~*~

He was fed some meager, disgusting food in his cell, and he slept on the dirt floor, stripped of all of his clothing and most of his dignity. Dignity is a hard thing to pry from an Elf, but this was all too much. Legolas had become an adult, in age and by experience, just as of late, and now everything that had made him happy was crumbling. He realized that it was only one day. He had known her for no time, and then he thought that he was in love, and was happy. One day had just ruined his entire lifetime.

The next morning, the same man led him from his cell to a room. He was strapped onto a table, and he could feel its rough surface splintering into his back. Thick leather straps were holding him down, and Cadewyn was standing above him on a balcony. He could only see her because of her skin, illumined in the darkness, and her teeth, which she bared constantly in horrible twisted grins. This was the beginning of his torture: She would stand over him for hours on end, and whatever he yelled, she would not respond. Her real lover walked in from time to time, hanging a torch on the wall, and he kissed her, then touched her, and then took her in full sight of Legolas. Frequently Legolas cursed them in every tongue that he knew, screaming until his voice was hoarse and he could not utter another word. She would pay him no heed, calling out her lover's name, Anadon, with rancor for Legolas.

He sat this way for three days, with bread and ale delivered to him by this lover of Cadewyn's. She would then come and feed him, tantalizingly, purposely playing with his mind. He was treated terribly, but he did not know that this was only the beginning. For on the fifth day of his captivity, Cadewyn did not appear on the balcony, nor did she appear all day. Early in the morning Anadon came into the room and unstrapped Legolas from the table. He led the Elf into another room, and sat him in a chair in the center, tying him to it with coarse ropes.

He left the room quickly, and shut the door.

The room began flooding with water. For this was one of Sauron's tortures: this room was underground, and he could fill it with water at any time to punish a person. Legolas's eyes widened quickly as he realized the peril that he was in. He could not get out, and the water was at his ankles, now his knees, and now his chest. His composure threatened to melt away, and it soon did, flowing away as the water flowed in. He screamed for help, for Cadewyn, and for anyone who he could think of who might be able to help him. But no one came.

The water stopped at his chin. It stopped flowing and just sat around him, still unless he struggled against the ropes. He began to shiver, as his clothes had not yet been returned to him, and he was becoming cold in the chilling water. How long he stayed this way, he could not guess, but after some time the room drained, and Anadon came in and led him out. He was then put back in his cell with a dirty blanket, forced to choose between cold and sickeningly pungent. He chose the latter, for his pride was entirely broken, and he could not endure any more.

This was Sauron's first test of that particular torture. The room could be filled completely, of course, and victims drowned; but he wanted to ruin the Elf's mind and put him in his place, not kill him.

Cadewyn sat in her room, bored, and asked Anadon how Legolas had looked after the water.

"He looked pathetic, like a bedraggled, scared child," the man said in a mocking tone, "and he cried for you a few times."

She laughed and replied, "Well, he can cry for me all he wants; he shall not get any of me again. So naive, not realizing that I was not even a virgin...Anadon, I grow weary; leave me, that I may rest."

"Very well, Cade. Sleep soundly."

She sat on her bed and contemplated what to do. For Cadewyn was an actress. For her father she had acted the part of a helpless country girl to ensnare his prey for him, but he did not know that she also acted when she played the rude, evil woman who he knew. She did not really wish this hurt on Legolas, she did not mind him at all, but she had to do it for her father.