Author's note: I've FINALLY found some time to write. Sorry I took so long. I'll try and be quicker about getting the next chapter up. Thank you to everyone who reviewed. If I didn't manage to email you and say thank you personally, I'm sorry. Again, I blame the lack of free time.
Anyway, no more delays. On with the story.
***
Legolas began his day carrying hot water for his mistress's bath, adding scented oils as Emerin had instructed. He then went to wake her. His father would probably be shocked to learn he was in a woman's bedchamber before she was dressed, but it wasn't as though he was at any risk of being tempted to damage his honour by lying with her. He would sooner lie with an orc.
He picked a dress at random out of the wardrobe, having no real idea what she would want to wear. After what seemed an enormously long time, even for an elf, she emerged from the bath room and proceeded to dress. Legolas, his eyes remaining fixed on some empty point on the wall, wondered how she could even think of standing almost naked with a male in the room.
"I see you are learning your place, slave," she said when she was finished.
"Yes, mistress." Legolas forced himself to choke out that second word, however much it galled him to say it. It was no lie, he already knew his place. It was beside his father's chair in the palace of Mirkwood.
Breakfast passed without incident, and Legolas stood in his mistress's study, watching her write out a letter. He longed to sit, or even simply lean against the wall, but knew he could not. Still, he was a warrior trained and was perfectly capable of standing still for hours. He just didn't like it.
The boredom was being to get to him, when there was a knock at the door. He looked to his mistress for permission and then opened it. A young man walked in, passing Legolas as though he were nothing but a piece of furniture, and bowed slightly to the woman. He held out a letter to her.
She took the letter and read it quickly.
"Tell your employer I will gladly speak with him," she said. The messenger bowed again and left. Legolas' mistress turned to him again, "Go to the kitchens and tell them to prepare extra food for dinner. I will be having a guest." Legolas did as he was ordered, grateful to be out of that room. He was curious to say the least as to who this guest would be.
He found out late in the afternoon, as he stood in the hall while his mistress greeted the guest. It was the man who had bought Aragorn in the marketplace. It took all of Legolas' self control not to give an exclamation of surprise when he saw Aragorn standing behind him. The metal collar at his throat and the stiffness of his movement suggested that his captivity had been as pleasant as Legolas's.
"Welcome, Lord Ackeran," his mistress said to the man.
"It is a pleasure to see you again, Lady Kerinya," Ackeran responded.
"I am curious as to why you asked for this meeting at such short notice."
"Perhaps that is something we should discuss in private," Ackeran glanced at Aragorn, "Slaves may talk to other slaves, and what I want to talk to you about should remain between us."
"As you wish." Kerinya turned to Legolas, "Take Lord Ackeran's slave to the slave quarters and wait until I send for you!"
Ackeran, much to Legolas' amazement, then spoke to Aragorn briefly in Elvish. "I cannot restore your father's life, but I can offer mine for your sake." A flicker of surprise crossed Aragorn's face, followed swiftly by understanding.
"Thank you," Aragorn replied quietly, also in Elvish. Then Ackeran and Kerinya left, and Legolas gestured Aragorn in the direction of the slave quarters.
"Who is that man?" Legolas asked. Knowing that Aragorn spoke Elvish, he used that language. He didn't want anyone to overhear their conversation.
"That's a long story, and not one I wish to share just yet." Legolas nodded.
"How's Lenna?"
"She's well. She doesn't really understand what's happened to her, but she doesn't seem to mind too much either."
"We will be leaving tonight," Aragorn said, "and we will be taking Lenna with us."
"We?" Legolas wasn't sure whether he meant the two of them, or if he merely meant himself and this Ackeran.
"Unless you would rather stay here than return home." The expression on the human's face told Legolas he wasn't serious.
"What's your plan?"
They had reached the slaves quarters by now, and stepped inside. Lenna was sitting at a chair in a large room, along with a few young women, sewing. The moment she saw Legolas and Aragorn she dropped her work and raced to them.
"Agorn!"
Her arms wrapped around Aragorn's legs, pinning him more effectively than an attacker might. Legolas chuckled with mild amusement at the man's predicament. A rather half-hearted glare suggested that Aragorn also found the situation amusing.
"Child," one of the women called, "get back to work!" The order was softly given, but Aragorn pried Lenna's arms from his legs.
"You should do as they tell you. We will be together soon." He gave her a gentle push towards her abandoned sewing.
"What is your plan?" Legolas asked again.
"Tell me, do all the slaves eat together here?"
"From what I've seen, those not serving the 'mistress' do."
"Good, that will make things easier," Aragorn said, "In the confusion of everyone going to dinner, we'll find a side entrance. There's bound to be a doorway somewhere, into a coal yard or a kitchen garden. Something so taken for granted that it won't be guarded. Even if it is, no one will notice slaves going through."
"As soon as we're noticed missing, they'll search for us."
"Searching for slaves. If we get the collars off, they'll assume we're just traders or farmers, or something of that sort. They won't give us a second glance."
"And how do you plan on getting the collars off?" Legolas couldn't believe even a human would miss something so obvious, which meant Aragorn must have found some solution.
"Apparently slave collars are almost always made with identical locks, and I have a key."
Legolas remember Emerin suddenly. "There is a human here I promised I would help escape," he said, "His name is Emerin."
"I would free every slave in this place if I could," Aragorn said, "Go tell this man our plan. Have him be ready."
***
Later that evening, Legolas held Lenna's hand as they walked towards the doorway to the kitchen gardens. He held a basket in his hand, the sort that were used for collecting vegetables. There was a guard standing at the doorway, so he spoke to Lenna as they passed.
"Pick only what I tell you," he said, "we don't want you picking the wrong things and getting into trouble now, do we?" Lenna shook her head. The guard didn't make any attempt to stop them or question them as they passed. Legolas continued walking through the gardens and round the corner. They slipped into the shadow of the building and waited. In the dark night, they were almost invisible.
After a few minutes silence Lenna began to say something, but Legolas quickly pressed his hand across her mouth. He bent down and whispered softly in her ear. " Remain silent. Do not speak unless I tell you. Understand?" Lenna nodded, and Legolas moved his hand.
Shortly, Emerin arrived, again with no challenge from the guard. Legolas was beginning to think that Aragorn's plan might work, when he heard the guard speak.
"You're not allowed to come. . ." The guard's comment transformed into a grunt of pain. Legolas could hear the sounds of a few blows falling, then Aragorn appeared beside them.
"We must hurry," he said. He pulled a key from his pocket, and quickly released the collars from the three adults. He lifted Lenna into his arms and hurry they did.
The kitchen garden went all the way to the wall of the house, but the rows of vegetables offered no cover. They ran quickly, but Aragorn was covering the distance slower than the other two, hampered by the child in his arms.
"What now?" Emerin asked when they reached the wall.
"We climb over," Aragorn said, nodding his head towards a tall oak tree, growing beside the wall.
"I've not climbed trees in years."
"Then it's about time you did so again."
"I will climb part-way up," Legolas said, "pass Lenna up to me and then climb yourself." The climb was awkward. Legolas climbed up himself easily enough, then reached down to take the girl. She whimpered in fear as the ground was taken away from her, and her hands frantically searching for the best grip on Legolas's arm made it difficult for him to hold her.
"Stay still," he told her. He shifted her so that she was at his front, arms wrapped around his neck and legs around his waist. Aragorn reached him quickly, and climbed higher. Legolas realised it would be foolish to try and climb himself while holding Lenna and handed her up to Aragorn in turn. Emerin was struggling on his own too much to help with the child.
At last they were all level with the wall. Legolas had never taken so long to climb a tree before. He had been expecting an outcry at any moment as someone found the guard or discovered they were missing. But it never came.
Looking down over the wall, Legolas knew he could jump the distance with no problems. The others would not be so fortunate. Aragorn might be able to get down alright, but Legolas couldn't be sure as he didn't know much about humans. Emerin he had more doubts about and as for Lenna, she would never last the drop.
"I will jump first," Legolas said, "I will catch Lenna and you must get down as best you can."
He did so, without waiting for an answer. On the ground, he looked up and saw the shadowy forms at the top of the wall. Aragorn seemed to be struggling with Lenna. She didn't want to jump and was doing what she could to fight Aragorn. Legolas had a feeling that she would fall soon, and awkwardly, and he couldn't be sure of catching her without hurting her.
"Lenna," he called up as loudly as he dared, "trust me. I won't let you get hurt. Jump." He heard her whimper of fear, but she did jump. And he did catch her. She clung to him, trembling like an autumn leaf in the wind. He whispered meaningless syllables of comfort into her ears as Aragorn had another battle of trying to get Emerin to jump.
If anything the man seemed more afraid than Lenna, but at last he lowered himself down by his arms and then dropped. He landed badly, with a grunt of pain. Aragorn dropped instantly to his side.
"Are you hurt?" he asked.
"My leg, a little."
Aragorn's hands quickly felt over the offending extremity. "There are no breaks," he said, "you should be alright." He helped Emerin to his feet. The man was limping slightly, but no worse than that.
"Where now?" Legolas asked.
"The slave market," Aragorn said, in a tone that informed the others he would accept no questions. Still, question it Legolas did.
"Are you crazy? Why would we go back there? We will be recaptured instantly."
"They have my sword."
"You would risk your life for a possession?" There were times when Legolas thought human stupidity was infinite. This was one of them.
"It's not just a possession."
"I want my bow back too," Legolas said, "it was a gift from my father. But it's not worth my life to get it."
"I risked my life to get you out of that house," Aragorn said, "If you don't like my leadership you can go back in there."
"Fighting will get us nowhere," Emerin interrupted. "Perhaps going to the slave market would not be such a terrible idea. No one will expect us to go there."
"Because no one in their right mind would."
"But it means no one will search for us there." Legolas had to agree that Emerin was right, though he still felt Aragorn was insane for this plan. Still, they had more chances of surviving if they stayed together.
"Very well," he said.
Emerin led the way to the slave market since he had been there several times before. A large building, away from the stage and walkway, stood dark and, apparently, empty. The only sign of life came from the two guards at the door.
"That's where they'll most likely have anything they took from those they capture," Emerin said, "If they haven't already sold it."
"They won't have sold my sword," Aragorn said with certainty, "It's practically worthless to anyone but myself." Legolas decided this wasn't the time to ask him to explain that cryptic remark.
A quick discussion of the plan left Emerin crouching in the shadows with Lenna, while Aragorn and Legolas crept towards the building. They approached on opposite sides, Legolas listening for the almost inaudible sound of the human's footsteps. To anyone else, he would have been silent.
They reached the corners of the building together, and simultaneously launched their attacks. They each leapt at the closest of the guards, striking out before he had any time to react. In moments the door was unguarded and Aragorn flung his body against it to break the lock on the door.
Inside it was almost pitch black, the only light the dim moonlight coming through the window. It took his elven vision to see a large chest in the corner of the room. He crossed to it quickly, Aragorn immediately behind him. He moved well considering the dark. Legolas had half expected him to trip over something.
The chest was locked, but Aragorn produced a wire from somewhere and somehow managed to open it.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Legolas asked.
"Elrohir and Elladan."
"So why didn't you do it on the outside door?"
"Because I only found the wire in here."
"You saw it?" Even in the dim light, Legolas could see Aragorn was grinning. He searched through the items in the chest and, sure enough, took out a sheathed sword. Legolas looked, but there was no sign of anything even resembling a bow in there. He was sad about that. Even with what he felt about coming here, he would have been glad to find his bow.
Aragorn had just stood when Legolas heard a sound from the doorway. A sound he recognised. He yanked Aragorn back to the ground as an arrow imbedded itself in the wood, just behind where his head had been.
Two figures stood, dark shapes against a dark sky, the silhouettes of bows just recognisable, and aimed at them.
"If you move, you die," one of the figures said.
***
Author's note: Oh, come on. You didn't really think I'd let them escape, did you?
Review, and I may manage to squeeze some writing time in around everything else I have to do. Don't review, and I'll just leave you with this cliffhanger. Evil? Me?
Anyway, no more delays. On with the story.
***
Legolas began his day carrying hot water for his mistress's bath, adding scented oils as Emerin had instructed. He then went to wake her. His father would probably be shocked to learn he was in a woman's bedchamber before she was dressed, but it wasn't as though he was at any risk of being tempted to damage his honour by lying with her. He would sooner lie with an orc.
He picked a dress at random out of the wardrobe, having no real idea what she would want to wear. After what seemed an enormously long time, even for an elf, she emerged from the bath room and proceeded to dress. Legolas, his eyes remaining fixed on some empty point on the wall, wondered how she could even think of standing almost naked with a male in the room.
"I see you are learning your place, slave," she said when she was finished.
"Yes, mistress." Legolas forced himself to choke out that second word, however much it galled him to say it. It was no lie, he already knew his place. It was beside his father's chair in the palace of Mirkwood.
Breakfast passed without incident, and Legolas stood in his mistress's study, watching her write out a letter. He longed to sit, or even simply lean against the wall, but knew he could not. Still, he was a warrior trained and was perfectly capable of standing still for hours. He just didn't like it.
The boredom was being to get to him, when there was a knock at the door. He looked to his mistress for permission and then opened it. A young man walked in, passing Legolas as though he were nothing but a piece of furniture, and bowed slightly to the woman. He held out a letter to her.
She took the letter and read it quickly.
"Tell your employer I will gladly speak with him," she said. The messenger bowed again and left. Legolas' mistress turned to him again, "Go to the kitchens and tell them to prepare extra food for dinner. I will be having a guest." Legolas did as he was ordered, grateful to be out of that room. He was curious to say the least as to who this guest would be.
He found out late in the afternoon, as he stood in the hall while his mistress greeted the guest. It was the man who had bought Aragorn in the marketplace. It took all of Legolas' self control not to give an exclamation of surprise when he saw Aragorn standing behind him. The metal collar at his throat and the stiffness of his movement suggested that his captivity had been as pleasant as Legolas's.
"Welcome, Lord Ackeran," his mistress said to the man.
"It is a pleasure to see you again, Lady Kerinya," Ackeran responded.
"I am curious as to why you asked for this meeting at such short notice."
"Perhaps that is something we should discuss in private," Ackeran glanced at Aragorn, "Slaves may talk to other slaves, and what I want to talk to you about should remain between us."
"As you wish." Kerinya turned to Legolas, "Take Lord Ackeran's slave to the slave quarters and wait until I send for you!"
Ackeran, much to Legolas' amazement, then spoke to Aragorn briefly in Elvish. "I cannot restore your father's life, but I can offer mine for your sake." A flicker of surprise crossed Aragorn's face, followed swiftly by understanding.
"Thank you," Aragorn replied quietly, also in Elvish. Then Ackeran and Kerinya left, and Legolas gestured Aragorn in the direction of the slave quarters.
"Who is that man?" Legolas asked. Knowing that Aragorn spoke Elvish, he used that language. He didn't want anyone to overhear their conversation.
"That's a long story, and not one I wish to share just yet." Legolas nodded.
"How's Lenna?"
"She's well. She doesn't really understand what's happened to her, but she doesn't seem to mind too much either."
"We will be leaving tonight," Aragorn said, "and we will be taking Lenna with us."
"We?" Legolas wasn't sure whether he meant the two of them, or if he merely meant himself and this Ackeran.
"Unless you would rather stay here than return home." The expression on the human's face told Legolas he wasn't serious.
"What's your plan?"
They had reached the slaves quarters by now, and stepped inside. Lenna was sitting at a chair in a large room, along with a few young women, sewing. The moment she saw Legolas and Aragorn she dropped her work and raced to them.
"Agorn!"
Her arms wrapped around Aragorn's legs, pinning him more effectively than an attacker might. Legolas chuckled with mild amusement at the man's predicament. A rather half-hearted glare suggested that Aragorn also found the situation amusing.
"Child," one of the women called, "get back to work!" The order was softly given, but Aragorn pried Lenna's arms from his legs.
"You should do as they tell you. We will be together soon." He gave her a gentle push towards her abandoned sewing.
"What is your plan?" Legolas asked again.
"Tell me, do all the slaves eat together here?"
"From what I've seen, those not serving the 'mistress' do."
"Good, that will make things easier," Aragorn said, "In the confusion of everyone going to dinner, we'll find a side entrance. There's bound to be a doorway somewhere, into a coal yard or a kitchen garden. Something so taken for granted that it won't be guarded. Even if it is, no one will notice slaves going through."
"As soon as we're noticed missing, they'll search for us."
"Searching for slaves. If we get the collars off, they'll assume we're just traders or farmers, or something of that sort. They won't give us a second glance."
"And how do you plan on getting the collars off?" Legolas couldn't believe even a human would miss something so obvious, which meant Aragorn must have found some solution.
"Apparently slave collars are almost always made with identical locks, and I have a key."
Legolas remember Emerin suddenly. "There is a human here I promised I would help escape," he said, "His name is Emerin."
"I would free every slave in this place if I could," Aragorn said, "Go tell this man our plan. Have him be ready."
***
Later that evening, Legolas held Lenna's hand as they walked towards the doorway to the kitchen gardens. He held a basket in his hand, the sort that were used for collecting vegetables. There was a guard standing at the doorway, so he spoke to Lenna as they passed.
"Pick only what I tell you," he said, "we don't want you picking the wrong things and getting into trouble now, do we?" Lenna shook her head. The guard didn't make any attempt to stop them or question them as they passed. Legolas continued walking through the gardens and round the corner. They slipped into the shadow of the building and waited. In the dark night, they were almost invisible.
After a few minutes silence Lenna began to say something, but Legolas quickly pressed his hand across her mouth. He bent down and whispered softly in her ear. " Remain silent. Do not speak unless I tell you. Understand?" Lenna nodded, and Legolas moved his hand.
Shortly, Emerin arrived, again with no challenge from the guard. Legolas was beginning to think that Aragorn's plan might work, when he heard the guard speak.
"You're not allowed to come. . ." The guard's comment transformed into a grunt of pain. Legolas could hear the sounds of a few blows falling, then Aragorn appeared beside them.
"We must hurry," he said. He pulled a key from his pocket, and quickly released the collars from the three adults. He lifted Lenna into his arms and hurry they did.
The kitchen garden went all the way to the wall of the house, but the rows of vegetables offered no cover. They ran quickly, but Aragorn was covering the distance slower than the other two, hampered by the child in his arms.
"What now?" Emerin asked when they reached the wall.
"We climb over," Aragorn said, nodding his head towards a tall oak tree, growing beside the wall.
"I've not climbed trees in years."
"Then it's about time you did so again."
"I will climb part-way up," Legolas said, "pass Lenna up to me and then climb yourself." The climb was awkward. Legolas climbed up himself easily enough, then reached down to take the girl. She whimpered in fear as the ground was taken away from her, and her hands frantically searching for the best grip on Legolas's arm made it difficult for him to hold her.
"Stay still," he told her. He shifted her so that she was at his front, arms wrapped around his neck and legs around his waist. Aragorn reached him quickly, and climbed higher. Legolas realised it would be foolish to try and climb himself while holding Lenna and handed her up to Aragorn in turn. Emerin was struggling on his own too much to help with the child.
At last they were all level with the wall. Legolas had never taken so long to climb a tree before. He had been expecting an outcry at any moment as someone found the guard or discovered they were missing. But it never came.
Looking down over the wall, Legolas knew he could jump the distance with no problems. The others would not be so fortunate. Aragorn might be able to get down alright, but Legolas couldn't be sure as he didn't know much about humans. Emerin he had more doubts about and as for Lenna, she would never last the drop.
"I will jump first," Legolas said, "I will catch Lenna and you must get down as best you can."
He did so, without waiting for an answer. On the ground, he looked up and saw the shadowy forms at the top of the wall. Aragorn seemed to be struggling with Lenna. She didn't want to jump and was doing what she could to fight Aragorn. Legolas had a feeling that she would fall soon, and awkwardly, and he couldn't be sure of catching her without hurting her.
"Lenna," he called up as loudly as he dared, "trust me. I won't let you get hurt. Jump." He heard her whimper of fear, but she did jump. And he did catch her. She clung to him, trembling like an autumn leaf in the wind. He whispered meaningless syllables of comfort into her ears as Aragorn had another battle of trying to get Emerin to jump.
If anything the man seemed more afraid than Lenna, but at last he lowered himself down by his arms and then dropped. He landed badly, with a grunt of pain. Aragorn dropped instantly to his side.
"Are you hurt?" he asked.
"My leg, a little."
Aragorn's hands quickly felt over the offending extremity. "There are no breaks," he said, "you should be alright." He helped Emerin to his feet. The man was limping slightly, but no worse than that.
"Where now?" Legolas asked.
"The slave market," Aragorn said, in a tone that informed the others he would accept no questions. Still, question it Legolas did.
"Are you crazy? Why would we go back there? We will be recaptured instantly."
"They have my sword."
"You would risk your life for a possession?" There were times when Legolas thought human stupidity was infinite. This was one of them.
"It's not just a possession."
"I want my bow back too," Legolas said, "it was a gift from my father. But it's not worth my life to get it."
"I risked my life to get you out of that house," Aragorn said, "If you don't like my leadership you can go back in there."
"Fighting will get us nowhere," Emerin interrupted. "Perhaps going to the slave market would not be such a terrible idea. No one will expect us to go there."
"Because no one in their right mind would."
"But it means no one will search for us there." Legolas had to agree that Emerin was right, though he still felt Aragorn was insane for this plan. Still, they had more chances of surviving if they stayed together.
"Very well," he said.
Emerin led the way to the slave market since he had been there several times before. A large building, away from the stage and walkway, stood dark and, apparently, empty. The only sign of life came from the two guards at the door.
"That's where they'll most likely have anything they took from those they capture," Emerin said, "If they haven't already sold it."
"They won't have sold my sword," Aragorn said with certainty, "It's practically worthless to anyone but myself." Legolas decided this wasn't the time to ask him to explain that cryptic remark.
A quick discussion of the plan left Emerin crouching in the shadows with Lenna, while Aragorn and Legolas crept towards the building. They approached on opposite sides, Legolas listening for the almost inaudible sound of the human's footsteps. To anyone else, he would have been silent.
They reached the corners of the building together, and simultaneously launched their attacks. They each leapt at the closest of the guards, striking out before he had any time to react. In moments the door was unguarded and Aragorn flung his body against it to break the lock on the door.
Inside it was almost pitch black, the only light the dim moonlight coming through the window. It took his elven vision to see a large chest in the corner of the room. He crossed to it quickly, Aragorn immediately behind him. He moved well considering the dark. Legolas had half expected him to trip over something.
The chest was locked, but Aragorn produced a wire from somewhere and somehow managed to open it.
"Where did you learn to do that?" Legolas asked.
"Elrohir and Elladan."
"So why didn't you do it on the outside door?"
"Because I only found the wire in here."
"You saw it?" Even in the dim light, Legolas could see Aragorn was grinning. He searched through the items in the chest and, sure enough, took out a sheathed sword. Legolas looked, but there was no sign of anything even resembling a bow in there. He was sad about that. Even with what he felt about coming here, he would have been glad to find his bow.
Aragorn had just stood when Legolas heard a sound from the doorway. A sound he recognised. He yanked Aragorn back to the ground as an arrow imbedded itself in the wood, just behind where his head had been.
Two figures stood, dark shapes against a dark sky, the silhouettes of bows just recognisable, and aimed at them.
"If you move, you die," one of the figures said.
***
Author's note: Oh, come on. You didn't really think I'd let them escape, did you?
Review, and I may manage to squeeze some writing time in around everything else I have to do. Don't review, and I'll just leave you with this cliffhanger. Evil? Me?