I know you'll hate that cliffie!! LOL!!
Now, to the scene that you guys gave been dreading (or waiting) for! I didn't go into details, so you can use your own active imagination. You might like it, you might hate it, it's up to you. Read it or leave it. Carry on.
Lord Elrond was found standing alone at the balcony. He was staring at the direction of Mirkwood, frowning. Arwen approached her father on silent feet. "What's the matter, father? Why are you looking worried so?"
Elrond turned to his daughter. Without a word, the elf lord gathered her into his arms, closing his eyes in deep sadness. Arwen rested her head on Elrond's chest, not fully understanding the reason to her father's behavior, but felt concern nonetheless.
With arms around each other, the father and daughter watched together as the sun set in the west.
**************
"Where is the boy?" Jongos kept crying the same words over and over again ever since they brought him into the room. Kneeling on the floor, with his arms twisted behind his back, Legolas kept his silence, glaring at the man in full stubbornness. His silver eyes glittered in his defiance.
Jongos was holding the whip, brandishing it here and there but had not used it on Legolas yet. He saw the way the elf eyed the nasty thing. Grabbing Legolas's chin, he growled, "You want to feel this thing on your back, like we just did to your brother? You want know how painful it is?"
Legolas nearly laughed. Painful? He'd had his share of whippings for several times already. He knew how painful they were! This human will not break my resolve just by swinging at me with that thing! "Do whatever you want but nothing will come out of my mouth! You are nothing but a coward, human!"
"Why you…!!" Jongos raised his fist to hit the elf. But he halted as he looked closely at Legolas's magnificent face. The skin of the elf's chin under his hand was soft and smooth, like baby's. The ethereal glow that came from within him was making Legolas's features fairer than ever. For a while there, Jongos was quite speechless. Never had he seen such a beautiful being, not even on a woman. Speaking of women, it had been quite a while since the last time he had been with any one of them.
Legolas felt extremely uneasy when the man kept staring at him in that strange way. What now? Anxiously, he started to yell, "Why do you stop? Go ahead! Hit me! Nothing you do will make me talk, though! Even when you draw my last blood, you will get nothing from me!!!"
Jongos smirked as something evil formed in his head. "That's where you're wrong. I won't make you bleed, not the way we did to your brother. But I believe something else will definitely make you talk." The man released his grip on Legolas's chin to run a fingertip down the elf's throat, down his chest, and kept going lower and lower.
Legolas's eyes widened. Now he understood the man's intention. He started to struggle earnestly but the hands that held him were stronger and more than he could handle. They tore his clothes off him…and that's when his worst nightmare began.
They destroyed him…again and again…and again…
*************
The shattering sound echoed throughout the king's chamber. Thranduil looked down at the broken glass at his feet in dismay. How did that happen? His hands must have slipped when he picked up the glass to pour some water from the jar.
With trembling fingers, he collected the pieces and tossed it into a dustbin at the corner. A shiver of dread ran down his spine all of a sudden. He instantly straightened up and rushed to the balcony, staring at the woods.
Something terrible had happened to them! Valar! Please, let them be all right! Please, let them be alive!
*************
Keldarion suddenly gasped and grabbed his left breast. His heart felt as if it had been stabbed from within. Still clutching his chest, he slowly got up to his feet, his eyes wild with fear. Legolas…Elbereth, save him. Legolas…He's not dead, is he? No, please tell me he's alive. Please…
He walked to and fro, praying and pleading to the Valar to keep his brother save. He nearly knocked his head to the wall in pure panic, but slumped against the hard wood instead, exhausted and in despair.
When the door swung open, he charged forward anxiously, searching for his brother's form, almost expecting to see Legolas badly bruised and bleeding. To his total apprehension, he saw no sign of him. "Where is he? What have you done to him?" he demanded, glaring at the men in the doorway.
"Come with us!" They came forward and grabbed each of Keldarion's arms. The men led the elf to the same room that they had tortured him previously.
When Keldarion saw his brother's trembling figure in the corner, he felt the blood drained off his face. "Legolas!!!!" He tried to break free, but the men kept their hard grip on his arms, preventing him from reaching his brother. Legolas stared back at his brother emptily, curling himself into a ball, trying in vain to cover his nakedness.
"Curse you! Damn you all to hell!!!" Keldarion was kicking and screaming now as he realized what the men had done to his younger brother. He saw red. In his fury, Keldarion managed to fell down two men, but the others came and added strength to their comrades. The prince was knocked down from behind. He stumbled to the floor, enabling the men to tighten their grips on him.
Jongos came closer. He grabbed a fistful of Keldarion's hair and jerked the elf's face towards him. "Angry, your highness?" The man smiled evilly. Pointing at Legolas, he added, "Look at him! Isn't he beautiful? But he taste even better!"
Legolas actually cringed when he heard Jongos's voice. He pulled himself deeper into the corner, trying to be invisible which was impossible. The men were staring at him hungrily. Valar! Haven't they had enough already? Leave me alone!!
Keldarion growled and tried to break free again. Jongos tighten his grip on the prince's hair. "Listen to me, your highness, and listen well. Either you tell me where the boy is, or we will have fun with your brother all over again! Again I asked you, where is the boy?"
Gritting his teeth, Keldarion glared back at Jongos. He's in great dilemma, the worst that he'd ever been. If he told them Aragorn's whereabouts, the future of middle earth will be doomed. If he didn't, Legolas will pay the absolute price. Oh, Valar! Help us!
Seeing Keldarion's hesitancy, Jongos swiveled towards Legolas, and yanked at the elf's leg. "Looks like your brother needs to speed up his decision making, pretty boy. In the mean time, let's have some fun again…with him watching."
Keldarion heard someone screamed, loud and long. It took him a moment to realize that the scream was his own. He shut his eyes from the terrible sight, crying heavy tears, struggling helplessly. The men were laughing and hollering. There was no sound from Legolas except for his occasional grunts of pain and soft whimpers.
"No…please, no more…I beg you…have mercy on him…please…" Keldarion murmured; his body slumped within the men's hold. Jongos got up then, straightening his clothes. He crouched down and stared directly into Keldarion's anguish eyes. "Where is the boy?"
Keldarion gulped. He opened his mouth but no words came out. Legolas was staring back at him, his eyes filled with great pain and misery, his pale lips trembling. Jongos started to turn back towards Legolas when Keldarion hastily said, "I'll show you the place."
Jongos halted. "What did you say?"
"I'll show you the place. We hid the boy deep in the mountains…with the dwarves." Keldarion could not come out with any better ideas. That's the best he could give. He hoped it would buy them time to escape.
Jongos pondered the information. "The dwarves? I thought elves do not see eye to eye with the dwarves."
"We still don't. That's why the dwarves' territory is the safest place for the boy. You never would've thought about it, would you?"
The man sneered. "Safe? Not anymore, master elf! Tell us this place!"
"It's a place that will be hard for you to find. You need to be shown the way."
Jongos nodded. "Fine. We leave in a few minutes. Get your brother."
As soon as they released him, Keldarion rushed towards Legolas, pulling him into his arms. Legolas clung to his brother like crazy, his eyes wild with fear. "Shh…it's over, Legolas. It's over, I swear to you." The elder prince was crying; so sad he was with his brother's unmerciful fate. Legolas was still trembling terribly. Keldarion whipped his head back to the men. "Give him back his clothes!"
The men laughed. "We've burnt them!"
The crown prince clenched his fists; his anger was boiling over. "You can't expect him to come along in this condition?!!!"
"Either we leave him here or he come with us the way he is! Now, no more arguments! Get him going or leave him!" Jongos snapped. Keldarion glared daggers at him. You will die by my hands, human! I vowed to that!
Taking off his own tunic, Keldarion wrapped it around Legolas's hips and tied it at the waist, covering his younger brother's nudity. Legolas was silence throughout the whole process; so ashamed he was with his total vulnerability. He looked up into Keldarion's eyes and saw his turmoil feelings mirrored there.
Seeing that look, Keldarion bent down and kissed his brother's forehead. "Stay with me, Legolas. Don't break. Stay with me."
Legolas slightly nodded. Still, Keldarion knew that something deep inside Legolas had already died…
TBC…
Okay, that's terrible! Send your death threats now!!!!
