Thank you so much for all your reviews, i'm sorry about the cliffhanger! Please, enjoy chapter 11, and thanks for taking time to review my fic, i really appreciate it!
disclaimer: I don't own the fabulous characters, i'm just borrowing them for a tiny while, i promise to return them!
"I didn't do anything", Legolas continued to protest his innocence at the guards, his beautiful bright eyes swollen with tears.
The guards ignored his hoarse cries, and pushed him roughly forward, their sharp knifes digging into his back. They escorted him to the borders of Rivendell, and Legolas could no longer see the beautiful house of Elrond.
"Please", he tried one last time to make the guards reconsider,"Please."
The guards took no notice, refusing to even look Legolas in the eye, as though they were ashamed to be seen anywhere near him. The head guard gave Legolas a shove, causing him to fall heavily on his hands, the sharp cold of the forest floor cutting through his veins, spilling away the only hope he had left, his life and light ebbing away.
"You are forbidden to enter within the realms of the Elves again Prince Legolas of Mirkwood", the head guard said as he turned from the fallen Prince."Go now, and do not return. We must return, for the ceremony starts in a few hours."
The guards hastened away, leaving Legolas alone with his thoughts.
As soon as his mentors were out of both sight and hearing, Legolas burst into sobs, his breath quickening as he picked up a fallen tree branch from the floor. He smacked himself over the head with it.
"Why!", he wailed,"Why did i not tell Arwen sooner!? It is my fault that she will now marry Thandiul. I am such a coward."
From inside his heart, a delicate voice fought back."you are no coward Legolas, you were tricked by your uncle. You fought those battles, and braved the tasks for Arwen, because you love her, and are not afraid to admit it. You are not a coward- you are a hero."
Legolas stumbled through the brush, thorns whipping past his ears, tearing rents in his skin, and yet, he did not care.
"I have failed", he mumbled softly,"i have failed everyone, Aragorn, Arwen, Elrond, my father,.....and worst of all, i have failed myself."
He collapsed onto the ground, the emotion taking control of his body as he felt himself becoming inwardly dark.
"It's my fault", he repeated over and over, the monotonous sound of his voice getter weaker and weaker."My fault......my fault.........why didn't i do something the first time? I should have stopped him."
Legolas sniffled, for he could cry no longer - there were not enough tears left in his eyes to fall.
He got up, the salty tears that had stopped falling from his face landing in his mouth, making him feel dirty, dirty as he had felt after the first time. He ran blindly throught the woods, the blood pounding in his head, all his emotions tumbling out in one big pile, confusing him wildly. He tripped over a root in his blindness, and tumbled into the hidden hole - a hole he would not have noticed if it hadn't been for his pain.
After several moments, he opened his eyes to find that darkness had closed in around him.
"Where am i?", he whispered, gazing down the darkned tunnel, but even his elven eyes did not help much on this occasion. He stood slowly, and wandered down the passageway, completely oblivious to where it was leading him.
Several hours later, he was still dragging his body onward. He felt inwardly that he may as well collapse and die there, for he was never going to be accepted anywhere now, for that had been Elrond's ruling, but his strong character told him to keep on going, and so, he trusted to his instincts, and let his heart guide him down the deserted pathway.
Moments later, he rounded a corner, only to have to shield his eyes from the dim light that emerged from one of the candles embeded into the wall.
Legolas raised his hand over his brow, a feeling of familiarity rising in his bones. He kept going down the path, his senses telling him that all was not as it seemed in this tunnel.
"Arrg!", he cried loudly, as he fell, stumbling over something on the floor. He took a candle from the wall, and shone it down at the floor. He could not speak. He tried to cry, but only soundless sobs came out.
There, lying unoticed on the floor was the body of Aragorn, son of Arathorn.
Legolas hesitated before bowing to his old friend. The sight of Aragorn lying there, still, as if he were sleeping was too much for Legolas. He moved to turn away from the body, but then, something caught his eye. The sword of Anduril glittered brightly in even the dimmest light. Legolas picked up his friend's sword, but dropped it at once. He saw that the once valiant sword had been driven into it's master, it's beautiful carvings now stained with the royal blood of the bearer.
"Thandiul........", Legolas stammered,"He must have killed Aragorn! Yes, for after Thandiul came into the chamber with that message, Aragorn disappeared forever. But then, why did he not kill me too, he had the chance to, at the first task, so why did he not?"
Legolas thought carfully back to the body of Sir Drastyn, and how it had lain when he had first found it. He remebered his dying words, and the wounds on his body.
"That was no bull that attacked Drastyn!", he gasped suddenly,"Thandiul shot him down with an arrow! He must have!"
Legolas mulled over this new thought."But, then why did he keep me in the tournament, why not destroy me next?"
"You have a part to play yet", his uncle's voice came back to him suddenly, haunting his thoughts,"I will have Arwen."
Legolas threw his hands in the air, realising at once why his uncle had done everything that he had."He used me", he breathed quietly in to the empty chamber,"He used me to get to my father, and to Arwen. He wants the riches of the house of Elrond, and he wants to be the King of Mirkwood when my father is gone......my father!", Legolas realsed, panic striking his heart a fearful blow, for he realised that he had not seen his father since before the beggining of the dinner banquet that he had fought with Prince Ruyston at."I hope he is well! I have to get to Elrond, i have to tell him this, and show him the body of Aragorn, for if Arwen does indeed announce her decision tonight, then she will be bound to it, and there is nothing i can do!"
Legolas started to head for the house, but something stopped him."Wait", he sank back to the ground,"I am exiled, if i go back in there, they will kill me.......and, i do not know if Arwen shall believe me."
He started to weep again, his situation hounding him."He used me", he wept,"And there's nothing i can do about it!"
"Quite right Legolas", Thandiul voiced from the dark."I see you finally figured out my plan."
Legolas shot up, backing away from his evil uncle, cursing him with all the strenth he could muster.
"It took you long enough", Thandiul continued, a bored look on his face,"But, fortunately for me, you have a slow mind."
He reached out his hand for Legolas's own.
Legolas spat on Thandiul's finger, showing him what he thought of his plan.
"Really Legolas!", Thandiul snapped at his nephew,"Is that any way to behave? If i remember rightly, you were exiled from elf territory. I think this calls for a visit to Elrond, don't you."
Legolas stepped back once more, trying to make himself sound more confident."You can't touch me", he hissed,"I'm in a tunnel, not on elf land."
"On the contrary Legolas", his uncle spat, edging closer to his terrified nephew, the venom spilling easily from his voice,"You are in one of the most sacred, well hidden caverns in all of the elvish kingdom's. You have broken the law of your exile, and you know the price."
Legolas raised his fists, for if he had to fight his uncle, he may as well do so now."You have no authority over me", he declared bravely, casting aside his growing fears,"You are not yet the King of Arwen, the apprentice to the master Elrond."
"No indeed", Thandiul said, his voice filling with mock sadness, as his elf servants closed in on Legolas, just as they had done on Aragorn so long ago."I do not. But, after tonight i shall - and you shall wish that i had killed you down here."
"Why?", Legolas fought back, his raging anger simmering beneath his cool temper,"Why should i wish for that upon myself? I know you killed Aragorn, and Drastyn too. By the time i explain what you have done to Elrond, you shall wish that i had killed you down here, where no one would have heard you scream."
"Temper Legolas", his uncle lashed out suddenly, and smacked him across the face, bruising his nephew's already swollen lip."I do not deny it. I killed Aragorn, i am glad he is dead, for he was a selfish, manipulative human, he hated you Legolas, he despised you, he has poured his soul into plotting your demise since the Fellowship hath returned from their quest. He knew you loved Arwen, and he detested you for it."
Legolas cuffed his uncle on the head, ignoring the stining wound, and the blood that poured from his lip."How dare you say that! How dare you! Aragorn was, and shall always be my soulmate, he was the only one , bar Arwen, and Gimli that i ever fully trusted. You shall not bring shame on his name!"
Thandiul's servant elves seized their chance, and pulled Legolas to the ground, fastening a thin strip of cloth over his mouth, smothering the struggling sounds of the Mirkwood elf. They bound his hands tightly together, and pushed him roughly in front of them. Immediatly, Legolas fell forward, landing heavily on his front leg, his face pushed into the cold hard wooden floor.
"Get up", Thandiul whispered in to his nephew's ear, as he grabbed a fistfull of golden blond hair, and dragged Legolas to his feet.
The pain seared through Legolas's head and body, causing him to lash out with his bound hands. The servant elves intercepted his action easily though, and punched him deftly on the face.
Legolas winced as his eye began to throb painfully, and he blinked back a tear, he would not have his uncle having the satisfaction that his actions were hurting him. He tossed his head defiantly, and stopped moving.
His uncle took no notice, and grabbed the hair once more, wineding the locks of gold round his fingers, forcing Legolas to follow him.
"Enjoy this site while you can Legolas", Thandiul spat in Legolas's face, the reminants of his spit landing on Legolas's bruised eye,"For you shall not see it again, in fact, i doubt if you will ever see the trees, or the sunlight ever again. Your time has come, Prince of Mirkwood, for i need you no longer."
He dragged a screaming Legolas wickedly across the cavern floor, never pausing as he lead his captive directly to Elrond.
"I wish to speak with Elrond!", Thandiul demanded, the guard he ordered shaking his head even as Thandiul spoke."I have apprehended a prisoner."
"Then put him in the cells", the guard replied, he kindly face streched with age as he pointed to the furthest cell from the door,"Elrond shall be available in a few hours, he is speaking with his daughter, the Princess Arwen."
Thandiul kicked Legolas roughly in front of him."I will inform him that i wish to speak to him when he is finished."
The servant elves left Thandiul's side, as their master entered into the darkest, most dampened cell with Legolas. He undid his nephew's bonds for the moment, but pressed his knife against his skin, so that Legolas was unable to move, or barely breath, in case the knife sliced into his elvish veins.
"It appears you shall have time to think over your mistakes Legolas", Thandiul said as he bound Legolas so tightly to the hanging pole that his blood flow was almost cut off."I shall return in an hour, for i desire to speak more with you before Elrond decides your fate. Fear my return elf."
Thandiul left the chamber, a distraught Legolas hanging from his wrists in the desolate darkness.
"I'm about to die, Thandiul is about to become the heir of Elrond, and Arwen is in grave danger", he thought sadly, his head lolling loosely as huge silver tears fell from his now dim eyes,"And there's nothing i can do about it."
What did you think? Hope you enjoyed it, there's one chapter left! thanks for reading! p.s., i was thinking about a sequel, any one interested?
disclaimer: I don't own the fabulous characters, i'm just borrowing them for a tiny while, i promise to return them!
"I didn't do anything", Legolas continued to protest his innocence at the guards, his beautiful bright eyes swollen with tears.
The guards ignored his hoarse cries, and pushed him roughly forward, their sharp knifes digging into his back. They escorted him to the borders of Rivendell, and Legolas could no longer see the beautiful house of Elrond.
"Please", he tried one last time to make the guards reconsider,"Please."
The guards took no notice, refusing to even look Legolas in the eye, as though they were ashamed to be seen anywhere near him. The head guard gave Legolas a shove, causing him to fall heavily on his hands, the sharp cold of the forest floor cutting through his veins, spilling away the only hope he had left, his life and light ebbing away.
"You are forbidden to enter within the realms of the Elves again Prince Legolas of Mirkwood", the head guard said as he turned from the fallen Prince."Go now, and do not return. We must return, for the ceremony starts in a few hours."
The guards hastened away, leaving Legolas alone with his thoughts.
As soon as his mentors were out of both sight and hearing, Legolas burst into sobs, his breath quickening as he picked up a fallen tree branch from the floor. He smacked himself over the head with it.
"Why!", he wailed,"Why did i not tell Arwen sooner!? It is my fault that she will now marry Thandiul. I am such a coward."
From inside his heart, a delicate voice fought back."you are no coward Legolas, you were tricked by your uncle. You fought those battles, and braved the tasks for Arwen, because you love her, and are not afraid to admit it. You are not a coward- you are a hero."
Legolas stumbled through the brush, thorns whipping past his ears, tearing rents in his skin, and yet, he did not care.
"I have failed", he mumbled softly,"i have failed everyone, Aragorn, Arwen, Elrond, my father,.....and worst of all, i have failed myself."
He collapsed onto the ground, the emotion taking control of his body as he felt himself becoming inwardly dark.
"It's my fault", he repeated over and over, the monotonous sound of his voice getter weaker and weaker."My fault......my fault.........why didn't i do something the first time? I should have stopped him."
Legolas sniffled, for he could cry no longer - there were not enough tears left in his eyes to fall.
He got up, the salty tears that had stopped falling from his face landing in his mouth, making him feel dirty, dirty as he had felt after the first time. He ran blindly throught the woods, the blood pounding in his head, all his emotions tumbling out in one big pile, confusing him wildly. He tripped over a root in his blindness, and tumbled into the hidden hole - a hole he would not have noticed if it hadn't been for his pain.
After several moments, he opened his eyes to find that darkness had closed in around him.
"Where am i?", he whispered, gazing down the darkned tunnel, but even his elven eyes did not help much on this occasion. He stood slowly, and wandered down the passageway, completely oblivious to where it was leading him.
Several hours later, he was still dragging his body onward. He felt inwardly that he may as well collapse and die there, for he was never going to be accepted anywhere now, for that had been Elrond's ruling, but his strong character told him to keep on going, and so, he trusted to his instincts, and let his heart guide him down the deserted pathway.
Moments later, he rounded a corner, only to have to shield his eyes from the dim light that emerged from one of the candles embeded into the wall.
Legolas raised his hand over his brow, a feeling of familiarity rising in his bones. He kept going down the path, his senses telling him that all was not as it seemed in this tunnel.
"Arrg!", he cried loudly, as he fell, stumbling over something on the floor. He took a candle from the wall, and shone it down at the floor. He could not speak. He tried to cry, but only soundless sobs came out.
There, lying unoticed on the floor was the body of Aragorn, son of Arathorn.
Legolas hesitated before bowing to his old friend. The sight of Aragorn lying there, still, as if he were sleeping was too much for Legolas. He moved to turn away from the body, but then, something caught his eye. The sword of Anduril glittered brightly in even the dimmest light. Legolas picked up his friend's sword, but dropped it at once. He saw that the once valiant sword had been driven into it's master, it's beautiful carvings now stained with the royal blood of the bearer.
"Thandiul........", Legolas stammered,"He must have killed Aragorn! Yes, for after Thandiul came into the chamber with that message, Aragorn disappeared forever. But then, why did he not kill me too, he had the chance to, at the first task, so why did he not?"
Legolas thought carfully back to the body of Sir Drastyn, and how it had lain when he had first found it. He remebered his dying words, and the wounds on his body.
"That was no bull that attacked Drastyn!", he gasped suddenly,"Thandiul shot him down with an arrow! He must have!"
Legolas mulled over this new thought."But, then why did he keep me in the tournament, why not destroy me next?"
"You have a part to play yet", his uncle's voice came back to him suddenly, haunting his thoughts,"I will have Arwen."
Legolas threw his hands in the air, realising at once why his uncle had done everything that he had."He used me", he breathed quietly in to the empty chamber,"He used me to get to my father, and to Arwen. He wants the riches of the house of Elrond, and he wants to be the King of Mirkwood when my father is gone......my father!", Legolas realsed, panic striking his heart a fearful blow, for he realised that he had not seen his father since before the beggining of the dinner banquet that he had fought with Prince Ruyston at."I hope he is well! I have to get to Elrond, i have to tell him this, and show him the body of Aragorn, for if Arwen does indeed announce her decision tonight, then she will be bound to it, and there is nothing i can do!"
Legolas started to head for the house, but something stopped him."Wait", he sank back to the ground,"I am exiled, if i go back in there, they will kill me.......and, i do not know if Arwen shall believe me."
He started to weep again, his situation hounding him."He used me", he wept,"And there's nothing i can do about it!"
"Quite right Legolas", Thandiul voiced from the dark."I see you finally figured out my plan."
Legolas shot up, backing away from his evil uncle, cursing him with all the strenth he could muster.
"It took you long enough", Thandiul continued, a bored look on his face,"But, fortunately for me, you have a slow mind."
He reached out his hand for Legolas's own.
Legolas spat on Thandiul's finger, showing him what he thought of his plan.
"Really Legolas!", Thandiul snapped at his nephew,"Is that any way to behave? If i remember rightly, you were exiled from elf territory. I think this calls for a visit to Elrond, don't you."
Legolas stepped back once more, trying to make himself sound more confident."You can't touch me", he hissed,"I'm in a tunnel, not on elf land."
"On the contrary Legolas", his uncle spat, edging closer to his terrified nephew, the venom spilling easily from his voice,"You are in one of the most sacred, well hidden caverns in all of the elvish kingdom's. You have broken the law of your exile, and you know the price."
Legolas raised his fists, for if he had to fight his uncle, he may as well do so now."You have no authority over me", he declared bravely, casting aside his growing fears,"You are not yet the King of Arwen, the apprentice to the master Elrond."
"No indeed", Thandiul said, his voice filling with mock sadness, as his elf servants closed in on Legolas, just as they had done on Aragorn so long ago."I do not. But, after tonight i shall - and you shall wish that i had killed you down here."
"Why?", Legolas fought back, his raging anger simmering beneath his cool temper,"Why should i wish for that upon myself? I know you killed Aragorn, and Drastyn too. By the time i explain what you have done to Elrond, you shall wish that i had killed you down here, where no one would have heard you scream."
"Temper Legolas", his uncle lashed out suddenly, and smacked him across the face, bruising his nephew's already swollen lip."I do not deny it. I killed Aragorn, i am glad he is dead, for he was a selfish, manipulative human, he hated you Legolas, he despised you, he has poured his soul into plotting your demise since the Fellowship hath returned from their quest. He knew you loved Arwen, and he detested you for it."
Legolas cuffed his uncle on the head, ignoring the stining wound, and the blood that poured from his lip."How dare you say that! How dare you! Aragorn was, and shall always be my soulmate, he was the only one , bar Arwen, and Gimli that i ever fully trusted. You shall not bring shame on his name!"
Thandiul's servant elves seized their chance, and pulled Legolas to the ground, fastening a thin strip of cloth over his mouth, smothering the struggling sounds of the Mirkwood elf. They bound his hands tightly together, and pushed him roughly in front of them. Immediatly, Legolas fell forward, landing heavily on his front leg, his face pushed into the cold hard wooden floor.
"Get up", Thandiul whispered in to his nephew's ear, as he grabbed a fistfull of golden blond hair, and dragged Legolas to his feet.
The pain seared through Legolas's head and body, causing him to lash out with his bound hands. The servant elves intercepted his action easily though, and punched him deftly on the face.
Legolas winced as his eye began to throb painfully, and he blinked back a tear, he would not have his uncle having the satisfaction that his actions were hurting him. He tossed his head defiantly, and stopped moving.
His uncle took no notice, and grabbed the hair once more, wineding the locks of gold round his fingers, forcing Legolas to follow him.
"Enjoy this site while you can Legolas", Thandiul spat in Legolas's face, the reminants of his spit landing on Legolas's bruised eye,"For you shall not see it again, in fact, i doubt if you will ever see the trees, or the sunlight ever again. Your time has come, Prince of Mirkwood, for i need you no longer."
He dragged a screaming Legolas wickedly across the cavern floor, never pausing as he lead his captive directly to Elrond.
"I wish to speak with Elrond!", Thandiul demanded, the guard he ordered shaking his head even as Thandiul spoke."I have apprehended a prisoner."
"Then put him in the cells", the guard replied, he kindly face streched with age as he pointed to the furthest cell from the door,"Elrond shall be available in a few hours, he is speaking with his daughter, the Princess Arwen."
Thandiul kicked Legolas roughly in front of him."I will inform him that i wish to speak to him when he is finished."
The servant elves left Thandiul's side, as their master entered into the darkest, most dampened cell with Legolas. He undid his nephew's bonds for the moment, but pressed his knife against his skin, so that Legolas was unable to move, or barely breath, in case the knife sliced into his elvish veins.
"It appears you shall have time to think over your mistakes Legolas", Thandiul said as he bound Legolas so tightly to the hanging pole that his blood flow was almost cut off."I shall return in an hour, for i desire to speak more with you before Elrond decides your fate. Fear my return elf."
Thandiul left the chamber, a distraught Legolas hanging from his wrists in the desolate darkness.
"I'm about to die, Thandiul is about to become the heir of Elrond, and Arwen is in grave danger", he thought sadly, his head lolling loosely as huge silver tears fell from his now dim eyes,"And there's nothing i can do about it."
What did you think? Hope you enjoyed it, there's one chapter left! thanks for reading! p.s., i was thinking about a sequel, any one interested?