As promised, the slaves were allowed to wash in the river the next morning. The men bathed upriver and the women bathed downriver. Legolas's skin was red and painful to the touch from spending all day in the sun. Of course, he had been sunburned before, but he imagined that by the time he left Harad, he was going to be very tan.
With a sigh, Legolas unwrapped the bandage around his arm to clean the brand with some water from the river. The burn was healing, but this scar was probably going to last a few centuries at least.
The blonde elf had been paying close attention to the guards since he woke in the tent on the first day. Mehrzad was cruel to the point of being sadistic and he made liberal use of his whip. If the elves wanted to survive, they would need to avoid him or eliminate him completely.
The elves had also noticed that at all times, there were at least fifteen guards guarding the horses and something Glaeder called camels. The elves also found out that the decorative building to the north east was where Farhang, the land owner, lived and that the building to the east was indeed a barracks that housed the guards when they slept.
Even at night, there were at least half of the hundred or so guards on patrol and they rotated posts during the night.
Legolas knew that if Aravis and he were to make an escape, it would be extremely dangerous.
A splash from his right hit the fair elf's face and it caused Legolas to look up in surprise. Kontar had a large, toothy smile erupting from his dark face and Eothaid's lips were twitching in an effort to not smile. Legolas gave the boys a smile of his own before sending a large splash their way. The elf did have brothers after all.
Glaeder's voice interrupted the would-be water fight.
"Master Elf, I must admit, I have heard little more than rumor and speculation about your kin. Is it true that your people are the best archers in all of Middle Earth?"
Legolas thought for a moment before answering, "Well, my kin are skilled fighters and we are taught weaponry at a young age. Archery is one of the weapon's the King's army employs."
Looking around he noticed Housyar and Eothaid paying close attention to their conversation. Legolas supposed they had probably never seen an elf before.
Glaeder's brows furrowed before he responded. "I suppose." He took some water from the river and washed his arm before he asked, "So, Aravis and you are….?" while he pursed his lips, shrugged his shoulder and gestured with his right hand. He left the question hanging, letting Legolas fill in the blanks.
"Betrothed." he answered with a very happy smile on his face.
"I had thought so." Housyar joined the conversation with a nod and grin. "You two seem very close."
Legolas distractedly nodded his head in affirmation. Farther down the stream, Legolas noticed a dark skinned man with one brown eye and one scarred, pale eye watching him with contempt.
"Ah, Atash" Glaeder thought as he followed Legolas's gaze. Ever since Glaeder had been here, Atash, who was blind in one eye, had been a thorn in everyone's side. For some reason, Atash had an axe to grind with Housyar, who was the unofficial leader of the slaves. According to Housyar, the old man's tribe and Atash's tribe had been enemies and it seemed that Atash had not let go of that animosity. Glaeder had come with Eothaid to this hell-hole nearly eight years ago and Atash had been sold to Farhang not two weeks later.
So, Atash went around with the few men from his tribe that followed his orders, challenging everything Housyar said. The half-blind man caused problems for everyone.
Housyar also saw the look Atash was giving the elf and he gave a heavy, weary sigh. Atash was going to be a problem.
After another hot day spent working in the sun, the slaves filed into the tent where they ate. They quickly gathered their rood and began to eat. A commotion from the food line drew the attention of the tent's occupants and all stood to their feet to see what was going on.
Atash was standing above two small girls with his hand raised and ready to strike. Aravis recognized the two children as Asfhan and Boosah. The elleth had helped a young woman named Delaram bathe them today at the river and Aravis had pleated their hair. The two little girls seemed to adore Aravis and they had played with her hair the night before. From what little Haradric Housyar and Glaeder had taught them, Aravis believed the two girls were about eight or nine years old and had no family to speak of.
Aravis leaped forward and threw herself into Atash, trying to come between the two girls and Atash. The dark man had not expected such an attack and was caught by surprise. The two beings sailed for a moment through the air and slammed into the ground with bone jarring force. The momentum kept them rolling.
They came to an abrupt halt as Atash shifted his weight to keep himself on top of Aravis. The elleth quickly realized her disadvantage and began to buck wildly, attempting to throw the heavier man's weight off of her.
Legolas reacted a moment after Aravis charged at Atash, but he was blocked from coming to her aid by four of Atash's fellow tribesmen. The four burly men quickly surrounded Legolas and began throwing punches.
Atash drew back a meaty fist and brought it heavily down onto the she-elf's face. Aravis's head snapped back from the force of the blow. As her vision swam alarmingly, Atash drew his fist back again. The savage obviously had no qualms about hitting a female.
Aravis quickly managed to get her left leg between the man and herself and she heaved with all her might. Again unprepared for the maneuver, the man went flying backwards into one of his kinsmen.
Legolas had taken a few painful punches to the ribs while trying to restrain himself from actually killing one of these fools and he was about to knock the idiot to his left out, when Atash fell into the man on his right. Legolas neatly side-stepped the stumbling man and quickly lashed out at the man to his left with a strike to the spot between the navel and the chest. The man abruptly went down in pain, but the sneering man directly in front of him released a wild right hook. Legolas had to bend backwards to avoid the punch aimed for his face.
As soon as Atash was able to regain his balance, he screamed in rage and charged at the elleth still lying on the ground. Aravis's eyes widened. She had hoped for a moment more to get herself off the ground. Putting her hands above her head, Aravis rolled heel over head and came to a quick standing position. Atash attempted to catch her middle with his shoulder and bring her down, but the lithe female quickly sidestepped and Atash fell on his front.
Legolas managed to right himself from his hasty duck and he quickly stepped forward, raised his elbow and struck the man in the temple. Legolas grinned as he realized that the sneering man was no longer sneering. He was unconscious and now there were only two more men to go. Sensing an attack from behind, the elf struck out behind him as he side-stepped another blow. This man he struck in the neck, not nearly hard enough to kill. Still, the man went down. "One more left." he thought with a predatory smile creeping onto his face.
Atash had managed to regain his feet, but this time he slowly approached the elf, where she waited in a battle ready stance. One foot was forwards, the other behind with her body slightly turned. One hand was held back by her face to protect herself and her other hand was more extended, ready to hit. Atash lashed out with two punches once he was close enough. Aravis took both hits, one to the face and another to her ribs, in order to gain an opening in his defenses. She returned the strikes with two of her own, both on his face.
Atash was shocked by how strong the elf was. She was thin, but he was beginning to realize just how muscular she really was.
Angered, Atash struck out with his right fist hoping to catch Aravis in the face. His fist was blocked by her forearm and she quickly delivered another succession of five punches. Atash's head snapped backwards and his unconscious body fell limply to the floor. A moment later, Legolas's last opponent also fell to the floor, gasping in pain.
Breathing heavily, Aravis turned to make sure Legolas was alright. The handsome elf's nose was bleeding and the smile he gave Aravis was a bloody one. Aravis smiled back and she realized that Legolas's right eye was going to quite swollen tomorrow. It was bruising already.
Aravis licked her split lip and wiped the blood from a cut above her brow as Legolas stepped over the fallen men and made his way to her.
A moment later, Mehrzad and many other guards made their way into the tents. They were blowing their horns, while menacingly brandishing their weapons. A deathly silence filled the tent.
"What happened?" Mehrzad's harsh voice barked in Haradric.
When none of the slave gave a reply, Mehrzad unsheathed his jagged sword and threateningly stalked farther into the tent
"What happened?" he demanded again with a dangerous edge in his voice.
Again, no one replied.
Mehrzad's eyes narrowed as he took in the occupants of the tent. His eyes landed on the two elves. They seemed to be the cause of this, since they were standing in the midst of the five men lying on the floor.
Shouting something in Haradric that neither Legolas nor Aravis understood, Mehrzad pointed at the two elves. Four guards rushed forward and grabbed them by their arms, dragging them forward.
Trying to figure out what was going on, Legolas began to struggle and received a punch to his gut. The guards continued to drag them towards the exit flaps. Right when they were about to leave the tent, Legolas heard Housyar yell that he should not fight them.
Trying to calm his racing heart, Legolas stopped resisting and allowed himself to be led. Legolas looked to his right to make sure Aravis was well and she seemed to be.
Mehrzad lead a group of twenty guards and the two elves towards the east edge of camp. There were two pillars of stone there. Legolas had seen them yesterday, but had not had the time to ask what they were. Now as they drew closer, Legolas knew.
There were sets of chains attached to the pillars. There was a group of chains low enough that a person could sit and another group of chains higher up to force someone to stand. These pillars were used for punishment.
Legolas swallowed nervously and Aravis's eyes widened as the small group arrived. The two elves were chained one to each pillar so that they were standing, facing the stone. Their backs were exposed and they both knew what was coming next. Aravis let out a deep, shaky breath as she tried to get a better view of Legolas and calm her emotions.
However, she did not have much opportunity as one of the guard's whips harshly hit her back. Aravis's back arched in pain and she sucked in a quick breath and was thankful that she was at least wearing an under-tunic. Again, the whip was brought down on her back, biting deeper into her flesh. She nearly cried out from the pain, but managed to bite her lip just in time to stop herself. In the back of her mind, she realized that Legolas's breathing was labored. He was being whipped as well.
The whips came again, but this time with more force. The blood ran down and stained their clothes. Finally after ten lashes, the guards unchained the elves, turned them around, sat them down in the sand and chained them to the lower set.
Mehrzad chuckled as he made his way closer to the pair of slaves, a sadistic grin spreading across his scarred features.
"See you-" the scarred man said smugly in a broken Westron, "three days."
Hey everyone! thanks for hanging in there!
thank you Metoochocolate and Snips95 for your reviews last chapter!
for those of you who care -
the little girls are Asfhan which means sprinkle and Boosah which means kiss
the young woman i mentioned is Delaram which means calm, peaceful
and Atash means fire.
Thank you guys for reading and please remember to review. i really need feedback! hahaha plus reviews make me work faster :D
thanks so much!