Tauriel stepped back from the doorway as if it had burned her. What was happening? No one with any sense went this far south. And he wasn't of any race she recognized. He wasn't an elf, or he would have taken her to Thranduil the moment he'd recognized her. None of the race of Men entered the forest, and hadn't done so for decades. He was no dwarf, that was certain.
"What are you doing here?" she asked, fighting to keep her voice steady.
"Looking for you." he answered. "My queen sent me."
She watched him suspicion. As far as she knew there were no queens with enough power to send someone. "Are you a Ranger of the Dunedain?"
He shook his head. "I am not from Arda, but you would know me and my kin as the White River Rangers."
Tauriel crossed her arms, still shaken. "But why did you come searching for me, Weland?"
"I cannot tell you, by my Queen's order."
"I would like the answer now."
"Very well." Weland sighed. "I am here for your protection. There are forces none can predict that would give anything for your head. Satisfied?"
Since he obviously wasn't going to give her any other explanation, Tauriel decided to accept it. "Is there anything else I ought to know, or are you not allowed to tell me?"
"The knowledge is too dangerous." he answered. "Might I stay, just for the night? I have accommodations elsewhere, but I am not allowed to take advantage of them until tomorrow."
Tauriel shook her head slowly. She didn't know what in all Middle-earth she was going to do. Weland was likely an assassin. After all, he had said he was a White-River Ranger. They were a dangerous people in every tale of them she'd heard. But he also couldn't stay. When Legolas came back, he would act like a Balrog in a dry forest if he found Weland there. And he would likely have good reason to do so. It would be best for all if he left.
"Weland, is there somewhere else you can stay? It's not safe for you here either." she asked.
"I have no other choice." he answered and tried to push past her.
She grabbed him by the arm and spun him back out in front of her. "I'm not lying. If Legolas finds you here, he will kill you."
Weland frowned. "What business has he here? I was told he did not come here anymore."
"Weland." she said sharply, giving him the same look she gave Legolas when she wanted him to shut his mouth.
He crossed his arms and glared at her. "Understood. But can I at least stay tonight?"
"Very well." Tauriel knew she was beaten. She stepped back to let him in and shut the door behind him. "But, whatever you do, do not force me to make you leave. That means no fooling around of any kind whatsoever. Am I clear?"
Weland nodded. "Of course, ma'am."
Legolas shoved himself up to sitting on the cold stone. He hadn't had much of a night's sleep, but who could in this place? But at least they'd cut the ropes. He rubbed his wrists, trying to get the blood flowing. His hands were still numb, but it helped a little.
Finally he gave up. He pulled his knees up to his chest and wrapped his arms around himself. It was cold in here. "It seems like every breath of wind blows cold air down here." he said quietly to himself. Suddenly, he felt like a child again, waiting for his mother to come, sit him on her lap and comfort him. Show him it would be okay.
A mother who will never come back. he thought. His mother, Ayana, had been lost in the Battle of Gundabad.
But where was that draft coming from? It couldn't have come down the corridor. He remembered several solid iron doors that would not admit any breeze whatsoever. He looked down the other way. There were several cracks in the wall, seeming to form… A door! he thought. It had to be of dwarven make, otherwise the Orcs would have found it long ago. It stood ajar just slightly, just enough to admit a gentle wind. He reached out with his mind to Tauriel.
I think I found something you should see. he thought.
Let me look through your eyes. she answered. She reached closer to him with her mind. Is that a door? And where are you?
Yes! And since it is admitting a draft, I believe it leads outside the fortress. he said.
She was silent of a while. But it could also lead to a courtyard inside this fortress.
Look closer. Legolas said. It is of dwarvish make. If this is what I think it is-
Something like this? Tauriel sent him an image of a hidden door, open halfway. KilĂ and the other dwarves followed this path into the Lonely Mountain.
He sighed. Would you mind telling me how you know of this secret way?
Gandalf.
Legolas gave a mental sigh. Seriously? Anything else I should know?
No. For the last time, where are you!? she answered.
Legolas shook his head. She knew more than he did, and already had a plan, most likely.
I heard that.
Legolas closed off his mind from Tauriel so he could think without her comments.
The iron door to his cell swung open on creaking hinges. The noise hurt his ears after the long silence. A piece of stale bread was thrown at him and the door shut again. Legolas ignored it.
Crawling up onto the stone ledge, he craned his neck to look out the small barred window. The cloud cover still dominated the sky. But one break in the gray showed a single, small strip of blue. A bright, pure blue. A blue that seemed like hope. He smiled. He'd get out someday. This place would not, could not, get him down. He would fight in what ways he could.
He would make Tauriel proud of him.
Tauriel put her hands on her hips and stared at the mess. How so like Legolas to forget this kind of thing. The bedrooms were clean, she'd taken care of that the night before, but the rest of the house was in disarray. She shrugged, and took the broom out of the corner. Best start cleaning while there was daylight. She'd start with the kitchen, after she found out where Weland was.
She walked to the room she'd let Weland sleep in the night before and knocked on the door. He didn't answer, so she opened the door. Weland had gone in the night. Tauriel went to the window and open the thicker curtains, letting the sunlight pour in.
The bed had been neatly made, but it seemed he would return. A pair of knives lay on the covers, and his pack was still in the corner.
Tauriel's gaze returned to the knives. They glittered unnaturally in the sunlight. Instead of reflecting it, they seemed to absorb and scatter it, making the light run along the course of the blade.
"You like my knives?"
Tauriel sighed and left.
Setting the dishes out of her way, Tauriel swiftly went over the oak countertops with a damp cloth until they shone. Next she tackled the pile of dishes. She found washing them to be a pleasure, scrubbing with soapsuds tickling her arms. No one would have ever thought she could do this kind of work, but living on her own for around six or seven months, she hadn't kept count, had gifted her with many of those skills.
"Legolas built this with his own hands. I can at least greet him with it clean." Tauriel said to herself, putting the dishes in stacks in the proper cupboard. She swept the floor until there was no more dust on it to be swept. Then out the back door went the dust and the kitchen was spotless.
"You do this kind of work well." Weland said behind her.
Tauriel answered, "Keep your comments to yourself, Weland."
He huffed. "
She ignored him.
The front room wasn't very hard either. Books went on shelves, paintings on walls, and the poker by the fireplace. Looking above the mantle, she saw two nails poking out. We'll have pictures hanging there someday. But for now, something else can go there. Tauriel ran to her room and retrieved the arrow Legolas had given her. She balanced it on the two nails and stepped back to look at it. Perfect.
"Well? Is there anything I can do?"
Looking outside, she saw that it wasn't yet noon. "I could look around at what is up the stairs." Tauriel said to herself. She walked down the hall to the open door. She trotted up the stairs, gripping the railing.
There was no door when she reached the top of the stairs. Looking both ways down the hall, she saw more doors and an open room. The open room was lined with white shelves, that were carved at the ends. Two arched windows let in the morning sunlight.
She walked to the room across the hall and opened the door. It had light brown walls and a large window on the far wall. It was mostly empty, but one thing snatched her attention. There was a white cupboard-like thing in the right-hand wall with delicately wrought handles. She pulled it, expecting a door to swing out. It did, only it came down instead of to the side, almost on her head. Tauriel scooted out of the way. A metal bar swung out and landed on her ankle. She yelped and lifted it as best she could, pulling her foot out from under it. She stood, keeping her injured ankle off the ground. It was a bed. In the wall. How clever. she thought. Limping some, she pulled down the other, this time being more careful. Apparently, the bed folded up into the wall and could be pulled down when needed. A handy space saving trick.
Tauriel folded the metal bar up and pushed the bed back into the wall. It fit neatly into the cutout. She folded up the other bed and left the room.
But something nagged at the back of her mind. When she'd last looked around the larger bedroom, there had been a small, light blue, half door with curtains. What did that lead to? She gave in to her curiosity and went back to the bedroom. There it was, in the corner opposite the desk. Walking over to it rather apprehensively, Tauriel tied back the curtains and unlatched the half door. Stepping past it, she saw a nursery.
The walls were pale green and blue, dotted with flowers of pink and lavender. There was a cradle by the far wall and a yellow window seat in the left-hand wall. Another door was opposite the window. Tauriel walked to the window and sat on the window seat. Now she knew what Legolas meant by 'together forever', but she wasn't surprised. Before the Battle of Gundabad, Thranduil had allowed, and even encouraged, Legolas to court her, but he'd always been too shy to ask for her hand. So apparently he'd decided to do it in an indirect manner. No wonder he left so quickly. she thought. He didn't want to have to ask himself. Tauriel rose and left the nursery. He would ask when he returned.
What was she going to say?
The door swung open to reveal Azog, standing with a whip in his hand. "Tie his hands." He yelled in the Black Speech. Two squat goblin-orcs ran out from behind him, shoved Legolas off the ledge, and tied his hands just as tightly, if not more, then before. They dragged him out, barely giving him time to get to his feet. They pulled him along the corridor and through a maze of others, Azog striking him across his back and neck with the whip whenever he thought Legolas was going too slow or there were other Orcs watching. But it was something he could not help. The constant twisting his ankle against rocks the day before had probably injured it.
A precipice dropped off right at Azog's feet by the time he signaled them to stop. Were they going to drop him off the edge, or something to that extent? Probably. Orcs killed their prisoners unless given good reason not to, and then they tended to give them a hard time of it.
The Orcs shoved Legolas to his knees and waited. Long minutes ticked by.
Then a sinister, snake-like voice hissed to both his mind and ear, reciting a poem Legolas knew by heart:
Three rings for the Elven-kings under the sky,
Seven for the Dwarf-lords in their halls of stone,
Nine for mortal Men doomed to die.
One for the Dark Lord on his dark throne,
In the land of Mordor where the shadows lie
One Ring to rule them all, One Ring to find them.
One Ring to bring them all and in the darkness bind them.
In the land of Mordor, where the shadows lie.
"You know where the Three are, and you will tell me."
Legolas pressed his lips together in answer. He'd learned that in debates like this, it was best to keep silent.
"Wrong answer." Azog growled and laid the whip across his neck again.
"Then we will simply have to force it from you." A ravenous, black mind began clawing at his own, seeking to take any and all information about the Eldar from him. Legolas fought back to the best of his ability, but the defense of his mind against telepathic attacks was not something he'd been taught. Holding off the other mind, he flung his mind out in search of Tauriel's. She instantly responded. What is wrong now?
Orcs. They caught me yesterday eve. Something is attacking my mind and I can't hold it off. And, for some obscure reason, Azog is alive!
Here. And, I already figured that out. Tauriel made a rush attack on his consciousness, surrounding his mind with her own and deflecting the black mind with expertly aimed jabs.
Where are you and what do they want from you? she asked, still fending off the darkness.
The location of the Elven Rings and anything I know of my father's plans. But I'm not going to tell them. I'm in Dol Guldur.
You had better not.
"Since you will not speak, elf, I must resort to other, less kind, methods."
Legolas found he must have passed out, for he did not remember the remainder of his torture. When he awoke in his cell, he had many more wounds then he remembered. There were scores from the whip on his back and neck. He could feel tender bruises on his temples. He remembered that Tauriel had told him it was from the strain on his mind.
As feeling returned to his limbs, his lower legs began to throb with a terrible pain. Gasping for breath, he reached down and pulled up the hem of his leggings. Chunks of the flesh had been ripped off. Legolas closed his eyes. He knew what they had done to him.
The Orc did not wait even an hour before returning and dragging him to the pinnacle again. It was the same routine of pain and torment.
By the time Azog finally let up and returned Legolas to his cell for the second time that day, his back, neck and face were covered in bloody welts and bruises. He tore a strip off the bottom hem of his tunic and dabbed at some of his more serious wounds. He hated this place. He huddled on the stone ledge, staring out the barred window and tried not to let his wounded back touch the wall.
About midnight, Legolas was still awake. Suddenly, tapping on the bars of the window attracted his attention. He looked up. A cloaked stranger stood there, holding a shuttered lantern that emitted barely enough light for Legolas to make out the stranger's sharp and delicate features. "Tauriel?" he whispered, hoping.
"What a predicament you got yourself into." she whispered back. "Here, take these." She reached through the bars and handed him a few strips of cloth and a jar of healing salve. "You look like you need them."
"How can you tell?" Legolas asked, rubbing the salve on his neck. The pain dulled somewhat. "There's barely enough light to see anything."
"I've been living in the forest, alone, with only the moonlight to guide me. My eyes have become more sensitive to light then yours, so this is plenty of light for me to see by." Then she stood. ''I'll be back tomorrow. Keep me updated on anything that happens." Then she ran off into the pitch black.
Legolas rubbed the salve on the rest of his wounds and bound some of them as best he could. Then he remembered the strip of sky he'd seen that morning. Hope.
Tauriel ran as fast as she could, trying to calm her nerves. How? How had Legolas been captured? Did Thranduil know his son was in danger? If he did, why wouldn't he rescue him? The Elven Halls had plenty of soldiers to get him out.
Remembering what Legolas had told her that morning, Tauriel stopped and ran back to Dol Guldur to look for something that could be a trap-door of sorts. The ground about seven and a half paces to her right did not look natural. She moved as slowly as she could to not attract attention. Kneeling by it, she saw the indeed, it was not natural. Searching under the loam, her fingers found a keyhole. Tauriel smiled. She knew how to pick locks. She grasped one of her daggers and worked it around in the lock. She felt a slight vibration, and the door opened some.
"Not so well defended, are you?" she hissed in triumph.
A horn sounded from within the walls. Wondering what it was, Tauriel crept closer. The Orcs on the section of wall nearest her left and were replaced by new sentries. So the horn signals watch change. she thought. Best note that.
But the questions were still circling in her head when she reached the house again. Dragging herself up the steps of the porch, she managed to finally calm herself down. She could get him out herself or convince Thranduil to help. Neither would be easy, but then, what of worth was? All the same, she would rather convince Thranduil to help her then face Azog and the forces he'd amassed alone. But the question of how to do it?
These visits continued for several days, each time Legolas looking a little paler then before. Late at night, two weeks after the attack, Tauriel sat up trying to formulate a plan. She went over her previous thoughts and decided to try both.
Not without sleep first. Legolas gently said, apparently having read her thoughts. It would be correct to assume that Azog's forces are beyond your ability. They could overwhelm you in a few seconds with their sheer numbers.
Be quiet. Tauriel replied, closing off her mind. But, all the same, she walked as straight as she could to her room and collapsed onto the bed.
She did not wake until the sun was high above Greenwood. She rolled out of bed and stood. Tauriel pushed back the curtains and saw that was nearly noon. Oh, well. She'd just get a late start.
Dressing quickly, she stopped to grab an apple from the kitchen. Then she sat down in the front room and made a mental list. She needed to talk with Thranduil, who also wanted to take her prisoner. She needed to clear everything out of her last camp and move it here, without leaving a trail of any kind. A false trail leading away would be beneficial. Maybe even leading to Dol Guldur, so they could find Legolas. But it would be hard to lead them there without attracting the attention of the hundred or so Orcs on watch duty. And lastly, she needed to get more supplies to Legolas.
Tauriel finished her apple and left the house. Not bothering to use the gate, she vaulted over the fence. She ran northeast for hours, turning full north after the mountains no longer obscured her view of the northern sky. After two hours, a thin trail of smoke rose from her campsite. Oh, twisted tree. The Sylvan Elves had found it.
She leapt into a tree and began to cross the land that way. They couldn't find her trail if she did not leave one. Though it was very hard work to climb trees in a long skirt, it would be hard for them to recognize her. Halting in one of the trees above her camp, she saw two elves picking though her camp.
"She was here recently," one said. "And the tracks lead here but not away. She must still be here." Tauriel recognized his voice. He was a younger elf, and the one who had reported her to the king.
"Yet she is not. The fire, these tracks, they are not fresh. She has not been here for days, two at least."
Tauriel breathed a sigh of relief. Her traveling in trees was paying off. She still needed to gather her things and leave. But the older elf was one who had always bullied her in the past, when she was a child. He would give the appearance of leadership whenever Thranduil was within earshot, but bully her the minute the king turned his back.
"We should bring the king here. Show him what we found."
"But what of the prince?" the younger elf questioned. "We were tasked with finding him as well."
"You know him. Always off who knows where. He's perfectly fine." the elder answered.
"But for two weeks?"
Tauriel pursed her lips in anger. Perfectly fine, indeed! Legolas was covered in bruises and whip marks. She drew out her new bow and one of the arrows. She nocked the arrow and aimed, pleased at how well it balanced. She fired, and the arrows soared several score feet before striking a tree. Both elves below her whipped around to face the sound.
"There!" The older elf pointed and both left in the direction of the sound. Tauriel smiled and dropped to the ground as soon as they were out of sight. She gathered her things quickly, thankful for her leather shoes that made little trackable print.
When her food, healing supplies, and other necessary items were stowed away where she could fetch them later, Tauriel made a cut on her arm with one of her daggers, and ran south, stopping every so often so the blood pooled on the ground. Following a trail left by Orcs the night before, she reached a place where they had camped. She dripped blood near where one of them had stood so it would look like she'd been captured. Irregular drops led to where a Warg had stood, with a small pool on one side and a few small drops on the other. Then she bound the cut with a strip of cloth, leapt into a tree and waited.
She did not have to wait for long. "This way!"
The Sylvan Elves broke out of the brush. One knelt by the larger pool of blood. "The Orcs caught her, and she was wounded. She was lying here, and then it appears they took her somewhere."
"South." the other said. Tauriel now recognized him as the elder one.
"To Dol Guldur? But Orcs do not take prisoners. They will kill her and the king wants her alive. We have to-"
"We do not have to do anything. It simply takes her off our hands. Why do we care if she lives or dies?" The elder shrugged and left.
"But?" The younger seemed to think that leaving one of their own to the enemy was not right. He could help her get Legolas out. Tauriel reached for the hidden pocket that held her arrows coated with a sedative.
"Sorry about this," she whispered and fired the arrow. The elf collapsed soundlessly to the ground.
When Tauriel returned to the house, she laid the elf on the couch in the front room and began putting her things away while she waited for him to wake. She placed her food store in the pantry and folded her extra clothes. After tucking her clothes inside the armoire, Tauriel went back to the front room and continued cleaning until he woke.
He moaned and pressed his hand to his head. Tauriel laid the damp cloth down and went to stand in front of him. He opened his eyes and looked at her, blinking. "How?"
"Your eyes do not lie to you," Tauriel said to him quietly, yet with power. "There is some information I need you to bring to the king. Can you do this?"
"But I thought you were-"
"Can you?"
"Yes, Lady Tauriel," he answered, sitting up. "What do you want me to say?"
Tauriel sat cross legged on the hearth and recited, "Tell him that Orcs are massing in Dol Guldur. Tell him that Azog the Defiler leads them and that his son Legolas has been captured. Tell him that the longer he delays in freeing him, the weaker and closer to death his son grows. And tell him that I will help him, no matter what the cost may be. Lastly, warn him that the elf who has replaced me as Captain of the Elven Guard is a traitor and a spy," She rose and walked halfway to the front door. "Can you do that?"
He nodded and followed her. "Of course, my lady."
Tauriel stopped and huffed a sigh. "If you call me that one more time, I may be inclined to believe you are a spy as well. And, one last thing. I, this house, and everything between here and the Elven Halls, you never saw. I was never here."
"Yes, Tauriel."
She lead him to her old campsite and pointed the way back. "Remember. I was never here."
He nodded and left. Tauriel watched him go with a sense of satisfaction. Thranduil would know what she needed him to know, Legolas would be rescued, and everything should return to normal. But Legolas had failed to work the traitor into his plans. How would the treasonous elf fit into the great scheme of things?
Tehehe! Poor Legolas! Now Sauron is invading his head. I am going to let Weland remain a mystery until future books.