-All right folks, next chapter is up. I believe that this is the first chapter that needs a warning for violence. So BE WARNED! I hope you will like it!-
"Good morning, Legolas." Aragorn softly greeted as he entered Legolas' room. Legolas looked at Aragorn but did not reply. "I would like to have a look at your injuries before we go to breakfast." Aragorn said, as he had done for the past two weeks. As Legolas dressed himself in a pair of dark brown trousers, Aragorn looked at the welts on his back. They did not need any bandages anymore as most of them were completely closed now. Still they looked red and could cause discomfort with a wrong movement. "Your welts are finally looking better." Aragorn commented as he helped Legolas button up his tunic. "Now let me have a look at your hand." Legolas stiffened at the mention of his hand, but let Aragorn take it.
"Yes, Master." Legolas quietly replied as he watched how Aragorn cleaned his hand, applied some althelas paste, and bound it again.
"Are you ready for breakfast?" Aragorn asked as he put the supplies he just used away.
"Yes, Master." Legolas replied before he followed Aragorn to the dining room.
"I thought we could try something different today." Aragorn said as he put some bread squares now not only with butter but also with honey in front of Legolas, as well as a glass of milk instead of water. "If you do not like it you may tell me. Then you may choose something different to eat."
"Yes, Master. Thank you, Master." Legolas replied before he started eating. Satisfied, Aragorn started to eat as well.
"How is your hand, Legolas?" Arwen inquired after a while.
"Fine, Mistress." Legolas replied.
"That is good to hear." Arwen gave Legolas a little smile. "What are you going to do today?" She asked Aragorn.
"I still have a lot of paperwork to do, so Legolas could come and help me with that."
"That sounds like a long day." Arwen noticed the look on Aragorn's face.
"Believe me, it is going to be." Aragorn nodded before he chuckled. "Then we better get going."
"Good luck." Arwen said before she turned her attention to Eldarion.
"Legolas, are you coming with me?"
"Yes, Master." Legolas replied as he climbed to his feet. Aragorn wondered if that did not start to hurt, all that kneeling on the bare floor.
"Master?" Legolas quietly asked when they had entered Aragorn's study.
"Yes, Legolas?" Aragorn asked as he turned to the elf, slightly surprised.
"May I ask something?"
"Yes, of course. Go ahead." Aragorn gave him a little smile. Legolas visibly swallowed, gathering his courage.
"When will you punish me, Master?" He asked as he picked on the edge of the bandage around his hand.
"Why would I punish you, Legolas?" Aragorn softly asked as his face fell. This was not what he wanted to hear.
"You promised you would think of a punishment after I behaved intolerable. That happened several times now, without a punishment." Legolas blankly explained.
"Legolas," Aragorn sighed "I believe you do not need any punishment. What they have done to you was the greatest punishment anyone could deserve, and you got that while you did not deserve so."
"Please, Master." Legolas almost begged.
"No." Aragorn shook his head before he walked over to his desk and started to arrange the papers that littered his desk.
You shall be begging for a punishment by the time I am done with you! Legolas shook his head to clear the voice. That was not Master's voice was it? As he looked up to Master, he saw Master still arranging the papers on his desk.
"Never." Legolas hissed between his clenched teeth before he braced himself for another lash of the whip. The man laughed again as the whip made contact with his back.
"You will be begging for more before I am done." The lashes continued to fall and it seemed to continue forever. In the beginning Legolas would count the lashes, as the man before required him to count them, but he long since stopped to do so. Legolas barely registered that the man had stopped whipping him and stood in front of him. "You are such a pretty little thing, but too stubborn." The man cooed before he forced several berries in between Legolas clenched yaws. The filthy nails dug into his cheeks as Legolas did not simply let the man win. "You won't be fighting for long anymore. In the end you will beg for a punishment, just like a little good slave." The man pinched Legolas' nose and covered his mouth so Legolas was forced to swallow the berries. "That was not that had, was it?" He asked with a grin before he left Legolas alone, still tied between the wooden posts, in complete darkness.
"Legolas?" Aragorn softly asked as he waved his hand in front of Legolas' face. He had been offering some papers to him, without a single response of the elf.
"M-Master?" Legolas quiet response came after a while.
"I have something for you to read, if you like?" Aragorn said as he held out the sheets of parchment again.
"Yes, Master, forgive me, Master." Legolas softly said as he took the sheets of parchments Aragorn offered him.
"Let me know when you have finished." Aragorn said before he went back to sit behind his desk, doing his own paperwork.
"Yes, Master." Legolas softly replied before he went to stand in the corner, reading the offered parchments. Occasionally Aragorn glanced up from his work, to find Legolas still focused on the task at hand.
"Oh, Hello, Legolas." Lewyn greeted slightly surprised. "May I come in?" Legolas bowed his head even deeper as greeting before he stepped aside, letting the elderly lady enter. "Is Lady Arwen around?"
"She will be here in a moment." Legolas softly replied as he closed the door again.
"Ah, Lewyn. Thank you for bringing the already finished things." Arwen smiled as soon as she saw the tailor. She took the bundle of clothing from the ladies arms.
"You are welcome, my lady. The other items will be most likely finished the end of next week."
"Thank you, I will see them coming." Arwen nodded. "Legolas, come and see what I have got for you." Arwen said as soon as the door closed behind her. Legolas slowly walked over Mistress He watched as Arwen unpacked the bundle setting the clothes for Eldarion aside. "This is for you." Arwen said as she handed the bundle over to the elf. Legolas sat down on the floor and put the bundle before his knees. Legolas carefully picked up the first item from the bundle. It was a white cotton shirt. Next was a dark green tunic with a small decoration on its hem. A dark brown and grey leggings were beneath them. Before the bundle was empty, Legolas had a pair of trousers in his hand. "Do you like them?"
"Yes, Mistress." Legolas dutifully replied. Legolas did not really care what he supposed to be wearing, he was already very glad Master and Mistress gave him such nice clothes to wear.
"Shall we go and put them in your room? After that you may go to Mathem." Legolas silently followed Arwen with the bundle in his arms. After reaching his room, Legolas put his clothes in the chest at the foot of the bed. "Do you know the way?" Arwen gently asked.
"Yes, Mistress." Legolas replied. He did remember the way to the kitchens.
"Go ahead. You may go now." Arwen ushered him away. She still did not like that Legolas would go and work with the servants, even if he seemed very eager to do so.
"Thank you, Mistress." Legolas said before he fled the room and made his way to the kitchens.
"There you are!" Maedos greeted with a bright smile as he saw the elf enter the kitchens.
"Hello, Master Maedos." Legolas softly greeted.
"Are you ready to give me a hand?" Maedos asked as he noticed the bandage that was still around Legolas' right hand.
"Yes, Master Maedos." Legolas replied and started to follow Maedos through several corridors before they went outside.
"Can you bring the cart?" Maedos asked as he picked up a small axe himself. Legolas did not reply as he took the handles of the small cart and continued to follow Maedos. They slowly made it down several tiers before Maedos stopped before a small open shed. Logs were stacked up against the back wall of the shed while a man sat in the corner of the shed, carving something.
"Sir." Maedos greeted. De man with several grey hairs sprouting through his thick beard nodded.
"I see you brought a little help this time." The man commented.
"And good help too." Maedos smiled at Legolas, who did not respond to the gesture. Several moments later Maedos started to split the wood as Legolas collected the pieces and neatly stacked them in the cart. They had filled about the half of the cart when a second woodworker appeared, with two large working horses that dragged a log behind them. Legolas squeezed his eyes shut as the smell of sweat and horse penetrated his nose.
Legolas grunted as he felt himself shift against his will. His head throbbed fiercely with every beat of his heart. When he awakened further he noticed that he was upside down, or at least it looked like that. The smell of horse and sweat penetrated his nose. He could hear metal on metal, as well as the breathing of several creatures. As he pried his eyes open, everything was dark. When he wanted to go and feel if there was something on his face, he knew there was something, even though he had not figured out what, he found his wrists bound behind his back. As he moved his lips, he could only run his tongue against a piece of cloth, making it impossible for him to close his mouth. As he struggled, he heard a laugh come from besides him, before something whacked his throbbing head again. At least he was now sure about the fact his ankles were also tightly bound together, as well as that it would be most likely he was carried by a horse. He did his very best to remember what happened, yet he only could come up with a very vague image of the snarling face of a wolf.
"Legolas?" Maedos asked as Legolas had not moved for several minutes. He had to stop splitting the wood as the pieces around piled up too high. "Are you in pain?" Maedos asked receiving no reaction. Maedos softly touched Legolas' arm, before he jerked, snapping out of his trance.
"Forgive me." Legolas almost fearfully whispered.
"Let us just finish this, then we can go back." Maedos said as he picked up several pieces of wood and piled them in the cart. After a moment, Legolas returned to the piling of the wood, as Maedos continued chopping. Maedos stopped chopping when he noticed that the cart was finally filled. "Thank you. I will be back in a couple of days." Legolas silently followed Maedos as they made their way back to the kitchens of the palace.
"Just in time." Mathem said as Maedos and Legolas walked into the kitchen, carrying some firewood. "How did it go?"
"It went well. A lot quicker when I need to do it alone." Maedos said as he stacked the wood again near he oven, while Mathem took several pieces from Legolas. Legolas watched Maedos, slightly confused at the possible praise he received, even though he did not understand why.
"Good. Go and chop the vegtables for dinner." Mathem ordered before he continued with his own activities.
"Come, Legolas!" Maedos chirped as he walked over to a corner where several crates stood. Soon enough Legolas found himself chopping several kinds of vegtables.
"Legolas? The royal family is in the diningroom. They request your presence." Mathem gently warned him.
"Yes, Master. Thank you." Legolas softly replied as he finished chopping the carrot before he quickly cleaned his place.
"Do not bother, I will clean up after I finished. Go to them now." Maedos said with a smile as he waved the elf away.
"Thank you, Master Maedos." Legolas said and put the knife safely away before he made his way to the dining room.
"Good evening, Legolas." Aragorn greeted as Legolas joined them.
"Will you come and sit with us on the table? It will be a lot easier to eat." Faramir softly asked as he watched the elf.
"No, Master. I am not worthy." Legolas replied before he knelt between Aragorn and Arwen.
"Give me a moment." Faramir said as he stood and disappeared through the door. Only moments later Faramir returned with something in his hands. "It is not finished yet, but I hope you like it." Faramir said as he put the thing in front of Legolas.
"Thank you, Master." Legolas softly replied while he looked at the object. It was something between a very small table and a tray on paws.
"It looks very well." Arwen praised.
"It is not quite finished, but I had a little bit of free time the last few days." Faramir said while a slight flush crept over his cheeks.
"I believe it is very useful." Aragorn nodded. Mathem entered a few moments later serving each of them a bowl of soup. Legolas looked at the bowl of soup for a moment.
"Be mindful, it is hot." Arwen gently warned as she started eating. Legolas stared at the soup for several long moments before he carefully dipped the spoon in the clear liquid. Slowly Legolas stirred and watched as small pieces of vegtable floated to the surface. The greens Master Maedos and I chopped. Legolas mused. Legolas slowly and carefully sipped from his soup, savouring the taste and the lovely warm feeling it left in his belly. Aragorn could not help but smile once he caught the pleasure radiating of Legolas' face, probably without that he noticed himself.
"If you are still hungry, you may have some more." Aragorn gently said as he noticed that Legolas had finished his bowl.
"May I?" Legolas quietly asked.
"Of course you may. That is why I asked." Aragorn replied as he started to butter a slice of bread, putting a little honey on top before cutting it in squares.
"Thank you, Master." Legolas replied as a plate with more food appeared in his field of vision. Aragorn gently fed Eldarion some mashed taters while Arwen watched the exchange with delight. After they had finally finished dinner, they all moved to the parlour, for quiet evening.
-A/N As I started to read the Return of the King, I noticed that I misspelled Beregond's name as Beregrond. I hope you liked the chapter! If you have a suggestion for an activity, please let me know!-