Disclaimer: Please see 'Concerning the Game'
Author's Notes: The following chapters are very chaotic, and it was my intention to let the reader feel some of the confusion that's running rampant around Rivendell at the time. So hopefully you can still follow the story, and if anyone's really confused, leave something in the Review and I'll explain it. It also looks as if I'll have to revise this fic at some point. Anyway, thank you for reading it so far, and enjoy!
Chapter Five
[Westron]
Trust the Betrayer to provide her with no escape route. Now he simply sat at the back of her head, only curious to see if she could escape the wrath of the elves. It didn't matter to him if he lost her; she had done her job. Ignoring his presence, she entered the stables warily. To her relief, she saw no one.
She had little time. Once the elves got over the shock of the murder and organised themselves, they would be after her with all the vengeance of their kind. The boy would point the way gladly; he had seen her with the vial. She remembered his accusing eyes on her just before she managed to sneak away in the chaos.
Or so she thought.
"Give me a good reason why I should not drive my sword through your heart," growled a figure behind her who had waited hidden in the shadows. She didn't need to turn around to guess who was under the dark hood; in any case, she could feel the tip of his blade pressing hard between her shoulder blades. Barely restrained anger simmered in his voice.
"I have none," she said weakly, her voice trembling. "Kill me now and be done with it. It is what I deserve."
Estel was silent for a moment. "Why? Why my brother? Or had it been intended for my father?" At the last question she feared the sword had broken skin.
Ilitha swallowed. He deserved what answers she could give him. Betrayer wouldn't let her say anything important anyway. "No. The poison was meant for the heir- and is only fatal to him."
Turned away from him, she did not see the widening of his eyes, and the flash of hope through his heart. Instead, she mistook his silence as a struggle to control his wrath. "Drive it through my heart, young one. No one will fault you for it, not even I. I would have done the same. And your law allows it also, does it not?'
The silence stretched, disturbed only by the restless wind in the trees.
"Who do you work for, Ilitha? What has he taken from you that you hold so dear?"
In her surprise, she whirled around, knocking aside the sword. But Estel lowered it, his grey eyes instead boring a hole through her very soul.
If she had one still.
"How did you know?" she whispered.
"It is in your face." Ilitha was sure that even Betrayer would have flinched from his gaze at that moment. "Ammë told me you look like a woman who has borne children, at least two. Whoever has you doing this, he has taken your children."
"Sons. One is gone." For some strange reason, Betrayer hadn't moved from the back of her mind. She had expected him to have taken control by now. He felt… occupied. "Who are you, young man? Who are you who sees what many cannot?"
Estel silently went into one of the stables, bridled and harnessed a horse. Ilitha knew that if she wanted to make a run for it, it would have been then. But what would she do once out of Rivendell? Betrayer had made it clear that she would have to make her own way back to him. "I am the son of Elrond, Lord of this realm. I order you to leave, and never return." He handed her the reins.
She could only stare at him incredulously. Surely he wasn't just letting her go? And providing a horse as well! Seeing her hesitation, he said uncertainly," I… cannot let the elves punish someone who acts only to save her family. Under normal circumstance, father would be sympathetic. He would help you retrieve your children, and punish my brother's true murderer."
"But now… I sense the taint of evil in fair Rivendell. The one who has imprisoned your soul has a strong and evil will, and it was I who let him in. I should have sensed the seed of evil you carried in you, that day I found you in the woods, but my guard had been down. The responsibility is mine." He gently lifted her small frame and placed her on the horse. She wanted to protest, but her mind was still refusing to accept the fact that he was helping her escape. "I know not what his purpose is, and I do not wish to question you, for he may break your mind. But the elves are angrier than I have ever seen them before, and I doubt they would hesitate to kill you with or without my father's consent."
"And what of you?" she found her voice again as he lad her horse outside. "What will they do to you once they find out you helped me escape."
"His life will be forfeit." A figure stepped out from the darkness beneath the trees, his sword gleaming in the torchlight.
"Noro lim, Are," Estel whispered to the horse. "Go Ilitha. Are will bear you out of our borders. Then tell her where to go. But pray do not take her all the way to your jailer's den- dismount from a distance that you can walk in a day. Now GO!"
As the horse cantered into the night, she heard the newcomer's voice say, "You know the penalty, Estel. Do not do this."
So this was what it led to? Brother spilling blood of brother? She felt sick at what she had done. Her victim's twin and Estel faced each other. The last she saw of them was Estel dropping his weapon, and the elf's blade pressing against his throat.
~*~
[Sindarin]
"Why, Estel? She murdered our brother! Does that mean nothing to you?" He thought his heart would break. His mind screamed at him, screaming to chase after the woman and take his vengeance. He had steeled himself for it, but now… He was no stranger to inflicting the final blow. But law it may be, it was an act no less than the Kinslaying so long ago, no matter of which race was the blood spilt.
"She is innocent, Elladan." Estel seemed… resigned. His youthful grey eyes were tired now, and had lost their usual twinkle. "Will you have me kill and innocent? Something is amiss. I cannot think, I cannot breathe without a shadow of doubt hanging over my mind. Am I the only one who can sense the evil in our home now?"
"You sense evil, do you? And I wonder who had let such an evil in!" Elladan lashed out, unable to hold back his anger. For some reason Estel's soft words angered him. "The weakness of Men! Perhaps Harnannen was right. Who are you to point fingers at us, mortal, when the evil comes from you! Because of you, my brother is dead. One mortal's life for an immortal elf, a son of the house of Eärendil! Nay, if there is a shadow, it is in you!"
Pain lanced through the human's eyes, but Elladan was too caught up in rage to care. It was so easy… all he needed was to push to blade deep, or swing his arm. Then it would be over, and his need for vengeance sated.
Except… he couldn't do it. His hand froze one his weapon. He needed to do it, whilst his anger pulsed through him, before he could think about what he must do. Push. Slice.
Kill.
At that moment Harnannen appeared beside Elladan. Seeing Estel, his mouth twisted into a triumphant smile. "You! I knew you were up to no good, Adan!"
Something snapped inside of the eldest son of Elrond then. In the blink of an eye he backhanded the elf warrior, bringing Harnannen down without a sound. His mind was clear. And he saw what he had been about to do. For a long moment he could only gape in horror at the sword in his hand, pressing so hard against Estel's throat that he thought he could feel the boy's wild pulse. Then the sword dropped from his numb fingers, and he fell to his knees, sobbing.
Ai, Elbereth, what is happening to us?
"I am so, so sorry, Estel."
He trembled uncontrollably. He had almost killed his younger brother. Fear, disgust, and utter horror washed through him. His brother, perhaps not of blood but of something stronger than blood. The one he had pledged to protect, in honor of his father's brother Elros, the day Estel had entered into their homes. He had never believed that he would ever want to kill the boy.
Then again, he had never imagined he would lose his twin, either.
Estel knelt in front of him, cupping his hands around the elf's. "Run, Estel," Elladan whispered. "I… do not understand what is happening here. But whatever evil is at work has done his work too well. Half of Imladris is convinced that it was you who poisoned Elrohir. I do not understand, but I fear they would kill you the moment they lay eyes on you." He kissed Estel's brow. "Go. I shall tell all that you overpowered us, and escaped with Ilitha. Harnannen would be too happy to have you gone to care much; besides, it would be my word against his." He would never see his brother again, would never know if the human was injured, or ill, or when he eventually would die. But at least he could imagine that Estel was safe and alive, away from the evil that had consumed Rivendell.
"I know not what is happening, Elladan." Estel's steady grey eyes met his. Elladan's heart broke as he saw that the boy had taken his cruel words to heart. "But I will not run. What is there for me outside Imladris? This is my home, and my heart will forever dwell here."
"But if you come back with me… Estel, I heard father declare death to all who aided the murderer. Normally I would not believe he would mean to carry this out, but tonight… I do not know. I am afraid, Estel. I do not know what is happening." Normally Elladan would not even consider the fact that his father was serious with the threat, yet after what he himself had almost done…
"I know. I am afraid, too." Estel helped him up. Elladan wondered if he would ever be freed from the memory of what he had just been about to do. His hands only shook harder. "I will not come back with you."
"But-" Estel held up a silencing hand.
"Worry no longer, Elladan." Estel clenched his fist and touched Elladan's brow with his thumb- a warrior's way of wishing good fortune. "Farewell, brother."
Before Elladan could say a word, the human sprinted into the darkness.
~*~*~
