After the assassination in the Citadel named now the White Tower Poisoning, the exact course of events of which hadn't even been remotely cleared up yet, there was enhanced security prevailing at the court, even before the sun had really risen. Under the eyes of so many additional soldiers, it would have been a pointless attempt, sneaking out of Minas Tirith unseen. So Tarisilya wasn't in a hurry to get outside when she woke from a deep sleep and found the bed beside her empty.

She was certain that Legolas would still be around. After last night, he wouldn't just have vanished.

Besides, the voices and some neighing in front of the King's House revealed that the elves were getting ready for departure, except for those who were still supposed to stay in the Houses of Healing, like Tauriel and her child.

Tauriel's husband on the other hand came to meet Tarisilya before she had even set a foot outside already. "Your Highness." He bowed quickly, looking past her as if he was expecting to see her husband show up behind her, and paused in disappointment. "There was no time left to talk about the further proceedings with you last night, but in our nightly gathering after the ceremony, we were all in agreement. Have you been able to talk to His Highness already? What did he say? Will he stay with us?"

"It's better if he tells you himself." Tarisilya pointed at the gate to the sixth level from where Legolas was approaching the group with his bow and a few bags on his back.

"Have you been in the stables?" That this was where her husband's first path had led him, once the terrible events had lost at least some of their effect and Legolas was allowing himself to look to the future again, filled her with the relief that he hadn't lost everything but his revenge out of sight. That he still cared a great deal about the beings that had been his biggest support in the last few years.

"I planned to borrow one of the horses, but no one's around yet." Legolas tried in vain to not let it show that this was only half the truth, that he had, of course, also tried to find out if the crisis had indeed cost one of his most loyal war companions his life. "I'll ask my father to send one of his young animals to Cair Andros."

"I don't think that will be necessary." Camhanar grinned. "You should have taken a closer look."

A quiet neigh from the gate had Legolas spin around, shocked as if Tauriel had been leading a ghost horse his way, not Arod.

The second the bright stallion spotted his owner, he grew so restless that the she-elf had to let go of him whereupon the animal trotted to Legolas on his own, only slowly due to his serious sickness but never stopping. He would still be feeling the effects of a long time spent in a cold-moist cave for some time to come, but given that no one had expected Arod to ever leave that place again at all, he seemed surprisingly chipper. After following Legolas into two battles in the war, it was clear he hadn't been too impressed by this last catastrophe either. Amicably rubbing his head against his owner's arm, he snorted at him.

It was exactly because of that mutual fondness though, that Legolas wasn't ready though to expose the animal to any further danger. "Send a message to Rohan." After a brief kiss to Arod's nose, he thrust the rope attached to his headcollar into Tarisilya's hand. "I've been using him for my quests for far too long as it is. He's not mine."

It was Arod himself who commented on this plan by starting to prance in place restlessly, now trying to break loose from Tarisilya as well.

"I will gladly write to His Majesty Éomer and ask him what he thinks. But don't you think, Arod has long made up his mind? Until we meet next, he'll be doing well enough again for him to follow you to Cair Andros. Don't deny him his wish."

Tarisilya hugged Legolas for a few long seconds after he'd given in at last. When it came to her own husband, she had been having little patience with following the etiquette in public lately. "Take care of yourself." She kept her voice so quiet that the others wouldn't hear her warning, knowing how much this subject was bothering Legolas, that he had good reasons for never talking about it. But after what she had seen at Cair Andros, she couldn't let him do that anymore. "Do you think I haven't noticed that your eyes are giving you trouble again? If it gets worse, write to me, then I'll be with you in a few hours."

"It was just the exhaustion on that day, Ilya." His expression became withdrawn immediately. "Nothing is wrong with my eyesight."

"And here was thinking, you'd finally stopped lying to yourself last night. Just keep it in mind. I don't want to have to fear for you yet again." She rested her forehead against his with a sigh and caressed his temples fleetingly. Once more, she tried in vain to find what it was that was still causing such bad problems, even two decades later, that she wasn't able to heal it, before stepping back reluctantly.

This wouldn't turn into another of these long separations; after all, she could visit Legolas anytime. If Aragorn wouldn't be willing to provide her with an escort, Faramir would surely be happy to. That just didn't make farewells easier, especially if they had to happen in such a way, still far too impersonal for her taste.

Legolas solved that in his own way, pulling her close again to kiss her for many long seconds, in front of everyone, until she forgot time completely and would probably only have let go of him once the sun had gone down if it hadn't been for the sound of quickly approaching horses announcing some soldiers' presence.

Only when Tarisilya spotted the two men in dark grey, she remembered that more people had been sent out last night when everything had actually been over already. Only it wasn't over at all; they were all shocked to realize it within split seconds when one of the soldiers stopped close to the elves and silently handed Tarisilya a long, black robe. The situation reminded her so much of what had happened at Cair Andros that her hands started to shake violently at once.

Legolas had to spread the thickly rolled-up fabric for her, on the yard's bright marble slaps, revealing the symbol of the Stewardaides that had been cut into it, obviously in agitation and rough-shaped yet easy to recognize by the characteristic burning crown. Just like that, the impression that the situation had been solved at least a bit, vanished.

"I do not believe in a kidnapping." Legolas tried to calm the group down after they had searched the piece of clothing for other traces. "There's no blood."

"But there's this." Tarisilya opened her fist to show him the narrow silver ring in it, sporting a star-shaped black opal with a tiny sapphire in its center. "It was in the inside pocket. Erestor has only been wearing it for a few centuries, but it's an heirloom. Back then when he had dug it out for the first time in Ages, he wanted …"

She paused for a short look at Legolas but couldn't stand the uncomprehending way he was staring at her. Did that really have to happen now of all times, when things had just been so beautiful between them? And this time, it was her fault alone. She should long have told him.

"He wanted me to wear it. I'm one of the people he's told where he wanted to go; I guess there's something else now that he wants me to know."

"There are still many Stewardaides on the loose in North Ithilien," Camhanar threw in because Legolas was eying Tarisilya as if she'd just turned into Sauron. "He probably wants to hunt them on his own to learn more about their plans."

"But that makes no sense." Tarisilya began to pace up and down, with a heavy heart. She had to deal with Legolas' angry reaction later. Right now, this was about the well-being of someone who had already been causing her a headache for a while. And no matter how much she would have loved to deny that … She had started to care about that somebody again.

"While His Majesty and he might have been friends in the past, he does no longer have any close connections to either Gondor or Ithilien. He's only come here at all because Lord Elrond asked him to, didn't he? And he's been critical towards our settlement from the start. He's never been that interested in other people."

"You're being unfair to him," Camhanar objected immediately.

"With all due respect: You have seen a very distorted image of him back then. Which, admittedly, he doesn't make it very difficult. But if you know him a little, there is no doubt that his mission has always been the protection of life in any way he could possibly fight for it. That his strength is mostly in the mind and that his counsel for the Lord has protected the valley from harm more than once, you should be aware of. And if they'd had let him, he would have made a lot more contributions to the army as well. Apparently, he's now trying to make Ithilien safer for us elves instead. The last quest for the ones still lingering here before he leaves this world together with the others. Thereby, he's openly defying Lord Elrond's order to stay by His Majesty's side. Maybe that's also his way to apologize for all your fights. It's time to turn to the present at last and leave the past behind."

"Our cue." Legolas signaled the others to get on their horses. He himself accepted, with a grateful nod, the animal from one of the soldiers that would at least help him through the first few days of the further journey. "If they stay in North Ithilien, we will run into Lord Erestor sooner or later; then he can explain his actions himself."

He was probably talking about all actions, given how Legolas rode past Tarisilya without addressing her again as if last night had never happened.

Tarisilya stayed behind with her head lowered and her shoulders slumped.

Sitting through a meeting with the necessary composure when you were injured was hard enough. Usually, Aragorn could at least expect a minimum of respect though if he let his soldiers tell someone that the King wanted to see them for a personal discussion before they passed the city gates.

Pushing past his personal guards, pushing his way into Aragorn's living chambers without a warning, and stopping in front of him with crossed arms, that was something he'd maybe have expected from a simple farmer who wanted to declare his discontent about some nuisances, but surely not from a King's son.

It reminded Aragorn strikingly of his first stays in Eryn Lasgalen – when it had still been called Mirkwood –, and King Thranduil giving him similar welcomes. Only that he was the one holding the role of the leader this time and that in the past, Legolas had used to stand by him in such situations. He probably wouldn't be able to count on such support in the foreseeable future.

"If you have something to say to me, you know where to send letters to. In a situation like this, there's no need to call me away from my people and upset them even more." Legolas didn't seem to mind that both Faramir and Verilas were in the room.

The aggression from yesterday had been increased by something else. Something not directed at Aragorn though, given how Legolas' eyes flickered to the window again and again as if he was looking for someone in the courtyard. With his hair tied back like that, Aragorn got a good view of unhealthy dark circles under Legolas' eyes; that both his warrior braids and the cloak from Lórien ruined at Cair Andros were missing, was creating even more distance between the two Companions. Which made it harder and harder for Aragorn to remember their friendship.

"Is it not bad enough that four of us were harmed that badly already? If His Majesty allows, I would like to take care at least of the rest of them before somebody else falls victim to Gondor's enemies."

"Given the way you're coming to see me, I wonder if I have to fear another enemy right now." Aragorn had been waiting next to a bookshelf; now he strode to one of the room's heavy chairs, massaging his hurting shoulder. There was a reason he hadn't welcomed Legolas in the throne room, but with his first provocations, the elf already made Aragorn regret his leniency.

In a truly official setting, Legolas would have needed to follow the etiquette which would have included kneeling before the King, among other things. That his friend would never have done that right now was clear, and Aragorn granted him that pride. It would have driven another wedge between them if guards and servants would have witnessed Legolas refusing to show any humility towards the King.

No one but good acquaintances was allowed to enter Aragorn's personal chambers. The compromise might feel like a little peace offering, and what counted most: In here, Aragorn could tell Legolas without an audience what he needed to hear. And his substitute and the first advisor were functioning as the necessary witnesses for the conversation.

"This is something I did not want to tell you in front of your people. That's the only reason I wanted to see you alone." Aragorn offered Legolas the chair opposite him but was entirely ignored which he took as a sign that he could drop every kindness as well. It didn't matter at all anyway how he would explain his actions. If Legolas would be ready to listen one day, he would hopefully get it all by himself.

"I guess you have an idea what this is about, don't you?"

"Why don't we cut this short?" With his arms still crossed, Legolas leaned against the window, robbing the room of a big part of its light probably on purpose, which made it hard to read his expression.

"If you are of the opinion, our problems will dissolve into thin air once you don't have to see them anymore, I won't be in the way."

Aragorn had to suppress the urge to beat his hand down on the table noisily. "By the Valar, Legolas! Wake up, damnit!"

Though it cost him much of the strength that was only just slowly coming back to him, he started wandering the room again. "You have yelled across the yard of my residence that you don't care what your vengeance will cost you! What kind of King would allow anyone to tell him to his face that they're going to ignore their order? I could already have had you locked up after our last conversation. That I can understand your pain doesn't change the fact that someone else wouldn't have left that yard as a free person yesterday! People rely on my strength, now more than ever. In the streets, no one is trusting their neighbor right now. Do you have the slightest idea what the deeds of someone with your rank can trigger in a situation like that? It seems that you need some more time to understand that. It pains me to do this but as long as you do not take back your words, you will not enter Minas Tirith again. Your people are of course welcome to stay at Cair Andros, but you yourself are not welcome in the White City until you stop directing your anger against it."

Since Aragorn had expected another snappy comment, he was positively surprised – if one wanted to try and see anything good in all this at all. Legolas left the room without another word, without even looking at him once.

"Do you want the guards to escort him outside?" Faramir asked cautiously. "For both your safety, Aragorn."

"He will go without a fuss. If there's one skill the family Oropherion has mastered, it's dignified exits." Aragorn dropped back onto his chair, with his eyes closed and his mind feeling so heavy as if someone had stabbed him with another poisoned dagger, this time in his heart.

"Besides he might be blinded by hate but he's still my friend. It's not me he wants to raise his hand against. I didn't do this in here to have him dragged out of the city demonstratively then, making sure that every single gossipy woman and every curious child can see."

"As you wish."

While Verilas left the room on Aragorn's nod, Faramir hesitated for a moment, visibly unsure if it was wise to review yet another crisis right away. "We need to talk." Those were, ironically, the same words that he had used to welcome Aragorn after his journey to the west, before telling him about the unrest in Gondor. And this time, things were without a doubt even more complicated.

Aragorn who was still hoping for the storm of painful thoughts in his head to calm down forced a tortured smirk on his lips. "I can only promise that I'll try to listen right now. Not sure about the finding a solution part."

With some effort, he straightened up and fondled the bandage under his tunic to see if it was time to change it. The numbing effect of the ointments started to lose effect. "I know that the needs of the realm can't wait, but even a King is only a man. So I hope you will at least be patient if I'm not being the best discussion partner right now."

"I'm not here to discuss anything but to apologize." By taking the opposite seat, Faramir, unlike Legolas, took the offer of talking at eye level. But then he lowered his face into his hands as he finally was alone with the only one he had to answer to.

"The Dead Marshes Escalation are the result of events from the past that you need to know about. And I want you to hear it from me before word spreads at the court. At the time when fear for his realm and grief destroyed my father, you didn't know him, Aragorn. So I can't ask you to understand that even my loyalty and my love for him were suffocated by his madness in the end. There were seven of us. Now there's only Barhit and me. But that will be enough for him to let everyone know that the Steward of Gondor was once ready to overthrow the leader of this country if he'd been forced to. I don't know what Barhit plans next or what makes him think he can succeed, but he has another weapon to weaken the peace. I can't and I won't say, none of that is my fault."

"I'd be surprised if you tried." Aragorn stared at his opposite sternly, still trying to process what he'd heard. "What do you want me to say now? This is guilt I cannot free you from. You don't need me to tell you that you made mistakes both in the past and a few days ago, thereby sending persons to their doom who were under my realm's protection. You're the one suffering from that most. That you made decisions outside your authority, that's something we can deal with when neither of us will be so busy dealing with their pain and we won't say anything rash anymore."

He cut off Faramir's objection by raising his hand weakly. "No, I've just had more than enough of that. Next time. As for the Stewardaides … I can only imagine how difficult it must have been, planning treason against your own father. Denethor was a man of extremes in the end who did surely not leave you any other choice than to react just as extreme."

A sigh dripping with disappointment followed. "But why have I not heard about this before? You must long have known about the threat this man poses. Months have passed since Arwen's kidnapping. Confessing your sins just a few moments before they'll be possibly revealed doesn't exactly support one's credibility. We could probably not have prevented the scandal, but I usually prefer being prepared. So far, my trust in you was fully given, but how do you feel about me? Just like I need to be able to rely on every advisor and my second in command, they shall do the same. That's what this government was founded on."

Faramir got up and braced himself on the chair's backrest with both hands, his back tense. "I'm not even sure I'm the right man for this government. I'm not a politician. You expect too much, Aragorn; that's the only reason, I'm not always sure I can approach you with everything. Maybe you should reconsider your decision back then. After what my father has done, you could long just have released my family from its official duty; we both know that."

"My decision?" Aragorn scooted forward and opened his wide tunic to unfasten the bandage, ignoring Faramir's questioning look. The wound was burning so badly now that he couldn't ignore it any longer. He had to make sure it hadn't become infected yet again.

"All I ever expected from you was doing your job, and so far, you have. It wasn't me who brought this fate on you. It wasn't me who sent Boromir to Imladris or shot the arrows piercing his body. No one can free you from your destiny. But you can stop running from it. It was your father who made you believe that you cannot handle a life like this; of that, I am aware. But it's also quite easy to use such words as an excuse if you need one. The realm needs someone, in case something happens to the King. And whom should I have appointed Steward? Who could replace a proud line like yours after all these centuries, in the eyes of the people? Tell me! Maybe I will indeed start to doubt my judgment then."

It took Faramir many long moments before he managed to show a reaction to the blunt speech. Moments that in his usual calm manner, he used to eat up what Aragorn was trying to tell him.

Still, his answer was sobering; it made Aragorn truly see, for the first time, how much the last few years and especially the War of the Ring had damaged a man that Mithrandir had always talked with such confidence about.

"Then I guess, all has been said and done between His Majesty and his substitute. Just one more thing: If you don't want to risk the relationship with your Steward, you never talk about my brother in my presence again. I just don't want my failures to be the reason that we lose any more people to this catastrophe, that's all. I've been to the Stewardaides' base. I saw real worry about the future in their eyes. What these rebels did is inexcusable, and whatever you plan, you have my full support. But for my taste, their words are being met with a little too much acceptance from the people. We finally have to do something. That's what I think though it's probably not what you wanted to hear right now."

"You mean, doing something like negotiating with the enemy and making concessions to them without consulting your King first?" That was a reproach now that Aragorn had no choice but to comment on after all.

"That is what has cost innocents their lives, and now we're at the edge of a new feud between Men and Elves. Do you think people will be listening less to parchments and whispers now? At least they're standing behind me again, but you know why? They fear Legolas' hate. From now on, if they gather, it will be to complain about Firstborn. Maybe I didn't act at the right time as I have not understood the whole extent of the danger yet. Or maybe I even made some wrong decisions. Even leaders aren't safe from that. But your way certainly didn't help. If you have other ideas that my advisors and I haven't thought of in the last few months, spill it."

"I will think about it and ask for an audience when next I should feel like having such a conversation. His Majesty may excuse his Steward now." It was one of the rare instances that Faramir said farewell to Aragorn with a bow outside the throne room.

It wasn't long before the message reached Aragorn that Faramir and his wife had left to go back to Emyn Arnen.

"So is this how it's going to be now? You're once more just avoiding every conflict?" Given the hurry Legolas was in, it wasn't easy to actually catch up with him. Tarisilya only managed to confront him on the sixth level, staring at Legolas in challenge ever until he stopped the horse he had borrowed.

"You better tell me now, before I have to start putting up with what people in the streets are saying about you or with watching Aragorn suffer because of you. Because if you don't care about how things are between us anyway, it's me who will gladly choose the deserted woods of Lórien over that."

"You had twenty years to tell me, Ilya." Although it must have been clear to everyone why Legolas had been called back to the Citadel, it was easy to see how much it hurt him that a once so unwavering friendship had been damaged so badly. Judging by how heavily he was slumping in the saddle, it didn't look like he even had the strength for the next journey right now, and certainly none for another argument.

This, Tarisilya could understand; but he had left her alone once too often in the past, for him to go with a grudge again after such a promising night. "At least let me explain. If there had been anything noteworthy to tell you, I would have."

"Obviously not." Legolas harshly shook off her hand on his arm. "This is about trust, Ilya, and about honesty. I always defended him, even back then when his ignorance almost got Aragorn and me killed. I was always of the opinion, that argument between you came from your different views. Now you're telling me that you have opened your heart to the elf you hate like no other of all people, although you always claimed, I was the only one in your life. What am I supposed to think about that?"

"You were the only one, I just told you … Legolas, please get down from that horse. I hate it, having to look up to you when we talk about something like that." Tarisilya tried in vain to stay as calm as she would need to be if she wanted to explain to her husband what had happened in Imladris back then.

"There's no time. In case you haven't heard yet: I'm no longer wanted around here." It was the second time since yesterday that Legolas ignored how badly she was feeling – because of him –, that he just turned away and carried on. Tarisilya could almost believe, he'd just declared everything between them invalid. That after all the trouble they'd gone through, he suddenly wanted to give up on them after all.

Though she knew that his behavior came from the last days' events, it hurt that he didn't even want to listen to her. Until they next met, she would have to live with the memory of his deeply hurt expression aimed at her.

She actually should now have gone to see Aragorn next, to finally tell him about this thing with Erestor so that he could notify Imladris. And to check on his shoulder. Never could it happen again – as it had with King Éomer and that little boy who had died – that she forgot how much her gift had suffered since Rohan. That ever since then, she wasn't allowed to let a patient out of her sight too quickly.

But she only made it as far as Tercelborne's stall before she had to brace herself on the door in tears.

"Your Highness?"

A little girl's shy voice helped her regain her composure; she quickly wiped her face. No matter how little she liked it, it was her now who held the role of the remaining elf in the city. If she didn't want to make the situation even worse, she had to keep on playing the part of the friendly, helpful healer, even at times when she wasn't in any mood at all to deal with admirers.

"What is it, little one?" Her attempt at a smile failed when she recognized Ninis, the younger sister of the very same boy that had fallen victim to the Stewardaides' fire attack back then. Though Ninor's parents had never blamed Tarisilya openly for not being able to save their son, they didn't greet her when they met on the streets, and his father had given up his work in the stables.

"You shouldn't be here."

"Mother and father said, you helped Ninor when he was very sick. I heard that you feel sad." The girl shuffled her feet in the hay in embarrassment, visibly intimidated by the tall, elegant appearance of a she-elf. "I was very sad too when Ninor died. Father gave me a cat. It's helped me very much. It just had kittens." Ninis lifted her coarse wool pullover, getting a pitifully mewling, wriggling little something out from under it and holding it out to Tarisilya. "I'm giving one of them to you. Maybe you'll feel better then."

"That's really nice, but …" Completely taken by surprise, Tarisilya stared at the snow-white cat. "I don't have time for a pet. It wouldn't have a good life with me." It wasn't just the gesture of affection that she had not expected.

Though she found it slightly strange that an animal was seriously supposed to make up for the loss that the little one had suffered … Apparently, it had indeed helped. With a sad smile, this child had left behind a tragedy that would have plunged an elf into grief for centuries, maybe for millennia, depending on if and when they would have been allowed to see their lost relatives again in the west. No matter how short mannish lifespans were, and although Secondborn were not burdened with the eternity of memory: At this moment, Tarisilya really understood for the first time how much the comparatively small mind of such a being could bear. Maybe even more than many elves could.

"It's a she. I'm sure you'll take good care of her." With pleading eyes, the girl thrust the animal into her hands. "Her mother doesn't want her. Her siblings scratched and bit her. Father said we have to drown her. I don't want her to die."

"Ninis! Where are you?" The annoyed voice of Ninor's mother from outside the stable door had them both startle.

"I have to go. Please, take care of her …" The girl didn't even wait for another answer but started to run, just leaving Tarisilya standing there before she could protest again.

"Oh, great." Sighing, Tarisilya pressed the animal to her chest.

It couldn't be older than a few weeks. Half of one of its ears had been torn off, probably by those oh so lovely siblings. Its nose was bloody, its fur dull, its body much too thin.

If she didn't want the kitten to die immediately, she had to take care of it at least. Afterward, there was surely someone to be found at the court who wanted to have it. "We'll need something for you to eat first, or no one will take you in, and you really have to live with me."

Her deep voice made the animal calm down, nuzzle against her chest, half-hidden under her dress. Then it started to scream again though, this time in fear because a bark echoed through the stable.

Arwen's dog had noticed the arrival of the newest court member and voiced a protest against it. The black and white spotted animal stopped in front of Tarisilya with raised hackles, not even hearing her voice that tried to call him down over his own.

Rolling her eyes, Tarisilya hurried to the Citadel to arrange what was necessary and especially to get rid of the dog that followed her with his muzzle raised, scenting and yapping ceaselessly.