Tinuviel struggled as the two elves took her down the rocks to the solid ground beside the river. "Why do you wish to take me to Mirkwood?"

"Because it is in Mirkwood where my allies hide," there was evil Aldan's gaze.

She opened her mouth, not sure whether she was going to scream or sing, but before she could do either, a heavy blow came down on the back of her neck and the world was darkness again.

Legolas emerged from his meeting less than thrilled. There was a frown on his beautiful face as he made his way back to the feast, in search of his wife. Granted it was odd that another girl with loss of memory and speaking Tinuviel's language had been found on the borders of Gondor and Mordor, but Aragorn had admitted himself that the girl nearly died trying to save him. Why would she do that if she was an agent of Mordor. And the very suggestion that Tinuviel might be involved with some evil plot was ludicrous. Boromir knew it, though he did feel there was something odd going on. Gandalf knew

it, and he'd only just met his new bride, Elrond, Gimli, every Elf in Rivendell knew there was no evil intent in Tinuviel. If Aragorn could not see that then he was not only blind, but a fool. And Legolas could no longer call him friend.

"Legolas, wait!" Aragorn called, running up to catch up to the swiftly moving Elf.

Legolas did not look back, instead he kept moving swiftly forward. "I have nothing more to say to you, Aragorn." Suddenly he stopped and allowed the human King to catch up with him. "Except this. You may be welcome in Rivendell, but you are not welcome at my wedding celebration." Having said his peace, Legolas continued on.

Elrond caught up with Aragorn and put a hand on his arm, holding him back. "Perhaps you should allow his anger to wane before approaching him again." The elder Elf gave him a kind look. "It is possible you are allowing your feelings to cloud your judgment." Elrond did not need to read minds to know that Aragorn had mixed feelings about Arien.

Aragorn ran a hand through his hair. "I am only trying to look out for the best interests of everyone in Middle Earth. He is the one allowing his feelings to cloud his judgment."

"Aragorn. He is in love, you know what that means for an Elf. And you have insulted his wife by suggesting she is a minion of the Dark Lord." Elrond frowned at him. "How exactly did you expect him to react?"

"He has been my friend for more years than I can remember, Elrond." There was a pained expression on his face. "I foolishly expected him to listen to what I was trying to tell him. You know I like Tinuviel, I do not wish to believe ill of her, but stranger things have been known to happen."

Gandalf stepped out of the shadows and joined Elrond and Aragorn. The others had made their ways back to the feast trying not to disturb Elrond and Aragorn. "None of us wish to believe ill of those we care for."

Aragorn sighed. "That does not mean it is not true."

"No," Gandalf agreed, "it does not."

"Then you think it might be possible?" Aragorn only wished for at least one other person to see what he did.

"No. I do not. Tinuviel and Arien are not involved with the Dark Lord."

Elrond nodded. "I agree." He turned back to Aragorn. "I am sorry, Aragorn, but I believe you are wrong."

"Not entirely," Gandalf countered. "Oh they themselves are not evil, but there is a darkness falling over Middle Earth and it centers about these two lost girls. Though neither of them knows their place in this this grand scheme, of that I am certain." He held a hand up to Aragorn's questioning face. "Do not ask me any more, for this is all I can tell you." He turned to leave, but Aragorn stopped him with a quiet question.

"Are they a danger to us, Gandalf. Can you tell me that at least?"

Gandalf thought for a long moment before looking at Aragorn over his shoulder. "Yes. But not in any way you will expect."

Legolas looked around the large room, looking for some sign of Tinuviel in the throng of people. He saw Boromir coming toward him and started to leave, but then thought the better of it. Boromir was not his enemy, he did not believe Aragorn's theories anymore than anyone else in the meeting had. "Boromir, have you seen Tinuviel?"

The large man shook his head. He had just come from looking in on the sleeping Arien, glad she had stayed out of trouble during the meeting. "I have not." He put his hand on the lithe Elf's shoulder. "I am sorry, Legolas. I did not know that Aragorn was going to accuse Tinuviel of being in league with the Dark Lord. I thought he had left off the theory that Arien was a spy for Mordor after she saved his life at the river, but apparently I was wrong."

"Please, Boromir. I have no further wish to discuss it. I wish only to find my wife." Legolas spotted Dariel and motioned the younger Elf over.

"Legolas," Dariel smiled at him as she glided over the floor. "Did Tinuviel not find you?"

Legolas frowned at her. "No. She did not. When did she leave?"

"Some time ago. It looked as if she was heading toward the Singing Falls. I assumed she was going to meet you there." It was no secret that this was a favored place for them.

"I have not been to the falls today," Legolas' frown deepened. "Perhaps she went there to be alone." He knew that the press of people had been a bit much for her.

Dariel could see the concern on his face. "Is all well, Legolas?"

"I hope so. Thank you, Dariel." Nodding to the her, he turned and started making his way to the Singing Falls.

Elrond and Gandalf entered the room shortly after Legolas had departed. They found Boromir standing to himself, lost in thought and Legolas and Tinuviel conspicuously absent from their own wedding feast. "Have Tinuviel and Legolas departed for the night?"

"Legolas has gone to find Tinuviel at the Singing Falls."

A frown creased Gandalf's brow. "Why would she go to the falls at night?"

Elrond shook his head. "I do not know." He saw the look on the old wizard's face. "What is it, Gandalf?"

"We should go to the falls straightaway."

Boromir looked a bit uncomfortable. "But if nothing is amiss, I do not believe Legolas will appreciate another intrusion. Have we not already taken enough of his wedding night from him?"

Gandalf's face was grave as he started toward the terrace. "He will not find her there." With those ominous words he strode away.

Legolas came to the small glade next to the river below the Singing Falls. Tinuviel was not there. Looking up at the fall of stones that lead to a natural terrace next to the falls, he could not imagine her climbing them in such dim light but there was nowhere else to go. He made his way easily over the rocks but when he reached the terrace it was empty. More perplexed than ever he stood there for a moment, wondering if she might have gone walking in the gardens instead. He was about to make his way down the rocks when he heard a noise coming through the trees. "Tinuviel?" He was somewhat surprised to see the group of men emerge from the trees. "What are you doing here?" he asked, frowning, as he began his descent.

Gandalf waited until he got to the bottom before speaking. "You have not found Tinuviel." It was not a question, he knew the answer.

"I was going to look for her in the gardens. Why?"

Lighting the crystal in his staff, he began to look around. "I do not believe you will find her in the gardens either."

"Perhaps she has decided to leave Rivendell," Aragorn said, his face serious. "Have you seen Arien?"

"Aragorn," Gandalf admonished.

The light glittering in Legolas' eyes was cold and hard. "King or no, be very careful what you say about my wife, Aragorn."

Boromir broke in between his two friends. "Arien is sleeping in her room, I saw her there not half an hour ago."

Gimli moved to where the wizard was standing, casting his light about as if he were looking for something. "What are you about, Gandalf?"

Gandalf gave Legolas a sorrowful look. "I am sorry, Legolas, but I feel some misfortune has befallen your bride."

Legolas closed the distance between them in the blink of an eye. "What do you mean, do you know where she is? What has happened to her?"

The wizard lay a soothing hand on Legolas' shoulder. "I do not know what, precisely, but there is an ill feeling in the back of my mind."

"Wait. I see something." Frowning, Elrond pointed up at a scrap of white fluttering against the rocks. "That was not here yesterday."

Looking up to where Elrond was pointing, Legolas saw the white material and a fist of fear pounded his heart. He ran up the rocks and across the terrace, throwing himself onto his stomach at the edge of the cliff. Reaching down his long arms, he snagged the piece of cloth and pulled it up, but not before he saw the blood splattered on the stones below.

He pulled himself up, sitting with an elbow resting on one raised knee. Closing his eyes, he sat on the edge of the cliff and held the material tightly in his hands as the others climbed the fell and emerged on the terrace.

"Legolas?" Gimli said softly, moving toward his friend.

When Legolas opened his eyes, tears were glistening, unshed, glittering in the depths of his blue gaze. His voice was flat, emotionless. "There is blood on the rocks." For a moment he just sat there, staring bleakly at his friends. Lifting his hands, he showed them the fabric that had been caught on the sharp outcropping of stone. "This is a piece of her wedding dress." He ran his fingertips over the intricate embroidery, silver and gold threads worked through the white silk.

No one was unaffected by the sudden discovery. Elrond stood in silence, grieving for the loss of someone that had grown very dear to him. Gimli sat down on a rock, the thought that the vibrant young woman he had met could have ceased to exist sent a shard of pain through his heart. Boromir too, who had despite original misgivings about the unusual girl become quite close to her, wept openly. Aragorn ran a hand over his face, a million thoughts running through his mind. Only Gandalf seemed able to move. He walked over to the edge of the cliff and looked down into the water, holding his light aloft, looking at the blood splattered over the rocks. There was something, some echo there, if only he could hear it.

For a long time Legolas sat there, stroking the soft fabric. When he spoke again, it was to no one in particular. "She did the needlework herself." He half smiled at the memory. "She would not allow me to see it until today. I remember her hiding it whenever I would come close enough to see." He lay the material over his palm and smoothed it out with his other hand. "It is beautiful, is it not? I cannot remember if I told her how beautiful it was, how beautiful she was."

Gandalf lay a hand on his shoulder. "If she but looked into your eyes she would have seen."

Legolas looked up suddenly. "Gandalf," he seemed oblivious to the wet streak of tear that tracked down his cheek. "Do you think it possible she could be alive? Perhaps she was injured but swept down the river? She is a strong swimmer and the current is not so fast further down the river." He knew he was grasping at straws, but it was all he had. And until he saw a body, he would hold onto this small hope.

"I do not know," Gandalf said slowly, "but there is more here than we see."

Elrond stepped forward. "We shall organize a search of the river from here to the Baranduin if there is even the possibility she could be alive."

Standing up gracefully, Legolas tucked the piece of material into the braided belt about his waist. "Thank you, Elrond."

"We will all search," Aragorn knew he had been mistaken about Arien, and Tinuviel had paid the price for his unease around the other woman. "I am sorry, Legolas."

"Sorry," Legolas scoffed, eyes fire bright with anger. "You are sorry? If not for you and your unseen phantoms of evil she would be by my side even now." The tall Elf moved forward until he stood toe to toe with Aragorn. He looked down into the man's eyes. "I hold you responsible for her life," he said almost too softly for anyone to hear.

"That is unfair, Legolas." Boromir did not like to see his friends looking at each other with hate and remorse.

"No, Boromir, he is right." Aragorn bowed his head a bit and stepped back from Legolas. "The woman he loves has gone missing, I know that feeling only too well." He looked back up at Legolas. "I accept the responsibility for her life, Legolas."

Elrond moved to stand between them. "We are not accomplishing anything like this. Boromir, go back and gather all the available men to search the river banks, we will remain and search here by the falls."

Hours passed, and nothing. The moon sat, and nothing. Not even so much as another scrap of her clothing was to be found. Every inch of Rivendell and the surrounding mountains and woods were searched, there was not a trace of her to be found anywhere. It was as if she had fallen of the face of the earth.

"Legolas!" a soft voice called.

In the gray hour before dawn, a lone figure in white could be seen walking through the woods toward the falls. Legolas, wet head to toe from searching at the base of the falls, frowned as he saw the woman approaching. He could see it was Arien. "What is she doing here?"

Gandalf looked toward where Arien was entering the small glade and smile. "She is here to help us." Aragorn started to stop Arien, but Gandalf held him back. "No. She is walking in her sleep, perhaps she can shed a light on those things which we cannot see."

"How can she do that?" Aragorn's face held a puzzled expression, and hope that she might be able to help them find Tinuviel, or at least some trace of her.

Smiling enigmatically, Gandalf waved everyone out of her way. "Just watch."

Arien walked through the glade. Her eyes were open wide but she was clearly not seeing what was in front of her, some other scene was playing out before her eyes. She moved to the edge of the fell of rocks and looked up, as if searching. Stopping suddenly, she turned around, looking at someone who was not there. "Aldan. I do not suppose Legolas has sent you here with another message."

"Aldan?" Legolas hissed. "My cousin?! What has he to do with Tinuviel's disappearance?" As he thought on it, he could not remember seeing Aldan since last night sometime.

"Hush, Legolas," Gandalf chided, "just watch and listen and perhaps we will gain some answers."

They watched her as she stood there. Listening wide eyed to a phantom voice, she backed toward the boulders until the back of her legs came against the closest one. "And how do I fit into this problem?" Listening for another moment, she turned suddenly and began scrambling up the rocks, losing her footing in places as Arien was not as familiar with the boulder as Tinuviel was.

Legolas' heart beat in his throat as he watched the scene unfold and realized he was watching what could well have been the last moments of his beloved Tinuviel. He jumped up onto the fell and began traversing it behind her, followed by Gandalf, Boromir and Aragorn.

Arien was breathless when she reached the top. She looked frantically from one side to the other and then moved closer to the edge of the cliff. The dawn sun was beginning to shine through the trees at the tops of the mountains filling the valley with a pink light. Arien looked down into the water then back directly at Legolas. It surprised him when she looked him in the eye, but then he realized she wasn't seeing him. It felt strange somehow to know he was standing in the same spot his cousin had apparently stood in the night before.

"Perhaps not," she said with a bravado that was so like Tinuviel, Legolas could almost see her standing there instead of Arien, "but it is better than the one you offer." She moved to the edge and prepared to jump, but when Legolas realized she meant to play out the entire scene, he grabbed her tightly about the waist and pulled her away from the edge.

She fought against him, but held her hands, keeping them from scratching him. Boromir came forward and held her face. "Arien, wake up, it's Boromir."

"NO!" Gandalf ordered. "She still has something to tell us. Let her go."

"She will plunge to her death," Boromir protested.

"I do not think so, in any case, you will be there to catch her if she tries it again."

Legolas released her and she moved, as if pushed, toward the edge of the cliff. She looked down at something at the ground, or someone doing something. Then she stood there, balancing on the edge, holding her hand out, grimacing at something, then pulling her hand back to cradle it against her chest. She moved back to the fell as if she were struggling against something, or someone.

"He had accomplices," Gandalf said in a matter of fact voice. "Boromir, Aragorn, carry her back down to the foot of the fell."

Exchanging odd looks, the two humans did as they were told and carried a struggling Arien back down to the bottom of the fell. Legolas watched, not quite believing his eyes and ears. If what they were witnessing now was what had actually happened to Tinuviel, then that meant his bride had not died in the rushing river below. Relief swept through him as he and Gandalf followed them to the glade below. "She is alive," he breathed, hardly daring to believe it.

Gandalf nodded. "At least she did not die here."

Once at the bottom of the fell, Arien stopped struggling. "Why do you wish to take me to Mirkwood?" She listened for the answer. It seemed as if she was going to say something more, but she suddenly went limp in their arms, her legs falling out from under her. Gandalf and Legolas rushed forward.

Arien blinked her eyes and looked around, confused. "What is happening, where am I?" She tried to sit up, but fell back against Aragorn, exhausted. "Why is everyone looking at me?"

"Do you not remember anything?" Gandalf asked as he bent over her, looking into her eyes.

"Remember what? I was in my bed asleep. How did I get here?" she demanded.

Aragorn rolled his eyes and pulled her up, supporting her about her waist. "There is the shrew we have come to know so well."

"Remarkable." Gandalf put his hands on his hips and looked amused. "We must find Elrond and tell him to call off the search of the river, we now have a new direction in which to look." He turned to Boromir, "Boromir, will you find Elrond and Gimli, I believe we should get Arien back to the house and we have preparations to make." Looking once more at Arien to assure himself she was well, he nodded and went off on Gandalf's errands.

Gandalf, Legolas, Aragorn, and Arien started back to the house as quickly as they could. "We know that Aldan has Tinuviel and is taking her to Mirkwood," Legolas frowned. "But why?"

"Surely you can guess," Gandalf said as they marched through the wood. "It is no secret that before your father spoke with Elrond he was ready to denounce you as his heir. Who would have been the next heir, do you think?"

Realization struck him and he closed his eyes as he realized that Tinuviel had been taken to lure him away from Rivendell and back into Mirkwood. "This is all my fault." He turned to Aragorn, contrition on his face. "My friend, I am sorry for the things I said to you last night."

"No, Legolas," Aragorn lay a hand on his shoulder. "You are right. If not for me you would have been with Tinuviel. If I had been in the same position, I would have been far less civil I am sure. But I am glad I will now have the chance to help you find your wife."

Legolas clasped his friend's arm. "Thank you."