Darn, well, that plot bunny I caught at the end of the last chapter wasn't
much help.hopefully this other one I've found will actually be useful.
(Doubt it though.**grumbles**).
Right now, I hate Target. They don't carry the TT soundtrack :~( .crappy store. Anyway, I guess it's OK because I was able to get Now, by Jessica Andrews, which was another CD I really wanted. (But I still don't like Target)
Gimli has been a real lazy bum so far in this fic. Hum.maybe I'll have to put him in charge of the plot bunny just to give him something to do.hum.oh well.soon he should get- **gets distracted by nice, big plot bunny that hops by.** **runs over and catches it quickly** Well, here we go.time for you to listen to some more of my meaningless babble previous to the start of the chappie as I inspect this lovely specimen of a plot bunny.**begins inspection** oooo.this'll be fun.
First line of business: I hope that the last chapter wasn't too confusing, when I reread it to remember where I left off (crappy short-term memory) it seemed that it could have been confusing.but hopefully you were able to figure it out, I didn't get any reviews that said differently so I will just go on that assumption. However, because I have no clue how it will play into the story so that it makes sense, Rinathen's full name is Rinathen Glólindë Talithia. (Meaning that she is called by her last name in her country, Kianorla.which will be introduced in this chapter)
Secondly: I am really sorry that this chapter is so boring and kinda long.but if I didn't make it long and boring then the rest of the fic would make no sense what so ever. My deepest apologies! **Hands out extra cookies just because you're here reading such a boring chappie** Gomen! {Sorry} (I'm 99% sure)
And last, (and also in response to outlawgirl08's lovely review) but certainly not least: I have finally (it was annoying me to that I wasn't updating regularly) decided that I will (try) to update every Monday, but it might turn into every-other or something once school starts **lightening flashes in background, thunderclap, random girl screams**. So.yea. hopefully that will help you all enjoy the fic more. Which will make you want to write wonderful reviews- flames are acceptable, and may be taken into consideration, but will be laughed at with great scorn - which you will write, which will help me in writing the rest of the fic (and writing it well), which will help you enjoy it, which will prevent purple penguins from taking over the world! In some odd way it will at least. (Sorry, I'm a little hyper rite now.it shouldn't mess with the fic this time all that much though like it did last chappie)
Whew! That was a lot of meaning less talk.oh well.on with the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I own Rinathen, Kianorla, Stephir, Globukh, (etc.) and that's all. that and the particular way all the words used in this fic are put together .but that's it, I own nothing else. Those who think differently belong in a nut house to prevent them and their stupidity from harming themselves, and others.
{.} : translation
= . . . =: (full) song
(* . . . *): me
(. . .) : not me
[ .] : what is being said (/sung) in Elvish (Partly because I'm a lazy bum. Partly because I believe you would like this chapter before Christmas 2010 rolls around, yes?)
~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
IMPORTANT A/N!: This is not the original chapter; it has been edited. Chapter 7 will be less relevant, but it is still STRONGLY advised that you read it.
Chapter 5: Tales of the Past
Rinathen sighed; she had not spoken about her past since, well.never really. She took a deep breath and began, "Fifteen years ago, on June 26, Legolas-," her voice faltered as she began to speak of his marriage proposal to her, something she hadn't done since the morning of June 27, right before the orcs came. She took another deep breath and began again, "Legolas asked me to marry him. I answered 'yes' quickly, not thinking what might happen the next day. But let me begin at the beginning.
"I knew my mother, Isówen. But I didn't know much about my father. I knew his name was Elrebrinduil, and that he was an elf from the East. He was the crown prince of the North Elves of Khand (*If that's really considered the South, sorry! *) at the time that my mother and he first met. But that was all I knew. I did not even hear about him until my grandfather was killed in battle when I was still young and he became king. That's when he first heard of my mother and I living in Mirkwood. He had never married; he loved my mother too much. As he grew older he realized that he needed an heir. For a few years he contacted my mother without the knowledge of anyone else but myself. He pleaded with her to return to her birth place- Kianorla, a small country far to the east of Rhun- with him (apparently there was trouble in his realm and he needed allies). She finally consented, but she refused to bring me. She left me in the care of my aunt, Celebrian, for a short while, but I missed my home. Finally Celebrian and Elrond decided that Isówen's good friends Lord Febrindil and Lady Methien could take care of me my foster parents. I lived with them in Mirkwood for a long while, and they became the ones that I saw as my true parents.
"Legolas and I first met by accident one time at the archery field late at night. It was the first time we really met because he was one of the princes so I knew who he was, and I had seen him watch me singing on many nights with much interest. When I wanted to think I always went to the archery fields, which somehow helped, despite my longing to become a warrior, which joy Febrindil and Methien both denied me. We spoke as he practiced and it became habit for us to spend that time together. One night, after about six months of me watching him, he asked me if I would like to be taught how to shoot. From then on, I spent the nights learning fighting skills from him.
"We became good friends and our friendship continually grew and we began to meet during the day as well. Eventually our parents noticed how much time we spent together and began to encourage us in our relationship, as Legolas and I both were sought after by many elven ladies and lords, so we tended to slide away from relationships other than that of friends- which was all we really were at the time- but they were hopeful. King Thranduil and Queen Imlammthien were especially hopeful that Legolas' and I were developing a very close relationship, as his older brothers also had not found wives yet, and had told their parents that they did not want to become king. But as our relationship slowly evolved into love, I believe Legolas told them that he did not want to be king for fear that that would put to much pressure on me to be a lady or to follow him in his shadow as queen or something like that.
"I never told anyone but my foster parents about my real parents. Not even Legolas. And that was my folly. I received word that my father and mother had returned to Khand and resumed the role of king and queen. They had also become king and queen of Kianorla, and had appointed a governor while they were away. A month after that I heard that my brother that I had not even known had existed killed Isówen and Elrebrinduil. My brother took over the role as king, but I was not aware that he had gone over to shadow, and that there was reason for me to fear him. But then a message came; it said that my brother, King Febrindil, wanted me to rule at his side. I replied no, but the message came several times again. Every time I said no. The last message said that King Febrindil did not accept my answer and would 'visit' me shortly to 'convince' me to join him as a joint ruler of the Northern Elves. I did not know what this meant, but I soon found out.
"On June 26 Legolas proposed and the next day was supposed to be one of celebration, but orcs attacked us. Because I was unarmed, Legolas commanded me that I go inside the halls for safety. I did so, but then I realized what was happening when some more orcs broke into the halls. I hid in an empty room, but just as I slipped in without being noticed, I heard two orcs speaking to each other: 'How are we 'posed to find the Lady Rinathen if we don't know what she looks like?' 'How should I know? Yew just gets to lookin.' After a few moments of thinking, i realized that my brother must have crossed to the other side and had come ready and prepared to kill every single elf in Mirkwood searching for me. I turned entered the room and after some thought, slid out the window and ran towards where I had left Legolas and the king and queen. They needed to know why they were being attacked. I was just about to reach them, when Globukh grabbed me. He looked at me and smiled; 'Yer Lady Rinathen aren't yew?' he said with a menacing laugh and threw me over his shoulder. I don't know how he knew it was me, still to this day I don't understand his answer when I asked him. But just as he did, Legolas choose that moment to turn his head slightly, and catch a glimpse of me being hauled off by Globukh. I tried to look at him and tell him to not give himself away, but it was to late, he was already making his way towards us. That's when two other orcs, noticing that their captain had captured an elf- whom they presumed was the 'Lady Rinathen' they were searching for- shoot him, realizing his intent to rescue me. I watched as he fell to the ground, blood slowly seeping through his tunic."
At that point she stopped, thinking about that day was hard, but talking about it was next impossible. She had not been graphic about the blood and gore the orcs reeked on Mirkwood, but Aragorn had been there, and she didn't have the heart to tell Gimli. She sighed, she had to continue.
"For two days we traveled hard. I learned little as to why I was taken other than I already knew. On the third day we passed Minas Tirith and continued to travel south. We stopped at their headquarters, the same that they have taken Legolas and Arwen." she continued to tell them of how they continued on to Khand. "I was taken through some ruins in the north, which I believe were the last remains of the Northern Khand elves, then we came to the palace. It was riddled with filth and showed no sign of any life other than orcs. Then they tortured me." she was silent for several moments, remembering the dark times that she had experienced: the beatings, the scornful remarks as she fell to the ground, barely alive in a puddle of her own blood, the stabbing pain as whip, knife and the teeth of the dogs bit her flesh. Gimli and Aragorn tried to coax her to tell her what they did to her, but she couldn't; it was just too hard. She whimpered a few inaudible words, but after she had regained her ability to speak she continued.
"I was taken to a small cell in the stone prison. They gave me a flask of water and a small crust of old bread and told me to make it last, and laughed as they walked away. I don't know how long they kept me down there, but it was dark and cold. The water and bread did not last longer than two weeks I think, and no one ever came down to even check if I was alive so that I could ask for more. I think the only things that kept me alive was the connection between Legolas and I- whatever it really is- and my singing. Hearing Elvish helped me through that dark time somehow. Finally a soldier came down and dragged me to my feet. He took me to a room with an array of weaponry on a large wooden table. Globukh was there and he smirked as he surveyed the dried, clotted blood on my skin and in my hair, as I stood straight staring defiantly at him. He told me that I could choose two weapons and then he would take me outside to show me something. I looked at the table carefully, I knew what weapons I took could decide weather or not I died that night. I finally choose a scimitar and a bow with a full quiver. Globukh seemed surprised at my choice, as if he thought that I would not know what I was doing when offered weapons. At first he seemed apprehensive at what he was planning to do, but he dismissed the thought, I looked too weak.
"I was led through many twisting hallways. Then suddenly we were outside on the mountain that the palace was built on. It was night, but cloudy and I could only just barely see the moon. Globukh pointed out onto the valley blow, I followed his finger and saw dozens of big and small specks of light: fires and torches. I looked at Globukh and he explained, 'If yew can get pas' the farthest fire before my boys have killed every Man down in that camp, then yer free to go. But if yew talk to any of 'em 'n' give 'em warnin' that we're comin', it'll be on yer life. Got it?' I nodded, I got it all right, tell the camp that I've got important information from the palace and tell them that I'd trade the information for protection and a ride out of the valley as far as they'll have me past the northern border of Khand: simple. 'Start runnin' then,' Globukh said with a laugh. Which was exactly what I did. I ran. It wasn't easy, but I did it. I was down the mountain quickly and already halfway to the camp before I think Globukh even had the sense to realize what I was doing. But it was too late when the troops were already beginning their march into battle. The camp of Men, from none other place than Kianorla, were warned and prepared.
"The battle was short. The Kianorlians had been victorious, we waited two days to allow for recoveries to be made- their healers were very efficient- and then were off. Their leader, Owacyn, was very kind to me. He told me that I could continue with them as far as I wished, even to Kianorla if I wanted. After a few weeks of travels I had been told that Kianorla's governor had recently died, and since the messenger to the king and queen had not returned a month, a steward was appointed. They had waited another month before the steward decided that something must be wrong. He sent the troops and they had come upon the besieged country knowing that the king and queen were no longer living. I learned more, but never shared more than was asked. No one ever knew that I was the daughter of the last King and Queen, or that I was elven.
"I was elected queen and for the past years I had been busy with my duties. I yearned to return to Mirkwood, but then Sauron came to power and passage West was out of the question. My country needed me. Tirelessly Sauron pushed East and South, he took every country, but ours. Kianorlians have a very strong feeling of loyalty to their queen, which I used as our main defense. My people held our borders, while I fought along side them from inside our borders, severing ties to those that had fallen and punishing any whom were in any form of communication to those who might have betrayed us to Sauron. Suddenly, Sauron's power was not so strongly at our borders, over the next few years, up until just this past year, it almost disappeared completely. Then one day, it seemed that all of the orcs turned tail and fled. I feared the worst and the West had fallen, leaving Sauron free to unleash all of his power on our small country. But then a messenger came from the West, saying that King Elessar had returned and the Enemy was vanquished! At first it was to good to believe that you, Aragorn, would have accepted your calling as King, but you had. I knew that it was true when I heard news of others from the borders that people from farther east were seen fleeing to their homelands. Now I felt was a time that I could finally return home, but it was not so.
"I heard tell of strange things to the South. At first I thought it was just some rebels still loyal to Sauron, and so I continued to make preparations to travel West to Mirkwood. However, the messages were so strange and close to Mordor, that my head captain, Owacyn- the same captain that had been so helpful with my escape- suggested we take a detour through- or at least towards - Mordor to see if the stories were true. Although reluctant, I agreed that it would be safer to leave Kianorla with knowing what was really going on to the south. I left with twice the number of troops I brought with me today. We passed through Rhun unchallenged, but when we got to Khand trouble caught us. Globukh himself, along with a fair number more troops than myself, cut us off in the North Pass, heading to Kianorla. We fought hard, and half of us were able to escape West, while the rest either were killed or had turned around on orders to warn the people of Kianorla and Rhun of the on coming threat.
"I wanted to know what such a large number of orcs thought they were doing, thinking they could attack Kianorla without Sauron behind them, but they thought they would win apparently. In order to find the answer to my question, I decided to head straight north, into Mordor. We took as much water as we could, and set out.
"It was decided we would head in a North-west direction through Mordor. We planned to come out somewhere around Dagorlad, we never planned to visit Gondor. But once we learned what was going on, we quickly decided to come to Minas Tirith first."
"My lady, you do notice that you're slightly talking in circles?" Gimli said, "Not only that, but I get the feeling that you're avoiding the subject of exactly what is in Mordor."
Rinathen sighed; she had been avoiding telling them. It was too much, she hated being the bearer of bad news, but she knew Aragorn needed to know, "Sauron did not leave without first leaving an heir."
There was silence for a few moments before Aragorn said heavily, "That is a very consequential statement.but I do not believe that you would lie about something like that, if you have also fought Sauron."
Gimli however, was not as thoroughly convinced, "And who, my lady, is this heir?"
"Febrindil," she said with a sigh, "I saw him with my very eyes, and he looks almost identical to me- so I was told by Owacyn- and he did remind me of my mother when I saw him. I saw him up close; we were within two feet of each other. He was alone except for five warriors, but you could tell by simply looking at him that he held the power to call his servants to him. He has very powerful servants. They looked as if they are a gruesome mixture of troll, orc, and Uruk-hai, along with another creature of his own making. We were able to out run them. It seems that he really does want me at his side ruling along with him, and he told his servants not to harm us, just give chase and scare us.luckily.or else I doubt we would have gotten away."
"And he wants to control Middle-earth?" Aragorn asked.
"He wants to avenge his 'real' father- Sauron. But there was something else that he did not openly say; something to do with the elvish race I guess from what I gathered from the way he spoke about them, he hates all elves."
Aragorn and Gimli stared at her in disbelief, it was absurd, but she said it with such conviction that it was hard not to believe her. Gimli was the first to recover from the surprise, "But.he's elven.his parents were.you, his sister-who he wants to rule with him- is.it makes no sense."
"He hated my parents, that was obvious from the beginning of our conversation. From what I could gather before we left was that when they went to Kianorla, he met a man that told him how he could get back at his parents, so he went with him. He was never seen after that, but it was rumored that he had gone west, into Mordor. I don't know why Sauron would take him as his heir, but he did, and now we're left with a mad elf that thinks he can rule Middle-earth by wiping out everyone in his path, race by race."
Aragorn was silent for a few moments. Then he spoke, "I believe we need to discuss this news with some of my advisors, as well as yours Rinathen. But first I will let you rest, you have had a trying day."
She nodded and stood, "I have. Thank you."
One of the guards waiting outside the door was asked to show Rinathen to her rooms. Aragorn and Gimli remained in the study for some time in silence. "What do you think?" Gimli asked
"I don't know. it seems that there's something she didn't tell us."
"That's what I thought too.do you think it's about Febrindil?"
"No. She's on our side, Gimli, she shared all she knew about him and his doings in Mordor. But there was something.you could see it in her eyes, especially whe-" Aragorn thought a moment, then finished, as if thinking aloud to himself, "especially when she spoke about Owacyn." He looked at Gimli.
The dwarf nodded, "I noticed that too.her voice seemed to have an underlying tone also, when she said his name.almost."
"Distaste, hatred, loathing.I know.why is what I want to know though."
They spoke about her strange behavior for some time, but they could not come up with a reason as to why she would hate her head captain the way she seemed to, especially taking into consideration that they had never met the man.
~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Hey! You're still here.great! Sorry for the boring chappie.I thought it was boring anyways.**shrug**
Well look at that.there's that little blueish-purplelyish box.be a nice person.review! :~)
Right now, I hate Target. They don't carry the TT soundtrack :~( .crappy store. Anyway, I guess it's OK because I was able to get Now, by Jessica Andrews, which was another CD I really wanted. (But I still don't like Target)
Gimli has been a real lazy bum so far in this fic. Hum.maybe I'll have to put him in charge of the plot bunny just to give him something to do.hum.oh well.soon he should get- **gets distracted by nice, big plot bunny that hops by.** **runs over and catches it quickly** Well, here we go.time for you to listen to some more of my meaningless babble previous to the start of the chappie as I inspect this lovely specimen of a plot bunny.**begins inspection** oooo.this'll be fun.
First line of business: I hope that the last chapter wasn't too confusing, when I reread it to remember where I left off (crappy short-term memory) it seemed that it could have been confusing.but hopefully you were able to figure it out, I didn't get any reviews that said differently so I will just go on that assumption. However, because I have no clue how it will play into the story so that it makes sense, Rinathen's full name is Rinathen Glólindë Talithia. (Meaning that she is called by her last name in her country, Kianorla.which will be introduced in this chapter)
Secondly: I am really sorry that this chapter is so boring and kinda long.but if I didn't make it long and boring then the rest of the fic would make no sense what so ever. My deepest apologies! **Hands out extra cookies just because you're here reading such a boring chappie** Gomen! {Sorry} (I'm 99% sure)
And last, (and also in response to outlawgirl08's lovely review) but certainly not least: I have finally (it was annoying me to that I wasn't updating regularly) decided that I will (try) to update every Monday, but it might turn into every-other or something once school starts **lightening flashes in background, thunderclap, random girl screams**. So.yea. hopefully that will help you all enjoy the fic more. Which will make you want to write wonderful reviews- flames are acceptable, and may be taken into consideration, but will be laughed at with great scorn - which you will write, which will help me in writing the rest of the fic (and writing it well), which will help you enjoy it, which will prevent purple penguins from taking over the world! In some odd way it will at least. (Sorry, I'm a little hyper rite now.it shouldn't mess with the fic this time all that much though like it did last chappie)
Whew! That was a lot of meaning less talk.oh well.on with the disclaimer.
Disclaimer: I own Rinathen, Kianorla, Stephir, Globukh, (etc.) and that's all. that and the particular way all the words used in this fic are put together .but that's it, I own nothing else. Those who think differently belong in a nut house to prevent them and their stupidity from harming themselves, and others.
{.} : translation
= . . . =: (full) song
(* . . . *): me
(. . .) : not me
[ .] : what is being said (/sung) in Elvish (Partly because I'm a lazy bum. Partly because I believe you would like this chapter before Christmas 2010 rolls around, yes?)
~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
IMPORTANT A/N!: This is not the original chapter; it has been edited. Chapter 7 will be less relevant, but it is still STRONGLY advised that you read it.
Chapter 5: Tales of the Past
Rinathen sighed; she had not spoken about her past since, well.never really. She took a deep breath and began, "Fifteen years ago, on June 26, Legolas-," her voice faltered as she began to speak of his marriage proposal to her, something she hadn't done since the morning of June 27, right before the orcs came. She took another deep breath and began again, "Legolas asked me to marry him. I answered 'yes' quickly, not thinking what might happen the next day. But let me begin at the beginning.
"I knew my mother, Isówen. But I didn't know much about my father. I knew his name was Elrebrinduil, and that he was an elf from the East. He was the crown prince of the North Elves of Khand (*If that's really considered the South, sorry! *) at the time that my mother and he first met. But that was all I knew. I did not even hear about him until my grandfather was killed in battle when I was still young and he became king. That's when he first heard of my mother and I living in Mirkwood. He had never married; he loved my mother too much. As he grew older he realized that he needed an heir. For a few years he contacted my mother without the knowledge of anyone else but myself. He pleaded with her to return to her birth place- Kianorla, a small country far to the east of Rhun- with him (apparently there was trouble in his realm and he needed allies). She finally consented, but she refused to bring me. She left me in the care of my aunt, Celebrian, for a short while, but I missed my home. Finally Celebrian and Elrond decided that Isówen's good friends Lord Febrindil and Lady Methien could take care of me my foster parents. I lived with them in Mirkwood for a long while, and they became the ones that I saw as my true parents.
"Legolas and I first met by accident one time at the archery field late at night. It was the first time we really met because he was one of the princes so I knew who he was, and I had seen him watch me singing on many nights with much interest. When I wanted to think I always went to the archery fields, which somehow helped, despite my longing to become a warrior, which joy Febrindil and Methien both denied me. We spoke as he practiced and it became habit for us to spend that time together. One night, after about six months of me watching him, he asked me if I would like to be taught how to shoot. From then on, I spent the nights learning fighting skills from him.
"We became good friends and our friendship continually grew and we began to meet during the day as well. Eventually our parents noticed how much time we spent together and began to encourage us in our relationship, as Legolas and I both were sought after by many elven ladies and lords, so we tended to slide away from relationships other than that of friends- which was all we really were at the time- but they were hopeful. King Thranduil and Queen Imlammthien were especially hopeful that Legolas' and I were developing a very close relationship, as his older brothers also had not found wives yet, and had told their parents that they did not want to become king. But as our relationship slowly evolved into love, I believe Legolas told them that he did not want to be king for fear that that would put to much pressure on me to be a lady or to follow him in his shadow as queen or something like that.
"I never told anyone but my foster parents about my real parents. Not even Legolas. And that was my folly. I received word that my father and mother had returned to Khand and resumed the role of king and queen. They had also become king and queen of Kianorla, and had appointed a governor while they were away. A month after that I heard that my brother that I had not even known had existed killed Isówen and Elrebrinduil. My brother took over the role as king, but I was not aware that he had gone over to shadow, and that there was reason for me to fear him. But then a message came; it said that my brother, King Febrindil, wanted me to rule at his side. I replied no, but the message came several times again. Every time I said no. The last message said that King Febrindil did not accept my answer and would 'visit' me shortly to 'convince' me to join him as a joint ruler of the Northern Elves. I did not know what this meant, but I soon found out.
"On June 26 Legolas proposed and the next day was supposed to be one of celebration, but orcs attacked us. Because I was unarmed, Legolas commanded me that I go inside the halls for safety. I did so, but then I realized what was happening when some more orcs broke into the halls. I hid in an empty room, but just as I slipped in without being noticed, I heard two orcs speaking to each other: 'How are we 'posed to find the Lady Rinathen if we don't know what she looks like?' 'How should I know? Yew just gets to lookin.' After a few moments of thinking, i realized that my brother must have crossed to the other side and had come ready and prepared to kill every single elf in Mirkwood searching for me. I turned entered the room and after some thought, slid out the window and ran towards where I had left Legolas and the king and queen. They needed to know why they were being attacked. I was just about to reach them, when Globukh grabbed me. He looked at me and smiled; 'Yer Lady Rinathen aren't yew?' he said with a menacing laugh and threw me over his shoulder. I don't know how he knew it was me, still to this day I don't understand his answer when I asked him. But just as he did, Legolas choose that moment to turn his head slightly, and catch a glimpse of me being hauled off by Globukh. I tried to look at him and tell him to not give himself away, but it was to late, he was already making his way towards us. That's when two other orcs, noticing that their captain had captured an elf- whom they presumed was the 'Lady Rinathen' they were searching for- shoot him, realizing his intent to rescue me. I watched as he fell to the ground, blood slowly seeping through his tunic."
At that point she stopped, thinking about that day was hard, but talking about it was next impossible. She had not been graphic about the blood and gore the orcs reeked on Mirkwood, but Aragorn had been there, and she didn't have the heart to tell Gimli. She sighed, she had to continue.
"For two days we traveled hard. I learned little as to why I was taken other than I already knew. On the third day we passed Minas Tirith and continued to travel south. We stopped at their headquarters, the same that they have taken Legolas and Arwen." she continued to tell them of how they continued on to Khand. "I was taken through some ruins in the north, which I believe were the last remains of the Northern Khand elves, then we came to the palace. It was riddled with filth and showed no sign of any life other than orcs. Then they tortured me." she was silent for several moments, remembering the dark times that she had experienced: the beatings, the scornful remarks as she fell to the ground, barely alive in a puddle of her own blood, the stabbing pain as whip, knife and the teeth of the dogs bit her flesh. Gimli and Aragorn tried to coax her to tell her what they did to her, but she couldn't; it was just too hard. She whimpered a few inaudible words, but after she had regained her ability to speak she continued.
"I was taken to a small cell in the stone prison. They gave me a flask of water and a small crust of old bread and told me to make it last, and laughed as they walked away. I don't know how long they kept me down there, but it was dark and cold. The water and bread did not last longer than two weeks I think, and no one ever came down to even check if I was alive so that I could ask for more. I think the only things that kept me alive was the connection between Legolas and I- whatever it really is- and my singing. Hearing Elvish helped me through that dark time somehow. Finally a soldier came down and dragged me to my feet. He took me to a room with an array of weaponry on a large wooden table. Globukh was there and he smirked as he surveyed the dried, clotted blood on my skin and in my hair, as I stood straight staring defiantly at him. He told me that I could choose two weapons and then he would take me outside to show me something. I looked at the table carefully, I knew what weapons I took could decide weather or not I died that night. I finally choose a scimitar and a bow with a full quiver. Globukh seemed surprised at my choice, as if he thought that I would not know what I was doing when offered weapons. At first he seemed apprehensive at what he was planning to do, but he dismissed the thought, I looked too weak.
"I was led through many twisting hallways. Then suddenly we were outside on the mountain that the palace was built on. It was night, but cloudy and I could only just barely see the moon. Globukh pointed out onto the valley blow, I followed his finger and saw dozens of big and small specks of light: fires and torches. I looked at Globukh and he explained, 'If yew can get pas' the farthest fire before my boys have killed every Man down in that camp, then yer free to go. But if yew talk to any of 'em 'n' give 'em warnin' that we're comin', it'll be on yer life. Got it?' I nodded, I got it all right, tell the camp that I've got important information from the palace and tell them that I'd trade the information for protection and a ride out of the valley as far as they'll have me past the northern border of Khand: simple. 'Start runnin' then,' Globukh said with a laugh. Which was exactly what I did. I ran. It wasn't easy, but I did it. I was down the mountain quickly and already halfway to the camp before I think Globukh even had the sense to realize what I was doing. But it was too late when the troops were already beginning their march into battle. The camp of Men, from none other place than Kianorla, were warned and prepared.
"The battle was short. The Kianorlians had been victorious, we waited two days to allow for recoveries to be made- their healers were very efficient- and then were off. Their leader, Owacyn, was very kind to me. He told me that I could continue with them as far as I wished, even to Kianorla if I wanted. After a few weeks of travels I had been told that Kianorla's governor had recently died, and since the messenger to the king and queen had not returned a month, a steward was appointed. They had waited another month before the steward decided that something must be wrong. He sent the troops and they had come upon the besieged country knowing that the king and queen were no longer living. I learned more, but never shared more than was asked. No one ever knew that I was the daughter of the last King and Queen, or that I was elven.
"I was elected queen and for the past years I had been busy with my duties. I yearned to return to Mirkwood, but then Sauron came to power and passage West was out of the question. My country needed me. Tirelessly Sauron pushed East and South, he took every country, but ours. Kianorlians have a very strong feeling of loyalty to their queen, which I used as our main defense. My people held our borders, while I fought along side them from inside our borders, severing ties to those that had fallen and punishing any whom were in any form of communication to those who might have betrayed us to Sauron. Suddenly, Sauron's power was not so strongly at our borders, over the next few years, up until just this past year, it almost disappeared completely. Then one day, it seemed that all of the orcs turned tail and fled. I feared the worst and the West had fallen, leaving Sauron free to unleash all of his power on our small country. But then a messenger came from the West, saying that King Elessar had returned and the Enemy was vanquished! At first it was to good to believe that you, Aragorn, would have accepted your calling as King, but you had. I knew that it was true when I heard news of others from the borders that people from farther east were seen fleeing to their homelands. Now I felt was a time that I could finally return home, but it was not so.
"I heard tell of strange things to the South. At first I thought it was just some rebels still loyal to Sauron, and so I continued to make preparations to travel West to Mirkwood. However, the messages were so strange and close to Mordor, that my head captain, Owacyn- the same captain that had been so helpful with my escape- suggested we take a detour through- or at least towards - Mordor to see if the stories were true. Although reluctant, I agreed that it would be safer to leave Kianorla with knowing what was really going on to the south. I left with twice the number of troops I brought with me today. We passed through Rhun unchallenged, but when we got to Khand trouble caught us. Globukh himself, along with a fair number more troops than myself, cut us off in the North Pass, heading to Kianorla. We fought hard, and half of us were able to escape West, while the rest either were killed or had turned around on orders to warn the people of Kianorla and Rhun of the on coming threat.
"I wanted to know what such a large number of orcs thought they were doing, thinking they could attack Kianorla without Sauron behind them, but they thought they would win apparently. In order to find the answer to my question, I decided to head straight north, into Mordor. We took as much water as we could, and set out.
"It was decided we would head in a North-west direction through Mordor. We planned to come out somewhere around Dagorlad, we never planned to visit Gondor. But once we learned what was going on, we quickly decided to come to Minas Tirith first."
"My lady, you do notice that you're slightly talking in circles?" Gimli said, "Not only that, but I get the feeling that you're avoiding the subject of exactly what is in Mordor."
Rinathen sighed; she had been avoiding telling them. It was too much, she hated being the bearer of bad news, but she knew Aragorn needed to know, "Sauron did not leave without first leaving an heir."
There was silence for a few moments before Aragorn said heavily, "That is a very consequential statement.but I do not believe that you would lie about something like that, if you have also fought Sauron."
Gimli however, was not as thoroughly convinced, "And who, my lady, is this heir?"
"Febrindil," she said with a sigh, "I saw him with my very eyes, and he looks almost identical to me- so I was told by Owacyn- and he did remind me of my mother when I saw him. I saw him up close; we were within two feet of each other. He was alone except for five warriors, but you could tell by simply looking at him that he held the power to call his servants to him. He has very powerful servants. They looked as if they are a gruesome mixture of troll, orc, and Uruk-hai, along with another creature of his own making. We were able to out run them. It seems that he really does want me at his side ruling along with him, and he told his servants not to harm us, just give chase and scare us.luckily.or else I doubt we would have gotten away."
"And he wants to control Middle-earth?" Aragorn asked.
"He wants to avenge his 'real' father- Sauron. But there was something else that he did not openly say; something to do with the elvish race I guess from what I gathered from the way he spoke about them, he hates all elves."
Aragorn and Gimli stared at her in disbelief, it was absurd, but she said it with such conviction that it was hard not to believe her. Gimli was the first to recover from the surprise, "But.he's elven.his parents were.you, his sister-who he wants to rule with him- is.it makes no sense."
"He hated my parents, that was obvious from the beginning of our conversation. From what I could gather before we left was that when they went to Kianorla, he met a man that told him how he could get back at his parents, so he went with him. He was never seen after that, but it was rumored that he had gone west, into Mordor. I don't know why Sauron would take him as his heir, but he did, and now we're left with a mad elf that thinks he can rule Middle-earth by wiping out everyone in his path, race by race."
Aragorn was silent for a few moments. Then he spoke, "I believe we need to discuss this news with some of my advisors, as well as yours Rinathen. But first I will let you rest, you have had a trying day."
She nodded and stood, "I have. Thank you."
One of the guards waiting outside the door was asked to show Rinathen to her rooms. Aragorn and Gimli remained in the study for some time in silence. "What do you think?" Gimli asked
"I don't know. it seems that there's something she didn't tell us."
"That's what I thought too.do you think it's about Febrindil?"
"No. She's on our side, Gimli, she shared all she knew about him and his doings in Mordor. But there was something.you could see it in her eyes, especially whe-" Aragorn thought a moment, then finished, as if thinking aloud to himself, "especially when she spoke about Owacyn." He looked at Gimli.
The dwarf nodded, "I noticed that too.her voice seemed to have an underlying tone also, when she said his name.almost."
"Distaste, hatred, loathing.I know.why is what I want to know though."
They spoke about her strange behavior for some time, but they could not come up with a reason as to why she would hate her head captain the way she seemed to, especially taking into consideration that they had never met the man.
~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~ ^ ~
Hey! You're still here.great! Sorry for the boring chappie.I thought it was boring anyways.**shrug**
Well look at that.there's that little blueish-purplelyish box.be a nice person.review! :~)
