Chapter 10- Keep Your Friends Close and Your Enemies Closer- Katie's POV:

I'd never know Galadriel to cry. She's the strong, silent type, stubborn and could be a bitch when it suited her. That was why we got along so well. I wasn't very good with...emotional outbursts, that was why Legolas usually got the job of looking after Artemis.

I knew that if I really wanted to, I could be a parent, commanding Artemis around like she was my property. But I'd made myself a promise that I'd never do that. I was always more like a friend to Artemis than her mother. That was why she and Legolas got along so well, he was good at this sort of thing.

I awkwardly rubbed Galadriel's back in a vain attempt to sooth her, my other hand smoothing her curls. Across the other end of the hall Celeborn smiled at me sadly, his brow set in deep worry. I shot him a panicked glance, making him smile a genuine smile. He always found my discomfort amusing for some reason.

My grandfather strode slowly forward, gently pulling his wife from me and embracing her in a hug. I smiled at the sight, because it really was the sweetest I'd seen all week.

Terra's POV:

I narrowed my eyes at my target, hoping it would improve my aim. I wasn't good at archery, unlike my elven friends. I, like Faelwen and Katie, preferred hand to hand combat. I let my arrow fly, missing the target by a millimetre.

I swore, feeling around in my quiver for another arrow. By the looks of it, it was about midnight and I could only just make out the target in the dark, and the soft glow of the house lights behind me. This was still and early night for Zackary...Zane.

I turned, looking back towards the house, well, I was told it was more a mansion...not that I knew what that meant, but apparently, it was a big deal.

From here, I could see the light on in Zane's room, a shadow passed across it, a woman being pushed roughly to the bed. I turned away. I knew what was going to happen. It was the same thing that had been happening for the past week. Thankfully, Damian made sure my chambers were at the opposite end of the floor.

Zane reminded me a lot of Orophin: Strong, commanding and full of love that he insisted on sharing with as many as he could...as often as he could. Not that I could talk without being a hypocrite. The sweet and innocent act was exactly that, a face I put on in front of my mother, father and in public.

But there was almost no point. The entire elven world knew of my reputation. I was the foreign delicacy for those sick of the same old thing.

Elleths as a general rule were tall and petite, flat chested and skinny, well, at least compared to my human curves. My chest measurement never failed to give the poor seamstress a heart attack! Mother tried to hide my figure, making me look more elven than human. My dresses were constantly too tight and restrictive.

Elves came to me, looking for a good time, and I sure gave them one. Can you really blame me? I was raised around Orophin, Rumil and Haldir, not to mention Elladan and Elrohir. Rumil was my best friend, always had been, always will be.

Mother didn't like him, but that was part of why I liked him so much. He treated me as an equal, took me drinking and made me feel like one of the men. I was always picking up bad habits from him, much to the disgust of the other women. My punishment was to be a messenger for the life rest of my life.

I wasn't stupid. I could see the way he looked at me. It was the same look Hal got when he watched Fae. He watched me always. Sometimes, as I rode through the forest, on my way to deliver yet another message, I would see him, watching me in silence.

In truth, it was quite scary, especially when there were others around, but that was my best friend, take him or leave him. I quickly took in my new surroundings. I'd zoned out for a minute and now found myself standing in the hallway of the house. The sudden light change hurt my eyes, but I forced myself to ignore it.

I sigh, hauling myself slowly up the stairs. Apparently, practice was over for the night. I cast a quick glance at the 'clock' on the landing. Apparently a clock was how these humans told the time. Quite inefficient if you ask me, but apparently, my opinion didn't count.

I turned off the stairs into the corridor that held our bedrooms and a few bathrooms, quite intent to have a quick bath before going to bed. The bathroom door creaked eerily open, revealing the blackness within.

Baths here were quite different to baths back home. Here, the water was supplied already hot straight to the bath from the ground. All you had to do was turn a little handle, quite clever really. I turned the handle and dropped a small ball into the rising water.

The ball immediately began to fizz, turning the steaming water a beautiful blue. Apparently it was called a 'bath bomb'. I didn't really see the point of it, but why not enjoy it while I had it? I slowly disarmed myself before starting on my lacy dress.

When I first arrived here, I'd only had the dress I had been living in for a month and one of my old...um...friends tunics he had left in my chambers, for a night shirt.

Zane and Damian had been kind enough to offer to buy me clothes, but I had declined, asking instead for material. My dresses were nowhere near as good as Ceildë's creations, but they would do. I let out a sigh of relief as my dress came away, allowing circulation and air back into my body.

Strong arms wrapped around my waist, pulling me against a muscular body while his lips and tongue assaulted my neck, his teeth occasionally biting into my shoulder. I let out a small moan of pleasure, allowing myself to knot my hands into his hair.

There wasn't much of it to hang on to, especially when you were used to elven hair, but it was just enough to root myself in. The lips at my neck twisted into a cold smile, sending goose bumps down my back.

Without warning, I was thrown roughly to the hard, tiled floor, my head making a sickening thud. My vision began to grow blurry around the edges as unconsciousness presented itself. I bit my lip, holding back the curses and the tears the pain brought. If I could handle Rumil, I could handle whoever this was.

My vision slowly returned and I got the first look at my new friend. Zane lay on top of me, his eyes glinting with lust. His hungry lips took control of mine, his tongue ruling mine in the battle of dominance. His teeth bit hard into my bottom lip, drawing blood and causing me to moan slightly. But that only egged him on.

He quickly pulled his shirt over his head while keeping my waist trapped between his thighs. I sighed impatiently as he caught it slightly on his chin as he attempted to remove the garment, deliberately teasing me. My hands flew to the rescue, ripping the shirt to shreds.

Zane smiled down at me, his pants hitting the bathroom door with a thud. I closed my eyes and laid back, waiting for the high. Unfortunately, it never came. I felt Zane being dragged roughly to his feet and heard the crunch as a heavy fist collided with his jaw.

"How dare you!" I heard Zane's indignant voice crying out, though the sound seemed somewhat broken, awkward and painful. I looked slowly up into the warm eyes of Damian and saw something I was quite sure I had never seen before in eyes directed at me: concern. Genuine concern for my safety, my wellbeing and my future. For the first time in my whole seventeen years, I felt ashamed of myself and my lifestyle.

I looked down, feeling real guilt for the time. I quickly gathered my dress and hurried back to my room. I threw my dress to the floor, quickly gathering my night shirt and sliding into the safety of my warm bed. For a moment I just lay there, staring out the dark window.

"What the hell were you thinking?" I heard Damian's angry voice in the hall way. I flinched, snuggling deeper into my pillow. "She's a human being, not your toy!"

"This is my house, and I shall do as I please!" Zane sounded more angry than usual, if that was even possible. Suddenly, Zane's voice dropped to a harsh whisper, almost too quiet for me to hear. Thank the Valar for training! "She has something that we need Damian: their trust. She knows the old forest like back of her hand. She can tell us how to win this war!"

I gasped, smothering the noise with the pillow. They expected me to betray my friends? Well, they'd better think again.

"Well then why don't we just ask her? There has to be a better way than this!" I shifted uncomfortably. I didn't like where this was going. Torture was never out of the question.

"Do you really think she'll just tell us? They may have screwed her over, but they're still the only family she's ever known. We have to break her down, convince her that she's safe with us and make her feel loved."

"And you think the way to do that is raping her on the bathroom floor?" I heard the slap of Zane's hand as it hit Damian's face, making me flinch. I was unprotected in here. Both Zane and Damian had the size advantage and all my weapons still lay on the bathroom counter. I couldn't get out through the door, they would see me, and I knew for a fact that I would not survive the jump from my window.

I was trapped, and had to rely on the mercy of my captor, an idea I was not too fond of.

"That's how I'm playing this, Damian. And if you don't like it, you can leave. It's you or me. Choose!" At that moment, a door creaked open, and soft feet could be heard in the hallway.

"Zane?" A petite female voice chimed. My best guess was she was the lady I had seen in the window earlier. "Is everything all right?" From the sound of her voice, she had only heard the raised voice, and luckily not understood what the conversation was about.

"That depends on his answer." I could feel the tension from where I lay, the silence dense with it. Damian was obviously thinking hard. Through clenched teeth he gave his answer:

"Me!" He wasn't happy about it, that much I got, but we both knew Zane would always win. I don't know what had happed between these two, but it was obvious Zane was in charge, and Damian always willingly followed.

"Don't disappoint me Damian. This has to be done now..." The woman must still be standing there from the sound of the conversation, as Zane was trying to speak in riddles. Yeah, we all knew he was failing miserably. "If I can't trust you to do this, how can I trust you with anything? Can I count on you?"

"You can't be serious! Right now?" Damian sounded as though he probably would have punched Zane...again, had there not been a lady present.

"Can I count on you?" Zane's words were laced with poison strong enough to bring down an Oliphant, and cold enough to freeze Arnor. Every inch of my skin was covered with goose bumps, and believe me, I sure was glad I wasn't on the receiving end of that.

"Yes." Damian's voice could barely be heard from where I lay, sinking from its harsh, exasperated tine to a quiet and defeated.

"Zane?" The woman chirped up again, her voice full of fear. "What's going on?"

"Business. Nothing you need to worry your pretty little head over." The girl giggled, making me fight the urge to gag. I don't know what men saw in women like her.

"Zane!" She scolded playfully. "You know perfectly well business is strictly for daylight hours. So, you boys can finish the conversation later. In the mean time Zane, I'm taking you back to bed and punishing you severely for breaking curfew!"

Zane laughed a deep, rumbling, chesty laugh, his only redeeming feature...apart from his gorgeous good looks! Not that I liked him, I just, couldn't help but notice.

"Awww, busted again! I won't see you for a while Damian, I get the feeling I'm grounded." There was a slight paused. "Make sure you do it now Damian. Remember, I'll be checking in the morning!"

"She's probably already asleep!"

"Well then, give her something nice to wake up to!" A door slammed and I lay in the dark, awaiting my visitor. My door slowly creaked open, revealing Damian standing gloomily in the hall. I waved, smiling at him enthusiastically, playing as dumb as I could.

Damian let out a short sigh, coming to sit by my side on the bed. His deep, chocolate brown eyes burrowed deep into my icy blue one, and I felt as if my soul was bared before him. To him I was an open book, and that scared me. There was only one other person who had ever made me feel like that...Katie.

I gasped, finally realising what was going on. Damian could do it to, the same as Katie! How could that be possible? If I was right, it wasn't safe here anymore. I pulled back slightly, trying to keep from eye contact. Damian caught my face between both his hands, forcing me to look him in the eye.

Suddenly everything made sense. This was Zane kept him around; friendship had nothing to do with it. Did he know? About what he could do? About me? Was he on my side? The look on his face was full of pain and regret, his voice breaking with the threat of tears.

"I'm sorry!" Suddenly, he was on top of me, pinning me to the bed with his weight. His lips furiously attacked mine, bruising and drawing blood. His hands tugged at my hair, pulling it painfully from my scalp.

Never had this felt so wrong in my whole life. What was my problem with him? He was good looking enough, muscular, smart, sweet. So why couldn't I enjoy this? Well, to put it simply, HE wasn't into this. This was just business for him, no pleasure.

That cut a little. For the first time in my life, a guy didn't want to sleep with me. I set my face into a hard, determined grin, pulling him closer to me. This would be the best night of his life if it killed me.

Sunlight poured through my open window, gently stirring me from sleep. Damian lay partially on top of me, his arm wrapped possessively around my waist and a goofy smile on his face.

My room, well, the less said about it the better. Everywhere, furniture was turned over, clothing and jewellery strewn over the floor and bed clothes lying about in scattered heaps. Zane stood in the open doorway, giving me a sly smile that made my heart skip a beat. No. I willed myself to stop blushing, instead focusing on the floor in front of me which had suddenly become the most interesting thing in the world.

Zane chuckled, making my blush deepen. I bit my lip. This was just getting pathetic.

"Rough night?" Zane chuckled, the elvish seeming harsh to my ears after a night of common. I nodded, slowly gathering my robe and pushing my way to the bathroom. "That's all I get? No details?"

I shot Zane a glare and continued to the bathroom, now more intent on retrieving my dagger collection and using Zane as target practice, than my previous aim of a bath. Zane followed me, trying to shoot me puppy dog eyes.

"If you really want to be helpful, make me breakfast." I slammed the door in Zane's face, smiling as I head the thud and complaint as the door smacked Zane in the nose, hopefully drawing blood.

Just a tip: I'm not a morning person!

The smell of bacon and eggs greeted me as I made my way down the stairs to the dining room and kitchen. Zane stood by the stove, cooking eggs. The girl from last night stood behind him, her arms wrapped around his waist and her face burrowed into his shoulder blades.

She was tiny, only about dwarf height and very skinny, her bones sticking out on odd and awkward angles. Her hair was a white blonde that put elves to shame, though the roots were a deep chocolate brown. It looked thoroughly un-natural and unattractive.

The girl turned and stared at me for a second, her face set with confusion and her eyes showing clear disapproval of my attire. Apparently dresses weren't often worn these days, and from her attire, that was obvious.

The girl wore pants that came all of about an inch, possibly two down her thigh, coupled with a tight-fitting sleeveless top, covering only her breasts and leaving her stomach bare.

"What are YOU looking at?" I snapped, storming past her and being quite sure knock her roughly as I made my way to the coffee pot. "Idiot!" I muttered sourly under my breath. My whole life I'd been stared at and poked fun at because I was different, often insulted and assaulted by jealous suitors. Over time, men had come to accept me as an equal. But women? Most treated me like a animal. I was well and truly sick of it.

Zane laughed, and it was a beautiful sound. "Now, now Terra. Play nice!" I shot Zane a quick 'You've got to be kidding me' glance making him laugh. I blushed, burying my face in my coffee mug. I could feel the girl's glare on my back, but I refused to feel intimidated in my own home.

I stopped for a second, quite aware of that thought and how wrong it felt. This would never be my home. My home was in Lorien. I was only here for one reason; to stop a war. One day, I would have to kill both of these men. This was no time to get personal.

I grabbed my plate and coffee, making sure to ram her shoulder as I stormed into the lounge room. I would eat alone this morning.

"What the hell is you problem?" Her angry voice screamed after me, but I took no notice. I don't understand English…Remember? Zane sighed. "Who does she think she is?"

"Daughter of the Lady of Light." Zane muttered to himself. "Her name's Terra. She was kicked out by her family. We found her in the gutter." There was a shocked pause. I pressed myself closer to the wall separating us, hoping that I might get a better sound.

"Well, why is she still here? And what is her problem with me?" She sounded like a pissed off elleth. Trust me, I'd met a lot in my life.

"She's Damian's girl." I chocked slightly on my cup of coffee, trying desperately not to cough. But even so, I couldn't stop the small squeak that had somehow managed to escape my lips. "And as for her problem...my best guess would have to be your clothes...she's not used these clothes. Where she comes from nightdresses go from the chin, to the wrists and then right down to the ankles."

I held back my indignant snort. That was a lie! Fae had a gorgeous silk night dress that had only thin straps connecting it to her body, with the material stopping just above the knee and a split running up the length of her thigh. It drove Hal wild!

"...right...well, I'm going to put on something she might find more appropriate before I end up with a broken shoulder!" I smiled evilly, turning back to my now cold breakfast. Thank the Valar for Chainmail!

Hey y'all! I'm so sorry this took so long but between assignments, homework and lack of inspiration, I don't think I really stood a fighting chance! I really hope you liked this chappie! I thought you needed a little more insight to Terra. If you guys have any ideas for this ficy or any others I would love to hear them. You can leave me a PM or drop me an email at . That way we can have a proper chat. Also, be sure to check out my Percy Jackson/Maximum Ride cross over, which should be posted by the holidays.

Thanks again.

Luv ya,

Lost-xoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxoxox