Aragorn's POV

Everything was so blurry. Grey blobs moved around rapidly, adding to his dizziness. Something squeezed his hand as a voice spoke, but whatever was said was lost to Aragorn for the words were deep and drawn out far too long to understand. One of the blobs moved directly over him in his line of vision. The Prince blinked furiously, trying to focus the world around him. Slowly, he could make out lips on the blurred figure, moving along with undistinguishable spoken words. After a few moments, the words sped up and his vision cleared enough to make out dark hair, and familiar slate eyes staring at him in concern.

"That's it ion-nin. Easy now. Take it slowly." Finally, Aragorn was able to focus completely on his Adar. He tried to call out for him, but a broken croak was all he could muster. His throat was as dry as the dirt that settled over Mordor.

"Shhh. Here." A cup was pressed to his cracked lips as Elrond eased his head up for him. Aragorn starting downing the cool water much as a dying animal would, reveling in the feeling as the liquid acted as a balm to his parched gullet, until the cup abruptly disappeared from his mouth.

"Slowly ion-nin. You will make yourself ill if you do not slow down." The cup was pressed back to his lips and he drank, disciplining himself to take in the water slower. Soon all of the liquid was consumed, and the cup was taken away before his head was eased once again onto the fluffy pillow.

"Thank Valar you are alive. I thought-" Elrond broke off suddenly, blinking hard to hold back tears that had suddenly appeared in his eyes. After swallowing hard, he continued. "I thought for sure that you had passed to the Halls of Mandos. The healers assured me there was nothing that could save you. I have never been so glad for them to have been wrong."

"Ada…" The word was scratchy and nothing more than a whisper, but Aragorn was glad he was able to speak again. "W…wha happ…ened…?" The King reached out and smoothed the damp locks from his forehead.

"We were at your feast and you collapsed. Someone had poisoned your wine. When you were brought back here to be tended to, you were already burning with fever and unresponsive to even the strongest of herbs. Nothing worked to douse the fire raging within you. Your body weakened under the flames, and it was clear to all that you were withering away. Your life was slipping through our fingers as we watched, unable to help. That was three days ago." A pang went through the Prince. Three days? He had been unconscious for three days? Legolas had…Legolas! Aragorn tried desperately to sit up, but his limbs were too feeble to support his weight. Elrond pushed down on his shoulders to prevent him from harming himself further.

"Ada!…Legolas he…he was there…saved me…needs…dying!…Lord Katar…" The words were becoming increasingly difficult to force out as his exhausted body was pushed past its limits. The King ran his fingers soothingly through his dark knotted hair, afraid the fever had come back.

"Rest ion-nin. It was all just a fevered dream. Legolas has not been seen since your poisoning. It is quite possible he was your assailant. Cast the thought from your mind." Aragorn relaxed under his father's ministrations before realizing he was drifting off and began struggling anew.

"No! Ada…you don't…understand!...dungeons…needs me…" The Prince was becoming more and more frantic, breaking out into a sweat and shaking from the exertion. His father's arms were like stone, pinning him to the soft bed despite how hard he struggled. He slumped in defeat, breathing raggedly. "Please…" he whispered brokenly. "I can't…leave him there…" Elrond stared at his son intently for a few moments before relenting with a sigh.

"There is no one in the dungeons to my knowledge ion. But I will personally go and check for myself if Legolas is there." Even though he did not want to leave his son's side for a second, it was well worth the look of relief and gratitude that replaced the frantic one Aragorn wore. The Prince's hand gripped his father's arm and squeezed it gently.

"Thank you Ada…" His eyes fluttered before slipping shut.

Elrond's POV

Elrond was relieved to note his son's breathing was deep and steady, as his face was peaceful. He tucked the blankets carefully around Aragorn's shivering frame as he debated his options. He knew there was no one in the dungeons. He would have been told if there was. He could tell his son that he had checked and it had been empty as he had said, but he cast the thought aside as soon as it entered his mind. He would not lie to Aragorn. Mind made up, he glanced once more at the sleeping Prince and strode out the door.

His steps echoed loudly in the small stairwell leading to the Rivendell cells. It was eerily quiet, there were no guards here. Why should there be? There was no one to guard. Elrond came to the first cell and squinted through the bars. Even with his advanced elven eyesight, it was still almost too dark to see anything. The cell was, as he had predicted, empty, as were the next three. Coming to the last cell, he gave it but a quick glance.

Suddenly, something caught his eye. Something shiny was reflecting the low light of the dungeons. Surely it was just a basin left from a previous prisoner. He went to open the cell, and found it locked, bringing a frown to the King's face. Why would an empty cell be locked? Dread settled in his gut as the implications hit home. Perhaps this cell was not as empty as he believed. Glancing around, he found the ring of keys to the cell doors on the hook by the stairs. He hurried and grabbed all of them, rushing back as quickly as he could.

With shaking fingers, he tried all of the keys. One slid home with a loud noise and the door swung open. Elrond ran inside. Now that he was closer, he could see a body lying on the floor. He knelt beside it instantly, halting when something wet soaked his pants. He dipped his fingers in the thick liquid and brought it to his face. Blood. It was a large puddle of blood.

A quick glance revealed what had reflected in the darkness of the room. An elaborate collar fitted with large gems. Elrond felt as if he had been punched. He knew that collar and who bore it before he even turned the body over. Legolas' eyes were closed, blue lips slightly parted. The King gasped and shook the frail elf, jerking his hands away when they met chilled skin. Who had done this? It was too dark to see the extent of Legolas' injuries, but the amount of blood that littered the floor bared enough. Elrond doubted anyone, even an elf, would survive blood loss of that magnitude, but he had to check.

Years of training in the art of healing took over as he deftly placed his fingers on the slave's neck in search of a pulse. Moments passed with no sign of life, but the second he removed his fingers, he felt something. Elrond quickly put his fingers back, waiting for a beat with bated breath. More moments of nothing before a single beat pushed against his fingers. Weak and very slow, but a pulse none the less. The King quickly put his hand on Legolas' forehead soothingly, turning towards the cell door.

"Help! I need help down here!" His voice rang sharply through the darkness. The sound of running feet an instant later brought a sigh in relief to Elrond's lips. He looked down at the pale face of his son's slave. "Hang in there Legolas," he whispered. "Help is coming."

o-o-o-o-o

It has been FOREVER since I last posted. And I'm really sorry about that. I want y'all to know that I have a really busy schedule. (If you don't want to know my life story now, you can disregard the next part). I'm a high school student that takes a dual enrollment class at college. That gives me hours of homework to do. I'm also in JROTC drill teams, and all of the time I'm not at school, I'm practicing. On top of that, I have horses to ride, drill meets to go to, and college and work I have to get ready for. Anyways, sorry for all of the grammatical errors. Believe it or not I'm a serious Grammar Nazi, and I hate when I see a mistake in others people's work (I know, I'm a huge hypocrite.) The reason I've not caught my mistakes is because the only time I have to write is late at night and I'm tired, I'm hurrying to post the chapter for y'all, and I don't reread my work. I will start reading before I post as to catch these errors. Hope this chapter was worth the wait and more to come as soon as I have a free moment.