Disclaimer: For full disclaimer, please see chapter 1.
A/N:
Wow, it seems that there is a growing Seobryn-Celylith-Fanclub out there! Great to see that you like them so much, and Celylith truly IS adorable, I give you that. *huggles resisting elven warrior* Well, and about them being major characters: That depends on how you define 'major', I think. Celylith will be in more scenes than Seobryn, but that's because he's Legolas' tag-along, but I don't know yet if he's going to be in this for the whole time. We'll see... *g* If he's lucky he might escape...
I agree with you on the crossbow-bolt-in-forehead-thing, I guess. Must look quite stupid, especially as King of Gondor... *g* But it would be cool, I mean, family tradition and all that... *evil cackle* Okay, that was evil, sorry.
Okay, here's the next bit, and to prove to you that I am back to my usual evilness, it's a cliffy!! Yay Nili! *ducks various sharp tools* Jeez, you guys don't like them too much, do you?
Anyway, we have a discussion with the trigger-happy person at the door, see the introduction of my first two female characters ever (don't worry, they will neither fall in love with Aragorn nor with Legolas), get a few answers and ... *swallows* then ... Legolas ... and ... *sniff* ... I didn' want to ... but ... *g*
Enjoy and review, please!
Chapter 8
All Aragorn could do was stare stupefied at the weapon that was pointed at him. He hadn't exactly expected a warm welcome at this time of night, but this was a little bit excessive in his opinion.
He slowly raised his hands in a gesture meant to appease the person holding the crossbow and to emphasise that he posed no threat. He tore his eyes away from the dark, rather menacing-looking crossbow and looked at the person who pointed it at him, a tall, middle-aged man in with blonde hair that was beginning to grey at the temples.
The man looked at him calmly, but there was an underlying note of fear and anger in his voice when he spoke.
"You are not welcome here, as I told your friends before. You should not have come back."
Aragorn blinked perplexedly. He had not the slightest idea what the man was talking about. Before he could voice that fact, however, a twanging sound could be heard, and he quickly took a look behind him before turning back to the man that was still threatening him with the crossbow.
A few steps behind him stood his companions, the elves flanking Seobryn left and right who looked more than a little surprised. Both warriors had notched arrows to their bows and pointed them unwaveringly at the man standing in the doorway.
"Put down the weapon and stand back," Legolas commanded, his voice soft and quiet, but with a steely note that very clearly said that he wouldn't hesitate to shoot if he saw the life of his friend endangered.
The man only shot them a cursory glance and tightened his finger around the trigger of the weapon.
"You will not tell me what to do in my own house! I will have nothing to do with you or your master, and I told you so! It is you who should lower your weapons and leave! You have three seconds, or I will kill this one."
The fair haired elf's eyes seemed to light up with an angry fire at that, and he pulled the string of his bow a little tauter, an icy certainty emanating from his body.
"Then I will kill you. You would be dead before your bolt hit him."
The blonde man snorted and turned slightly to look at them, without shifting the weapon however.
"Who do you think you are? There is no way you will be fast enough to fire before his body hits the ground. Do you think you're an elf or what?"
He opened his mouth to say more, but closed it again when he looked a little closer. His eyes wandered over the two elven warriors, from where they stood lightly atop the snow upwards to their pointed ears and fair faces.
"Oh," he said faintly, beginning to lower the crossbow. The man's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he first recognised Seobryn and then the blonde elf who had spoken earlier. "Your Highness!" he finally exclaimed, his face paling rapidly when he realised that he had threatened the son of the woodland king.
He quickly put down the crossbow and returned it to a small metal hook on his belt.
"I beg your pardon, Prince Legolas, I did not recognise you."
"So I see," Legolas replied with a wry grin, returning his weapon to his quiver and motioning for Celylith to lower his bow as well. "You were expecting someone else, Master Human?"
The man shrugged lightly, trying to hide his anxiety.
"I did, in a way."
Aragorn slowly lowered his hands and shot the man in the doorway a curious look.
"Not a close friend of yours, I presume?"
The other gave a little smile.
"You can never be too careful in these dangerous times, can you? Besides, I didn't expect any of you today, and certainly not you, Prince Legolas."
The elven prince looked at the man questioningly.
"You have me at a disadvantage I fear, Master Human. You know my name, yet I do not know yours."
The man nodded his head, giving a small bow.
"Of course, forgive me, Your Highness. We have never been formally introduced, I think. I am Owaeran, master of this house and the guild master of the trader's guild in this town."
Legolas nodded his head regally, every inch the Prince of Mirkwood now.
"Greetings, Master Owaeran. My father holds you in the highest esteem and bade me give you his thanks and greetings. We have come to make sure your apprentice reaches you on time."
The blonde man nodded politely.
"Thank you, my lord. I have already met young Seobryn there, but your other companions are unknown to me."
The elf smiled and gave his friends a small grin.
"Then let me introduce them to you, Master Human. This," he made a graceful gesture in Celylith's direction who gave a small bow, still eyeing Owaeran somewhat warily, "is Lord Celylith, son of Celythramir, a captain of the king's guard. And my other companion," he nodded at Aragorn who inclined his head to the other man ironically, "is Strider, a Ranger of the North and friend to Lord Elrond of Rivendell."
Owaeran returned the bows in kind.
"I am most pleased to meet you. Please forgive me my actions from earlier, I did not expect my new apprentice this late at night."
Seobryn turned scarlet at that.
"Forgive me, sir, I meant no disrespect. The guards were reluctant to let us pass…"
Owaeran waved his hand dismissively, smiling at the young man.
"There's no need to apologise, lad. And the guardsmen are indeed nervous. Strange things have happened of late."
"Father? Who is it? Is it Uncle Gwemyr?"
The small voice caused the man to turn, and the attention focused on the slim figure of a girl who had appeared behind her father. She had apparently climbed out of bed when she had heard the raised voices, judging by the robe she wore over her nightshirt and the bare feet.
She took one look at the assembly in front of the door.
"Definitely not Uncle Gwemyr," she mumbled under her breath.
Legolas studied the girl curiously. He wasn't very good at estimating human age, but he was sure that she wasn't older than sixteen or seventeen. She had her father's blonde hair and large blue-green eyes that were eyeing them suspiciously now.
"Go back inside, Seveawen," her father said, giving her a stern look. "You know you're not supposed to be out of bed at this hour. You may greet our guests tomorrow."
The girl looked at her father unwillingly, but relented with a sigh. She shot the four strangers a last look before giving them a small curtsy, smiling at them with an ironic sparkle in her eyes.
"Gentlemen."
She turned and disappeared into the dark house, leaving the males alone in the cold night air.
Owaeran looked after her for a second before turning back to his guests, shaking his head lightly.
"That girl will be the death of me yet." He seemed to notice that the four of them were still standing in front of his house, crowding the narrow catwalk. "But please, do come in. I will send someone over to the stable so that your horse will get taken care of."
Aragorn smiled and nodded, eager to escape the chilling breeze.
"Gladly, Master Owaeran. We don't want to keep your house up all night."
"Oh, you are not," Owaeran assured them, motioning to a servant who had materialised apparently out of nowhere to look after the horses and take them to the stables. "I would have waited up anyway; perhaps he is coming home today after all…"
The older men interrupted himself and took a deep breath.
"But this unpleasant business can wait until tomorrow. I'm sure you have many questions which I will gladly answer tomorrow, but tonight it's far too late for ill tidings. I would not have such noble guests stand in the cold night for any longer than necessary."
The next minutes went by with a flurry of activity. Servants appeared and took their bags, helped them out of their cloaks and offered mugs of steaming grog to thaw frozen fingers and warm the guests. When they stated politely that they would very much like to retire to their rooms, Owaeran nodded friendly and wished them a Good night, and they were led upstairs by a servant with a small lamp.
"See?" Celylith whispered, just audible to Aragorn and Legolas. "I told you they would be much more obliging when they knew who you were."
"Right," Aragorn agreed, a teasing twinkle barely visible in his eyes in the dark hallway. "We are lucky indeed to be in the company of the noble Prince of Mirkwood…"
"Oh, be quiet, Estel. I will have to convince Owaeran not to tell anyone else though. It would be very nice indeed if people treated me like everyone else for a change," Legolas retorted good-naturedly and politely dismissed the man who had shown them to the part of the house where the guest rooms were located. Seobryn had been shown to his room in another part of the building, for he was no guest, but an employee of Owaeran now.
He looked at his companions, suddenly turning serious again.
"Something is wrong here. The house is filled with fear and pain and anger, it lies so thick in the air that you can almost reach out and grasp it. They are afraid of something."
"Or someone," Celylith nodded. "Perhaps that 'Master' he talked about earlier? And who is coming home tonight?"
"Maybe that uncle the girl spoke of," Legolas shrugged. "I have no idea. But it is something I will ask our host tomorrow morning. I would very much like to know why he wanted to shoot Strider."
"He didn't want to shoot me," Aragorn protested. "He mistook me for someone else, that is all. But I believe that he would have shot that person, yes."
"Exactly," the elven prince agreed, a stubborn glint in his silver-blue eyes. "And he very nearly killed you because he believed you to be that someone else. And I want to know why."
Aragorn smiled and shortly put his hand on Legolas' shoulder. His friend could bear a grudge for quite some time, especially if someone had tried to harm one of his friends.
"Nothing happened, my friend," he smiled at his friend and took a step closer to his room, suppressing a yawn. He was indeed quite tired. "I do not think there is danger threatening us in this house."
"No, not in this house," Legolas agreed. "But there is something hostile in this town, Aragorn. It is like a shadow that is drawing closer, staying just out of the range of my senses. Something is amiss. Be wary, both of you. We may be safe here, but we are not safe in this town."
The other two nodded solemnly as they separated, each of them retiring to the room they had been shown.
Just before he fell asleep, Aragorn had to admit that he agreed with his friend. There was something wrong here, seriously wrong. And he had the sinking feeling that, once again, trouble had just found them.
The next morning dawned bright and early, the blue sky shining onto the equally shining surface of the Long Lake. The freshly fallen snow added an almost surreal touch to the scenery, for it was a very curious sight indeed to see white snow covering the surface of the unfrozen middle of the lake.
Or so it appeared, Aragorn thought, looking out of his window, because the snow didn't cover the lake itself but narrow catwalks and boats that were almost completely covered by the shining substance.
Closer to the town a sheet of ice covered the water, probably because the settlement lay a lot closer to the shores now than of old. Lake-town itself lay in a calm bay formed by a rock outcropping, and so the waters were freezing now in the cold winter air. The young ranger shook his head. This was one of the oddest things he had ever seen, he decided. It was very odd indeed to live on a lake in houses built on long stilts, he thought, watching the citizens attending to their business below his window.
He was torn out of his reverie by the sound of a soft knock on the door.
"You may enter, Legolas!" he called, not even bothering to turn around.
A second later the door opened, and he could hear the amused voice of his elven friend.
"How did you know it was me, mellonamin? Good morning, by the way."
Aragorn turned and smiled at his elven friend, crossing over to his bed and taking up his weaponbelt and fastening it around his waist.
"There are a multitude of reasons, Master Elf," he replied with mock seriousness, eyes twinkling with mischief, "Do you want to hear them?"
Legolas leaned against a beautifully carved wall and grinned at the man, raising a mocking eyebrow.
"Oh? Then please, do astound me with your wisdom and intellect, Master Human."
"I gladly will, good sir," Aragorn replied seriously and wondered, not for the first time, what anyone who didn't know them would think about them. He or she would probably come to the conclusion that they were insane rather quickly, he admitted a little ruefully.
He assumed the pose typical for his father when he was about to deliver a lengthy lecture.
"First, my prince," he began, pacing up and down the room as if trying to formulate very deep, complicated thoughts, "It is rather early, and since we are guests in this house, I would assume that they won't come to wake us at this hour. This is a human household, not an elven one; here guests are allowed to sleep longer if they wish to."
He narrowly avoided a smack Legolas had aimed at his head and continued. "Second, I couldn't hear anyone walking up to the door, which, considering my humble hearing, had to mean that either a ranger or an elf was the one knocking. And since I doubt that there are any rangers this far east – in fact, it would very much surprise me – I reasoned that it had to be an elf."
"How very perceptive of you, Lord Aragorn," Legolas teased, suppressing the building laughter in his chest. Sometimes it became apparent that Aragorn spent far too much time with his elven brothers.
The young ranger stopped his pacing for a second to flash him a grin, nodding his head.
"Indeed it is, thank you, my lord," he stated seriously, lifting a finger to emphasise his following point. "But, dear Master Elf, there is a thing that tipped the scales: Who," here he injected a small, dramatic pause, "who else but you insists on constantly jerking me out of my sleep? Whose only aim in life seems to be to annoy me? Who delights in mothering me to no end? You see, revered Prince Legolas, I knew the answer to these questions and therefore knew exactly who was the one knocking at that door."
He closed with a triumphant expression on his face and looked smugly at his elven friend who just looked at him as if he had lost the last bit of his sanity.
"That is the stupidest reasoning I have ever heard, and I do attend the council sessions from time to time," Legolas snorted. "And I do not mother you."
"Yes you do," Aragorn retorted laughing. "Do not even think of denying that you came here to ask whether I slept well!"
"Did you?" Legolas asked, looking at his friend closely.
A flicker of an emotion flashed over the man's face, but before Legolas could discern whether it was guilt or annoyance or something else entirely, it was gone.
"Yes," Aragorn replied, looking him in the eye. "I slept well."
A multitude of possible answers blossomed in Legolas mind, ranging from calling his friend a pathetic liar to asking him for how long exactly that had been, one or two hours, but the consequences of these replies would probably be quite painful for him judging by the warning glare Aragorn shot him, and so he contented himself with dubiously raising an elegant eyebrow.
"Is that so?" he asked softly.
Aragorn scowled at him, but before the human could say something he would probably have regretted later, a servant popped his head inside the room, smiling at both of them.
"Good morning, sirs! Nice bright day it is, isn't it? The Master asks if you would like to join the Mistress and him for breakfast?"
The young ranger gave his friend a last dark look before turning to the other man.
"Yes," he said, returning the smile, "Thank you. We will be downstairs in a minute."
The servant nodded and quietly disappeared down the wooden staircase that was located just to the left of Aragorn's room.
He turned back to see his elven friend look at him in concern.
"I am worried about you, Aragorn," Legolas said quietly. "Your body sorely needs the rest you have been denying it."
"I have been doing no such thing!" Aragorn exclaimed. "I cannot help it, and that is the problem! Why do you persist on constantly reminding me of my weaknesses?"
He whirled around, stalking back to the window. He was already sorry for snapping at his friend, but the lack of sleep made him grumpy and irritable. He just didn't want to add to Legolas' own worries, especially now that they all felt that something was amiss here, couldn't that stubborn elf see that?
A second later he felt a strong hand on his shoulder and turned, looking into the apologetic eyes of his elven friend.
"I am sorry, my friend," Legolas said softly. "I did not mean to press you, and I know…"
"It's alright, Legolas," Aragorn interrupted him, smiling ruefully. "I am the one who should be sorry. I did not mean to snap at you."
The elven prince nodded in acceptance, but tightened his grip on the man's shoulder.
"And I don't want to hear that ever again."
Aragorn's eyebrows shot up.
"Pardon me?"
"'Tis not a weakness, Aragorn. The strongest warriors, elves and men alike, warriors many years older than you are now, are haunted by such dreams, and many after things less painful or traumatic than the ones you have endured. No-one thinks of you less than before because of this. It is not a weakness, and it can even be turned into a strength if you overcome it. Do not ever say something like that again."
The young ranger was apparently not prepared to go into the last part of what his friend had told him and simple nodded his head.
"Thank you," he said quietly, looking at the solemn face of his elven friend.
Before Legolas could reply, Celylith appeared in the door, and all three of them made their way downstairs, Aragorn for his part very glad that he had escaped that particular conversation.
A servant girl showed them to the dining room, a large, sunlit room on the ground floor of the large house. Owaeran and a lady that was apparently his wife were already present, as was his daughter whom they had already seen earlier and Seobryn, who looked as if he had got over the initial nervousness now.
During the polite bows and greetings Aragorn decided that the girl had definitely inherited her mother's eyes since the woman's had the same blue-green colour, although she apparently had her father's blonde hair since her mother's was of a dark brown colour streaked with grey now due to her advanced age.
"Allow me introduce my wife, Misien," Owaeran said, giving his wife a fond look. "And you have already met my daughter Seveawen, I believe," he added with a side glace at the blonde girl who was eyeing them curiously now, her suspicions obviously gone.
The trader turned to his family.
"And this, my dears, are," he caught the minute headshake from Legolas and reacted quickly, "Lord Legolas and Lord Celylith from Mirkwood, and Strider, a Ranger of the North. They kindly escorted the lad here."
"Thank you very much," Misien said, sitting down again at the table that was laden with the most delicious food, drink and fresh fruit and motioning her guests to do the same. "We appreciate that very much. Travelling can be very dangerous this time of year, can it not?"
"Indeed it can, my lady," Celylith answered, giving his companions a wry look. "The woods are dangerous of late; one never knows what one will encounter."
"Alas for these dark times," Owaeran sighed, shaking his head. "The goblins are beginning to multiply again, as do the trolls and other foul things. It is very bad for business."
"I can imagine," Aragorn nodded, and soon the men and elves were deep in conversation about trade routes, prices and markets.
A bit later, while Legolas, Celylith and Owaeran were discussing the possibilities of introducing a new brand of wine to the court of King Thranduil, Aragorn let his eyes wander over the table and noticed with some amusement that Seobryn didn't seem so engrossed in their discussion.
'No,' he thought, hiding an amused smile, 'It rather seems that he has found a more … promising thing to give his attention.'
Indeed, Seobryn was rather preoccupied, namely with more or less staring openly at the daughter of the house with wide, admiring brown eyes. If the girl did notice the young man's fascination with her face, she didn't show it, being immersed in a earnest conversation with her mother.
After half an hour Misien and her daughter rose from the table, nodding at her husband and her guests.
"I think you have yet more business to discuss, my love," she said to her husband, a playful twinkle in her beautiful eyes. "We will no longer disturb you, and Seveawen and I have other duties to attend to."
Owaeran smiled at his wife.
"You never disturb me, you know that. And you are welcome to stay, since I know how fascinated you are with trading."
His wife looked mildly alarmed.
"No thank you, dear husband. I think the kitchens require my urgent attention."
With a small curtsy she placed a firm hand on her daughters back and left the room, still smiling at her husband, and for a fleet moment Aragorn wondered if his parents would have been anything like this had they lived. He was very happy with his elven family, and he had never had the feeling that they treated him differently because he was human and not really of their blood, but sometimes he just couldn't help but wonder what his human parents had been like.
Seobryn, who had been looking after the two of them for quite a bit longer than necessary, noticed the amused look Estel gave him and returned his attention to the conversation at hand, furiously combating a deep red blush that was threatening to colour his face the shade of a sunburnt beetroot.
After a few more minutes of polite conversation, Legolas waited until the last servant that had been clearing the table had left the room and turned to their host.
"We must really discuss this further, Master Owaeran, but now I have another question for you. I hope you'll excuse my bluntness, but why did you threaten to kill my friend?"
The man sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair.
"I promised you some answers, my lord, and you shall have them."
He got up and slowly walked over to a window that overlooked a small garden. Aragorn thought idly that he didn't even want to imagine what it had to cost to create a garden here.
"As you had probably already imagined, I didn't try to kill Mr. Strider here," he nodded politely at Aragorn who returned the gesture, feeling that this was rather reassuring. "I mistook him for someone else. Yesterday evening a few men came here, and one of them looked a bit like him. When you knocked at the door, I was rather anxious and didn't take enough time to look at the one standing in the door properly."
"And who were these men you were so willing to shoot at the slightest provocation?" the elven prince asked, slight anger colouring his voice.
Owaeran sat down again with a heavy sigh, suddenly looking old and tired.
"It is a long story."
Celylith smiled thinly at the man.
"We have time."
The trader looked up, a small smile on his lips.
"Yes, I guess you do." He leaned back in his chair, looking at the four interested faces in front of him. "I have a brother."
"The Uncle Gwemyr your daughter spoke of?" Legolas asked.
Owaeran smiled fondly, obviously lost in some memory of things long past.
"Yes, that is him. He is my younger brother, quite a bit younger actually. Twelve years, to be precise. He is a partner in this company, but he has never been particularly interested in trading. Or," he grimaced slightly, "in any other kind of serious work."
Aragorn nodded in understanding. He knew this kind of men. He had seen quite a lot of them in various human towns and settlements, most of the time in bars and inns. The kind of men who drank a lot of ale, flirted with the barmaids and generally talked far too much.
"I always thought he would calm down once he got older," the older man continued and studied his hands, refusing to look up. "But now he's over thirty years of age and still…"
He fell silent for a minute before he looked at the elves and the men, anger and fear mixing in his eyes.
"He left the house a week ago and didn't come back."
"I know what you think," Owaeran continued before one of them could say a word, "He is a grown man and makes his own decisions. That is true, my brother leads his own life, even if I do not appreciate of the way he spends his time. But one thing I do know: He would never just leave like that. Even despite our differences we have always been on good terms with each other, and he would inform me if he had decided to travel somewhere. Besides, he adores Seveawen. He would never leave without saying good-bye to his niece."
Seobryn, Aragorn noted somewhat dryly, looked very much as if he could relate to that sentiment.
Celylith's voice broke the heavy silence.
"And the men that visited you yesterday, they were friends of his?"
"No," Owaeran shook his head, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. "No, I am rather sure that they were no friends of his. He has a lot of friends I do not exactly approve of, but they are not dangerous company. They are rakes like him, have no real work like him and spend most of their time escaping one jealous husband or another – like he does, I'm ashamed to admit, but they are not like those people who came here yesterday."
Aragorn winced inwardly at the words. The older man had apparently lost all illusions about his younger brother a long time ago.
Aloud he asked,
"Then what kind of people were they?"
"Hired scum," Owaeran answered curtly, grimacing in disgust. "They said they worked for one of my … let's say competitors, shall we?"
Legolas raised a questioning eyebrow, and the man elaborated,
"He and I, we don't get along very well, I'm afraid. To say that there is no brotherly love between us would be an understatement. Be that as it may, those people just came into my house and started asking me questions. Where my brother was, when I expected him back, where they could find his friends, these kinds of things. After five minutes I lost my patience and threw them out, which they took rather ungracefully."
"Hence the crossbow," Aragorn concluded quietly.
"Hence the crossbow," Owaeran nodded. He looked at all of them in turn, all reservation gone and replaced by naked fear. "All I can tell you is that my … competitor is rather ruthless. I don't think that he is responsible for Gwemyr's disappearance, for he wouldn't need to ask where he was if he was, wouldn't you agree?" He stopped for a second. "But since their little visit I have really begun to worry. My brother has never truly grown up, I'm afraid, and I fear that he might have got into some kind of trouble he will be unable to escape on his own." He gave them a rueful smile. "He is very good at that."
"I know exactly what you mean," Legolas mumbled, giving his human friend a small, evil grin which the other ignored completely.
"But there is more," Celylith stated, eyeing the elderly man closely.
Owaeran sighed deeply and nodded slowly.
"Aye, there is, Master Elf. Two days ago they fished a body out of the lake."
Aragorn shivered slightly. He had a very bad feeling about this.
"But it was not your brother?"
The trader shrugged helplessly.
"I don't think so."
"You don't think so?" Seobryn asked, for the first time opening his mouth. "Forgive me, Master, but how can you just 'not think so'?"
The blonde man looked at his apprentice gravely.
"I think so because the stature wasn't quite right. There wasn't enough left of his face for his own mother to recognise. The icy water preserved the corpse quite well. He – whoever he may have been – was beaten before someone slit his throat. Badly so."
Legolas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The things humans were prepared to do to each other never ceased to shock him. For the most insignificant of reasons they were willing to hurt and kill each other in a fashion that would never happen in an elven society.
'I told you so,' a small voice inside his head whispered. 'You're in trouble, trouble, trouble…'
For a second the fair haired elf wondered if he should perhaps beat his head against the table to silence it, before he abandoned that idea as ineffective and returned his attention to the conversation at hand.
"So your brother is gone, you don't know where or why or with whom, and one day after that body is found your 'friend's' employees show up here and start asking questions," Aragorn summed up.
"Yes," the older man said quietly, staring at his hands again. After a heartbeat or two, he looked at them earnestly, quiet despair shining in his eyes. "I love my brother with all my heart, but I also know of his faults. He is a no-good womaniser, I'll give you that, but he is no killer. He showed all kinds of weapons always the same kind of disinterest he showed everything else requiring hard work. I fear that he got involved in something too big for him to handle."
"We would help you," Legolas offered seriously. "But there seem to be no clues. You don't know his friends?"
"No, only a few by their first names, and Lake-town is a big town nowadays. I don't even know where to start looking."
"At the inns," Seobryn said seriously. He swallowed nervously when four heads turned into his direction, but continued bravely, "If your brother is that fond of … ale, sir, I think it would be a good start to look for him there."
Aragorn smiled at the young man, nodding his head.
"A good idea, Seobryn," he said. "We can visit a few of the places your brother is known frequent and ask a few questions. We might even get some answers you, as his older, disapproving brother might not receive."
"You would do that?" Owaeran asked, a sudden hopeful sparkle in his eyes.
"We would," Legolas confirmed. "We all owe Seobryn a great debt, and the least we can do is try and help his employer, don't you think?"
The boy started to protest, but fell silent quickly when he noticed the serious looks the elves and the ranger gave him.
"Then, my lords," the tradesman nodded at the three friends, "I will count myself twice blessed that the king asked me to come and have a talk with the lad. May the Valar reward you for your kindness."
Aragorn smiled and nodded at the older man, thinking that he didn't need a reward. How did they always manage to get themselves into these potentially dangerous situations? If the most powerful of the Ainur simply made sure they got out of this alive and unscathed, he would be more than happy.
"Elbereth, I must be insane," Legolas grumbled for the umpteenth time, resisting the urge to throw back his hood and strangle his human friend. Tempting as that idea was, they had agreed that Celylith and he wore cloaks with hoods to hide their faces and most importantly their ears. The fact that they were elves might attract even more attention to them than the fact that they were strangers asking curious questions did anyway.
Next to him Aragorn shifted slightly on a wobbly wooden chair, taking another mouthful of the rather decent ale and looking around the small tavern they had chosen to visit.
"Calm down, Legolas," he advised his friend and reached out to push the two earthen tankards into the direction of his elven friends. "Here, drink something, people are beginning to stare."
"I prefer wine," Celylith announced unhappily, eyeing the mug as if it might grow teeth and bite him if he tried to lift it.
"Besides, it's the third inn already. I have never drunken so much ale on one evening," Legolas added, but grabbed his tankard and took a mouthful of the bitter liquid.
"Oh, come on," Aragorn teased, grinning broadly. "Where is that famed elven stamina of yours? I am but a man and have drunk just as much as you have."
Legolas didn't answer while Celylith mumbled a rather interesting Quenya curse under his breath, a curse the ranger was sure he had never heard before. Trying to commit the saying to memory, he laughed lightly.
"Don't look so dreary," he said, ignoring the dark glares that threatened to burn holes into his thick winter cloak. "We are just a few travellers having a drink after a long journey."
Oh, the journey had been quite hard indeed, Legolas mused dryly. A few hours ago they had left Owaeran's house and made their way into the direction of the western part of the town, after having – with some difficulty – persuaded Seobryn to stay behind. He was far from inexperienced, they knew that much, but he was leaving tomorrow morning with his employer to visit several of Owaeran's warehouses and shops, and it would probably not make a good impression if the boy was too hung-over to set one foot in front of the other.
Besides, the prospect of spending the evening in the company of the trader and his family did seem quite appalling to the young man, the elf thought with a inward chuckle.
So they had gone alone after having been provided with a list of inns and names of possible friends, and had already ticked off two of the places Owaeran had named. No-one knew where Gwemyr was, and no-one could remember the names of his friends, although a drunk young man of Aragorn's age could helpfully provide the fact that the name of one of them began with a 'D'.
An hour later, the elven prince was more than a little bit annoyed. The tavern was hot, it was loud and the people frequenting it had apparently never heard of the beneficial properties of soap. The barmaids could remember Gwemyr because he had always been most generous with his money, but they didn't know where any of his friends lived either. The last time he had been here had been approximately eight days ago, and he had spent most of the time talking secretly with his friends in one of the corners.
"Interesting," Celylith commented after the girl had left their table again to serve a profusely gesticulating man at the bar, "So perhaps he has just left after all."
"Just like that?" Aragorn asked, frowning dubiously. "If he did, then because the circumstances didn't permit him to inform his family, and if that is the case, then there is more to this than meets the eye."
"You might be right there, my friend," Legolas nodded and leaned forward slightly, his silver-blue eyes boring into his friend's. "But now we will leave, or I swear I will take my knives and kill the first person that laughs."
Under heavy protestations Legolas and Celylith had left their quivers behind and only kept their knives, or in Celylith's case his knife and his sword. Aragorn had argued that a bow would do them little good in the maze of narrow catwalks and channels, and so the two elves had relented, rather unwillingly one might add.
"He is right, Strider," Celylith nodded as he pushed back his chair and prepared to rise. "We will learn nothing more here. We can try another inn or two before calling it a night and returning to Owaeran's house."
The dark haired human looked up unwillingly, but sighed and shrugged when he saw the steely glint in his companions' eyes.
"Very well then. If this little bit of ale is already too much for you…"
Ignoring the two elves' fiery stares, he got to his feet and slowly moved into the direction of the bar to pay for their drinks, moving through the crowded room with an ease that surprised Legolas. The people seemed to chose to move out of his friend's way, even though Strider's countenance was neither threatening nor grim. He just seemed to command a certain sort of respect, even now despite his young age. The elven prince smiled slightly. Well, even if Aragorn himself was uncertain about his heritage and destiny, one thing Legolas knew for sure: Should Aragorn ever decide to claim the throne of his ancestors and should be made king, he would be one of the greatest, perhaps even the greatest human king Arda had ever seen.
Oblivious to his companion's thoughts, Aragorn quickly made his way across the room and paid for their drinks, carefully putting away his money. The last thing he needed was a pickpocket that saw himself tempted to relieve him of his coins.
Just when he turned back to walk over to his friends in a corner, he stopped and stiffened slightly. There it was again, the feeling that someone was watching him. He moved in a small circle, keen eyes searching the room and trying to find the one spying on them, but once again he could see no-one that looked familiar.
Ignoring the tiny cold shiver that run down his spine, he slowly walked back to his companions, still trying to find the hidden watcher. But no-one seemed overly interested in him or the two cloaked elves, something that made him growl slightly in frustration. He had come to trust in his senses, and right now they were telling him that he was being watched by unfriendly eyes.
When he reached the table, Legolas and Celylith got up and prepared to leave the inn.
"Aragorn," Legolas whispered softly as they were making their way outside, side stepping men and women of various degrees of drunkenness, "There is someone…"
"I know," the ranger replied. "But I couldn't see anything, could you?"
The two elves soundlessly shook their heads as the three stepped out of the small building, the laughter and chatter slowly abating behind them.
"No," Legolas said out loud when they walked down the bridge leading to the town centre, "I couldn't see anyone I have seen before."
"But it's hard," Celylith added, frowning in concentration. "There were so many new faces and besides," he stopped and shot Aragorn a nasty look, laughter in his deep blue eyes, "all humans look alike."
Aragorn glared at the grinning elf and was just about to respond something not very courteous, when the three of them rounded a corner only to find themselves face to face with a rather large group of humans.
The elves and the ranger automatically took a step backwards, hands instinctively going to their weapons. A second both groups eyed each other silently, before a dark haired human stepped out of into the open, a huge wooden club nonchalantly dangling from his hand.
"Well, well, well," he said in a friendly tone of voice, a tone of voice that was belied by the dangerous glint in his eyes. "What have we got here? Three strangers, all alone – and very curious strangers they are, wouldn't you agree?"
His men laughed and jeered at that, and Aragorn used that moment to shoot his elven companions a questioning look, only to be met by almost imperceptible shrugs.
'Great,' he thought, tightening his hold on his sword, 'Just what we needed.'
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice calm and commanding.
"A few answers, for starters," the man replied, taking a few steps closer to them. "Why are you interested in Gwemyr? And you don't know anything about the man they fished out of the lake, by chance?"
"No," Aragorn replied, staring at him coldly. "And now you would be well advised to step aside and let us pass."
The other man eyed him curiously for a moment before starting to laugh heartily.
"You can't be serious! There are seventeen of us and only three of you! You will tell us what we want to know, one way or the other!"
With that he stepped closer and reached out to grab Legolas' arm, but the elven prince effortlessly dodged the hand and drew back, but couldn't stop his hood from slipping off his head, revealing his pointed ears and long blonde hair.
"An elf!" the men murmured, backing away a little and eyeing the fair haired elf fearfully.
"Well, I don't believe it!" the leader said, staring at the elven prince who looked back with eyes dark with anger, "A cursed elf! What are you up to? This matter doesn't concern you!" He turned back to the other men. "Get them!"
The elves and the ranger had barely enough time to draw their weapons before the wave of human bodies slammed into them, threatening to separate them from each other.
Aragorn ducked under a descending club and stepped to the side, bringing the hilt of his sword down on his attacker's head. While he was fending off two other attackers that were obviously trying to back him into a corner, he mused darkly that he was fighting humans far too often lately. What had happened to the times when all he had to worry about were goblins, orcs, wolves and the sort? It was far easier to fight such foul things, since he really didn't want to kill his own kind unless he had absolutely no other choice.
His friends seemed to be in the same predicament, and when he was breathlessly moving to the side to escape a dagger that had been aimed at his sword arm, he realised that they needed to leave, now, or they would be in real trouble very soon.
"Legolas!" he called, throwing one of his attackers into another that was approaching him from the right, "Lye anta kel! Sí!"
Legolas who was very busy dancing out of the reach of two men that were trying to trap him against a building to his right, nodded silently and caught his friends' eyes.
"Sanka!" he called loudly, slamming his elbow into a grinning face to his right and turning on his heel.
On the prince's command all three of them turned and ran back the way they had come, but while Celylith ran past the inn whose customers were now beginning to emerge, having been alarmed by the shout and sounds of fighting, Legolas and Aragorn disappeared down smaller gangways to the right. For a moment the men seemed too surprised to move, but they quickly recovered and gave chase.
Five minutes later, Aragorn stopped, trying desperately to calm his racing heart to listen to any sounds of pursuit. When he couldn't hear anything, he tried to orientate himself, but, he decided grimly, looking around, that was one of Lake-town's faults: It all looked the same. The same dark houses, the same channels, the same catwalks. And, this being not a very respectable part of said town, there were no public buildings or anything of that sort one would recognise.
Looking back over his shoulder, he cautiously walked on, his left hand on the wall of a warehouse and his right gripping his sword. Who in Elbereth's name were these people? And why would they think they had anything to do with the dead man?
Praying fervently that the men wouldn't catch one of his friends, he reached a corner, but when he just wanted to round it, a hand shot out and slammed him against the wall. Aragorn's breath was knocked out of him, but he still raised his weapon and was more than willing to skewer the person pressing him against the wall if he didn't let go of him soon when he heard a soft voice.
"Aragorn?"
He looked up to see the face of his elven friend hover in front of his, concern and shock in his silver-blue eyes.
"Legolas? Valar, you almost gave me a heart attack!"
"And I almost killed you!" Legolas exclaimed and lowered the knife he had been holding close to his friend's neck. "Why didn't you say something?"
"I was a little preoccupied trying to breathe after you mistook me for a hay sack!" the ranger retorted, rubbing his chest and returning his balde to its sheath. "Do you know where Celylith…"
He stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes growing wide when he heard the sound of many booted feet drawing closer to their position. Legolas hesitated for only a second.
"Come," he said and pulled his friend back the way he had come, only to stop when he heard more men coming that way as well. "We … have a problem," he said quietly.
Aragorn snorted.
"Really? Do you have an idea how to get out of here? I think they'll be here in half a minute."
Legolas looked around them, before locking eyes with the human, eyes gleaming.
"I do."
The elven prince dragged Aragorn to the edge of the pier, pointing at the frozen surface and the docks on the other side of the channel.
"We walk."
Aragorn looked at the elf with wide eyes, debating whether or not he had taken a prolonged leave of his senses.
"Walk? Fifty feet? Legolas, you cannot be serious! I … I'm not an elf, I cannot simply…"
"Yes, you can," Legolas replied, hopping down onto the frozen surface of the lake. The sounds of running feet drew closer, and he stretched out a hand. "Trust me, we can make it. If we are fast enough we can be on the other side in a few seconds! The ice will be thick enough." He looked at the human who had been stubbornly shaking his head no the entire time. "Mellonamin, there is no other way. They will be here any second now, we have to leave!"
Aragorn looked at the prince's outstretched hand, scowling at him. Legolas was right, of course. They couldn't escape, and he really didn't want to find out what the men wanted…
Sighing, he gingerly lowered himself down onto the ice, wincing when he imagined hearing small, cracking sounds and at the same time questioning his own sanity.
Right then, the decision was made for him when the men stormed onto the small square in front of the pier, and Legolas grabbed his hand and pulled him into the direction of the piers.
"Come!"
Together they fled over the silvery surface of the channel, Legolas steadying his human friend as best as he could when he threatened to lose his footing on the slippery surface. The whole matter grew even more complicated when their pursuers let loose a shower of arrows and crossbow bolts, determined not to let their prey get away this easily.
With hindsight, when he thought about it in the future, Aragorn recognised that they had almost made it when it happened. They had almost reached the other side when he stumbled and almost fell, the only thing preventing just that being Legolas' arm that held him upright. They stopped for a mere second so the young ranger could regain his footing when two crossbow bolts missed them by inches and burrowed themselves in the ice just in front of them.
Immediately, a cracking, horrible sound could be heard, and Aragorn could have sworn that he could see the cracks running through the ice, nearing their position from the spot where the bolts had hit as the strain finally became too much and the ice began to give way. Legolas jerked him upright, his eyes widening when he saw what was happening. Before Aragorn had even time to comprehend what was going on, he felt himself grabbed tightly by the arms and pulled closer to his friend. He looked up in confusion, meeting his friend's amazingly calm gaze.
"Forgive me," Legolas whispered, and, taking a hold on the human's shoulders and upper arms, he threw him forwards into the direction of the pier with all his might.
Aragorn hit the wooden construction hard, for a second paralysed by the abrupt collision, before he came to his senses and quickly pulled himself up to roll onto the catwalk, panting for breath.
He felt his heart go as cold as his surroundings when he realised what had happened.
"No! Legolas!!" he screamed, whirling around, back to the channel.
Legolas smiled when he heard Aragorn's scream; so the human hadn't hurt himself too badly in the fall.
'Good,' he thought to himself, 'And that is all that matters.'
The last thing he saw before the ice splintered and went to pieces under his weight was Aragorn's shocked, white face that stared at him in horror as he disappeared from view and plunged into the icy water of the Long Lake.
TBC...
mellonamin - my friend
Lye anta kel! Sí - We need to leave! Now!
Sanka - Split (up)!
*giggles nervously* Uhm, you're not angry, are you? I mean, come on, nothing bad happened and ... Help!! *flees angry Legolas fans*
Well, I do hope you're not too cross, and that goes for Seobryn too. This won't turn into a romance, never fear, I could _never_ write that, but he's about eighteen to twenty years old, so come on, that's only normal. Plus he deserved a little break.
Okay, so please tell me what you think! Meaning: Review! Yes! Please! We needsss reviewsss, we doess.... Pleasssseeee.... *g*
Additional A/N:
Nilbrethiliel - Nein. *strenger Blick* Pfoten weg von meinem Elben. Nix spielen, nix zwischen irgendwelche Hosen haengen... Ich weiss noch nicht, was ich mit Rashwe anstelle, vielleicht wird Aragorn es zu Pferdehackfleisch verarbeiten? Mal gucken... *g* Tja, der arme kleine Ranger hat wirklich kein einfaches Leben, mit uns irren FF writern, die an jeder Ecke lauern... Tja, und wenn du dachtest, dass das letzte Kapitel ein cliffy war, was ist dann dieses? Mhahahaha!!
Aratfeniel - Hey! I resent that! I do not write 'insane comments'! They are rather sane and make sense and all!! Really, shame on you... *hands Aratfeniel a cookie* Not bad! Yes, it is for defence, kind of, anyway... Good guess! Thanks for reviewing!
Mouse - Uhm, well ... you know ... I didn't want to write the cliffy ... 'twas my alter ego again ... Well, I hope you like this cliffy though! I am very proud of it, in fact... It's very evil! I love evil! *g*
LOTRFaith - *evil look at FF.net* We hates it, we doesssss... I mean, honestly, it cannot be so hard! Well, yes, it probably is, but STILL!!! It always does that on the day I have just posted or want to post... An evil law of nature. Hmm, about Seobryn's name... _I_ pronounce it Se-o-bryn, with a short 'e'. It doesn't really matter, though, I think. Thanks for not nagging me, it doesn't help anyway. Most of the time, that is... *g*
CrazyLOTRfan - *watches her bounce* Well, this is another cliffy! As is chapter 10! Yay Nili! Nili loves cliffies, more than is good for her, btw... LOL, the crossbow bolt as a fashion statement? That's a new approach... No, and don't worry, I would not shoot Estel, not through the forehead, anyway. Too serious and life-threatening. Oh, and about the holiday: And there would be free classes, 'Torture 101' at every college in the country. What do you think? *g*
Gwyn - No, chapter 9 doesn't have a cliffy, chapter 10 does, though...that good enough? Oh, and yes, things are definitely heating up now. And I don't think they will calm down again in the near future... *huggles her* Thanks for reviewing!
Nikara - *innocent expression* Foreshadowing? Who? Me? Never... LOL, Celylith, the 'spider elf'? You could probably say that... Thank you so much for all your reviews and I hope this was soon enough!
Arwen-Evenstar - You don't like cliffies, then? Well, then my only advise would be to 'go away, and never come back'. *g* Sorry, Gollum again, but really, I don't think you will enjoy the next chappies that much, then...
Imbefaniel - *sighs sadly* I know, school work is horrible, I have my exams in a month! Ack!! Panic panic panic!!! Thanks for reviewing again! I'm glad the Valar have forgiven you!
Halo - *pokes Halo* She does that a lot, doesn't she? Oh, come on, girl, you know that he will be alright! Do you really think I would let him get hit in the forehead!? No way! It would spoil his great looks! And you know, it's not _him_ you should be worrying about... *evil grin* Ah, being evil is so much fun...
Leggylover03 - I have to admit, I don't get it why you call yourself that if you're an Estel fan... Camouflage, perhaps? Well, whatever... The dreams, yes... It will take him some time until he talks about them, I haven't planned it any time soon. Perhaps chapter 12 or 13, we'll see. And about what it is that haunts him: You know, last story, there were these rather nasty people and all that... Thanks for reviewing! I love reviews, did I mention that?
One15 - One! *knuddelt sie* Na, schoen dich auch mal wieder zu sehen! *g* Ja, ich stelle mir Legolas' Gesicht auch immer so ... leicht sprachlos vor... Ah" Ein erster Rahswe-Fan! Na ja, das Pferd ist ja auch irgednwie cool, das muss man ihm lassen... *g* Keine Angst, eine Traumloesung ist weit von meinen Vorstellungen (die mich wahrscheinlich in die Psychiatrie bringen koennten *g*) entfernt! So einfach kommen sie mir nicht davon!
XsilicaX - *innocently* What Gollum-like creature? I don't see one... Well, yes, I agree, Estel SHOULD talk about his dreams, but he is being an idiot? Or typical male, take your pick. Uhm, actually I hadn't planned going into his history more than I already have, but I'll see what I can do! *evil grin* Yes, I did say that Legolas owies came first, and to that I hold. (Gosh, I have to stop quoting LOTR the whole time *g*) Just read on, dear friend! *evil grin*
NaughtyNat - *sniff* I was crying when I wrote the Legolas-Sea-bit, I really was. Don't tell anyone, it would ruin my reputation... *g* Great you liked it, thanks a lot for the review!
Miss Understood - *defensively* Well, I was very young, okay? About six or seven or something! If I did it now, I wouldn't live to see another day... *stares at her wide-eyed* You gotta calm down! Seobryn isn't going anywhere, calm down....that's it, breathe.... Evil people inside the building? Uhm, no? The guy that was killed was Seobryn's boss? Uhm, no? I am sorry, but that's not it. Would be far too easy, I want to be able to confuse you for another six or seven chapters... Well, Seobryn's not gonna die, I think, but he won't be much in ch 8, I'm afraid. Sorry. Oh, and I hope you're not jealous, btw. Sorry!
Grumpy - *blushes* Thanks. I love writing this story, it's so much fun! *sheepishly* Yeah, I kinda noticed that too. Yelling seldom gets you anywhere with computers ... mindless violence does, though!!! *g* Thanks for the reivew!
E - Of course! *hits herself 'cause she's so slow on the uptake* 42 is SPECIAL!! *g* You're right, might look quite stupid, so I didn't let iot happen. Yay Aragorn! 'Trivial'? You think putting a crossbow bolt in Aragorn's head is trivial? Well, you're even worse than I am... *g* Death by earplugs. Right. I told them, they ran away screaming. Problem solved. *g*
ThE iNsAnE oNe - *stares wide-eyed at monster-review* Wow, that is ... big! Enormous! (NO, don't get any wrong ideas, I didn't mean it THAT way!) Thanks a lot! *huggles Miki* Uhm, I had almost forgotten about that song! What is so very special about it? Except that it amuses you and Legolas? *sighs* You really need to get them under control! I didn't give you Nólad so that he is taken hostage all the time! I mean, really, I will have to take him back if you don't do something! *giggles* Evil female man child, right you are, Elrohir... Ah, but the last chappie wasn't a cliffy! *points at this one* THIS is one!! Mhahahahaha!! *runs off*
Helen T - Ha, so you like cliffies? Finally, a sensible person! Well, because you like them so much, here's another one! *cackles evilly* Thanks a lot for the review! *points at date* Only 3 more days!!
Reginabean - Yeah well, I have been threatening FF.net so many times now, somehow I think it's immune to it! Glad to see you again, just take care you don't fall off a cliff again this time... *g*
Cestari - Naughty naughty! *wiggles finger* You're not supposed to be online and review my story? Awww, sweet.... *huggles Cestari* Thanks! I promise I will read that story of yours as soon as I have a little bit of time on my hands, really! But exams are less than a month away and I really don't have time at the moment...
Alexa - No, cliffies aren't mean, cliffies are FUN! *g* Yeah, I love dropping little mysterious hints, I really do... Well, and now it's here, the dreaded chapter 8! UhmIgottagobye! *runs off to escape Alexa's wrath* Bye!
Firnsarnien - Oh, so many nice smileys! Thanks! Oh, yes, you're another one of those militant Legolas fans, aren't you? Well, then I think I should better be going now... Bye! *runs off* I hope you have a nice vacation, Legolas is having much fun too, believe me...Ack! Help!! *g*
Zam - Well, I think FF.net ate your review last time. Same thing happened to Alilacia, must have been because of FF.net's problems... Sorry, I never got it... *starts crying* I missed a review from Zam! That's tragig, that's what it is! But, you have to admit that your orc horde is anything but ordinary! They are definitely ... odd, let's say odd, shall we... Well, you and Cellyith would get along just fine then, he can be quite evil, too... Okay, the next chapter is here, don't worry, but, you know ... Legolas ... I didn't want to do it, really, but my alter ego made me ... Uhm, I gotta go! *runs off*
Firniswin - *g* Calm donw, the next bit is here, don't worry.... Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in... Great you like is so much, thanks for reviewing!
Jenny - A WHOLE LOT OF TROUBLE!!!! Mhahahahahahaha!! *regains her composure* Sorry, that happens sometimes... Well, you'll have to read on to see what exactly they got themselves into, but let me say one thing: It's evil! Mahahaha!
Alisha - *huggles her* You're still here! Great! I didn't make you run away? Throw yourself to the ground? Thank God... *g* Uhm, I really do use old English? Well, that's a relief, since I try not to write too modern. It's just like not using the 'O' word - I think 'Okay' really spoils the whole thing, besides, Tolkien woul rotate in his grave if he heard it. *g* Yes, Celylith has a personality of his own, namely being evil and annoying! But I love him! *huggles him* Sorry for the spider thing, I really hate those things myself. I'm an arachnophobic idiot if there ever was one - I know perfectly well that it's unreasonable, but I can't help myself. Thanks so much for reviewing, and give my regards to your guinea pig!
Ciria - Sound like a great party, then! No problem at all, thanks a lot for sending me a note nevertheless!
LOTRMatrixStarwarsFan - Yeah, I'm back to normal! Evilness, cliffies and owies all over - I feel so much better now! Well, about the survey thingy: Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll see what I can do!
Marbienl - You're scary, girl, did I ever tell you that? You eventually guess most of the things that are gouing to happen in one kind or the other, and it's freaky! *giggles* You? Are patient person? Ah ... that's an interesting way of putting it... What are you doing? NO hypnotising my characters! Do you want them to spoil the whole angst-angle? Shame on you!!! *g* You like Rashwe then? Well, it's an interesting horse, I'll give you that... Don't worry, the German bit was perfect (Gut gemacht, meine Dame!), and I'm really sorry, but your idea doesn't - really -happen. More the other way round?
Elladan - *giggles* This soon enough? I'm very glad you like it so much, thanks a lot for all your reviews! Reviews help a lot!
Alilacia - Sorry about the last review, FF.net ate Zam's too. I never even saw it. Oh yes, Legolas will definitely needing a lot of the bandages, no doubt there. I'm afriad no insurance company would accept them, don't you think? The risk is just too great... Well, sure you can borrow Legandir. The problem is that he doesn't accept orders easily. Perhaps he'll let you wait a yén or two... *g* Wilwarin's long lost second cousin, huh? That'd be definitely NOT good... Yeah, elves are definitely cocky. That comes with being nearly perfect, I guess. *g* And I absolutely agree with you: We need more clifffies! And because that is so, here's the next one! Mahahahaha! *runs off cackling insanely* Thanks a lot for the looooong review!!
ManuKu - *g* Schoen, dass dir das gefallen hat... Kam einfach aus dem Nichts zu mir, frag mich nicht warum... Tja, jetzt bekommst du morgen früh Kapitel 7 und 8! Yay Manu! *fieses Grinsen* Tja, so ein Langbogen ist ja auch eine praktische Sache! Ich meine, damit kann man viele verschiedene Dunge tun, sie man mit einem Ranger nie tun koennte... (Ich hafte nicht fuer unanstaendige Gedanken an dieser Stelle! *g*) Danke fuer's reviewen! Hat mich sehr gefreut...
Thanks so much for all your reviews! They really, really help me to post faster! *huggles reviewers* Even if I repeat myself here: Thanks!!
A/N:
Wow, it seems that there is a growing Seobryn-Celylith-Fanclub out there! Great to see that you like them so much, and Celylith truly IS adorable, I give you that. *huggles resisting elven warrior* Well, and about them being major characters: That depends on how you define 'major', I think. Celylith will be in more scenes than Seobryn, but that's because he's Legolas' tag-along, but I don't know yet if he's going to be in this for the whole time. We'll see... *g* If he's lucky he might escape...
I agree with you on the crossbow-bolt-in-forehead-thing, I guess. Must look quite stupid, especially as King of Gondor... *g* But it would be cool, I mean, family tradition and all that... *evil cackle* Okay, that was evil, sorry.
Okay, here's the next bit, and to prove to you that I am back to my usual evilness, it's a cliffy!! Yay Nili! *ducks various sharp tools* Jeez, you guys don't like them too much, do you?
Anyway, we have a discussion with the trigger-happy person at the door, see the introduction of my first two female characters ever (don't worry, they will neither fall in love with Aragorn nor with Legolas), get a few answers and ... *swallows* then ... Legolas ... and ... *sniff* ... I didn' want to ... but ... *g*
Enjoy and review, please!
Chapter 8
All Aragorn could do was stare stupefied at the weapon that was pointed at him. He hadn't exactly expected a warm welcome at this time of night, but this was a little bit excessive in his opinion.
He slowly raised his hands in a gesture meant to appease the person holding the crossbow and to emphasise that he posed no threat. He tore his eyes away from the dark, rather menacing-looking crossbow and looked at the person who pointed it at him, a tall, middle-aged man in with blonde hair that was beginning to grey at the temples.
The man looked at him calmly, but there was an underlying note of fear and anger in his voice when he spoke.
"You are not welcome here, as I told your friends before. You should not have come back."
Aragorn blinked perplexedly. He had not the slightest idea what the man was talking about. Before he could voice that fact, however, a twanging sound could be heard, and he quickly took a look behind him before turning back to the man that was still threatening him with the crossbow.
A few steps behind him stood his companions, the elves flanking Seobryn left and right who looked more than a little surprised. Both warriors had notched arrows to their bows and pointed them unwaveringly at the man standing in the doorway.
"Put down the weapon and stand back," Legolas commanded, his voice soft and quiet, but with a steely note that very clearly said that he wouldn't hesitate to shoot if he saw the life of his friend endangered.
The man only shot them a cursory glance and tightened his finger around the trigger of the weapon.
"You will not tell me what to do in my own house! I will have nothing to do with you or your master, and I told you so! It is you who should lower your weapons and leave! You have three seconds, or I will kill this one."
The fair haired elf's eyes seemed to light up with an angry fire at that, and he pulled the string of his bow a little tauter, an icy certainty emanating from his body.
"Then I will kill you. You would be dead before your bolt hit him."
The blonde man snorted and turned slightly to look at them, without shifting the weapon however.
"Who do you think you are? There is no way you will be fast enough to fire before his body hits the ground. Do you think you're an elf or what?"
He opened his mouth to say more, but closed it again when he looked a little closer. His eyes wandered over the two elven warriors, from where they stood lightly atop the snow upwards to their pointed ears and fair faces.
"Oh," he said faintly, beginning to lower the crossbow. The man's eyes nearly bulged out of his head when he first recognised Seobryn and then the blonde elf who had spoken earlier. "Your Highness!" he finally exclaimed, his face paling rapidly when he realised that he had threatened the son of the woodland king.
He quickly put down the crossbow and returned it to a small metal hook on his belt.
"I beg your pardon, Prince Legolas, I did not recognise you."
"So I see," Legolas replied with a wry grin, returning his weapon to his quiver and motioning for Celylith to lower his bow as well. "You were expecting someone else, Master Human?"
The man shrugged lightly, trying to hide his anxiety.
"I did, in a way."
Aragorn slowly lowered his hands and shot the man in the doorway a curious look.
"Not a close friend of yours, I presume?"
The other gave a little smile.
"You can never be too careful in these dangerous times, can you? Besides, I didn't expect any of you today, and certainly not you, Prince Legolas."
The elven prince looked at the man questioningly.
"You have me at a disadvantage I fear, Master Human. You know my name, yet I do not know yours."
The man nodded his head, giving a small bow.
"Of course, forgive me, Your Highness. We have never been formally introduced, I think. I am Owaeran, master of this house and the guild master of the trader's guild in this town."
Legolas nodded his head regally, every inch the Prince of Mirkwood now.
"Greetings, Master Owaeran. My father holds you in the highest esteem and bade me give you his thanks and greetings. We have come to make sure your apprentice reaches you on time."
The blonde man nodded politely.
"Thank you, my lord. I have already met young Seobryn there, but your other companions are unknown to me."
The elf smiled and gave his friends a small grin.
"Then let me introduce them to you, Master Human. This," he made a graceful gesture in Celylith's direction who gave a small bow, still eyeing Owaeran somewhat warily, "is Lord Celylith, son of Celythramir, a captain of the king's guard. And my other companion," he nodded at Aragorn who inclined his head to the other man ironically, "is Strider, a Ranger of the North and friend to Lord Elrond of Rivendell."
Owaeran returned the bows in kind.
"I am most pleased to meet you. Please forgive me my actions from earlier, I did not expect my new apprentice this late at night."
Seobryn turned scarlet at that.
"Forgive me, sir, I meant no disrespect. The guards were reluctant to let us pass…"
Owaeran waved his hand dismissively, smiling at the young man.
"There's no need to apologise, lad. And the guardsmen are indeed nervous. Strange things have happened of late."
"Father? Who is it? Is it Uncle Gwemyr?"
The small voice caused the man to turn, and the attention focused on the slim figure of a girl who had appeared behind her father. She had apparently climbed out of bed when she had heard the raised voices, judging by the robe she wore over her nightshirt and the bare feet.
She took one look at the assembly in front of the door.
"Definitely not Uncle Gwemyr," she mumbled under her breath.
Legolas studied the girl curiously. He wasn't very good at estimating human age, but he was sure that she wasn't older than sixteen or seventeen. She had her father's blonde hair and large blue-green eyes that were eyeing them suspiciously now.
"Go back inside, Seveawen," her father said, giving her a stern look. "You know you're not supposed to be out of bed at this hour. You may greet our guests tomorrow."
The girl looked at her father unwillingly, but relented with a sigh. She shot the four strangers a last look before giving them a small curtsy, smiling at them with an ironic sparkle in her eyes.
"Gentlemen."
She turned and disappeared into the dark house, leaving the males alone in the cold night air.
Owaeran looked after her for a second before turning back to his guests, shaking his head lightly.
"That girl will be the death of me yet." He seemed to notice that the four of them were still standing in front of his house, crowding the narrow catwalk. "But please, do come in. I will send someone over to the stable so that your horse will get taken care of."
Aragorn smiled and nodded, eager to escape the chilling breeze.
"Gladly, Master Owaeran. We don't want to keep your house up all night."
"Oh, you are not," Owaeran assured them, motioning to a servant who had materialised apparently out of nowhere to look after the horses and take them to the stables. "I would have waited up anyway; perhaps he is coming home today after all…"
The older men interrupted himself and took a deep breath.
"But this unpleasant business can wait until tomorrow. I'm sure you have many questions which I will gladly answer tomorrow, but tonight it's far too late for ill tidings. I would not have such noble guests stand in the cold night for any longer than necessary."
The next minutes went by with a flurry of activity. Servants appeared and took their bags, helped them out of their cloaks and offered mugs of steaming grog to thaw frozen fingers and warm the guests. When they stated politely that they would very much like to retire to their rooms, Owaeran nodded friendly and wished them a Good night, and they were led upstairs by a servant with a small lamp.
"See?" Celylith whispered, just audible to Aragorn and Legolas. "I told you they would be much more obliging when they knew who you were."
"Right," Aragorn agreed, a teasing twinkle barely visible in his eyes in the dark hallway. "We are lucky indeed to be in the company of the noble Prince of Mirkwood…"
"Oh, be quiet, Estel. I will have to convince Owaeran not to tell anyone else though. It would be very nice indeed if people treated me like everyone else for a change," Legolas retorted good-naturedly and politely dismissed the man who had shown them to the part of the house where the guest rooms were located. Seobryn had been shown to his room in another part of the building, for he was no guest, but an employee of Owaeran now.
He looked at his companions, suddenly turning serious again.
"Something is wrong here. The house is filled with fear and pain and anger, it lies so thick in the air that you can almost reach out and grasp it. They are afraid of something."
"Or someone," Celylith nodded. "Perhaps that 'Master' he talked about earlier? And who is coming home tonight?"
"Maybe that uncle the girl spoke of," Legolas shrugged. "I have no idea. But it is something I will ask our host tomorrow morning. I would very much like to know why he wanted to shoot Strider."
"He didn't want to shoot me," Aragorn protested. "He mistook me for someone else, that is all. But I believe that he would have shot that person, yes."
"Exactly," the elven prince agreed, a stubborn glint in his silver-blue eyes. "And he very nearly killed you because he believed you to be that someone else. And I want to know why."
Aragorn smiled and shortly put his hand on Legolas' shoulder. His friend could bear a grudge for quite some time, especially if someone had tried to harm one of his friends.
"Nothing happened, my friend," he smiled at his friend and took a step closer to his room, suppressing a yawn. He was indeed quite tired. "I do not think there is danger threatening us in this house."
"No, not in this house," Legolas agreed. "But there is something hostile in this town, Aragorn. It is like a shadow that is drawing closer, staying just out of the range of my senses. Something is amiss. Be wary, both of you. We may be safe here, but we are not safe in this town."
The other two nodded solemnly as they separated, each of them retiring to the room they had been shown.
Just before he fell asleep, Aragorn had to admit that he agreed with his friend. There was something wrong here, seriously wrong. And he had the sinking feeling that, once again, trouble had just found them.
The next morning dawned bright and early, the blue sky shining onto the equally shining surface of the Long Lake. The freshly fallen snow added an almost surreal touch to the scenery, for it was a very curious sight indeed to see white snow covering the surface of the unfrozen middle of the lake.
Or so it appeared, Aragorn thought, looking out of his window, because the snow didn't cover the lake itself but narrow catwalks and boats that were almost completely covered by the shining substance.
Closer to the town a sheet of ice covered the water, probably because the settlement lay a lot closer to the shores now than of old. Lake-town itself lay in a calm bay formed by a rock outcropping, and so the waters were freezing now in the cold winter air. The young ranger shook his head. This was one of the oddest things he had ever seen, he decided. It was very odd indeed to live on a lake in houses built on long stilts, he thought, watching the citizens attending to their business below his window.
He was torn out of his reverie by the sound of a soft knock on the door.
"You may enter, Legolas!" he called, not even bothering to turn around.
A second later the door opened, and he could hear the amused voice of his elven friend.
"How did you know it was me, mellonamin? Good morning, by the way."
Aragorn turned and smiled at his elven friend, crossing over to his bed and taking up his weaponbelt and fastening it around his waist.
"There are a multitude of reasons, Master Elf," he replied with mock seriousness, eyes twinkling with mischief, "Do you want to hear them?"
Legolas leaned against a beautifully carved wall and grinned at the man, raising a mocking eyebrow.
"Oh? Then please, do astound me with your wisdom and intellect, Master Human."
"I gladly will, good sir," Aragorn replied seriously and wondered, not for the first time, what anyone who didn't know them would think about them. He or she would probably come to the conclusion that they were insane rather quickly, he admitted a little ruefully.
He assumed the pose typical for his father when he was about to deliver a lengthy lecture.
"First, my prince," he began, pacing up and down the room as if trying to formulate very deep, complicated thoughts, "It is rather early, and since we are guests in this house, I would assume that they won't come to wake us at this hour. This is a human household, not an elven one; here guests are allowed to sleep longer if they wish to."
He narrowly avoided a smack Legolas had aimed at his head and continued. "Second, I couldn't hear anyone walking up to the door, which, considering my humble hearing, had to mean that either a ranger or an elf was the one knocking. And since I doubt that there are any rangers this far east – in fact, it would very much surprise me – I reasoned that it had to be an elf."
"How very perceptive of you, Lord Aragorn," Legolas teased, suppressing the building laughter in his chest. Sometimes it became apparent that Aragorn spent far too much time with his elven brothers.
The young ranger stopped his pacing for a second to flash him a grin, nodding his head.
"Indeed it is, thank you, my lord," he stated seriously, lifting a finger to emphasise his following point. "But, dear Master Elf, there is a thing that tipped the scales: Who," here he injected a small, dramatic pause, "who else but you insists on constantly jerking me out of my sleep? Whose only aim in life seems to be to annoy me? Who delights in mothering me to no end? You see, revered Prince Legolas, I knew the answer to these questions and therefore knew exactly who was the one knocking at that door."
He closed with a triumphant expression on his face and looked smugly at his elven friend who just looked at him as if he had lost the last bit of his sanity.
"That is the stupidest reasoning I have ever heard, and I do attend the council sessions from time to time," Legolas snorted. "And I do not mother you."
"Yes you do," Aragorn retorted laughing. "Do not even think of denying that you came here to ask whether I slept well!"
"Did you?" Legolas asked, looking at his friend closely.
A flicker of an emotion flashed over the man's face, but before Legolas could discern whether it was guilt or annoyance or something else entirely, it was gone.
"Yes," Aragorn replied, looking him in the eye. "I slept well."
A multitude of possible answers blossomed in Legolas mind, ranging from calling his friend a pathetic liar to asking him for how long exactly that had been, one or two hours, but the consequences of these replies would probably be quite painful for him judging by the warning glare Aragorn shot him, and so he contented himself with dubiously raising an elegant eyebrow.
"Is that so?" he asked softly.
Aragorn scowled at him, but before the human could say something he would probably have regretted later, a servant popped his head inside the room, smiling at both of them.
"Good morning, sirs! Nice bright day it is, isn't it? The Master asks if you would like to join the Mistress and him for breakfast?"
The young ranger gave his friend a last dark look before turning to the other man.
"Yes," he said, returning the smile, "Thank you. We will be downstairs in a minute."
The servant nodded and quietly disappeared down the wooden staircase that was located just to the left of Aragorn's room.
He turned back to see his elven friend look at him in concern.
"I am worried about you, Aragorn," Legolas said quietly. "Your body sorely needs the rest you have been denying it."
"I have been doing no such thing!" Aragorn exclaimed. "I cannot help it, and that is the problem! Why do you persist on constantly reminding me of my weaknesses?"
He whirled around, stalking back to the window. He was already sorry for snapping at his friend, but the lack of sleep made him grumpy and irritable. He just didn't want to add to Legolas' own worries, especially now that they all felt that something was amiss here, couldn't that stubborn elf see that?
A second later he felt a strong hand on his shoulder and turned, looking into the apologetic eyes of his elven friend.
"I am sorry, my friend," Legolas said softly. "I did not mean to press you, and I know…"
"It's alright, Legolas," Aragorn interrupted him, smiling ruefully. "I am the one who should be sorry. I did not mean to snap at you."
The elven prince nodded in acceptance, but tightened his grip on the man's shoulder.
"And I don't want to hear that ever again."
Aragorn's eyebrows shot up.
"Pardon me?"
"'Tis not a weakness, Aragorn. The strongest warriors, elves and men alike, warriors many years older than you are now, are haunted by such dreams, and many after things less painful or traumatic than the ones you have endured. No-one thinks of you less than before because of this. It is not a weakness, and it can even be turned into a strength if you overcome it. Do not ever say something like that again."
The young ranger was apparently not prepared to go into the last part of what his friend had told him and simple nodded his head.
"Thank you," he said quietly, looking at the solemn face of his elven friend.
Before Legolas could reply, Celylith appeared in the door, and all three of them made their way downstairs, Aragorn for his part very glad that he had escaped that particular conversation.
A servant girl showed them to the dining room, a large, sunlit room on the ground floor of the large house. Owaeran and a lady that was apparently his wife were already present, as was his daughter whom they had already seen earlier and Seobryn, who looked as if he had got over the initial nervousness now.
During the polite bows and greetings Aragorn decided that the girl had definitely inherited her mother's eyes since the woman's had the same blue-green colour, although she apparently had her father's blonde hair since her mother's was of a dark brown colour streaked with grey now due to her advanced age.
"Allow me introduce my wife, Misien," Owaeran said, giving his wife a fond look. "And you have already met my daughter Seveawen, I believe," he added with a side glace at the blonde girl who was eyeing them curiously now, her suspicions obviously gone.
The trader turned to his family.
"And this, my dears, are," he caught the minute headshake from Legolas and reacted quickly, "Lord Legolas and Lord Celylith from Mirkwood, and Strider, a Ranger of the North. They kindly escorted the lad here."
"Thank you very much," Misien said, sitting down again at the table that was laden with the most delicious food, drink and fresh fruit and motioning her guests to do the same. "We appreciate that very much. Travelling can be very dangerous this time of year, can it not?"
"Indeed it can, my lady," Celylith answered, giving his companions a wry look. "The woods are dangerous of late; one never knows what one will encounter."
"Alas for these dark times," Owaeran sighed, shaking his head. "The goblins are beginning to multiply again, as do the trolls and other foul things. It is very bad for business."
"I can imagine," Aragorn nodded, and soon the men and elves were deep in conversation about trade routes, prices and markets.
A bit later, while Legolas, Celylith and Owaeran were discussing the possibilities of introducing a new brand of wine to the court of King Thranduil, Aragorn let his eyes wander over the table and noticed with some amusement that Seobryn didn't seem so engrossed in their discussion.
'No,' he thought, hiding an amused smile, 'It rather seems that he has found a more … promising thing to give his attention.'
Indeed, Seobryn was rather preoccupied, namely with more or less staring openly at the daughter of the house with wide, admiring brown eyes. If the girl did notice the young man's fascination with her face, she didn't show it, being immersed in a earnest conversation with her mother.
After half an hour Misien and her daughter rose from the table, nodding at her husband and her guests.
"I think you have yet more business to discuss, my love," she said to her husband, a playful twinkle in her beautiful eyes. "We will no longer disturb you, and Seveawen and I have other duties to attend to."
Owaeran smiled at his wife.
"You never disturb me, you know that. And you are welcome to stay, since I know how fascinated you are with trading."
His wife looked mildly alarmed.
"No thank you, dear husband. I think the kitchens require my urgent attention."
With a small curtsy she placed a firm hand on her daughters back and left the room, still smiling at her husband, and for a fleet moment Aragorn wondered if his parents would have been anything like this had they lived. He was very happy with his elven family, and he had never had the feeling that they treated him differently because he was human and not really of their blood, but sometimes he just couldn't help but wonder what his human parents had been like.
Seobryn, who had been looking after the two of them for quite a bit longer than necessary, noticed the amused look Estel gave him and returned his attention to the conversation at hand, furiously combating a deep red blush that was threatening to colour his face the shade of a sunburnt beetroot.
After a few more minutes of polite conversation, Legolas waited until the last servant that had been clearing the table had left the room and turned to their host.
"We must really discuss this further, Master Owaeran, but now I have another question for you. I hope you'll excuse my bluntness, but why did you threaten to kill my friend?"
The man sighed deeply and ran a hand through his hair.
"I promised you some answers, my lord, and you shall have them."
He got up and slowly walked over to a window that overlooked a small garden. Aragorn thought idly that he didn't even want to imagine what it had to cost to create a garden here.
"As you had probably already imagined, I didn't try to kill Mr. Strider here," he nodded politely at Aragorn who returned the gesture, feeling that this was rather reassuring. "I mistook him for someone else. Yesterday evening a few men came here, and one of them looked a bit like him. When you knocked at the door, I was rather anxious and didn't take enough time to look at the one standing in the door properly."
"And who were these men you were so willing to shoot at the slightest provocation?" the elven prince asked, slight anger colouring his voice.
Owaeran sat down again with a heavy sigh, suddenly looking old and tired.
"It is a long story."
Celylith smiled thinly at the man.
"We have time."
The trader looked up, a small smile on his lips.
"Yes, I guess you do." He leaned back in his chair, looking at the four interested faces in front of him. "I have a brother."
"The Uncle Gwemyr your daughter spoke of?" Legolas asked.
Owaeran smiled fondly, obviously lost in some memory of things long past.
"Yes, that is him. He is my younger brother, quite a bit younger actually. Twelve years, to be precise. He is a partner in this company, but he has never been particularly interested in trading. Or," he grimaced slightly, "in any other kind of serious work."
Aragorn nodded in understanding. He knew this kind of men. He had seen quite a lot of them in various human towns and settlements, most of the time in bars and inns. The kind of men who drank a lot of ale, flirted with the barmaids and generally talked far too much.
"I always thought he would calm down once he got older," the older man continued and studied his hands, refusing to look up. "But now he's over thirty years of age and still…"
He fell silent for a minute before he looked at the elves and the men, anger and fear mixing in his eyes.
"He left the house a week ago and didn't come back."
"I know what you think," Owaeran continued before one of them could say a word, "He is a grown man and makes his own decisions. That is true, my brother leads his own life, even if I do not appreciate of the way he spends his time. But one thing I do know: He would never just leave like that. Even despite our differences we have always been on good terms with each other, and he would inform me if he had decided to travel somewhere. Besides, he adores Seveawen. He would never leave without saying good-bye to his niece."
Seobryn, Aragorn noted somewhat dryly, looked very much as if he could relate to that sentiment.
Celylith's voice broke the heavy silence.
"And the men that visited you yesterday, they were friends of his?"
"No," Owaeran shook his head, his forehead wrinkling in confusion. "No, I am rather sure that they were no friends of his. He has a lot of friends I do not exactly approve of, but they are not dangerous company. They are rakes like him, have no real work like him and spend most of their time escaping one jealous husband or another – like he does, I'm ashamed to admit, but they are not like those people who came here yesterday."
Aragorn winced inwardly at the words. The older man had apparently lost all illusions about his younger brother a long time ago.
Aloud he asked,
"Then what kind of people were they?"
"Hired scum," Owaeran answered curtly, grimacing in disgust. "They said they worked for one of my … let's say competitors, shall we?"
Legolas raised a questioning eyebrow, and the man elaborated,
"He and I, we don't get along very well, I'm afraid. To say that there is no brotherly love between us would be an understatement. Be that as it may, those people just came into my house and started asking me questions. Where my brother was, when I expected him back, where they could find his friends, these kinds of things. After five minutes I lost my patience and threw them out, which they took rather ungracefully."
"Hence the crossbow," Aragorn concluded quietly.
"Hence the crossbow," Owaeran nodded. He looked at all of them in turn, all reservation gone and replaced by naked fear. "All I can tell you is that my … competitor is rather ruthless. I don't think that he is responsible for Gwemyr's disappearance, for he wouldn't need to ask where he was if he was, wouldn't you agree?" He stopped for a second. "But since their little visit I have really begun to worry. My brother has never truly grown up, I'm afraid, and I fear that he might have got into some kind of trouble he will be unable to escape on his own." He gave them a rueful smile. "He is very good at that."
"I know exactly what you mean," Legolas mumbled, giving his human friend a small, evil grin which the other ignored completely.
"But there is more," Celylith stated, eyeing the elderly man closely.
Owaeran sighed deeply and nodded slowly.
"Aye, there is, Master Elf. Two days ago they fished a body out of the lake."
Aragorn shivered slightly. He had a very bad feeling about this.
"But it was not your brother?"
The trader shrugged helplessly.
"I don't think so."
"You don't think so?" Seobryn asked, for the first time opening his mouth. "Forgive me, Master, but how can you just 'not think so'?"
The blonde man looked at his apprentice gravely.
"I think so because the stature wasn't quite right. There wasn't enough left of his face for his own mother to recognise. The icy water preserved the corpse quite well. He – whoever he may have been – was beaten before someone slit his throat. Badly so."
Legolas closed his eyes and took a deep breath. The things humans were prepared to do to each other never ceased to shock him. For the most insignificant of reasons they were willing to hurt and kill each other in a fashion that would never happen in an elven society.
'I told you so,' a small voice inside his head whispered. 'You're in trouble, trouble, trouble…'
For a second the fair haired elf wondered if he should perhaps beat his head against the table to silence it, before he abandoned that idea as ineffective and returned his attention to the conversation at hand.
"So your brother is gone, you don't know where or why or with whom, and one day after that body is found your 'friend's' employees show up here and start asking questions," Aragorn summed up.
"Yes," the older man said quietly, staring at his hands again. After a heartbeat or two, he looked at them earnestly, quiet despair shining in his eyes. "I love my brother with all my heart, but I also know of his faults. He is a no-good womaniser, I'll give you that, but he is no killer. He showed all kinds of weapons always the same kind of disinterest he showed everything else requiring hard work. I fear that he got involved in something too big for him to handle."
"We would help you," Legolas offered seriously. "But there seem to be no clues. You don't know his friends?"
"No, only a few by their first names, and Lake-town is a big town nowadays. I don't even know where to start looking."
"At the inns," Seobryn said seriously. He swallowed nervously when four heads turned into his direction, but continued bravely, "If your brother is that fond of … ale, sir, I think it would be a good start to look for him there."
Aragorn smiled at the young man, nodding his head.
"A good idea, Seobryn," he said. "We can visit a few of the places your brother is known frequent and ask a few questions. We might even get some answers you, as his older, disapproving brother might not receive."
"You would do that?" Owaeran asked, a sudden hopeful sparkle in his eyes.
"We would," Legolas confirmed. "We all owe Seobryn a great debt, and the least we can do is try and help his employer, don't you think?"
The boy started to protest, but fell silent quickly when he noticed the serious looks the elves and the ranger gave him.
"Then, my lords," the tradesman nodded at the three friends, "I will count myself twice blessed that the king asked me to come and have a talk with the lad. May the Valar reward you for your kindness."
Aragorn smiled and nodded at the older man, thinking that he didn't need a reward. How did they always manage to get themselves into these potentially dangerous situations? If the most powerful of the Ainur simply made sure they got out of this alive and unscathed, he would be more than happy.
"Elbereth, I must be insane," Legolas grumbled for the umpteenth time, resisting the urge to throw back his hood and strangle his human friend. Tempting as that idea was, they had agreed that Celylith and he wore cloaks with hoods to hide their faces and most importantly their ears. The fact that they were elves might attract even more attention to them than the fact that they were strangers asking curious questions did anyway.
Next to him Aragorn shifted slightly on a wobbly wooden chair, taking another mouthful of the rather decent ale and looking around the small tavern they had chosen to visit.
"Calm down, Legolas," he advised his friend and reached out to push the two earthen tankards into the direction of his elven friends. "Here, drink something, people are beginning to stare."
"I prefer wine," Celylith announced unhappily, eyeing the mug as if it might grow teeth and bite him if he tried to lift it.
"Besides, it's the third inn already. I have never drunken so much ale on one evening," Legolas added, but grabbed his tankard and took a mouthful of the bitter liquid.
"Oh, come on," Aragorn teased, grinning broadly. "Where is that famed elven stamina of yours? I am but a man and have drunk just as much as you have."
Legolas didn't answer while Celylith mumbled a rather interesting Quenya curse under his breath, a curse the ranger was sure he had never heard before. Trying to commit the saying to memory, he laughed lightly.
"Don't look so dreary," he said, ignoring the dark glares that threatened to burn holes into his thick winter cloak. "We are just a few travellers having a drink after a long journey."
Oh, the journey had been quite hard indeed, Legolas mused dryly. A few hours ago they had left Owaeran's house and made their way into the direction of the western part of the town, after having – with some difficulty – persuaded Seobryn to stay behind. He was far from inexperienced, they knew that much, but he was leaving tomorrow morning with his employer to visit several of Owaeran's warehouses and shops, and it would probably not make a good impression if the boy was too hung-over to set one foot in front of the other.
Besides, the prospect of spending the evening in the company of the trader and his family did seem quite appalling to the young man, the elf thought with a inward chuckle.
So they had gone alone after having been provided with a list of inns and names of possible friends, and had already ticked off two of the places Owaeran had named. No-one knew where Gwemyr was, and no-one could remember the names of his friends, although a drunk young man of Aragorn's age could helpfully provide the fact that the name of one of them began with a 'D'.
An hour later, the elven prince was more than a little bit annoyed. The tavern was hot, it was loud and the people frequenting it had apparently never heard of the beneficial properties of soap. The barmaids could remember Gwemyr because he had always been most generous with his money, but they didn't know where any of his friends lived either. The last time he had been here had been approximately eight days ago, and he had spent most of the time talking secretly with his friends in one of the corners.
"Interesting," Celylith commented after the girl had left their table again to serve a profusely gesticulating man at the bar, "So perhaps he has just left after all."
"Just like that?" Aragorn asked, frowning dubiously. "If he did, then because the circumstances didn't permit him to inform his family, and if that is the case, then there is more to this than meets the eye."
"You might be right there, my friend," Legolas nodded and leaned forward slightly, his silver-blue eyes boring into his friend's. "But now we will leave, or I swear I will take my knives and kill the first person that laughs."
Under heavy protestations Legolas and Celylith had left their quivers behind and only kept their knives, or in Celylith's case his knife and his sword. Aragorn had argued that a bow would do them little good in the maze of narrow catwalks and channels, and so the two elves had relented, rather unwillingly one might add.
"He is right, Strider," Celylith nodded as he pushed back his chair and prepared to rise. "We will learn nothing more here. We can try another inn or two before calling it a night and returning to Owaeran's house."
The dark haired human looked up unwillingly, but sighed and shrugged when he saw the steely glint in his companions' eyes.
"Very well then. If this little bit of ale is already too much for you…"
Ignoring the two elves' fiery stares, he got to his feet and slowly moved into the direction of the bar to pay for their drinks, moving through the crowded room with an ease that surprised Legolas. The people seemed to chose to move out of his friend's way, even though Strider's countenance was neither threatening nor grim. He just seemed to command a certain sort of respect, even now despite his young age. The elven prince smiled slightly. Well, even if Aragorn himself was uncertain about his heritage and destiny, one thing Legolas knew for sure: Should Aragorn ever decide to claim the throne of his ancestors and should be made king, he would be one of the greatest, perhaps even the greatest human king Arda had ever seen.
Oblivious to his companion's thoughts, Aragorn quickly made his way across the room and paid for their drinks, carefully putting away his money. The last thing he needed was a pickpocket that saw himself tempted to relieve him of his coins.
Just when he turned back to walk over to his friends in a corner, he stopped and stiffened slightly. There it was again, the feeling that someone was watching him. He moved in a small circle, keen eyes searching the room and trying to find the one spying on them, but once again he could see no-one that looked familiar.
Ignoring the tiny cold shiver that run down his spine, he slowly walked back to his companions, still trying to find the hidden watcher. But no-one seemed overly interested in him or the two cloaked elves, something that made him growl slightly in frustration. He had come to trust in his senses, and right now they were telling him that he was being watched by unfriendly eyes.
When he reached the table, Legolas and Celylith got up and prepared to leave the inn.
"Aragorn," Legolas whispered softly as they were making their way outside, side stepping men and women of various degrees of drunkenness, "There is someone…"
"I know," the ranger replied. "But I couldn't see anything, could you?"
The two elves soundlessly shook their heads as the three stepped out of the small building, the laughter and chatter slowly abating behind them.
"No," Legolas said out loud when they walked down the bridge leading to the town centre, "I couldn't see anyone I have seen before."
"But it's hard," Celylith added, frowning in concentration. "There were so many new faces and besides," he stopped and shot Aragorn a nasty look, laughter in his deep blue eyes, "all humans look alike."
Aragorn glared at the grinning elf and was just about to respond something not very courteous, when the three of them rounded a corner only to find themselves face to face with a rather large group of humans.
The elves and the ranger automatically took a step backwards, hands instinctively going to their weapons. A second both groups eyed each other silently, before a dark haired human stepped out of into the open, a huge wooden club nonchalantly dangling from his hand.
"Well, well, well," he said in a friendly tone of voice, a tone of voice that was belied by the dangerous glint in his eyes. "What have we got here? Three strangers, all alone – and very curious strangers they are, wouldn't you agree?"
His men laughed and jeered at that, and Aragorn used that moment to shoot his elven companions a questioning look, only to be met by almost imperceptible shrugs.
'Great,' he thought, tightening his hold on his sword, 'Just what we needed.'
"What do you want?" he asked, his voice calm and commanding.
"A few answers, for starters," the man replied, taking a few steps closer to them. "Why are you interested in Gwemyr? And you don't know anything about the man they fished out of the lake, by chance?"
"No," Aragorn replied, staring at him coldly. "And now you would be well advised to step aside and let us pass."
The other man eyed him curiously for a moment before starting to laugh heartily.
"You can't be serious! There are seventeen of us and only three of you! You will tell us what we want to know, one way or the other!"
With that he stepped closer and reached out to grab Legolas' arm, but the elven prince effortlessly dodged the hand and drew back, but couldn't stop his hood from slipping off his head, revealing his pointed ears and long blonde hair.
"An elf!" the men murmured, backing away a little and eyeing the fair haired elf fearfully.
"Well, I don't believe it!" the leader said, staring at the elven prince who looked back with eyes dark with anger, "A cursed elf! What are you up to? This matter doesn't concern you!" He turned back to the other men. "Get them!"
The elves and the ranger had barely enough time to draw their weapons before the wave of human bodies slammed into them, threatening to separate them from each other.
Aragorn ducked under a descending club and stepped to the side, bringing the hilt of his sword down on his attacker's head. While he was fending off two other attackers that were obviously trying to back him into a corner, he mused darkly that he was fighting humans far too often lately. What had happened to the times when all he had to worry about were goblins, orcs, wolves and the sort? It was far easier to fight such foul things, since he really didn't want to kill his own kind unless he had absolutely no other choice.
His friends seemed to be in the same predicament, and when he was breathlessly moving to the side to escape a dagger that had been aimed at his sword arm, he realised that they needed to leave, now, or they would be in real trouble very soon.
"Legolas!" he called, throwing one of his attackers into another that was approaching him from the right, "Lye anta kel! Sí!"
Legolas who was very busy dancing out of the reach of two men that were trying to trap him against a building to his right, nodded silently and caught his friends' eyes.
"Sanka!" he called loudly, slamming his elbow into a grinning face to his right and turning on his heel.
On the prince's command all three of them turned and ran back the way they had come, but while Celylith ran past the inn whose customers were now beginning to emerge, having been alarmed by the shout and sounds of fighting, Legolas and Aragorn disappeared down smaller gangways to the right. For a moment the men seemed too surprised to move, but they quickly recovered and gave chase.
Five minutes later, Aragorn stopped, trying desperately to calm his racing heart to listen to any sounds of pursuit. When he couldn't hear anything, he tried to orientate himself, but, he decided grimly, looking around, that was one of Lake-town's faults: It all looked the same. The same dark houses, the same channels, the same catwalks. And, this being not a very respectable part of said town, there were no public buildings or anything of that sort one would recognise.
Looking back over his shoulder, he cautiously walked on, his left hand on the wall of a warehouse and his right gripping his sword. Who in Elbereth's name were these people? And why would they think they had anything to do with the dead man?
Praying fervently that the men wouldn't catch one of his friends, he reached a corner, but when he just wanted to round it, a hand shot out and slammed him against the wall. Aragorn's breath was knocked out of him, but he still raised his weapon and was more than willing to skewer the person pressing him against the wall if he didn't let go of him soon when he heard a soft voice.
"Aragorn?"
He looked up to see the face of his elven friend hover in front of his, concern and shock in his silver-blue eyes.
"Legolas? Valar, you almost gave me a heart attack!"
"And I almost killed you!" Legolas exclaimed and lowered the knife he had been holding close to his friend's neck. "Why didn't you say something?"
"I was a little preoccupied trying to breathe after you mistook me for a hay sack!" the ranger retorted, rubbing his chest and returning his balde to its sheath. "Do you know where Celylith…"
He stopped in mid-sentence, his eyes growing wide when he heard the sound of many booted feet drawing closer to their position. Legolas hesitated for only a second.
"Come," he said and pulled his friend back the way he had come, only to stop when he heard more men coming that way as well. "We … have a problem," he said quietly.
Aragorn snorted.
"Really? Do you have an idea how to get out of here? I think they'll be here in half a minute."
Legolas looked around them, before locking eyes with the human, eyes gleaming.
"I do."
The elven prince dragged Aragorn to the edge of the pier, pointing at the frozen surface and the docks on the other side of the channel.
"We walk."
Aragorn looked at the elf with wide eyes, debating whether or not he had taken a prolonged leave of his senses.
"Walk? Fifty feet? Legolas, you cannot be serious! I … I'm not an elf, I cannot simply…"
"Yes, you can," Legolas replied, hopping down onto the frozen surface of the lake. The sounds of running feet drew closer, and he stretched out a hand. "Trust me, we can make it. If we are fast enough we can be on the other side in a few seconds! The ice will be thick enough." He looked at the human who had been stubbornly shaking his head no the entire time. "Mellonamin, there is no other way. They will be here any second now, we have to leave!"
Aragorn looked at the prince's outstretched hand, scowling at him. Legolas was right, of course. They couldn't escape, and he really didn't want to find out what the men wanted…
Sighing, he gingerly lowered himself down onto the ice, wincing when he imagined hearing small, cracking sounds and at the same time questioning his own sanity.
Right then, the decision was made for him when the men stormed onto the small square in front of the pier, and Legolas grabbed his hand and pulled him into the direction of the piers.
"Come!"
Together they fled over the silvery surface of the channel, Legolas steadying his human friend as best as he could when he threatened to lose his footing on the slippery surface. The whole matter grew even more complicated when their pursuers let loose a shower of arrows and crossbow bolts, determined not to let their prey get away this easily.
With hindsight, when he thought about it in the future, Aragorn recognised that they had almost made it when it happened. They had almost reached the other side when he stumbled and almost fell, the only thing preventing just that being Legolas' arm that held him upright. They stopped for a mere second so the young ranger could regain his footing when two crossbow bolts missed them by inches and burrowed themselves in the ice just in front of them.
Immediately, a cracking, horrible sound could be heard, and Aragorn could have sworn that he could see the cracks running through the ice, nearing their position from the spot where the bolts had hit as the strain finally became too much and the ice began to give way. Legolas jerked him upright, his eyes widening when he saw what was happening. Before Aragorn had even time to comprehend what was going on, he felt himself grabbed tightly by the arms and pulled closer to his friend. He looked up in confusion, meeting his friend's amazingly calm gaze.
"Forgive me," Legolas whispered, and, taking a hold on the human's shoulders and upper arms, he threw him forwards into the direction of the pier with all his might.
Aragorn hit the wooden construction hard, for a second paralysed by the abrupt collision, before he came to his senses and quickly pulled himself up to roll onto the catwalk, panting for breath.
He felt his heart go as cold as his surroundings when he realised what had happened.
"No! Legolas!!" he screamed, whirling around, back to the channel.
Legolas smiled when he heard Aragorn's scream; so the human hadn't hurt himself too badly in the fall.
'Good,' he thought to himself, 'And that is all that matters.'
The last thing he saw before the ice splintered and went to pieces under his weight was Aragorn's shocked, white face that stared at him in horror as he disappeared from view and plunged into the icy water of the Long Lake.
TBC...
mellonamin - my friend
Lye anta kel! Sí - We need to leave! Now!
Sanka - Split (up)!
*giggles nervously* Uhm, you're not angry, are you? I mean, come on, nothing bad happened and ... Help!! *flees angry Legolas fans*
Well, I do hope you're not too cross, and that goes for Seobryn too. This won't turn into a romance, never fear, I could _never_ write that, but he's about eighteen to twenty years old, so come on, that's only normal. Plus he deserved a little break.
Okay, so please tell me what you think! Meaning: Review! Yes! Please! We needsss reviewsss, we doess.... Pleasssseeee.... *g*
Additional A/N:
Nilbrethiliel - Nein. *strenger Blick* Pfoten weg von meinem Elben. Nix spielen, nix zwischen irgendwelche Hosen haengen... Ich weiss noch nicht, was ich mit Rashwe anstelle, vielleicht wird Aragorn es zu Pferdehackfleisch verarbeiten? Mal gucken... *g* Tja, der arme kleine Ranger hat wirklich kein einfaches Leben, mit uns irren FF writern, die an jeder Ecke lauern... Tja, und wenn du dachtest, dass das letzte Kapitel ein cliffy war, was ist dann dieses? Mhahahaha!!
Aratfeniel - Hey! I resent that! I do not write 'insane comments'! They are rather sane and make sense and all!! Really, shame on you... *hands Aratfeniel a cookie* Not bad! Yes, it is for defence, kind of, anyway... Good guess! Thanks for reviewing!
Mouse - Uhm, well ... you know ... I didn't want to write the cliffy ... 'twas my alter ego again ... Well, I hope you like this cliffy though! I am very proud of it, in fact... It's very evil! I love evil! *g*
LOTRFaith - *evil look at FF.net* We hates it, we doesssss... I mean, honestly, it cannot be so hard! Well, yes, it probably is, but STILL!!! It always does that on the day I have just posted or want to post... An evil law of nature. Hmm, about Seobryn's name... _I_ pronounce it Se-o-bryn, with a short 'e'. It doesn't really matter, though, I think. Thanks for not nagging me, it doesn't help anyway. Most of the time, that is... *g*
CrazyLOTRfan - *watches her bounce* Well, this is another cliffy! As is chapter 10! Yay Nili! Nili loves cliffies, more than is good for her, btw... LOL, the crossbow bolt as a fashion statement? That's a new approach... No, and don't worry, I would not shoot Estel, not through the forehead, anyway. Too serious and life-threatening. Oh, and about the holiday: And there would be free classes, 'Torture 101' at every college in the country. What do you think? *g*
Gwyn - No, chapter 9 doesn't have a cliffy, chapter 10 does, though...that good enough? Oh, and yes, things are definitely heating up now. And I don't think they will calm down again in the near future... *huggles her* Thanks for reviewing!
Nikara - *innocent expression* Foreshadowing? Who? Me? Never... LOL, Celylith, the 'spider elf'? You could probably say that... Thank you so much for all your reviews and I hope this was soon enough!
Arwen-Evenstar - You don't like cliffies, then? Well, then my only advise would be to 'go away, and never come back'. *g* Sorry, Gollum again, but really, I don't think you will enjoy the next chappies that much, then...
Imbefaniel - *sighs sadly* I know, school work is horrible, I have my exams in a month! Ack!! Panic panic panic!!! Thanks for reviewing again! I'm glad the Valar have forgiven you!
Halo - *pokes Halo* She does that a lot, doesn't she? Oh, come on, girl, you know that he will be alright! Do you really think I would let him get hit in the forehead!? No way! It would spoil his great looks! And you know, it's not _him_ you should be worrying about... *evil grin* Ah, being evil is so much fun...
Leggylover03 - I have to admit, I don't get it why you call yourself that if you're an Estel fan... Camouflage, perhaps? Well, whatever... The dreams, yes... It will take him some time until he talks about them, I haven't planned it any time soon. Perhaps chapter 12 or 13, we'll see. And about what it is that haunts him: You know, last story, there were these rather nasty people and all that... Thanks for reviewing! I love reviews, did I mention that?
One15 - One! *knuddelt sie* Na, schoen dich auch mal wieder zu sehen! *g* Ja, ich stelle mir Legolas' Gesicht auch immer so ... leicht sprachlos vor... Ah" Ein erster Rahswe-Fan! Na ja, das Pferd ist ja auch irgednwie cool, das muss man ihm lassen... *g* Keine Angst, eine Traumloesung ist weit von meinen Vorstellungen (die mich wahrscheinlich in die Psychiatrie bringen koennten *g*) entfernt! So einfach kommen sie mir nicht davon!
XsilicaX - *innocently* What Gollum-like creature? I don't see one... Well, yes, I agree, Estel SHOULD talk about his dreams, but he is being an idiot? Or typical male, take your pick. Uhm, actually I hadn't planned going into his history more than I already have, but I'll see what I can do! *evil grin* Yes, I did say that Legolas owies came first, and to that I hold. (Gosh, I have to stop quoting LOTR the whole time *g*) Just read on, dear friend! *evil grin*
NaughtyNat - *sniff* I was crying when I wrote the Legolas-Sea-bit, I really was. Don't tell anyone, it would ruin my reputation... *g* Great you liked it, thanks a lot for the review!
Miss Understood - *defensively* Well, I was very young, okay? About six or seven or something! If I did it now, I wouldn't live to see another day... *stares at her wide-eyed* You gotta calm down! Seobryn isn't going anywhere, calm down....that's it, breathe.... Evil people inside the building? Uhm, no? The guy that was killed was Seobryn's boss? Uhm, no? I am sorry, but that's not it. Would be far too easy, I want to be able to confuse you for another six or seven chapters... Well, Seobryn's not gonna die, I think, but he won't be much in ch 8, I'm afraid. Sorry. Oh, and I hope you're not jealous, btw. Sorry!
Grumpy - *blushes* Thanks. I love writing this story, it's so much fun! *sheepishly* Yeah, I kinda noticed that too. Yelling seldom gets you anywhere with computers ... mindless violence does, though!!! *g* Thanks for the reivew!
E - Of course! *hits herself 'cause she's so slow on the uptake* 42 is SPECIAL!! *g* You're right, might look quite stupid, so I didn't let iot happen. Yay Aragorn! 'Trivial'? You think putting a crossbow bolt in Aragorn's head is trivial? Well, you're even worse than I am... *g* Death by earplugs. Right. I told them, they ran away screaming. Problem solved. *g*
ThE iNsAnE oNe - *stares wide-eyed at monster-review* Wow, that is ... big! Enormous! (NO, don't get any wrong ideas, I didn't mean it THAT way!) Thanks a lot! *huggles Miki* Uhm, I had almost forgotten about that song! What is so very special about it? Except that it amuses you and Legolas? *sighs* You really need to get them under control! I didn't give you Nólad so that he is taken hostage all the time! I mean, really, I will have to take him back if you don't do something! *giggles* Evil female man child, right you are, Elrohir... Ah, but the last chappie wasn't a cliffy! *points at this one* THIS is one!! Mhahahahaha!! *runs off*
Helen T - Ha, so you like cliffies? Finally, a sensible person! Well, because you like them so much, here's another one! *cackles evilly* Thanks a lot for the review! *points at date* Only 3 more days!!
Reginabean - Yeah well, I have been threatening FF.net so many times now, somehow I think it's immune to it! Glad to see you again, just take care you don't fall off a cliff again this time... *g*
Cestari - Naughty naughty! *wiggles finger* You're not supposed to be online and review my story? Awww, sweet.... *huggles Cestari* Thanks! I promise I will read that story of yours as soon as I have a little bit of time on my hands, really! But exams are less than a month away and I really don't have time at the moment...
Alexa - No, cliffies aren't mean, cliffies are FUN! *g* Yeah, I love dropping little mysterious hints, I really do... Well, and now it's here, the dreaded chapter 8! UhmIgottagobye! *runs off to escape Alexa's wrath* Bye!
Firnsarnien - Oh, so many nice smileys! Thanks! Oh, yes, you're another one of those militant Legolas fans, aren't you? Well, then I think I should better be going now... Bye! *runs off* I hope you have a nice vacation, Legolas is having much fun too, believe me...Ack! Help!! *g*
Zam - Well, I think FF.net ate your review last time. Same thing happened to Alilacia, must have been because of FF.net's problems... Sorry, I never got it... *starts crying* I missed a review from Zam! That's tragig, that's what it is! But, you have to admit that your orc horde is anything but ordinary! They are definitely ... odd, let's say odd, shall we... Well, you and Cellyith would get along just fine then, he can be quite evil, too... Okay, the next chapter is here, don't worry, but, you know ... Legolas ... I didn't want to do it, really, but my alter ego made me ... Uhm, I gotta go! *runs off*
Firniswin - *g* Calm donw, the next bit is here, don't worry.... Breathe in, breathe out, breathe in... Great you like is so much, thanks for reviewing!
Jenny - A WHOLE LOT OF TROUBLE!!!! Mhahahahahahaha!! *regains her composure* Sorry, that happens sometimes... Well, you'll have to read on to see what exactly they got themselves into, but let me say one thing: It's evil! Mahahaha!
Alisha - *huggles her* You're still here! Great! I didn't make you run away? Throw yourself to the ground? Thank God... *g* Uhm, I really do use old English? Well, that's a relief, since I try not to write too modern. It's just like not using the 'O' word - I think 'Okay' really spoils the whole thing, besides, Tolkien woul rotate in his grave if he heard it. *g* Yes, Celylith has a personality of his own, namely being evil and annoying! But I love him! *huggles him* Sorry for the spider thing, I really hate those things myself. I'm an arachnophobic idiot if there ever was one - I know perfectly well that it's unreasonable, but I can't help myself. Thanks so much for reviewing, and give my regards to your guinea pig!
Ciria - Sound like a great party, then! No problem at all, thanks a lot for sending me a note nevertheless!
LOTRMatrixStarwarsFan - Yeah, I'm back to normal! Evilness, cliffies and owies all over - I feel so much better now! Well, about the survey thingy: Just tell me what you want me to do and I'll see what I can do!
Marbienl - You're scary, girl, did I ever tell you that? You eventually guess most of the things that are gouing to happen in one kind or the other, and it's freaky! *giggles* You? Are patient person? Ah ... that's an interesting way of putting it... What are you doing? NO hypnotising my characters! Do you want them to spoil the whole angst-angle? Shame on you!!! *g* You like Rashwe then? Well, it's an interesting horse, I'll give you that... Don't worry, the German bit was perfect (Gut gemacht, meine Dame!), and I'm really sorry, but your idea doesn't - really -happen. More the other way round?
Elladan - *giggles* This soon enough? I'm very glad you like it so much, thanks a lot for all your reviews! Reviews help a lot!
Alilacia - Sorry about the last review, FF.net ate Zam's too. I never even saw it. Oh yes, Legolas will definitely needing a lot of the bandages, no doubt there. I'm afriad no insurance company would accept them, don't you think? The risk is just too great... Well, sure you can borrow Legandir. The problem is that he doesn't accept orders easily. Perhaps he'll let you wait a yén or two... *g* Wilwarin's long lost second cousin, huh? That'd be definitely NOT good... Yeah, elves are definitely cocky. That comes with being nearly perfect, I guess. *g* And I absolutely agree with you: We need more clifffies! And because that is so, here's the next one! Mahahahaha! *runs off cackling insanely* Thanks a lot for the looooong review!!
ManuKu - *g* Schoen, dass dir das gefallen hat... Kam einfach aus dem Nichts zu mir, frag mich nicht warum... Tja, jetzt bekommst du morgen früh Kapitel 7 und 8! Yay Manu! *fieses Grinsen* Tja, so ein Langbogen ist ja auch eine praktische Sache! Ich meine, damit kann man viele verschiedene Dunge tun, sie man mit einem Ranger nie tun koennte... (Ich hafte nicht fuer unanstaendige Gedanken an dieser Stelle! *g*) Danke fuer's reviewen! Hat mich sehr gefreut...
Thanks so much for all your reviews! They really, really help me to post faster! *huggles reviewers* Even if I repeat myself here: Thanks!!