Disclaimer: I own nothing Tolkien created.

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Sold Into Ruin

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A/N: Thank you so, so much to everyone who's reading this. Nearly 200 reviews. Unbelievable! Thanks for reviewing and I hope you also enjoy this next chapter. No graphic nail torture in this one.

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Chapter 36 ~ Unhappy Reunions

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Legolas couldn't move but it no longer had anything to do with the ropes pinning him to the table but rather the utter shock at what he saw before him. His eyes were wide, his mouth agape. His mother was standing right there. Right in front of him. And he couldn't think of a single thing to say.

But she was dead. He had watched her die. Watched her eyes go blank after she commanded him to run away and save himself. The king and his soldiers had found her body later that day, broken and violated by the Orcs. He had seen the countless tears his Kingdom had shed for their beloved queen over the years, saw how they had grieved her loss. He vividly remembered her funeral. Thousands of people, all dressed in black, watching the coffin of their queen being taking slowly towards her funeral pyre. He had watched the flames engulf the wooden vessel. He heard Elves coming up to his father, offering their sincerest condolences and the king stoically thanking them, disguising his own misery. He remembered afterwards his father telling him what happened to Elves when they died; how they went to Mandos' Halls where there was no more pain or suffering, where they could rest in peace. He remembered crying into his father's black robes until they had grown damp beneath him and how his father had cried onto his soft golden hair when they were safely out of sight of their subjects. He remembered how every night since her death he had dreamed of her lifeless body lying before him or reaching out to him. He remembered his father's tears – and learning for the first time that his strong, unmoveable father could actually cry, a revelation that terrified him – and he remembered his own endless bitter tears. He remembered all of it. And yet here she was, standing right in front of him, looking as though nothing had ever happened to her.

There wasn't a scratch on her. For a moment Legolas had trouble placing the face, he had not seen it in such a long time. The only really firm memory he had left of her was in the cave moments before he had abandoned her to save his own life. Of course, the giant oil painting hanging in his father's Throne Room was a constant reminder of her beauty but this was no oil painting. Her features were as perfect as ever. The light shining in her blue eyes was as stunning as before, her pale, flawless skin untouched by cruel Orc hands. There was no trace of pain on her angelic face, only a small, reassuring smile. Legolas remembered that smile so well. Of all the things he had forgotten, that smile stayed with him; not the shaky, false one she had used in the cave but the one that lit up her entire face and made her eyes dance.

There was no concern in her eyes as there had been on that last fateful day. Just love. Pure, unadulterated love for her son.

However, Legolas could still say nothing. Kallon had retreated into the corner of the room, watching with a smile on his face. He knew just what effect this would have on the young Prince of Mirkwood.

After swallowing several times just to make sure he still had a throat to speak with, Legolas spoke. One word, so pain-filled it would have brought tears to any person with a soul who happened to be listening. "Nana?"

The maiden's smile widened and she took a step closer to the table on which Legolas was still frozen. That beautiful smile. That bright smile. Legolas had loved to see it when he was little. He stared intently at her as if she would disappear should he blink. Yet she remained with him even when he was forced to clear the tears from his eyes.

Slowly, almost nervously, she stretched out a soft, pale hand and placed it gently on Legolas' furrowed brow. The motion seemed to break the spell and Legolas cried out his mother's name in relief, tears now flowing freely down his face as he desperately tried to free himself from the restraints.

"Hush, now Greenleaf. Do not struggle," she said softly, her voice sounding completely different to what Legolas remembered. Not that it mattered. His memory was not particularly reliable at the moment anyway. Immediately he did as instructed and was still once more. "Good." She gently stroked his blood-tinged hair and he leaned into her touch gratefully.

"Nana," Legolas said again. He couldn't think of anything else to say. Right then his whole world was focused on this one person. Everything else that was happening faded into insignificance. The person he loved so much and who had been cruelly taken away from him all those years ago was back with him. That was all that mattered in the world.

"I'm here, do not be afraid," the Queen whispered, continuing to stroke her son's hair, just as she had done when he was young. She had spent hours brushing through his soft blonde hair and he had done the same for her. It was like their private ritual every morning when they awoke. And it was just one more thing that had been taken from him by the Orcs.

"I am not afraid," he assured her, regaining some of his senses. She smiled even wider as if knowing this wasn't true.

"My beautiful child, look how you have grown. So…old."

Old? Had his mother just called him old? They had not seen each other for centuries and the only compliment she could come up with was that he was old? That was strange. In fact, this whole thing was strange. His mother was dead and the dead could not come back to life…

Before he could think on this anymore she spoke again. "Listen very carefully, Legolas, because I cannot stay long. I know you are suffering here, just as I suffered all those years ago, but you must try to understand that this is all for the best. Do as he says." This was an equally odd thing for her to say. He didn't even hear a touch of anger in his mother's voice when she mentioned her own fate and after everything she had suffered he would have expected just that.

"But Nana…"

"Do as you are told," she snapped, snatching her hand away from him as though in punishment for his disobedience.

There was an uncomfortable silence for a moment before the Queen of Mirkwood spoke again, her voice now back to its normal melodic tones and without a trace of her previous anger.

"Come now, ion nin tell me: what was your plan of escape? No doubt something dangerous but ingenious."

Legolas smiled, suddenly forgetting what had been said moments before. "We were going to…Wait Nana, I don't think I should…"

"Oh, Legolas, you can tell me. I won't tell another living soul," she whispered in his ear.

"Torvan told us about a gap in the far fence. We were going to escape through that. I didn't trust him though. I don't think it'll work at all. Where will we go once we're out? They have guards everywhere here, Nana. I don't think we could escape even if we tried."

"We?" the Queen questioned carefully.

"Me and Estel. Oh, of course, you haven't met Estel, have you? Well, you will Nana and you will love him. I just know you will. He is a human but that is a small flaw considering all his…"

"Estel? A human? 'Hope', what an odd name for a Man," she mused, staring out into thin air as though seeing something Legolas could not.

"He was raised by Lord Elrond in Imladris. Elrond says he is practically an Elf anyway, although he cannot climb trees nearly as well as me," Legolas laughed musically. All his pain and fear was suddenly forgotten. He felt like a little Elfling again and he knew he was talking like one but this was his precious mother. Nothing else mattered. This was a miracle. He didn't know why or how it was happening but he liked it nonetheless.

"Elrond Half-Elven?"

"Yes Nana. He is still running Imladris. I try to visit as much as I can but lately…"

"Enough, Legolas! Tell me more about Estel," her voice was cold again and Legolas startled slightly but when she looked down at him she smiled gently and he felt compelled to tell her about their time together.

"We have wonderful adventures together. He comes to Mirkwood sometimes and I go to Rivendell but lately he has been too busy with the Rangers so when we both had the opportunity we decided to go on this hunting trip. We thought it would kill some time before returning to Mirkwood. Ada will be angry but I'm sure he'll understand. He doesn't like Estel very much but then he never liked humans much anyway, did he? Anyway, he still lets Estel stay in Mirkwood, even though he says he's a bad influence…"

"Legolas, you are babbling," the queen chastised. Again she smiled, although Legolas wasn't so easily fooled this time. There was something very wrong about this – besides the fact the dead were talking to him. "Where does he come from, this Ranger?" she asked, apparently not noticing her son's doubts.

"I told you, Imladris. Lord Elrond…"

"He cannot possibly be from Elrond's line, Legolas. Elrond is an Elf, this Estel is human," she said sharply.

"Why do you want to know?" Legolas asked suspiciously.

"My dear child, I want to know who you…go around with. This Estel doesn't sound like a good influence, getting you caught up with this," she gestured around herself. 'Go around with'? That didn't sound like his mother at all, in fact, it didn't even sound Elven.

"He's…"

"Yes?"

"He's…" Legolas hesitated, closing his eyes briefly to clear his mind. "No! This won't work, Kallon. This isn't real," Legolas yelled at the man who was still standing quietly in the corner. He stepped forwards, placing a hand on the Queen's impossibly solid shoulder but she took no notice of him, not even reacting to the touch. In fact, she looked like she was frozen in time.

"Oh, it's real, Legolas. She's real. Now, be a good boy and answer her question. Where is Estel really from?"

Legolas shook his head defiantly.

"Legolas, answer the man," the Queen said firmly.

"No, this is a trick." As much as it pained him to do so, Legolas turned his face away from his mother. Kallon laughed and when Legolas turned back to his mother – his beloved mother – she was still stood before him. Now an image of her death. She looked just as she had after the Orcs had tortured her. Her eyes were blank, her face slashed by Orc claws. Her clothes were hanging off her, covered in crimson blood, both hers and that of her son. Blood was running from a gash on her head and from her nose and down her legs and a large red stain covered the front of her dress where she had been stabbed. Her face was ghostly white, her mouth open in horror; one last scream before she left this world and entered another. This was how Legolas always remembered her. This was what his constant nightmares had been about. He rarely dreamed of what happened to himself, they were almost always centred on her, looking just as she did now.

Legolas cried out in horror and turned away again. When he finally reluctantly turned back the image was gone and only Kallon was standing there, smiling at the shocked look on Legolas' face.

"Now, wasn't that a nice little reunion? I thought you might enjoy the company." He nodded to the giant guard who started undoing Legolas' bonds. The Elf couldn't have moved even if he had wanted to. When he was unstrapped the guard sat him up and then pulled him to his feet, holding his arm tightly. Kallon took his other arm and laughed. "Take him back to his cell," he ordered. As the guard walked the passive Elf past Kallon, the man grabbed his arm again and whispered in his ear, "You know what the sad thing about that was?" He paused for effect. "She was real."

Legolas turned stormy blue eyes to him before the guard dragged him struggling from the room, screaming threats at Kallon and pleas for his mother's return.

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The cell door swung open and the giant guard walked in, literally dragging a kicking and screaming Legolas behind him. The Elf was covered in blood but was putting up a pretty good fight considering Aragorn had barely been able to stand up when he returned from the Torture Room. The guard, having a considerable amount of difficulty restraining the squirming Elf, threw his charge inside.

Legolas hit the floor hard but didn't miss a beat. He leapt to his feet and ran to the door, slamming full force into it as the guard had also been quick and closed it as soon as Legolas was on the ground. Instead of giving up though, Legolas pounded on the door with his bloodied fists, calling out for his mother.

Aragorn didn't know what to make of this. He had never, in all his years of friendship with the Elf, seen Legolas so utterly distraught. He walked quickly over to him and carefully placed a hand on his back in between cuts but Legolas just shrugged him off and continued shouting in Elvish.

"Nana, please come back. Nana. Come back. Come back, please, come back. Nana. Kallon, give her back to me, please." Aragorn could barely hear what the Elf was saying, he was speaking so fast.

"Legolas, what is wrong? Please, look at me. Legolas!" Aragorn pulled on Legolas' arm and got him to face him. His blue eyes were wild with fear and horror, his face deathly pale and he was trembling so badly it seemed to shake right through him. What had Kallon done to him in there? "Legolas stop. Talk to me, mellon nin."

Legolas merely shook his head, tears running down his face. "Nana, please don't…I don't want to be alone. I want Nana. Please."

Not knowing what else to do, Aragorn took Legolas and engulfed him in strong arms. The Elf immediately leaned against his friend and clung to him for support. Aragorn was not used to this at all. This was not like his friend. Legolas was usually completely impassive when it came to this subject, barely even mentioning his mother. He had never told Aragorn about her, even though he had asked when he was younger. Before, when Kallon threatened to physically disrobe him, Legolas had panicked and Aragorn had seen the first glimpse of real fear in his friend's eyes. He had never seen that before in the Elf. This though was something entirely different. Legolas was calling for his mother. Aragorn had never even heard him say her name in public before and here he was shouting for her, begging for her, in front of these enemies.

Whatever Kallon had done to him in there must have been pretty bad. Legolas had been through some terrible things but he had never reacted like this before.

"Legolas, what's wrong?"

"Nana," was all Legolas could manage in a pitiful whisper as he buried his face further into Aragorn's shoulder. The man held onto him, not knowing what else to do.

"It's alright. It's going to be alright," Aragorn reassured. At that, he felt Legolas becoming heavier against him and he guided the Elf to the floor.

Looking at his unconscious form, Aragorn cried softly, dressing his numerous wounds with a torn up blanket. He hated seeing his best friend, this being of pure goodness, in such a horrific state. Kallon would pay for this. He would pay for the injuries he had caused this beautiful creature.

Aragorn sat back against a wall and pulled Legolas up against him, ignoring the pain it caused him. This was as much for his benefit as his friend's. He needed to feel that familiar, strong presence of his friend near him. Legolas' body was warm and gentle against his and for a moment he didn't feel quite so alone.

That would all change though…

To Be Continued…

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Translations:

Nana – Mum

Ion nin – My son

Ada – Dad

Mellon nin – My friend