"Aragorn!  Aragorn!" came the voice of Gimli, echoing throughout the halls of the king's palace in Gondor as he ran down the spacious and newly renovated halls.

At last, he came to the throne room, where Aragorn and Arwen sat side by side, listening to the pleas of a poor young thief that had stolen a few vegetables from the royal garden.  Aragorn rose as Gimli rushed into the room and skidded a little on the smooth marble floor as he tried to stop himself.  The accused boy held out a hand and stopped Gimli from sliding into the steps that lead up to the thrones.  But Gimli did not acknowledge the help.

"What is it Gimli?" asked Aragorn, a little surprised and worried at his friend's behavior.

"I am sorry to interrupt, but I bear urgent news!  Legolas has been taken!"

"Taken, by whom?"

"I don't know.  He just disappeared three nights into our hunt.  Some of the men found elf blood not far from the place when we first noticed him missing."

Aragorn's face paled, but he soon regained his composure.  "Case dismissed for the time being.  For now, you are free to go within the city, but now to leave it.  I still would like to have a word with you," he said, addressing the boy.  "My guard Viguil will leave you out." 

He turned back to the dwarf now and motioned for him to follow him into his study.  Arwen came after them, worrying what might have happened to Mirkwood's prince.

Inside the study, Aragorn waited for the two to enter the room, and then locked the door behind them.  He sat down in a plush chair at the head of the meeting table.  Arwen sat to his right, Gimli to the left. 

"Tell me everything from the beginning," Aragorn said, once everyone had gotten settled.  "Were any others taken?"

Gimli shook his head.  "Just Legolas.  All of the others were left untouched.  It actually took us a few minutes before we realized that he was missing. By chance, we ran across some or Eomer's Riders, who told us that the orcs had passed into Rohan and had been killed under his command.  I had turned to Legolas to speak with him, but he was gone.  When we retraced our steps, we found a few traces of blood."

"You are sure that it was his?"

"Aye, it was his.  I checked it out myself."

"Were there any tracks to follow?"

Gimli shook his head again.  "Not much that we could see.  Even the blood seemed to have been limited to the one area."

"Where was this?  Can you bring me to the spot?  Perhaps my skills as a ranger can help uncover some news."

"I can take you there."

"Good, I'll send word to get us a horse ready, and ten other riders or my choosing.  It will take a bit, so I will have food brought to us while we prepare."