Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien created.

**

Sold Into Ruin

**

Thanks so much to everyone who has reviewed and I hope you'll all keep enjoying the story and reviewing it. Roll on chapter eleven.

**

Chapter 11 – Home, Sweet Home

Aragorn and Legolas could do nothing but watch as the people emerging from the building edged closer to them. They had expected to share this compound with a few people not over fifty. It didn't seem big enough to comfortably house that many people. Some other prisoners still loitered inside the run down building, clearly nervous and afraid of the new arrivals.

The state of the people themselves was also a shock. There were young children among them, which Legolas was certainly not expecting. Not only that but most of them looked as though they had been there for years and with very little to keep them alive. Most were wearing only thin prison clothes like Legolas and Aragorn, although a few had threadbare blankets wrapped around their shoulders; mostly the women and children. They all looked pale, slightly dazed and seemingly completely entranced by the new people.

It was something else entirely that struck Legolas most though. There were about twenty women in the group and seven of them were in various stages of pregnancy. Not a single one of them looked happy about it and Legolas got the impression that it was not a voluntary – or wanted - condition. Disgusted and horrified by this new discovery Legolas looked over at Aragorn, whose eyes were fixed on the children. Aragorn noticed how the adults made sure the children were shielded from the potential new threat. The children themselves seemed more curious than nervous or scared, especially at the sight of something they had never seen before in their lives – an Elf.

Already there were quiet whisperings rumbling through the crowd. They were obviously wondering who these newcomers were and, more importantly, if they were at all dangerous. Outside the enclosure the guards were watching them through the mesh fence, clearly amused by the tentative merging of the two peoples. Legolas and Aragorn just glared angrily at them but the other people were clearly intimidated by them and not about to do anything that might end in trouble. They stopped advancing, careful not to make any unnecessary movements; it reminded Aragorn of hunting, not wanting to startle the prey before pouncing.

After a long time of simply staring at each other, one of the men from the group came forward, pushing aside a child who had been slowly creeping forward to the front in an attempt to get a better look at Aragorn and Legolas.

"Who are you?" the man asked gruffly, clearly not pleased by the newcomer's arrival.

"My name is Estel," Aragorn answered, not wanting to divulge his real birth name. "And this is Legolas," he added, pointing to his Elven friend beside him. Legolas nodded his greeting but it was returned with only a suspicious look. He decided to allow Aragorn to do the talking for the time being; they were more like to trust a human than an Elf.

"Why on earth did they put you in here? Don't they know we're already too full?" he said, seemingly blaming Aragorn and Legolas for this 'error'.

"Well, we didn't exactly get a say in the matter," Aragorn ground out. He already sensed this man was going to be trouble and decided it was best to reason with him. Not that that particular strategy had gotten them anywhere so far. "And you are?"

"That is none of your business," the shorter man snapped back. He took a threatening step forward, apparently hoping to start a fight. Whether it was a matter of dominance or something else Aragorn didn't know but he too stepped forwards, ready to take action if he needed to. They were now almost touching, face-to-face. "You think you can come in here and mess up our routine? Outsiders are not welcome here."

"I would never have guessed from your enthusiastic greeting," Aragorn growled sarcastically.

One of the women in the group stepped forwards just as Aragorn and the other man were about to come to blows.

"Jadan, that's enough," she cried out, stepping between them so they couldn't connect.

"Estel," Legolas warned, stepping in himself, not wanting Aragorn to get himself injured or to make a new enemy so soon after coming here. He rather roughly pulled Aragorn back from the man, now known as Jadan. "Come on, this won't do us any good," he hissed into an irritated Aragorn's ear.

"Oh, I don't know, Legolas. It might make me feel better," Estel growled, making no attempt to keep his voice down. Legolas kept his firm hold on Aragorn's arm, knowing he would jump right back into the fight if given the opportunity. The woman also stayed between the two.

"Damn right. Let me go," Jadan shouted at the woman, although he made no attempt to push past her. Legolas only realised why when he looked at her properly: she was heavily pregnant.

"At least you agree on something," she muttered, locking eyes first with Jadan then with Aragorn, who had by now stopped struggling to free himself from Legolas' vice-like grip.

"Estel, Jadan, we are all in the same situation here. Fighting with one another is not going to help anybody. No matter how good it makes you feel. Now, enough of this. If we have to stay together then we have to be able to look at each other without starting a fight. None of us want to be here but there is nothing we can do about it. I don't think these people will be too forthcoming in our request for a change of living quarters," Legolas said firmly. The woman smiled softly at him in appreciation, pleased that someone else was making some sense.

Legolas let go of Aragorn when he nodded to the Elf. He straightened out his shirt and smiled at Legolas, making sure his friend knew that he was calm now. The woman stepped out of the way, trusting Jadan not to do anything. This trust proved unwarranted. As soon as she stepped aside he dashed towards Aragorn, who also rushed forwards. Before anything could happen though Legolas stepped in between them, not allowing the two to clash. He grabbed Jadan's hand as it was about to hit Aragorn and twisted it around, not enough to break it but just as a warning. Jadan instantly pulled back and shouted out in pain, falling back into the crowd, who were standing watching the exchange with rapt interest.

Aragorn and Legolas stepped back away from the crowd but the woman came towards them, a warm smile on her face.

"Thank you," she said. "You're right, we are all in the same position; there's no reason why we should be fighting amongst ourselves when there are more pressing issues at hand." Legolas nodded gently. At least someone wasn't afraid of them.

"Well spoken, my Lady," Legolas complimented, not understanding why she looked so surprised. He didn't know whether it was because he was complimenting her or whether it was because he had addressed her as 'my Lady'. Either way she looked ready to screech in surprise.

"Let's go inside before this rain – or Jadan - starts up again or we'll all get thrown in the Hold."

Aragorn and Legolas looked at each other. The 'Hold'. That didn't sound good. They followed the crowd obediently into the building, taking in every inch of the compound as they went; possible weak points in the gate and fence, low points, cover, anything that might be useful later on.

Inside the building was more crowded than Legolas was expecting. It looked more like a cave than anything. A cave with benches lining the rough walls, on which were heavy chains. Not a good start. It was noisy inside, reminding Aragorn of one of the big banquets men used to hold, far too busy to be pleasurable. There were no signs of comfort inside at all. Just stark, hard stone benches and walls; not even the pregnant women, some of whom were lying down, had any semblance of comfort around them. It was also incredibly cold inside. There were a few people with thin blankets draped around their shoulders but most had huge holes in them and were covered in stains of all kinds of undesirable fluids. They didn't look like they were keeping anyone warm at all as most people were shivering. Yet they still clung tightly to them as if they were the only possessions they owned. Most looked like they hadn't eaten in weeks and had also gotten very little sleep. They were pale and drawn, almost gaunt, and were covered in mud and a strange greyish powder that smelled sickly sweet. Legolas' first thought was that it was a substitute for a bath although he quickly got off that line of thought.

The pregnant women, although looking very slightly healthier than most of the others, were crowded together, either for warmth of security. They were ghostly pale and looked too thin despite their swollen stomachs, which they clung to as though they were their only lifeline. Aragorn had seen plenty of expectant mothers while training under Lord Elrond as a healer but he had never seen anyone looking so despairing of their position before. It was as if they hated what was happening to them. He didn't want to think of how they got pregnant, although by the way they were being ignored by the men in the building it wasn't difficult to deduce that it was probably the guards that got them in that state.

Chained on the walls and benches were yet more people. For whatever reason they were not allowed to leave the crowded environment in which they were imprisoned. They were simply staring at the floor, apparently unconcerned by the newest arrivals. They looked a lot worse off than the others. Not surprising seeing as they had obviously been chained up for a long time. Blood ran from their wrists down some of their arms where the shackles were too tight and others had large painful welts on their wrists. Aragorn had an almost overpowering urge to go and release them, to end their suffering but he saw the chains were far too solid and could only be opened with a key.

The noise in the building was almost unbearable. Not the excited chatter Legolas and Aragorn were used to in their homes but the harsh cries of the tortured and pained. Legolas had seen people dying on the battlefield and Aragorn had certainly had experience of people screaming in pain during his healing training but nothing quite as dire as this. The worse thing about it was that they could do nothing. They had no power here. This was entirely new territory and both knew they were way out of their depth.

TBC…

**