Okay, so I'm going to change things up a bit. I'm going to make the timeline different, in that the dwarves have already had their skirmish with the goblin tunnels and Bilbo already has the Ring. It will come in handy later!
After trying to help Fili comfort Kili, Alasse had grown tired and curled in her father's lap to sleep. Thranduil sighed and held her closely. Yes, he was chained to the wall but at least he was able to move around a little. How had they even gotten into this mess? And with two mysterious dwarves? And who the heck were these guys that had captured them? There was something too convenient about this. And it was dark in here save for the two torches, and their were no windows so no one could tell for sure what time of day or night it was, save for their bodies' normal waking, eating, and sleeping habits.
Fili continued to hold his brother in his lap, constantly checking his forehead for increase in fever as Kili coughed in his sleep. If only they could have more water! Kili would surely die in this place from his serious lung condition if something wasn't done soon.
Thranduil tried to ignore the little men in the 'prison' with him and forget they were there. But, his eyes kept drifting back to the two lads. As magnificent as Fili looked with that determination branded in his eyes, he and his brother truly appeared like two young, lost, frightened children who were clinging to each other in order to survive. The older one fiercely protective of his little brother and the younger one looking up to him for it, as if it was their only hope. As much as Thranduil was loathed to admit it, he could not help but respect the devotion Fili had for his sibling, in such hopeless circumstances.
Thranduil looked back down at his little girl. His veins burned with rage to think anyone would ever want to harm her! He'd kill them first! His sweet little princess. He'd swore on his life that he would protect her and Legolas with all that he was and he had tried to show it ever since his beloved wife, his beautiful Calathiel died. "I will get you out of this, my love." He whispered.
Legolas had banished all offers of sleep. Glorfindel had slowly and painfully told them all that had happened. The entire place of Rivendell was in an uproar over this abduction. The absolute worst part about all this, was that there was nothing anyone could do...except wait!
Little Estel had begged and begged Elrond to send out search parties, but the elf lord grievously told his son that that would only make worse trouble. Estel vehemently promised Legolas that he would help him hurt those guys if they hurt Alasse.
Legolas was perched on one of the many balconies, painfully gazing out over the peaceful valley that brought him little to no comfort tonight. Thranduil and Alasse were all he had left of his family. What if he never saw them again?
"Your father is as strong-willed as the most hard-headed dwarf." Elrond spoke softly, walking up behind him. "He will not let any harm come to your sister."
"Unless he has been disabled to do so." Legolas muttered. "If they were able to take down Glorfindel...I hate to think..."
"We all feel the same, Legolas." Elrond stood closely to the elfling. "But you must not give up hope. Not until we hear different."
"Poor Alasse. She must be so frightened!" Legolas shuddered tearfully, angered that his little sister was in great trouble and he wasn't there to protect her from it.
"AI." Elrond nodded. "But she is not alone, penneth."
"You don't know that for sure."
"You are right. I do not." Elrond sighed heavily, rubbing the prince's shoulders. Legolas leaned back and rested his head on the healer's chest, weeping softly. It felt good to be held and warmly embraced with loving hands.
"I can't lose them!" He cried.
"No, young one." Elrond agreed. "No." Elrond looked out over his home, praying that Thranduil and Alasse would be alright and find their way back. He cursed the scumbags who had done this. He'd known Legolas for centuries. The young elf had already dealt with so much loss, his grandfather Oropher, Thranduil's dragon-fire scars, and worst of all, the murder of his mother. Elrond only hoped to the Valar and back that he would not have to be put through more grief.
Thranduil and Fili were not sure exactly what time it was, but they guessed it must be going on morning. The door to their small prison chamber was opened. In walked seven hooded figures, cackling and bearing torches. Alasse instantly woke up and clung to Thranduil. "A-Ada?" She whimpered.
"Stay quiet, iel nin. Get behind me." Thranduil quietly urged her. Alasse crouched on the floor under her father's cape, in the shadows.
"Well now, how are our visitors doing, huh?" One of them chortled. Thranduil said nothing.
"Worse after seeing you!" Fili growled.
"Touchy, huh? Well, that's gratitude for you, eh, boys?" The evasive man sneered, before dropping a bucket of only a quarter of water onto the floor in front of the dwarves. Fili glared at them, but quickly gripped the lip of the bucket, dragging it closer to himself and Kili. He took out his handkerchief, wet it and dabbed Kili's head. Kili startled at the touch and wearily blinked his eyes open. He shivered and looked up worriedly at Fili. "Still sick, is he? Stupid dwarf."
"He wouldn't be sick in the first place, if you had a shred of decency in you!"
"You will keep your lips shut, if you know what's good for him, prince." One of the hoodlums leered closely to Fili's face, long, dark hair hanging from his hood.
Prince? Thranduil's ears perked up distractedly. So that's why they've captured the two short folk! They are being held for ransom just as we are. Thranduil sighed. This new revelation answered a lot of questions. But...not all. "Who are you?" He demanded.
"Oh, you'd be surprised." The first man grinned. All the fugitives parted ways as the tallest figure smoothly entered, wearing a black cape. He stood directly in front of Thranduil and removed his hood.
"It can't be." Thranduil whispered in astonishment.
"Ahh, so you do recognize me, almighty King Thranduil?" The elf taunted.
"Devlin (fierce)...you...you were banished, for robbing the royal armory, and taking up arms against a defenseless village of humans without my consent." Thranduil grunted.
"I wanted to start my own kingdom is all." Devlin said casually. "Some of those said humans agreed with me." He turned toward the other hooded people who removed their hoods. Three humans! "Griffin, Donovan, and Master Malcolm," Devlin said dramatically, "allow me to introduce you to King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm!"
"Oh, hail, mighty king!" The three men and other elves bowed scornfully.
"Ahh, yes, and this is Bryceson (quick-moving) Ciaran (dark-haired), Alvin (light-skinned)...ahhh yes, and Rajiv (striped). You remember them, do you not?"
"You needn't tell me their names. I know who they are." Thranduil pursed his lips.
"And have you forgotten how you humiliated them and sent them away, from their only home?" Devlin continued. Thranduil did remember. It had happened 5 centuries ago before Legolas was even born. Devlin had been a rebel elf and had indeed taken up arms, his king's arms against a poor village of humans unprovoked. "To demonstrate the power of the Wood elves" he'd said. Devlin had never been able to take in stride the outside criticism from others of the Wood elves being wild and uncivilized. But he'd taken matters into his own hands.
"No less than they deserved." Thranduil said firmly.
"So you admit it!" Devlin smirked. "You banished them for no more reason than your own convenience."
"I admit nothing to the lies of that statement." Thranduil glared. Fili listened intently, all at the same time encouraging Kili to drink some water. "Two of them went along with your hair-brained, deadly scheme. Yes, I'm speaking of you, Rajiv and Alvin! You attacked men, unprovoked and brought their people to me as prisoners when I did not order you to do so! Your excuses were purely for your own self-interest and not for the common good. So, yes, I banished you! And you, Bryceson and Ciaran," Thranduil narrowed his eyes, "cowards! You turned tails and fled while guarding the child I assigned you to protect(he didn't mention that that child had been Legolas! He didn't want to give them any more leverage than they already had)!"
"We merely fled to summon help, Your Majesty." Bryceson retorted.
"Oh, yes." Thranduil smirked sourly, laying it on thick. "To get help for yourselves. You did not bring the child with you nor did you defend him when the attack of the spiders came! He was nearly killed! If Captain Suiadan had not already been nearby and arrived when he did, the elfling would've surely perished on his own. And where were you when he was brought back to his family? Hiding! Hiding in the wine cellars like the spineless pair you are! You shirked your sworn duty and endangered an innocent life, a crime unforgivable in my realm...as is this!"
"Fancy speech." Devlin nodded. "Eloquent and melodramatic, yes. I can have expected no less. You see? You see, my good men, and little dwarves? This king, this king refuses to admit his wrong-doing! We are exiles, homeless, starving, without a proper place of refuge to return to that we can call home."
"He...he...wasn't wrong." Kili panted.
"What? What was that?" Rajiv snarled, lurking over the sick dwarf. Thranduil gaped, speechless. Was that mangy little hunk actually defending him? Speaking up on his behalf? Rajiv was not the only one taken aback by Kili's speaking.
"You...betrayed h-him. Y-you broke his tr-trust." Kili continued, coughing. "A child is pr-priceless, and sh-should be protec-tected at all c-c-costs." Kili trembled as the chills shook his body.
"What would you know about it, scruffy?" The man named Donovan mocked. "You are not of age yet, and not the first heir to the throne of Durin. Look at you, you little scum. Why, he can't even grow a proper beard!" The men and elves howled with laughter.
Heirs of Durin! Thranduil nearly choked. Thorin Oakenshield! These two fleabags are his sons? Never in his millennia could Thranduil had ever imagined to find himself in a more ironic situation! He'd never heard of Thorin Oakenshield bearing sons. Of course, he hadn't followed up much at all on the dwarf king for that matter. But this was astonishing to say the least! That is why he was so blatantly verbal with me about the stubborn dwarf king. Thrain's son is his father, and the prince was defending his name. Well, that's not MY problem. But, wait! If that blonde dwarf knows who I am, and how the attack of Smaug went down, then why in Arda's name has he not confronted me about it? Why did he promise to give me back the necklace?
"And, as far as being starving, homeless exiles goes," Fili added icily, "you appear to be in more than good health to me."
"You are a disgrace, the whole lot of you!" Thranduil bellowed at their captors. "A disgrace to your races, and what they stand for."
"We are, huh?" Griffin chuckled. "Devlin here tells us that you have a personal fondness for dead dwarves." Thranduil was cut off guard. The other elves smiled evilly at him.
"Vicious rumor, not true." He tried to shrug it off. He could feel Alasse trembling underneath his cape, behind his back. His pointy ears suddenly burned with shame at what he prayed she wouldn't hear! But as was the case, luck was not on his side right now.
"Wasn't it you, who marched to Erebor when Smaug attacked and took over the mountain?" Ciaran sneered. "And you did nothing?"
"Didn't Thorin Oakenshield call out to your for help? And what did you do, hmm? What did you do about it?" Devlin bent closely in his face. Thranduil bit his tongue hard, his face heating up. But he said nothing.
"Answer, you coward!" Rajiv slapped him across the cheek. Thranduil kept his eyes to the floor. Fili and Kili were quietly watching the scene unfold and Thranduil could feel their hurt stares on him.
"What I did was to protect my men." Thranduil said quickly.
"So nothing. You did nothing, didn't you?" Rajiv gleamed. "You did nothing to help the dwarves, but you turned your back on a people under attack, defenseless, dying! Women, and children even! And you did nothing, isn't that right?" Thranduil winced. Even then at the time that he'd arrogantly let the dwarves perish without a second thought, he should've known that eventually, someday, it would come back to bite him! He had made a serious mistake. He hadn't seen it as worth it to risk his men for the blood of greedy dwarves. But now, he realized that what he had done was no better than the crime he'd banished Devlin for! What hurt more than anything, was that Alasse, his little daughter, more than likely was hearing every word thrown at him in accusation! Thranduil's stomach churned.
"What did you do, to help the kin of this measly prince who just spoke up on your behalf?" Donovan crossed his arms. "What did you do to help their forefathers, women and children when the great dragon came?"
"What did you do?" Devlin leaned in closer. Thranduil stared at the floor, shamefully.
"Nothing." He mumbled.
"Eh? What was that?" Malcolm taunted him.
"Nothing! I did nothing!" Thranduil blurted out. The rogue elves and men jeered. Thranduil couldn't meet Fili and Kili in the eyes. But if he had, he would've seen that their expressions contained no surprise at all. They'd known what he had done, and despite that, Fili had promised to try to restore to him his wife's necklace! Why? Why would he do that? Could he be that the young dwarf possessed in his body and soul more honor than his great-grandfather, or even Thranduil himself?
"Exactly! Nothing!" Rajiv clapped his hands.
"And you passed judgement on me for going in without permission." Devlin said smugly. "You beautiful hypocrite! Did you really think you could walk all over other people without retaliation?" Thranduil remained silent. "You did, didn't you?" Devlin threw back his head and howled.
"You are no king!" Fili interjected. "My great-grandfather did not keep his end of the bargain in a dispute over broken word. King Thranduil probably saw no reason to defend us, after what our kind paid him. But, not all of our kind are as greed-sickened as some may think." Fili said slowly and deliberately, angrily meeting Thranduil's eyes. How could the dwarf still stick up for him after what he'd confessed to? But, he could see in those blue eyes the betrayal Fili obviously did feel toward him for what he'd done to Thorin's people. He'd never believed it would happen, but the silent accusation in the prince's eyes cut him deeply.
"Ever the weak, forgiving one, aren't you? Dwarf scum." Rajiv kicked Kili in the side. The sick man jolted and Fili clutched him closer.
"It's time to pay up. You owe us, for passing judgement for crimes you yourself nearly committed." Devlin said smoothly to Thranduil. "What kind of king does that, huh?"
"Yeah! He is a rotten king." Malcolm agreed.
"No, no, no!" A little voice protested. Thranduil's heart sank. He wished Alasse would shut up! He would take whatever punishment they inflicted on him, if only it would protect her from harm. "You can't say that!" Alasse hollered as she peeked out from around his cape. "Ada is a good king! He made a bad, bad mistake. So did King Thrain. They made really terrible mistakes."
"Mistakes that cost." Malcolm said calmly.
"What are you going to do?" Alasse asked worriedly. "Please don't hurt my Ada. Don't hurt him!"
"Relax, little one. We're not going to hurt him." Rajiv chuckled.
"You won't?" Alasse asked hopefully. Thranduil winced hard at her innocence.
"We're just gonna play with him is all." Devlin laughed derisively. With that, he punched Thranduil in the face.
"Ada!" Alasse screamed in horror.
"It's...it's alright...Alasse..." Thranduil slurred, his lip bleeding badly.
"Stop this!" Fili yelled.
"How d-dare you!" Kili growled in disgust, starting to wheeze. He had no reason to respect or like the Elven king when he looked down the dwarves with contempt and disgust. But Kili was appalled that these b-s would torture the guy, in front of his own child. That was unacceptable!
"Where the others, King Thranduil? The rest of your miserable kind? Your family, huh?" Donovan asked darkly. All of these men and elves had capable fists clenched, just waiting for the opportunity to slug him again.
"I have no other..." Thranduil tried to say.
"You have a daughter. So you must have other family, and friends, and guards. If they care so much about you, where are they now?" Bryceson added.
"I will tell you nothing." Thranduil glowered at them. He'd suffered much worse than a mere punch to the face before!
"Have it your way then, coward." Devlin smiled triumphantly. That was just what he wanted to hear. He kicked Thranduil in the ribs. Thranduil stiffened but refused to cry out. But his little princess saw the pain on his face.
"Had enough yet, you spineless coward?" Donovan smirked. "We're just getting started." Thranduil gritted his teeth hard, preparing to endure the beating he knew was to come. Sure enough, two more kicks and punches left him dazed.
"Stop it! Oh, please stop!" Alasse cried out, running up to pull the men off her daddy. They merely brushed her aside.
"What? You worried about your daddy?" Malcolm shook his head. "Look at him. Look at how weak and pathetic he is."
"No, no, no!" Alasse covered her ears.
"Out of our way, brat, before we shut you up." Rajiv tossed her back across the room.
"Alasse! T-take this!" Kili weakly whispered to her, struggling to push the bucket of water her way. She snatched the heavy bucket, and dragging it behind her, she threw it across the floor, spilling water and splashing the men. They halted and gaped at her.
"Feisty, aren't you?" Rajiv laughed.
"You are very bad men!" Alasse glared. "And you're gonna get in big trouble!"
"Alasse...stop...please!" Thranduil begged her hoarsely.
"My big brother will find you, and then he'll arrest you. He's a prince, and you'll all be thrown in the dungeons because that's what you deserve!" Alasse yelled up at the tall, intimidating figures. Thranduil gasped. No! That was the last thing he'd wanted her to say!
"Brother, huh?" Devlin curled an evil smile.
"Don't listen to her!" Thranduil exclaimed. "She gets so lonely, she makes up imaginary playmates."
"Oh, we all know better than that, don't we, boys?" Donovan snarled. Thranduil went pale. This was a nightmare and he couldn't wake up from it!
"Run, Alasse! Run!" Fili urged her quietly. Alasse could see the big men beginning to surround her. She fled for the open door, but Bryceson blocked her.
"Let me out!" She barked frightfully.
"Just where do you think you're going, you little prissy brat?" He asked her.
"You'd miss out on all the fun." Malcolm added dramatically. Alasse tried to scramble under the elf's legs, but he grabbed her by the collar.
"NO! Don't hurt her! Do anything you want to me, but please don't hurt my daughter!" Thranduil begged. He knew he sounded pitiful, but this was little girl at stake!
"Put her down, you sons of an Orc!" Kili hoarsely demanded and then a harsh coughing fit wracked him. Alasse kicked Bryceson on the chin, and he dropped her. She tried again to rush out the door, but Malcolm yanked her by the foot and dragged Alasse across the floor. Fili attempted to throw himself into the man and back him away from the elf girl, but his chains prevented him. Kili, however, was more fortunate and stretching out, the man stumbled on his face tripping over Kili's legs. Kili smiled in triumph then weakly snatched a nearby tumbler and started to wham the guy across the head. But the man grabbed his arm first and knocked Kili out.
Fili cursed colorfully in dwarfish. Alasse ran to every corner of the room, trying to get away from the evil men as they tried to catch her. There was only one place of refuge in here she knew of that would always protect her: her father! She ran to Thranduil and clung to him for dear life. "Ada..." She whimpered. He clutched her tightly to his chest. The men came near and Thranduil attempted to kick out at them but his legs were held down from those blasted chains. He'd only succeeded in sliding himself onto his back with the meager space he had to move at all, and his injured ribs screamed at him for the rough treatment.
"Take her away." Devlin said casually. Alasse clung to Thranduil with all that she was.
"DON'T TOUCH HER..." Thranduil warned them with a menacing look so deadly that in any other case, they would've frozen in defeat. But for once, the Elven king was on his back, chained, and injured. There was only one of him and several of them. Gathering around the royals like a hoard of vultures, they managed to pry Alasse's small hands away from him. "NO! Put her down!" Thranduil demanded with as much force as he could muster. His body burned with rage, but his eyes betrayed his emotions of terror.
"Say bye-bye to your daddy, princess." Griffin said.
"You won't be seeing him again." Alvin added.
"No! Ada! Ada!" Alasse screeched reaching out for him.
"LET HER GO!" Fili hollered, outraged.
"Oh, don't worry, my king." Devlin bowed in mockery to Thranduil. "We'll take real good care of her." And with that, they left the room, bolting the door shut from the outside, and Alasse was with them! Thranduil felt as if his breath had been sucked out of him. He'd failed. He'd failed his little girl!
The weary dwarf-king had followed the trail this far! There had been drag marks and dwarfish footsteps. Thorin had to keep going! If Fili and Kili died because he couldn't get to them in timeā¦
"Have a drink, lad." Balin touched his shoulder. Thorin gulped down the cool liquid from his water flask.
"If it wasn't trolls, then it had be to be elves!" Thorin huffed. "It is the only possible explanation."
"Let's not rush to conclusions, laddie." Balin said.
"Elves do not leave tracks like those." Gandalf pointed out. "If it was elves, which I seriously doubt, then they were not alone. They are obviously in the company of men. But I can assure you none of the elves around here are capable of such devilry." Thorin glowered at the wizard. "Ahh, what is that?" Gandalf gazed off in the distance to a mound of giant rocks in the ground. He led the way and the dwarves followed him.
"It's only a pile of rocks." Dori muttered.
"You've led us to another dead end, which isn't surprising." Dwalin grumbled at Gandalf.
"A wizard never leads his company to a dead end I'll have you know, Master Dwalin." Gandalf huffed. "I have passed this way before. If we are to reach Erebor, we must go down this hole."
"Is it safe?" Nori asked timidly, not appreciating the deep, dark looking pit below them.
"Ai, Nori. It is quite safe." Gandalf nodded. "Ahh, and look! The tracks lead down it."
"He's right." Gloin nodded. The trail they'd been following did lead down into the hole.
"What are we waiting for?" Thorin spoke dryly. "Move on!" First Gandalf dropped and slid into the Hidden Pass, then one by one or rather two by two or three tumbled inside after him. Gandalf did a quick head count.
"Now what?" Ori shrugged.
"The trail leads this way!" Oin announced.
"Should we follow it?" Nori asked.
"Follow it." Thorin commanded. Dwalin led the way through the cramped space, until it led out to a rocky ledge back outside. The dwarves were dumbfounded. Below them, as far as the eye could see was a gorgeous city, with intricate buildings and beautiful waterfalls. Bilbo's heart fluttered in awe. It looked like a fairyland to him.
"The valley or Imladris!" Gandalf announced, as if presenting a rare and beautiful treasure. "In the common tongue it is known by another name.'
"Rivendell," Bilbo murmured.
"Here lies the last Homely House east of the sea."
"This was your plan all along." Thorin scowled. "To seek the refuge of our enemy."
"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield." Gandalf frowned. "The only ill will in this valley is that which you bring yourself."
"You think the elves, will give our quest their blessing?" Thorin continued cynically. "They will try to stop us!"
"Of course they will. But we have questions that need to be answered." Gandalf retorted. "If any dwarves were spotted or heard of passing this way, the elves will be able to tell us so. Would you rather go in blindly, or know every possible lead we may obtain to find Fili and Kili?" Gandalf asked bluntly. Thorin hung his head silently. He didn't like this at all. Elves! Elves left his people to die and didn't lift a finger. Why should he trust them?
As if reading the dwarf-king's thoughts, Gandalf spoke up again. "Lord Elrond is not King Thranduil of the Woodland Realm, Thorin Oakenshield." He said reassuringly. "Elrond is a master of knowledge, a great student of Middle Earth history, and a master of hospitality, and an excellent healer. He may question our quest, but he will not turn us away once I explain things to him." Thorin arched his eyebrows skeptically. "If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tact...and respect. And no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me." Gandalf said in a tone of finality as they began their descent.
In the two miserable days passed, the border guards rode with haste to the Homely House this morning. "Lord Elrond!" One of them blurted as he dismounted in the courtyard when the entire household save Glorfindel rushed out to meet him. "We just found this near the main road. It was sent there by arrow." He handed two envelopes to his master.
Elrond grimaced. "Prince Legolas," he read gravely, "and...and..."
"What is it, my lord?" Erestor frowned curiously.
"Thorin Oakenshield?" Elrond's brows creased deeply in utter confusion.
"What?" Everyone sputtered. They had to have heard wrong! "Thorin Oakenshield, the son of Thrain, the dwarf king of Erebor?" Elladan gaped.
"That is what is says." Elrond shook his head, absolutely baffled.
"What has he got to do with all of this?" Legolas grumbled.
"I do not know." Elrond sighed. "We shall keep this safe for the time being, although I cannot imagine why they would send it to us."
"They are expecting him." Elrohir suggested. "It is the only possible explanation."
"But why?" Elladan sputtered.
Legolas disregarded their dispute and tore open the envelope with shaking hands. The moment he read the icy words of the ransom note, his heart sank.
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Next chapter, dwarves in Rivendell!
