his arrival.

"How did you fare while I was away?", he finally asks Thranduil after the dinner, while they are enjoying a glass of wine.

Thranduil smiles: "Everything stayed calm. There was only one incident at the borders, which the guards have handled as well as could be."

Legolas eyes him curiously: "Why, what happened?"

His father shrugs: "Two intruders tried to cross the borders, and when the guards stopped them, they attacked."

"Was anyone hurt?" "Only one of the intruders, our guards have been blessed. We will set up a trial soon."

Legolas nods. Things like these happened now and again. He is about to ask who the intruders had been, but is being distracted by Thranduil, who just now remembers something else: "A letter has arrived for you, I believe it is from Lord Elrond´s sons." Legolas´ face lights up: "I have longed to hear from them for some time now."

His father nods as well: "It is on my desk, if you would like to have it now."

Smiling, Legolas gets to his feet: "Very much so, if you will excuse me."

-

While he is walking down the quiet, dark hall towards his father´s study, Legolas´ worry increases again. With all his might, he wishes that it does not have anything to do with the twins´ letter, and subconsciously balls his hand into a fist.

He finds the scroll of parchment immediately, as it is bearing the familiar crest of Imladris. With trembling hands, he opens it and finds a second, slightly smaller scroll inside, adressed to his father. He puts it on the desk and quickly scans the twins´ letter, half-expecting some bad news.

There are none, however. They have written about their most recent encounters with Orcs and their plans to come visit sometime in the near future, and send him greetings from Mithrandir, whom they have met accidentally and who has sent the other scroll. They have not had word from Aragorn personally lately, but Mithrandir seems to have met him and says he is well.

With an awkward feeling, Legolas looks up. Why does he not feel relieved at this? He rolls the parchment up and leaves the study to go outside for a while. Maybe the stars will be able to console him.

-

This night, Legolas does not find any rest until dawn, however. He sleeps until the late morning and wakes up feeling blearily. Sighing, he gets up, deciding to talk to his father about it. Thranduil is already working in his study. Legolas silently enters and finds his father reading the scroll of parchment from Gandalf. He does not want to interrupt but sits down opposite of the desk, waiting for him to be finished.

Thranduil seems agitated, however , and his face is strangely pale when he looks up: "Legolas..." "What is it?", Legolas asks, the feeling of dread creeping back up his spine immediately. "What is wrong?"

Thranduil clears his throat, obviously looking for the right words: "Do you remember that I told you about the intruders?"

"Yes, I do. What of them?" Legolas asks with a sinking feeling: he still does not know what exactly has upset Thranduil like this, but now he is sure that it has something to do with his own unease, and he can feel his stomach clench together.

His father looks uncomfortable: "It appears that they have been sent by Mithrandir. Or, to specify, one of them has been sent by him." He suddenly starts to tremble and gets to his feet: "Legolas, I have made a terrible mistake! Fenghel...there must have been a misunderstanding! We have to... Eru, what have I done..." He rushes out of the room.

Legolas gets up as well and takes the letter. He reads it quickly, and drops it with a cry of dismay before he has even finished it, taking after his father as fast as he can: Thranduil is amazingly quick. His son only manages to catch up with him at the bottom of the stairs which lead down to the dungeons.

The king, who has grabbed a torch,hurries through the murky darkness and finally stops in front of one of the cells.

"Father, wh-" Legolas forgets what he intended to say as his gaze falls on the prisoner. He uncomprehendingly stares at the unmoving figure for what seems like an eternity, then with one step he enters the cell and kneels down next to the man. Gasping, he reaches out to touch him, only now becoming aware of the chains. "Get these off", he hisses, not caring how he is talking to his father, as he is still taking in his best friend´s condition, and now he knows where his dread has come from.

-

No one seems to have bothered to treat the wound, which obviously has bled profusely. Legolas can hear that the Ranger is still breathing, and there is a faint flutter against his fingers, the echo of a heartbeat; Legolas could have wept. But he can also feel the clamminess of the man´s skin, the heat which radiates off his temples and betrays the raging fever, and knows that there is no reason to be relieved yet.

Legolas turns to his father, who is fidgeting with the keys to open the chains: "I will do this", he says, devoid of any emotion, "go and get help. We need to take him upstairs, and he needs Baram!"

Thranduil has never heard his son talking like this before, but does what he says.

Legolas turns back to his friend and cautiously opens the irons. He removes them as gently as possible, then leans forward and strokes the hair out of the man´s face. "Aragorn", Legolas says, trembling, but to no avail. The man obviously cannot hear him. He looks more haggard than ever, his face being very thin, dark shadows showing underneath his eyes, and his breathing sounds unusually laborious . The Elf is near tears as he grasps his friend´s hand and waits for the others to arrive.

-

The guards look mystified about this sudden change of the situation, but do as the prince orders and bring the prisoner up to Legolas´ own room. The healer, Baram, enters just as they leave. His stares at the man for a few seconds before he turns to the king in question: "A human, mylord?"

Thranduil opens his mouth but does not get to answer, because Legolas interrupts: "A human indeed, and one that is very dear to me!" he snaps. "So you will do whatever you can to save him, or you will have to answer to me!"

Baram looks bewildered, but bows his head and quickly starts to examine his new and quite unexpected patient.

When he finally looks up, his face is very serious: "He is grievously ill, my lord.", he says, addressing Legolas this time. "The wound is infected, and he seems to have lost a lot of blood. Apart from that, I can hear that his lungs are affected from the cold and dampness in the dungeons."

Legolas´ voice is barely audible as he turns to face his father: "For how long exactly has he been down there?"

Thranduil sounds apologetic: "Three days. But, Legolas- he has attacked the guard..." The words die on his tongue as his son stares at him incredulously and with a murderous expression which the king has never before witnessed in his features.

Legolas finally closes his eyes: it pains him to know that his friend has suffered this long, being injured and sick and alone in the cold darkness. He takes a deep breath and turns back to Baram, who still stands motionless: "What are you waiting for?"

Baram shifts uncomfortably on his feet: "My lord- I can treat the wound, but I do not possess any knowledge about human illnesses. I- I do not know what to do!"

Legolas gasps: "Then you will have to find out, after you have seen to the wound! I will help you, but you better do not hesitate any longer!"

Baram only nods. He has known Legolas for a long time and has never experienced him as moody and imperiously as he appears now. But the healer can also see that the prince´s hands are trembling slightly, and he suddenly understands. Legolas fears that his friend is going to die. Baram, who is quite shocked about how the prisoner has been treated, or rather, has been left on his own, feels sympathy for the prince, so he turns around and starts to unbutton the man´s shirt. The guards had already removed his coat by means of cutting it to shreds when they had seen to the wound. Carefully, Legolas and Baram start to undress the Ranger, and Thranduil, who feels like an intruder himself now, silently leaves the room.

-

As evening falls, Legolas still sits with his friend, who has not woken up once. He is clean now and wears a dry, soft nightshirt; his face is white. The healer has treated and dressed the arrow wound; he has also discovered Gollum´s bite marks while he was feeling Aragorn´s bones to check that nothing was broken. The hand seemed slightly swollen, so he cleaned it as well and put some disinfecting solution on it.

After they were done, Baram has gone to see if he can find some knowledge about how to cure human diseases in the library.

The prince and the healer found that the man´s clothes were slightly damp as well, as it had been too cold for them to dry properly, and Legolas could feel that Baram was quite deject by the ill treatment the man had received. Legolas can of course only guess what has happened, but he is confident that his friend under no circumstances would have tried to attack the guard, it is just not possible.

Thorough disappointment about his father gnaws at him and hurts more than he would have thought possible, but he cannot deal with it now. His friend is all that counts at the moment, he has no patience for anything else.

He looks down on the still face and removes the cold cloth which he is using to cool down the burning skin. He soaks it in a bowl of cold water, then applies it anew. He feels very helpless, as all he can do is to hope and wait that Baram will find something.

Gently, he takes the Ranger´s uninjured hand in his and holds it tight: "Aragorn", he whispers. "Stay with me, my friend..."

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TBC

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PS for the disclaimer in chapter 1: Baram is mine, too, but I would never want to sell him...