*** To Riley and everybody else who was surprised to see Aragorn almost starting a dispute with Legolas: I'd like to quote my beta-reader on this matter. When she returned chapter 11 to me, she commented that scene with the following sentence: "I hate to see them go at each other that way, but I'm sure the strain of all they've been through makes tempers short, even in the best of men." I couldn't say it in a better way!

I'm glad everybody liked the way I've written Faramir & Denethor. I'll put more Faramir into this story, but later. This time it's Boromir's turn again. Hope you enjoy! ***

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About the same time Aerilyn sat with Faramir, listening to stories from the brothers' childhoods, the small company got ready to continue with its journey. The night had been rather exhausting for every member and all of them were still tired when they packed the horses' backs. Legolas was ready to set out again first because Aragorn was cleaning Ghorid's wounds who turned more sluggish with every day, and Inunyen took care not only of her own belongings but also Atalar's. Meanwhile, the young lord sat on the ground and stared straight ahead, his gaze not focusing on anything but going through the trees his face was turned to. He obviously was deeply lost in his thoughts. The blanket Legolas had given to him the last night was still wrapped around his shoulders and his face still was very pale, but his temperature was better again. While Aragorn, Ghorid and Inunyen all were distracted, Legolas went to Atalar, taking some of the water supplies that were slowly running short with him.

"How are you?" he asked quietly and squatted down next to the man. He didn't react at all, he didn't even bat an eyelid. Legolas sighed almost inaudibly and opened the stopper of the water skin.

"Here, you need to drink something," he said and handed the water towards Atalar.

"I'm not thirsty," the young man replied with a husky voice.

"Atalar, please. You will collapse if you don't..."

"I said I'm not thirsty!" Atalar hissed and hit Legolas' outstretched hand away so forcefully that the water skin flew out of the elf's grip and to the ground where the water seeped into the dark earth. Although Legolas' reaction was quick a great amount of the precious water was lost. After rapidly closing it again the elf stared at Atalar for a long moment, not saying a word but penetrating him with an intense gaze.

"I am sorry," Atalar finally said in a voice that expressed unease and shifted his gaze to the ground because he couldn't stand Legolas' piercing stare anymore, "Forgive me, I did not mean to be aggressive towards you. It's just... I..."

"Atalar, look at me," Legolas commanded, his voice calm but with a sharp undertone. The younger man obeyed hesitatingly. Once his gaze was locked with the elf's, Legolas continued with a softer voice again.

"I know this all is very hard for you. And even if you don't believe it, Aragorn and Ghorid know that too. We see that you are going through a horrible tragedy and you have our honest sympathy. I can understand that you feel fury, despair and pain about the loss of your sister, and I see that it is very hard for you to control these emotions. But you need to pull yourself together. At least try it, or this journey will sooner or later fail because we are fighting each other instead of the assassins who did take your sister's life."

"I am trying already," Atalar replied desperately.

"You have to try harder then," Legolas responded. His words were gentle, but nevertheless it was an order. Atalar nodded slowly and batted his eyelids, moving his gaze to the ground again.

"I know that my rage is misdirected," he admitted in a low voice, "Of course I know that Aragorn and you are not the ones to blame for my sister's death. But I feel as though I would explode if I didn't let it out somehow. My emotions are killing me."

"Then stop coping with them all on your own. Let us help you."

"I don't think you can help me."

"How do you know? You didn't even try," Legolas pointed out, "Everything you do pushes us away. We all would support you, but you need to allow us to do so."

"I don't want help from all of you," Atalar said. Just when Legolas wanted to sigh in resignation Atalar raised his head again to look at Legolas' face and added in a low voice: "I guess only your support will do for the moment."

Legolas nodded slowly and gently squeezed Atalar's shoulder. A gesture that expressed confidence and optimism.

"It's a beginning," Legolas said with a faint smile, "And maybe you will be at peace with Aragorn and Ghorid soon, too."

Atalar shrugged weakly.

"Maybe. Not so soon, but perhaps one day in the future."

"Come on now, we have to go on," Legolas said, clasped Atalar's cold hand and helped him up on his feet.

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Boromir lay on the cold ground of his prison again. They hadn't killed him although he had not told them one single word. He was still alive, but he felt far from it. He tried to lie absolutely still because every single movement, however tiny it may be, caused him unbearable pain. They had tortured and humiliated him for hours, and they had done a good job of keeping him wide awake and conscious. But they hadn't been able to get one small piece of information out of him and for that Boromir was grateful. He was grateful that he had managed to stay strong and silent, although his whole body was screaming at him to spit everything out in order to make them stop. What they had done to him was hard to bear, but to betray Gondor and stab his people in the back would have been far worse.

The questions they had asked him over and over again still rang in his ears. How many soldiers are there to defend Gondor? How many of them are stationed at Minas Tirith? At which point of the border is it least difficult to start an invasion? Where are weaknesses in the tactics? How many guards are there during the day, how many during the night? When exactly is relief of the guards? Where are the weapons and armors kept? They went on like that for hours, trying to get every single detail about Gondor's military powers out of Boromir, but his mouth was sealed. He had expected to get killed, and he would have died at peace with himself because he knew that he had done everything that was within his powers to protect his people, but his time had not come yet. They let him live, more or less, and threw him back in his cell.

He didn't know for how long he lay there, not moving at all. He wished he could simply fall asleep, he was so tired and exhausted, but the horrible pain kept him awake. He lay for an eternity, listening to the slow, rasping sounds of his flat breathing that forced its way in and out his hurting lungs with a lot of effort. Finally, sleep must yet have come over him abruptly, but he woke up again soon, being drawn back to reality by a voice that was calling his name. He was a bit disorientated at first but could think clearer when the voice spoke to him again. Boromir struggled to get up on his feet and limped to the bars where he sank down to the ground again. He watched the face of the young man who was sitting opposite to him on the other side of the bars. It was the one who had given him water during their journey and for that had gotten punished by the leader of the group.

"How are you?" the boy asked. Boromir couldn't help laughing faintly, although it felt as if his lungs would explode and his ribs would crack from it.

"What does it look like?" he asked back, his voice nothing more than a whisper. "I feel wonderful. Simply wonderful," he added sarcastically.

"I got you some water," the young man said, ignoring Boromir's last remark. "I tried to get some food, but it was impossible without the others noticing. Perhaps tomorrow."

Boromir noticed that the man didn't look at him, not even when he handed the water through the bars.

"Do I look that bad?" Boromir asked and a little grin spread on his face, causing his dry lower lip to split. He didn't make the effort to lick the blood away and just let it run down to his chin. There was so much blood on his body already, he didn't care about one little drop adding to it.

"What?" the younger one asked and finally raised his head to lock gazes with Boromir.

"Nothing," he whispered and drank slowly. Every single gulp sent a wave of pain through his throat down his chest, but the thirst was stronger.

"So are you going to tell me your name now?" Boromir asked when he was finished with drinking and felt some energy coming back to his body. The young man hesitated, but then told him that his name was Ralvan.

"Nice to meet you, Ralvan," Boromir said, "I only wish I would have made your acquaintance under different circumstances."

"So do I," the boy replied. Boromir looked at him with narrowed eyes, trying to see what was going on in his mind. For a few seconds he wondered whether it was too early to seriously try to draw the boy on his side, but then again Boromir didn't know whether he would have a chance to try so the next days. Perhaps they would kill him before he had another chance to talk to the young man. With that threatening possibility in mind, he jumped right to the topic, abruptly confronting Ralvan with his extremely blunt question.

"Why don't you help me to get out of here?" Boromir asked and leaned his head against the bars so his face was closer to the other one's, "I can see that you find this wrong. You are a fair one, not like the others."

"Stop that, please," Ralvan said in a low voice.

"Why? Because the others will punish you again if you talk to me?" It was not really a question, more a statement.

"I know that you are afraid," Boromir continued, "I am afraid too. We have good reasons for being afraid, and that's why we have to get away. They will kill us."

"They won't kill me."

"Perhaps not now, but once they find out that you brought me water and food they will," Boromir whispered and wrapped a hand around one of the bars. Ralvan slowly shook his head, but his eyes revealed that he wasn't sure about it at all.

"I tell you, they will kill you. They probably will torture you as well, like they did me. Do you want that? Look at me. Do you want to look similar? You won't be able to get away once it's too late," Boromir tried to talk Ralvan into helping him.

"I shouldn't listen to your words. I'm not even supposed to see you," the young man whispered back and wanted to turn around, but Boromir grabbed his arm through the bars and hold to him tight.

"You aren't supposed to bring me water, either. But still you do."

"There's a big difference between supplying a prisoner with water and helping him to flee. If they find out that it was me who helped you to escape, they will...," His voice faded and he swallowed hard when he realized that Boromir was probably right with his dark predictions.

"We can flee together. I will protect you," Boromir promised.

"You don't even have a weapon," Ralvan pointed out.

"You will get me one."

"No, and now let me go..."

"I promise I will take you with me, to Gondor. I will make sure you will..."

"No!" the younger man interrupted and ripped his arm from Boromir's grip so heavily that he almost fell on his back when he was released.

"I cannot," he added a little lower.

"Of course you can!" Boromir stated harshly. Slowly he got angry.

"No, I cannot... I am sorry."

Boromir snorted disappointedly and pierced the boy with an intense gaze. He obviously couldn't change Ralvan's mind by tempting him with nice promises. It was time to change tactics.

"If you weren't such a coward you would pull yourself together and get me out of here!" Boromir hissed.

"I'm not a coward, I..."

"Then prove it!" Boromir interrupted. Ralvan stared at him without saying one more word.

"Why don't you admit that you want to get away, too? I can see it in your eyes, Ralvan. Deep inside your heart you know that you want to flee from these sick people, too. But you can't do it, because your fear paralyzes you. You fear that you wouldn't make it, and even if you did you wouldn't know where to go. Is it not so?"

When there was no reaction, Boromir repeated in an almost threatening voice: "Ralvan, is it not so?!"

"Yes," the boy whispered, his voice shivering slightly. Boromir sighed faintly and continued with a softer tone, his voice calm and low but determined.

"Listen now. We will flee together. I promise I will not leave without you. We will help each other. You will help me to get out of this cell, I will make sure you will get away from this place alive and can start a new life at Gondor. I will not allow them to do you any harm. But first, you need to get the keys for the padlock and if possible a few weapons. Or at least one weapon. And hurry."

"It would not be very wise to try to escape during this time of the day. We should wait until most of the men are sleeping and there are only a few guards that will have to be overwhelmed."

Boromir nodded.

"Very well. I trust you on this," he said in a low voice. Usually it took him quite some time until he confided in somebody, but this time he had no choice. It seemed that this young man was his only hope and only chance to ever see the daylight again.

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"For how long have you been serving Steward Ribensis?" Legolas asked, trying to get a conversation with Inunyen started. He intended to find out some details about her in order to be able to see beyond the rather cold, emotionless appearance she showed most of the time. He was convinced that it was only a mask. She was playing a game, and probably not a fair one.

"Did Aragorn order you to interrogate me?" Inunyen asked back harshly.

"No, of course not. I am only curious. I'm sorry if I offended you with asking questions about your personal life," Legolas said. "Besides, Aragorn does not give me orders. No one commands me."

"You are very lucky. I hope you know what a great treasure it is to be free like you are," Inunyen said. Legolas could not see the expression on her face since he was again sitting close behind her, sharing her horse, but he caught clearly that the tone in her voice was a bit downhearted. He tried to think of a response he could give without sounding arrogant. He didn't want her to believe he was feeling pity for or superior towards her because she was a servant while he was the son of a king. Before he could come up with an appropriate sentence to say, Inunyen spoke again.

"I was orphaned when I was about thirteen," she suddenly started to tell him. "My parents and I were always travelling, I can't remember one single town or city we actually lived in for longer than perhaps a week. One day when we were just going through the woods we were attacked by thieves. They killed both my mother and my father, but they let me live. I assume their morals were not low enough to murder a child. To watch how they cut the throats of my parents was the most horrible event I ever experienced."

"I am sorry to hear that," Legolas said softly when Inunyen paused for a moment. He wondered whether she was fighting back tears.

"Anyway," Inunyen continued, her voice steadier again, "I ran away and soon was lost in those woods. Days and nights passed and finally I broke down. I guess I would have died, but I was found by riders from Katalla just in time. They were scouts from Steward Ribensis and they picked me up to bring me to his empire. Steward Ribensis decided to let me live at Katalla. After all I had no home and no relatives he could have sent me to. Ribensis was very generous. I always had clean clothes, enough food, a warm bed... I was lucky his scouts found me."

"There's something else I was wondering about. May I ask?"

"You may, but I cannot promise that I will answer your question."

"How come you are his messenger?" Legolas asked. "I mean, it's pretty uncommon to have a female messenger. It would have suited the Steward better to make you a handmaiden or something similar."

"You need to know that I lived at his fortress and was raised together with his own children because they were approximately my age. Of course I did not enjoy all the privileges Lady Aerilyn and Lord Atalar did, but I received better treatment and education than the children who were to work at the stables or serve as maids once grown up. When Ribensis found out that I was rather talented with horses I had riding lessons. And when I was older, Atalar secretly taught me how to use a sword. I practiced very hard and when I was nineteen I just asked Steward Ribensis to run the next errand for him. He knew of my skills and he trusts me, so he said yes. I never disappointed him and so I became his primary messenger."

"I am sure you deserve this position," Legolas stated. From what he had seen so far she indeed was an excellent rider, skilled fighter, and very clever too.

"Your turn," Inunyen said, not paying attention to the elf's last remark.

"My turn?" Legolas echoed, not understanding what she meant.

"Don't you think it would be just fair if you told me about your past, now that I've told you about mine?" she asked. Legolas had to smile.

"You are probably right, but to tell you everything about my past would last for ages."

"I never said I wanted to hear everything about you."

"So what exactly do you want to hear about?"

"I don't know... Are you married?"

Legolas had expected every question but this one. He was silent with surprise for a second and then almost had to laugh about his own astonishment.

"No, I'm not," he told her.

"How come? I mean, how old are you? A few thousand years probably. How come you didn't meet the right woman in all those years?"

"Good question, actually. I don't know. It just didn't happen yet."

"That's peculiar. Humans, in most cases, find a matching partner in only few decades, and you don't manage in millenia."

"Maybe it's because humans don't even live for a century, in most cases, and elves are immortal and therefore don't need to rush with anything, not even with picking a lifetime partner."

"Maybe you are just too fastidious about women," Inunyen pointed out with a smile. "Did this possibility ever occur to you?"

"You are quite bold. Did that ever occur to you?" Legolas asked back.

They went on teasing each other for some time, falling into a lighthearted kind of conversation while they rode onwards. Atalar was close to their side, but he didn't pay any attention to their words. He was, once again, totally caught up in his thoughts. Aragorn and Ghorid were ahead, both of them absolutely silent too. Ghorid had stopped talking in order to hide how bad he was feeling. He was able to keep a straight face and sit in the saddle upright, but his weak and trembling voice would reveal how much pain he was actually going through. Aragorn had stopped asking and begging. He knew that Ghorid's condition got worse with every hour, but he also knew that he never would be successful with talking Boromir's cousin into returning to Gondor. He didn't want to waste his strength having senseless discussions with an obstinate warrior, and so he continued to care for the flesh wounds silently and never again lost a word about Ghorid quitting the journey and leaving the company. The bad luck that seemed to haunt them was weighing heavily on Aragorn's heart and he felt that he was slowly starting to seriously doubt they ever would be successful with this quest. He also feared that the others would lose hope if they saw his doubts and therefore tried his best to hide them. He was grateful and relieved when they left the dark woods and soon rode towards a wide but rather shallow river at which they could replenish their dwindling water supplies. At last they were confronted with an event that was not pushing them closer to failure but helping them on their journey. An event that did not cause tears to flow and tempers to go short, but smiles to spread on exhausted and desperate faces.

Everybody dismounted and got closer to the river. While Aragorn, Ghorid and Atalar stomped right into the water and started to fill up the supplies, Inunyen led their horses to the river to let them drink. Legolas watched her with smiling eyes, guiding his own horse after her. Once the animals were drinking she got rid of her long cloak, folded it and put it on the ground. It was the first time she took it off since she had joined the company and Legolas noticed that everybody was looking at her. There was not much to see though, she wore thick clothes and heavy armor which concealed her female forms pretty well, but still the others were staring. After all they were just men.

"Will you come to the water?" Inunyen asked and Legolas shifted his gaze from his three comrades back to her.

"Yes," he only said while she continued to take clothes off. She put down most of her armor and one more layer of ordinary clothes so that her arms were exposed. She was pretty muscular for a woman and Legolas caught himself wondering how often she had been forced to make use of her strength so far. He smiled faintly when he realized he held a place in the list of her opponents, too. They joined the others together, entering the cold water at the shallow shore. Inunyen bent down and splashed some cold water in her face and then put her wet hands around the back of her neck with a content sigh. After a few seconds she started to roll up the legs of her pants and revealed long, smooth calves of a milky, pale white.

"Inunyen!" Atalar suddenly blurted out as if he had wanted to protest much earlier but had held it back, "Must this be?"

She straightened up rapidly and set her arms akimbo. Atalar, Aragorn and Ghorid were staring at her with a mixture of astonishment, delight and embarrassment.

"Forgive my boldness, but I do not desire to smell as bad as you do," she said to the three men and raised an eyebrow.

"Smell bad?" Aragorn repeated slowly as if he hadn't grasped what she meant and then turned his head to look at Ghorid who only shrugged.

"Yes, you heard right. It would do you good if your skin made some closer contact with water, too. But looking at your startled faces, I see that you three obviously do not know what I am speaking off. So would you please excuse me?" she asked demandingly.

"You want us to go ahead?" Atalar asked and made a gesture to the direction they wanted to head for after their short break at the river.

"Exactly," Inunyen said and nodded, "I assume you are finished with filling up the water supplies. Then why not be gentlemen and leave me a minute?"

"Of course," Aragorn said, still a bit disturbed about the boldness of this woman, and followed Ghorid and Atalar to the horses. When they all sat back in their saddles and had crossed the river, Aragorn brought his horse to a halt and turned around to Inunyen again.

"What about Legolas?" he asked and raised a hand over his eyes to shield them from the dazzling sun.

"He can stay," the female messenger said with a tone that indicated that Aragorn's question was really stupid.

"And why that?" Aragorn wanted to know.

"He does not stare like you do, it is as simple as that."

Aragorn didn't respond anything but gazed to his friend who obviously tried to suppress a smirk. Aragorn only shook his head in disbelief and then rode onwards, catching up with the other two men quickly.

"Do you think I was too harsh?" Inunyen asked once the others were out of hearing.

"No, they were staring indeed," Legolas replied.

"And they smell indeed, do they not?"

"I will not speak badly of my friends behind their backs," he said, but couldn't fight back the grin any longer.

"Well, that is an answer too!" she replied with a chuckle. Then they silently bottled some water next to each other until something caught Inunyen's attention. She frowned and straightened up a bit.

"What is that?" she asked and pointed to the other side of the river. Legolas followed her outstretched arm and then saw it too. There was something lying in the grass, obviously washed to the shore, and it sparkled heavily as it was reflecting the sun.

"Here, fill this up please, I will go and have a look," Legolas said, handed her his water skin and started to wade through the river. The item of their interest was not only on the opposite shore but also quite some way further down the river, so it took some time until Legolas finally reached it. He bent down and picked it up, turning it in his hand and looking at it closely. It was a golden buckle, beautifully decorated with fine lines of silver forming the tree of Gondor. Legolas wondered whether this was a good or a bad sign. Perhaps Boromir had left it behind by himself to help them finding his tracks more easily, but it was also possible that it had been ripped from him during a fight. Legolas closed his fingers over the buckle, hoping Boromir was still alive.

"Legolas!" Inunyen's voice disturbed his thoughts and brought him back to reality. He heard the sound of horses coming nearer at very high speed and twirled around, scanning the area holding his breath. He frowned slightly when his eyes captured five riders who were approaching them rapidly. It did not need elven senses to feel their hostility, it was obvious they did not come with friendly intentions.

"Inunyen!" Legolas shouted back, "Hurry and warn the others!"

"No!" she screamed back, "I will not leave you here!"

"Go now, quick! I will come after you!" he replied and fought his way back through the water as fast as he could while Inunyen got out of the river and grabbed her sword. Her other things she left behind as there was no time to put everything back on. She quickly climbed her horse and dashed away, throwing a last worried glance at the elf. The water splashed heavily to all sides when she urged her horse through the river, and then Legolas lost her sight after she had hurried up the steep shore.

He clenched his teeth and started to run once he was out of the water too. His horse seemed so far away, and the strangers came closer quickly. He wondered who they were and what they wanted, but he would be glad if he had not to find out for real. When he finally reached his horse he spoke excusing words to it and then mounted it for the first time since it had been injured by the wolves. Legolas felt that he caused it great pains. It started to dance on the spot nervously, giving protesting noises and throwing his head up in fear. But he had no choice, there was no other way to escape those men who evidently wanted to attack him. And so he urged his wounded and weak horse through the river, after Inunyen and the others, although it made his heart break to torture it like this.

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"Something is wrong," Ghorid said when he saw Inunyen approaching them at extremely high speed. They could not see the expression on her face, but what struck them all was that she had not put her armor and cloak back on. Aragorn frowned while they stopped their horses.

"Where is Legolas?" he asked, more himself than the others.

"We are under attack!" Inunyen yelled when she was close enough to be heard by the others.

"Under attack?" Atalar echoed and frowned, "Who should attack us? Why?"

"I do not know, Lord Atalar," Aragorn said and drew his sword. Even before they could start to ride back to the river, another group of riders broke out of the woods that were to their left side and approached them quickly with drawn weapons. Aragorn once more cursed this whole journey while he shifted his body into a better fighting position, clutching the reins of his horse safely with one hand while he tightened the other one around the hilt of his weapon. Inunyen would not reach them before the attackers did, Ghorid already had problems to keep his balance on his horse without holding a sword, Atalar was overtired, and Legolas wasn't there at all. They would need a great deal of luck to overpower the attackers under these circumstances. Aragorn just wanted to raise his sword and start to race towards the approaching group, ready to begin the battle, when his eyes caught Legolas whose horse obviously struggled hard to get up the steep shore. Aragorn froze in his movement, reined his horse and hold his breath when he watched Legolas urging his injured horse to run as fast as it could while suddenly five more riders appeared behind him, trying to chase him down. Somehow Aragorn already expected something terrible to happen, but when he finally saw the white horse of his friend starting to stumble heavily he couldn't help crying out Legolas' name.

"NO!" Aragorn added in another scream when he witnessed the horse of the male elf falling to the ground, making Legolas crash down with it, while the four attackers came closer at high speed. Aragorn wanted to come to help and urged his horse towards Legolas, but before the horse had the chance to speed up, three of the strangers cut his way and attacked him, forcing Aragorn to defend his own life instead of trying to rescue Legolas. For a second Aragorn heard that Ghroid and Atalar already were fighting, and then the only sounds that reached his ears were the ones of his own sword clashing with the blades of his attackers.

Legolas didn't hurt himself seriously when he fell and was back on his feet immediately. In a split second he had analyzed the situation and considered the options, and then pulled an arrow out of his quiver to shoot it with deadly accuracy at one of the five men who were chasing him. The arrow hit him exactly in the head and his limp body fell from the galloping horse. They were faster than Legolas had thought they would be and came nearer with every second, determined to slay the elf when they reached him. Legolas hold his breath when he shot one more arrow to bring death to another rider and then turned around to run. The wood was not far away and when he hurried he perhaps, with a great deal of luck, would be able to reach the trees before the remaining three attackers reached him. He didn't look back but ran as fast as his legs would carry him, his gaze focused on the trees that were in front of him. He heard hooves coming closer with every second and the terrifying sounds of swords that were pulled out of their sheaths. The ground underneath his feet started to tremble when the heavy and strong horses were right behind him. They were so close that he could already sense the heat of the animal's huge bodies. Legolas closed his eyes, still running although he knew he would not make it, and waited for a blade to penetrate his sensitive skin, thrusting in the depth of his soft flesh.