It had been mid-winter when Faramir had curled up in a chair in front of the fireplace with a thick blanket and a large book of lore. Winters were with a bit of luck, usually calmer, so there was more spare time to do inside things. After a while Faramir glanced over his book to see that Legolas carefully threw a log in the fire.
"Thank you, Legolas." Faramir replied with a little smile.
"You are welcome, sir." Legolas replied before he sat down on the floor before the fireplace.
"Legolas?" Faramir quietly asked after a while.
"Sir?" Legolas equally quietly returned as he turned a little to look in the direction of Faramir.
"Would you like to talk about what happened?" Faramir blurted out, after he drew in a big breath.
"Talk about what?" Legolas asked, slightly confused.
"I found out when I told Boromir about my hurts, that I felt better afterwards." Faramir softly said.
"Boromir?" Legolas echoed.
"Yes, my brother. Do you remember him?" Faramir asked.
"Yes, sir." Legolas replied after a moment. Several memories flashed through his head with a face that was quite like Mister Faramir.
"Boromir would hold me and tell me that everything would be all right, even if he could not stop the hurts." Faramir softly continued. "Maybe if you told me about what those people had done to you, I can help it to stop hurting."
"Sir?" Legolas asked, still confused. Where did Mister Faramir want him to talk about?
"Would you like to come and sit with me? Than I can at least see your face." Faramir gently said as he watched the elf. After a moment Legolas slowly moved away from the fireplace and sat down in front of Faramir's chair, on the rug. "Would you like to tell me what they did to you? What those people did to make you think you are a slave?" Faramir clarified. Legolas was silent for a long while before he finally spoke up.
"They hurt me." Legolas carefully said. "He shackled me and whipped me."
"That must have hurt, did it not?" Faramir gently encouraged.
"Yes. But I did not make a sound. The man did not like that." Legolas said. Faramir would thought he have mistaken when he saw a glimmer of amusement in the elf's eyes.
"He wanted you to scream?" Legolas nodded.
"I did not want to listen to the men."
"I was under the impression that with the abilities of elves, that they also have very keen hearing." The man mused as he slowly walked around Legolas, observing him. "Yet is seems to me you have the hearing of an old man."
"It is mere the matter of choosing to react for mostly it is wise to stay silent." Legolas calmly replied to much annoyance of the man.
"You will have no matter in choosing when I am finished with you." The man sneered. "I will teach you when to speak and when to keep silent." Legolas glared at the man, mocking him by not replying.
"Good luck, edain." Legolas said after a moment, earning a slap in the face. The man disappeared from Legolas' field of vision before he heard the door slam shut. Legolas was not left alone for long.
"Have you ever seen these?" The man questioned when he showed Legolas a small round, black berry. "I know what poison can do to elves. Let's see if they will work for a prince as well." He held them to Legolas lips. "Let me give you a hand." The man pinched Legolas' nose forcing the elf to breathe through his mouth at some point. "See, that was not that hard." The man said when he was sure Legolas had swallowed the Atropa Belladonna. "They will help you listen, you will see."
"Legolas?" Faramir asked when Legolas did not respond to his question.
"Sir?" Legolas asked when he noticed Faramir was speaking to him.
"You fought them?"
"I could not really hurt them. They made me obey."
"What did they do to you so you would stop fighting?" Faramir pressed.
"I had no choice." Legolas said while he shook his head. "They made me swallow them."
"Made you swallow what?"
"Round black berries."
"All is well, Legolas." Faramir softly soothed when he noticed that Legolas started to get upset.
"He pinched my nose. I did not want to suffocate!"
"You do not need to fear, Legolas. He is in prison." Faramir gently placed his hand on Legolas' head who stiffened at the contact. Faramir gently continued the gesture of running his fingers through the elf's lengthening hair. He had always liked it when Boromir would do that to calm him. After several long minutes, Legolas relaxed, realising Faramir was not trying to hurt him. He watched as the elf relaxed even more, and went to lean with his cheek against the seat of the chair. "That is better, is it not?" Faramir softly asked as he continued stroking though Legolas' hair.
"The merchant is in prison. Not the men who caught me, or fed me the berries." Legolas quietly replied after a while. Tears were running down his cheeks still, and he had to open his eyes yet again.
"Do you know the names of the other men?" Faramir gently asked, still continuing with stroking though Legolas' hair.
"No."
"You know that you are safe with us?" Faramir asked after a while.
"Yes." Legolas replied after a moment. He remembered he had not gotten hurt by the hands of his Masters, Master's hands would heal if needed.
"Then you know you can be at ease all the time, just like you are now." Faramir smiled at the elf when he opened his eyes. "I like it very much." A confused look spread over Legolas' face, but he did not move. "It is hard to see when someone is frightened all the time. I know you do not realise, but Aragorn and I both see the look in your eyes." Faramir softly started. "As I look at you now, sitting here besides me, you look just a very little bit different."
"Different?" Legolas asked as he raised his hand to feel his face.
"Yes. You do not look that worried." Faramir said as he gently ran his hand through Legolas' hair. "Your hair has grown already quite a bit. I like it very much." Legolas reached up to feel his hair. Mister Faramir was right. It was not that short anymore, but it was not nearly the length it once had.
"It used to be longer." Legolas quietly said.
"I am sure it will regain its former length." Faramir assured. "Do you remember how to braid? I remember that braids is something to the elf-culture."
"I remember, but I have not braided in a very long time." Legolas responded after a moment.
"Why don't you go and try it tomorrow, then you will know if you still can do it. I think Arwen could help you if you do not remember." Faramir encouraged.
"I think I can try." Legolas replied after a moment.
"Just try, and who knows what you can do, and did not know before." Faramir smiled. Legolas felt the corner of his mouth curl upwards a little, and nodded. Faramir and Legolas sat in silence for a while, while Faramir still ran his fingers through Legolas' hair. "Did you travel far with the merchant?"
"Long in sense of time, but not further than between the man who caught me and fed me the berries." Legolas replied after a moment, taking his time to think.
"Were where you when you got captured? Do you remember?"
"Mirkwood, near the southern border. I believe…." Faramir nodded.
"Do you remember when you met the other slaves?"
"Yes." Legolas replied.
"Do you remember where you were when you met them?"
"The man that fed me the berries." Legolas softly said. "He brought me as last to where two other men stood, that went with me into the wagon."
"Do you remember the names of the slaves?" Faramir gently asked, hoping Legolas would continue the story without getting upset.
"No. I wanted to stay aside in the beginning, I was never to see them again after we would find our masters, so why would I make friends with them?" Legolas took a moment to collect his thoughts before continuing. "The two men would usually whisper to each other about things. I usually would find them uninteresting. We travelled for several days before we were shackled again, but we were allowed to get out of the wagon. I was very happy to finally stretch my legs. We walked the whole day though a field, before we started to climb a rocky side in the dusk."
"The wagon could not get up the rocky side?" Faramir asked.
"No, it was too steep and uneven. I helped the other slaves, telling them were to walk in the dark." Legolas continued. "It was in the middle of the night that we encountered a small cabin on the rocky side. It was a small house with three men inside. We three slept in a damp cell that was hewn into the stone, for the remaining time of the night. In the morning we all got water to drink and a piece of old bread, before we were gathered again. Before we would make our way back down the rocky side, one of those three men came forth with three slaves. The merchant handed over a small pouch, most likely with the gold for the slaves."
"The other slaves joined you and the other slaves?"
"Yes." Legolas nodded while Faramir's hand still lightly rested upon his head. "They were also shackled before we made it down the rocky side. After we came back at the wagon, we all went in it before the shackles were undone. Every night we stopped and the two slaves belonging to the merchant would crawl beneath the wagon to sleep after they set up a tent for him."
"The long time in the wagon must have been very uncomfortable, was it not?" Faramir mused before he realised Legolas had not told the full story yet. "When the merchant came to Minas Tirith, he was there with two wagons. What about the second wagon?"
"The second wagon…" Legolas mused as his brow furrowed in concentration. "It was brought to a crossroad where we had been waiting for two days before it showed up. I think it were two days, but I do not remember precisely."
"That is no problem, Legolas. Just continue with the things you do remember."
"Well, we waited at the crossroad for several days before a man joined us briefly. He brought the second wagon with two slaves in it. After the man left, we also left for it appeared that we drew attention. The merchant told the people that we were bandits, going for trial in Minas Tirith."
Legolas sat huddled in the corner of the wagon, pressed against the bars with his legs folded against his chest. He watched as riders passed by, minding their own business. "Momma? Why are these misters in a cage?" A child, not older than six winters asked while he pulled on his mother's skirt as they passed by.
"I do not know, let's not bother them." The woman replied before ushering the child forward. More people passed by, not giving the wagon a second glance. Legolas watched the tree that stood a little away as its the branches softly swayed in the light breeze, almost like he was waving at him. Later that afternoon the same boy, accompanied by another boy of his own age, and an older girl came back to the crossroads.
"I told you so." The boy said as he pointed at the wagon.
"You should not get too close." The merchant said as the three children stood in front of the wagon, peering inside.
"Why not?" The other boy curiously asked.
"These are very bad men. I am going to bring them to a place where they will learn how to be good."
"Really?" The girl curiously asked. "What makes them bad men?"
"They did all different things that make them bad men." The merchant said, not even trying to come up with a proper excuse. "Now run along." The merchant shooed them away.
"After the other man left again, we continued our way to Minas Tirith." Legolas said finishing his story.
"Thank you for sharing the small part. Would you mind if I shared this with Aragorn? I think it is good if he knows as well." Legolas nodded, before he shook his head.
"Of course… he may know." Legolas quietly replied, trying his best not to call Aragorn Master.
"You are growing tired, are you not?" Faramir asked, slightly amused. "Why do you not go and sleep. Tomorrow will be a whole new day."
"Yes, F-Faramir." Legolas barely whispered before he sat up. Faramir let his hand drop to his side.
"I am very proud of you, Legolas." Faramir smiled before he watched the elf leave, his book of lore long forgotten on his lap.
-A/N Thank you for all your lovely reviews. I had several hard weeks, preventing me from properly writing antything, resulting that my buffer of chapters are running out. However I found a little time to write for two stories I hope to bring to you in the near future.