AN: And bam, another chapter. I hope I am keeping the quality of my writing consistent Anywya the plot advance again. I hope you are all ready for a roller coaster ride. Aethor shows he has a dark side in this chapter. I myself had not realized how dark, until I wrote the chapter.

Urzoth was exhausted, she had allowed her mother to bring her back to the farmhouse and put her straight to bed. Once laying down, Efene had sat on a low chair by Urzoth's bed and held her hand whilst they talked about what Derethor had said to her. Suddenly Urzoth pushed herself up and looking at her Efene said "what is going to happen to Derethor?"

Urzoth watched her mother and felt a flash of apprehension as her face darkened, Urzoth had rarely seen her mother lose her cool, and actually let anger she was feeling show on her face. Efene simply said "your father came up with some ideas last night, he had a bad feeling about that young man, and it appears his fears have been proven correct. Unless I am very much mistaken, you will have the ultimate choice of that fools fate. I will abide by any decision you make, my dearest. But I do advise you to think about the choice your father will have you make, just as your father was urged to think on the day he accepted you into his home."

Rising Efene walked to the door and turning towards Urzoth simply said "best get some sleep, I have a feeling your father will be coming in later to have you make a final decision."

…

Derethor had no idea where they were going, all he knew was that his uncle had dragged him to his feet and pulled him through the fields towards the woods that appeared to border the farmland.

No words had been uttered, but Derethor was cowed to silence by the look of undiluted anger on his uncles face, he had a feeling that talking to the orc as he had, might have been one of the worst ideas of his life so far. He was pulled through mud and undergrowth. Often tripping and stumbling, his expensive riding breeches were already soaked with water and mud from having to dig out the trench with that filthy orc. Now his legs were being whipped by thorns and nettles as he was dragged through the undergrowth. Eventually finding himself emerging into a clearing. He was dragged to one edge of the clearing and shoved to the ground. He found himself sprawling, and looking up, he found himself face to face with a carving on the trunk of a tree, it read:

Here lies Orzov, son of Severius

A ranger of Gondor

After reading the carving he rolled over, about to protest at the rough treatment he was experiencing, he stopped short when he realized his uncle held a bare sword in his hands. The sword was long and thick, it was a true butcher's blade, not for elegant dueling, this blade was meant to be swung from the back of a horse, and have the weight to cut through someones neck.

With a grimace his uncle said "Boy, your mother and I were never close, I also think your father is an arrogant stocking full of shit who has never done a real day's work in his life. So don't expect any mercy from me due to your parentage. And you..well where to start. You insult my home, my country, my wife and my daughter. Many would tell me I was justified in killing you here and now for what you had already done. No one would ever know, I could always say, you had wandered out alone in the woods and wolves got to you." As if to prove his point not too far in the distance several echoing howls rang through the woods.

His uncle smiled grimly at the horrified expression Derethor could feel spread over his face, as the very real possibility that he could die dawned on Derethor. "If it had been me you had insulted, I could handle that, even if you insulted my country and my wife, no doubt Efene would have urged calm, and we would have merely put up with you over the winter. However, you not only insulted my daughter on several occasions, you also, even after finding out about her past, insinuated that she enjoyed it."

Hearing footsteps Derethor tentatively looked up, and saw his uncle pacing from one side of the clearing to the other. Finding his voice Derethor said "but she is an orc, what do their kind know of the pain caused by rape" Derethor very quickly shut his mouth, when he saw his uncles face, twisting with anger.

He started edging backwards when his uncle started to walk towards him, until he felt his back bump into a tree. Derethor grew increasingly terrified as his uncle walked up to him and crouched, very intently looking into his eyes. Finally his uncle spoke in a voice that shook with barely concealed rage "you see that tree behind you boy? You see that carving? That marks the spot where a man is buried. I killed him, he was a ranger of Gondor who assaulted and raped my daughter."

Standing again his uncle looked down at the shocked expression on Derethor's face and continued "you thought it was only orcs that did foul deeds, no, that man left my daughter with a broken leg, three cracked ribs, a broken nose and...well, as I say he raped her, and he took her without mercy. She was fifteen at the time."

"I am tempted to bury you next to him, after I let you bleed out slowly though." Derethor could stand the terror no longer and his bowls released. His uncle's nose wrinkled at the foul smell.

His uncle sheathed his sword, and bending low over him he looked him straight in the eye. "However, I am not going to do that. Because you, are going to grovel and beg at my daughter's feet for her forgiveness. If she grants it, you will continue to sleep in the house, and will eat with the rest of us. You will follow her and help her with her chores around the farm, if she decides to not grant you forgiveness...well, lets just say the wolves will eat well."

Derethor's eyes widened at the implications of that, he would have to grovel to the orc. He found that a truly humiliating prospect when he considered her a beast that his aunt and uncle were keeping as an elaborate pet. But now...he had seen the looks his aunt and uncle gave Urzoth, and he had no doubt, they loved her. He was sure that she must have them under some kind of foul sorcery.

Struggling to his feet, Derethor limped after his uncle, now newly determined to break whatever spell the orc witch had cast on his aunt and uncle.

…

Urzoth woke late the next morning, the sun was streaming through the window above her bed and lit up the dress and chest wrappings that were laying on the floor in a heap, her mother had helped her out of the day before, she had felt so weak. Groaning, Urzoth was tempted to roll over and go back to sleep, but she knew her father would be disgruntled if she did, throwing back the blankets she made to get out of bed.

A rapping sound echoed through the room and she heard her father's voice come from the other side "Urzoth, are you decent?" Growling slightly, Urzoth fell back into bed and covered herself with the blanket and called "I'm as decent as I can be, and don't berate me about being lazy, I only just woke up." Her door creaked open and her father entered saying "I would not dream of berating you dear one, I just wanted to see how you were holding up after yesterday?"

Urzoth's eyes dropped "I...I suppose I am ok, It was just...I beat that boy badly, and I feel terrible because I lost control like that." Urzoth saw her father's eyes glitter out of the corner of her eye, just as they always did when he was amused. "well, for your information, you have a day off today, the young fool has been up since dawn clearing out the run off trench, I had to wake him up with a bucket of cold water."

Urzoth raised her hand in front of her mouth to hide her smirk, but the she saw her father's face drop, he sat down on the bad and taking her hands in his, he looked into her eyes "you are not the only one who lost control Urzoth." Leaning forward he whispered in her ear "I took him up to the woods, to the clearing, and showed him the grave, he pissed himself when he thought I was going to kill him." Urzoth lightly pulled one hand from her father's hands and playfully swatted him on the shoulder. Then leaned in and gave him a tight hug. She whispered "thanks dad"

Aethor stood and said "well come on young lady, I think its time you, your mother and I had a fishing day." Urzoth squealed in delight when her father told her, every few months, Aethor would pack several fishing rods and some bread and cheese and together with Efene and Urzoth would travel to the local river, they had found a secluded spot under the shelter of several overhanging trees that nearly always yielded big fat fish. They would then gut and cook the fish right there on the shore. Often as not in the summer they would take the time to go swimming.

Urzoth was practically bouncing out of bed with excitement, she loved fishing trips, as they allowed her to just spend time with her parents. Suddenly Urzoth paused and asked "is Derethor coming?" She saw her father's face harden, then break into a smile "no my dear daughter, I am not going to let that young fool ruin a fishing day." Standing Aethor hurried out the room and gave a thumbs up to Efene. He hurried out to where Derethor was digging out the ditch, the young man's once fine clothes were smeared in mud and fraying at the edges. Aethor looked coldly down into his face and said "I, your aunt and our daughter and going fishing for the day. I expect you to finish digging out the entire ditch, then you may rest the remainder of the day. There is smoked pork in the smokehouse, help yourself to a plate of that at lunch and dinner." Turning on his heel, Aethor strode away to spend the day with his wife and daughter.

…

Derethor watched as his uncle jauntily walked away from him, it was perfect! Whilst the orc and his aunt and uncle were away he could search the orcs rooms and see if he could find any signs of potions or other magic related things that the orc might be using to bewitch his aunt and uncle.

Digging into the slurry at the bottom of the trench, he even felt like the cold and ache in his back was receding as he planned how he could reveal what the orc had been up to the entire time. And the gratefulness he would receive. He would probably be a hero in the village when the news spread, he would have girls throwing themselves at his feet.

…

Urzoth was roaming ahead as they neared the normal fishing spot. She might be eighteen summers old, but she was still as playful as a child sometimes. She knew her parents were sympathetic to her occasional childishness, as she had missed out on much of what young humans went through whilst she was in Isenguard.

Pausing and waiting for her parents to catch up, she decided she would walk as elegant as her mother, and would not bound ahead as she often did when the forest began to thin and the river came into sight.

Falling into step beside her mother Urzoth said "come on you two, I would expect more liveliness from you."

Her father groaned and said in a voice that wheezed slightly as he was slightly out of breath "Urzoth, neither of us are as young as we used to be, we are past the prime of our lives."

As her mother walked past, Efene gently slapped her husband's arm and admonished "do speak for yourself my dear husband"

Forgetting her promise to herself that she would walk with her mother to the riverbank Urzoth bounded ahead, and just called over her shoulder "besides, I can still hear you two at night, my ears are sharper than you might think." Laughing at her parents sudden blushes, Urzoth suddenly stopped dead. She saw a large dark form laying down next to the river bank.

Remembering the caution that had always been instilled in her, Urzoth crept through the woods, slowly approaching the treeline, stopping in the shadow of a large oak, she gazed at what appeared to be the form of a large man, wrapped in black cloth laying with his face hidden on the riverbank.

Curiosity pushed caution aside and she crept forward, trying to make as little noise as possible on the hard stones of the riverbank. Hearing her parents voices as they themselves got closer to the treeline, reassured her slightly. Glancing over her shoulder she could see their dark forms through tree.

Turning her head back to the mysterious creature, she let out a shriek of surprise when she saw one enormous yellow eye, gazing at her. A rasping voice sounded from a slit that opened in the apparent head of the creature. Looking closer Urzoth could see that what she had originally thought a man, was in fact a large black skinned Uruk-hai male. He appeared to be wrapped in a worn, patched black tunic.

The strange Uruk shifted again and legs unfolded from where they had been curled up to his belly. One hand crept out and gently rested on her arm, the Uruk's other hand appeared to be clenched over his stomach.

Urzoth turned her head and screamed "Mother, Father, come quick." Hearing the alarm in their daughter's voice both her parents crashed through the treeline and saw Urzoth crouched over the motionless form of the Uruk. Again Urzoth called "he is injured, Mother you have to do something."

Looking desperately around at her parents, Urzoth saw Aethor lay a hand on Efene's arm, and murmur something to her, he then drew his blade and advance on the Uruk-hai. "I will not harm him unless he attacks first Urzoth, but I must ensure our safety before he can be tended."

Urzoth nodded, she understood her father's reasoning and stood back to allow him to kneel beside the Uruk, with sword poised. "Listen to me, Uruk-hai, you will not survive without aid, my wife and daughter will tend to your wounds, but I want your word as a soldier that you will not attack without provocation."

The Uruk-hai's voice grated "I..swear"

Her father still looked dubious but stood back and beckoned Efene and Urzoth forward. Urzoth herself had been trained by Efene in the arts of healing and so immediately set to work, she pushed the Uruk-hai onto his back and looked over his body for injuries, feeling over the rough skin with a light touch.

Swiftly conversing with her mother, they concurred that the cut on his stomach was the worst injury, apart from that, it was discovered that one of his shoulders was dislocated, and he had many bruises that ranged along his legs and across his chest. He also appeared to be malnourished. Efene set Urzoth to tearing the blanket they had brought with them into strips, which were then bound tightly around the Uruk-hai's chest. Once his chest was bandaged, and the flow of blood dramatically slowed, Urzoth was told to hold his shoulder to the ground with her full body weight, whilst, her mother rotated his arm in the socket, so she could put it back in.

Urzoth was not nauseated by the sight of blood, but the roars of agony as Efene rotated the arm were still enough to make her want to flee and hide, as she had done whenever such roars were heard in Isenguard. With a sickening crunch, the Uruk-hai's arm was shoved back into the socket.

Efene leaned over the Uruk-hai and holding his jaw between her slim fingers, forced him to look at her. "We are going to take you back to our home now, where you can be better tended, at any sign of hostility towards any of us, you will die. Do you understand?"

The Uruk-hai nodded.

AN: OOOO I wonder who this new Uruk-hai is, might he be a contender for Urzoth's heart? Well that's for me to know and you to find out in a few chapters. Next chapter should be coming up soon. I know how much you like regular updates.