Chapter 23: Decisions and consequences

Aragorn was riding in front of his army, several hundred well trained soldiers mixed with civilians that had been hastily called to arms after his arrival at Minas-Tirith. The city had been seized by busy activity and he had barely had any time to see his beloved wife, having to attend to his kingly duties. The time until their departure was filled with strategic discussions with the highest ranking officers of his army and organizing supplies for their mission.

Now the army of Gondor rode against a foe that was almost as dangerous and vicious as Sauron had been. Aragorn's forehead was frowned and his gaze was roaming restlessly over the land that lay ahead of them. By this time Selina and Legolas must have already infiltrated the enemy's camp and he prayed to the Valar that their mission had been rewarded with success. But somehow, he couldn't keep from worrying what could have happened if they had failed.

Gandalf road up to the king and threw him a sympathetic look. "Don't let your heart be burdened by worries! They will be alright." Aragorn shook his head, indicating that he didn't want to dwell on this suspect. "What do you think...When will we encounter the enemy?" The wizard wrinkled his brow. "I think one day, maybe less.."

Aragorn nodded, then his eyes narrowed as he spotted something in the distance. It looked like two black dots, maybe it was two people, he couldn't tell for sure. They were moving slowly in their direction. He motioned Gandalf and five of the soldiers that rode next to them, to accompany them to find out who those travellers might be. Their horses sped quickly over the plain, fired by the curiosity of their riders.

As the got closer Aragorn was able to recognize the unusual pair. It was Sulrathi and Gimli. The dwarf was breathing heavily and sweat was running down his forehead. He leaned on his axe trying to catch some air. "Aragorn! Gandalf!" he exclaimed between heavy breaths, when the riders arrived at their side. Sulrathi greeted them with a with a friendly growl and lay down on the ground from where she could observe everything clearly. Aragorn dismounted his horse and was quickly at his friends side. "Gimli, what news do you bring us! How are Legolas and Selina? What happened?"

"One question...at a time." The dwarf managed to get out in between gasping for air. "I have been running for almost two days."

After a few minute, filled with restlessness and unbearable tension, Gimli was finally able to tell his tale. "We found Tulrah's army a few days ago and everything went as planned until Selina and Legolas got captured by this monster." The dwarf's voice was filled with barely contained anger. "He tortured them and the last I saw was that he had them locked up in a prison wagon and took them with him. I couldn't do anything, because that damned beast", he pointed at the she- panther "wouldn't let me!"

"You were lucky at least on of you had enough sense not to attack an entire army, my friend." Gandalf said and the she-panther nuzzled his hand, purring contently.

The dwarf let out an annoyed huff. "Aragorn, we have to act quickly there is no telling what that Tulrah might do to them in the mean time!"

The king of Gondor had a concerned look on his face, hearing what the dwarf had to say. He nodded in agreement and they quickly mounted their horses, taking Gimli and Sulrathi with them, riding towards a battle whose outcome was uncertain.

~

"Well, what is your decision?" Tulrah asked, eying his sister impatiently. He was sitting comfortably in his armchair, in his right hand a goblet with wine, the other one playing casually with a dagger. Torches were flickering everywhere, bathing the tent into warm light.

"I choose the side of the winner. I choose you side, my master." Selina bowed her knee to him and he smiled contently from cheek to cheek.

"I hoped that you would decide this way, Selina. After all it is not right for sister and brother to fight each other, isn't it?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Selina and the being that had taken Akanti's form were still standing on the meadow. The young Selvadage'tok woman was slowly getting impatient. Endless minutes had passed, during which the super being had just stood there motionless and contemplated its decision in silence. She cleared her throat and was just about to voice her anger, when Akanti rose her head and spoke, "I'm ready to announce my decision."

"Thank the Valar!" She muttered under her breath and managed to put on a fake smile.

"I will give you back control over your body, so that you can fight against Tulrah."

Selina was baffled. "Why this sudden change of mind? I thought that you would choose his side."

The old woman smiled. "It is true I was tempted to do so for a while. But now that I saw, that he does not even respect his own origins," she emphasized those words with disgust in her voice, "that he desecrates and destroys the artful creations of mother nature out of pleasure, I realize that he must be stopped. You have served me well and I feel that I can trust you, even so far that I will allow you to use my powers for as long as necessary."

Selina bowed her head. "I'm honoured and I hope that I won't disappoint you."

The being stepped closer and raised the young woman's chin with her hand. "To win against him you will have to be as cunning as the fox and as fierce as the lion. I will be with you child and protect you, but even I cannot interfere with what fate has planned out for you."

"I know." Selina answered simply.

The old woman smiled at her mysteriously. "Now listen to me! There is only one way to defeat him. You will have to pretent that you are willing to join his side and when the right moment comes you must strike."

Selina nodded grimly. Akanti stepped closer and placed a kiss on her forehead. "May the Valar protect you and your loved ones, my child! Do not fear, because I will always be with you."

Then the old woman turned and slowly walked back to the forest. Her white robe brushed over the blades of grass and she seemed to hover over the ground. Selina followed her with her eyes until she was only a white blur in the midst of the green of the forest.

Suddenly the bright rays of sun seemed to intensify and hit her eyes angrily. She had to blinked rapidly. One minute she was standing in the middle of flowery meadow on a clearing flooded by broad daylight and then, when she opened her eyes again, she was greeted by the harsh reality of the sight of her prison.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~End of flashback~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I'm glad you finally made up your mind. We were kind of running out of time after all." Tulrah added.

Selina cocked her head and looked at him questioningly. "We are going to leave tomorrow morning together with a few of my men. Your ...friends," he spat out the last word, "are getting closer. This afternoon a little bird sang to me that an army from Minas-Tirith was coming closer to our position. I intend to be on my way before they arrive here. I assume that they left their city behind in a haste and that it is now defenceless and ready for the taking. After all they will need all their soldiers in the battle against my army. Well, in the meantime we will go and fetch the eye staff. When we have it nothing else matters anymore. I will finally have absolute power."

She nodded silently and tried to suppress the violent feeling of disgust rising inside of her.

"There is just one question left unanswered. What will we do with the elf? We have to take care of that problem before we leave." Tulrah said to her, looking at her expectantly.

Selina knew that this was the last test she had to pass in order to win his trust. Everything depended on the way she answered this one question. "Well, I already have an idea about that," she said slowly. With gesture of his hand he motioned her to continue. "You will like this. You know that elves can die of a broken heart? I heard that it is a slow and very painful process. They wither away like flowers that are deprived of daylight and water. They gradually die from the inside until there is nothing left of them but an empty shell, a pitiful shadow of the grace and beauty they presented in their prime. And I intend to make my lover's passing very painful, rest assured." It took all her strength to utter those words and it pained her greatly to do so, but there was no other choice, because it was necessary.

Tulrah nodded contently and a cruel smile spread over his face. Not only was his sister joining his side out of her own free will, but she was also promising him a delightful spectacle. The pleasant shiver of anticipation ran down his spine when he thought about her plan.

~

They stood outside the wagon that had served as Selina and Leogolas prison for several days. Tulrah was still grinning from ear to ear, but she could feel nothing but disgust. Disgust for herself, because of what she was about to do and disgust for her brother who took pleasure in seeing others suffer.

"What are you waiting for?" Tulrah motioned her to enter. She nodded quickly and stepped through the wooden door into the darkness of the cell. A clicking noise could be heard as the door was closed behind her and she stood there engulfed in darkness. She closed her eyes for a second, preparing herself for the conversation that was about to follow. Selina knew that she had to be convincing, because her brother would listen carefully to every single word that would be uttered inside the cell.

She took a step that brought her closer to the sitting figure of Legolas and the wooden tile under her feet let out a loud creaking sound. His head shot up and she could see his eyes sparkle in the dark. Then he quickly turned away again. She sat down in front of him, her back to the window, her legs crossed. They were only inches apart, so that he only would have had to reach out in order to touch her. Legolas leant back against the wall and looked at her, his face calm and unreadable. "What do you want from me?" he asked in a tranquil voice.

"Why don't you tell me, lover." She said coldly.

He squinted his eyes together. Something had changed about her behaviour since yesterday night, he couldn't quite put his finger on. "I suppose you came to tell me, that you made a deal with this vicious beast. That you chose his side over the one of good," he added.

"Thank you, for reminding my why I prefer older man. They always seem to know the answer to everything." She answered in a sarcastic tone.

At this he could help but remember shreds of a conversation they had had earlier, during happier times: 'I knew there was a reason why I prefer older men!' 'Well, then you should know that I don't love you because of your good looks!' her voice echoed in his ears. Suddenly realization hid him with force of a ton of bricks. The person sitting in front of him was no longer controlled by another being. It had to be Selina herself. How else could she remember all those things? There was no way the spirit could have known about their past conversations. His eyes widened in astonishment.

Then another thought hit him. Could it be that she was only acting out this talk, because she had a certain plan? Maybe she was trying to fool the enemy into trusting her by those actions?

Selina noticed different emotions wash over his face, wonder, relief, confusion and hope. She quickly shook her head to keep him from saying something that would betray them and motioned with her eyes in the direction of the door, indicating that somebody was overhearing their conversation.

"Well, you will be happy to know that you were right. I did join Tulrah's cause. I think I won't regret it, but you, my dearest darling, will be on the loosing side, I fear and I don't like losers. In fact I hate them." She paused briefly speaking the next sentence in elvish, knowing fully well that Tulrah wouldn't understand any of it, "Amin mela lle /I love you/, Legolas. I hate you! Did you hear me? I hate you!"

Had she just told him she loved him, he wondered briefly. His eyes looked at her questioningly and she nodded in response, then she continued, but her words, though the were harsh and brutal, had lost their sting to him, because he knew that she did only say them out of necessity, "This thing we had, it was nothing but a brief affair. It's over now! Yes, you are pretty to look at, but lets face it, you lack the fire, the ambition that I look for in a man. I couldn't love you, never! You are weak and pathetic! Your immortal life wouldn't be long enough to hear those words come from my mouth. I'll tell you again. Amin mela lle!" she shouted out the last words and an ironic smile played around her mouth.

She placed her hand over his heart and looked him deep in the eye, her gaze filled with love, while her mouth spoke heartless and cold words. "If I could I would rip out your heart with my bare hands, but unfortunately this gift hasn't been given to me so I have to content myself with words, but they can be just as deadly to you, I guess."

His hand shot up to touch hers and for a second his fingers caressed hers, before he shook her hand off in a seemingly angry gesture. His tender touch was so brief that it could easily have passed anybody else by, but to them it meant everything. It meant that he understood her plan and forgave her for the things she said.

"So I will leave you here in your prison in which you will slowly rot to death, while we will be holding the ultimate power in your hands. I have to leave you now. I have an important mission expecting me, so don't wait on me, lover."