Seconds turned into minutes, and minutes turned into hours. More and more hours passed, and Legolas remained unaware that it was in fact forty eight. He was still tied on the bed, blindfolded and gagged once more. Calaen had come in once, and that was only to administer the gag. He had left shortly after, and had not yet returned.

Behind the blindfold, Legolas closed his eyes. He was in great pain, both physical and emotional. Every so often, the pain was so excruciating that he felt himself slipping into darkness. But he refused to succumb to it. He worked hard to keep away from that oblivion, but his resilience wearied him. Though, he would not sleep. He would not give Calaen the satisfaction of seeing weakness.

The door suddenly flew open, and Legolas flicked his eyes to the side of the room. He knew that it would be his elder brother, but he could not help praying that it would be someone, anyone, who would come and rescue him from this torture. His prayers were in vain though, as he had expected.

"You have a guest," Calaen said, as he closed the door behind him. He smiled cruelly – this would break his younger brother.

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Two days had passed since Thranduil and Airëlus had departed from Rivendell, and they had ridden hard, pausing only for brief moments in order to let their horses refresh themselves. But they were getting close to the palace, maybe only twenty minutes away. They would not stop again.

"Fear not, Airëlus." Thranduil had to raise his voice above the thundering of their horses' hooves. "We are close now."

"I know," the Prince replied. "But who knows what may have happened in the time that we have been absent?"

"But you posted guards outside Calaen's room, is that not correct?" Thranduil asked. "Your brothers are safe."

Airëlus nodded, but he felt far from relaxed. Something had happened. He knew.

………………………………………………………………………………………………

As Calaen came further into the room, Legolas strained his eyes, trying to see through the blindfold and catch a glimpse of his 'visitor'. But all he saw was darkness. To make up for his lack of sight, the young Prince listened, though what he heard made him narrow his eyes suspiciously – there was only one set of footsteps.

"He has travelled a long way. From Rivendell, in fact," Calaen informed his brother. "I did not think he would come, for you are not worth the trouble. But here he is."

Legolas started when he felt a hand on his wrists. He was not going to be harmed – at least, not yet – for he was being untied. Calaen looked down into the younger Elf's face, and smiled malevolently. Out of everything he had done so far, he would enjoy this most of all.

When the ropes were pulled away from his brother's wrists, the dark haired Elf grabbed him by the collar of his shirt. Legolas made a noise of pain as he was pulled off the bed, and to the foot of it. He was pushed roughly to his knees, and just when he thought that he was free from the ropes, his wrists were tied again to the bedposts. But this time, the gag was pulled from his mouth, and thrown across the room.

"Calaen, who-

"It is good to see you, ion-nin," Calaen cut in. But the voice was not his own. "However, I did not expect to see you in conditions such as this: tied up, injured, helpless. But I think that I prefer it this way."

"Ada?" Legolas snapped his head up in horror. "Ada, is that really you? But why…? What are you…?" He trailed off and shook his head. No. Thranduil would never say that.

Calaen smiled briefly, and knelt next to his brother. "Yes, it is me," he said softly, turning the younger Elf's face towards him. "You look shocked, ion-nin. But why so disbelieving?"

The only thing that Legolas could do was shake his head and strain his eyes, trying desperately to see his 'father's' face. He could not, would not believe that Thranduil had just spoken such words. But in his current state of mind, the thought did not even occur that his brother was once again using his talents as a means of torture.

"Speak!" Calaen hissed, raising a hand and striking Legolas. "What is the matter? You are not afraid of your own father, are you?"

"I am not afraid," the captive breathed. "Ada, please. Will you not untie me?"

The dark haired Elf laughed, surprised that his brother had actually fallen for this. "But why should I untie you? There is no point in that. You see, it was I who asked Calaen to do this."

"No," Legolas whispered.

"Yes," came the malicious reply. "You need to feel pain, little Greenleaf. Calaen has worked well for me, but then I realised that I was missing out. I wish to be the one to kill you. And believe me, I will."

Legolas felt his heart skip a beat as his sharp hearing caught his 'father' removing the leather belt that hung around his waist. Calaen snapped it, and smiled as his victim visibly flinched. He trailed it across the younger Prince's back, and his eyes glinted. For his brother to have 'Thranduil' tell him all the things that he did not want to hear…well, it would be damaging. No. More than damaging. It would destroy him.

"Peace," Calaen said soothingly.

"Ada, please," Legolas breathed, trying to pull himself from the bedposts.

"Like I said before, you need to feel pain. It is no more than you deserve," the dark haired Elf replied. He raised his arm high in the air, and held it there for a few seconds. But then without warning, he brought it down, cracking the belt cruelly over his brother's back.

The shirt that Legolas wore was not thick, and it was no hard job for the leather to cut through it. The young Prince grimaced as the first lash was dealt, but he swallowed down his fear, and held his head high. He would take this, and show no pain. And as he told himself to be strong, the belt came down five more times. He did not flinch until the last blow.

"Impressive," Calaen murmured. "But when will you cry for me?"

'I will not cry,' Legolas thought.

Irritated that all he got from his victim was a mere flinch, the dark haired Elf struck the younger Prince at least ten times more without pausing – at least, he thought it was ten. He was not exactly counting. As he looked down, he smiled. Legolas' shirt was ripped into shreds, and his back was covered with red welts and lacerations.

"What is wrong with you? Why will you not cry?" Calaen hissed, switching back into his own voice. He reached forwards and pulled the blindfold away, and as he and his brother locked eyes, he smiled gleefully.

"Ada…" Legolas breathed, trying to turn his head.

Calaen caught the younger Prince's face, and held him still. "So, you are not so brave after all," he said softly, taking in the silvery tears in his captive's eyes, and the blood on his lip that had been caused by being bit down on.

"Why…? Why is he doing this?" Legolas whispered, closing his eyes. Though that proved to be a mistake, for the tears escaped their prison, and slipped down onto Calaen's fingers.

The dark haired Elf smiled as he blindfolded his brother once more. He coughed lightly to adopt the voice of Thranduil, and went to stand behind Legolas once more. "You are not like your brothers and I. You are weak - weak and pathetic."

"Why Ada?" the Prince breathed.

In answer, Calaen raised his arm and began to beat his brother, watching impassively as the blood began to run down his back. Legolas clenched his fists, digging his nails as hard as he could into the palms of his hands as each fiery stroke came down upon his abused body, each lash causing a new one to appear above an old.

"Please-

"You ruined my life and tore my family apart," Calaen growled. "If it were not for you, then my wife would still be alive. You have done nothing but cause damage to us."

"No-

"Silence!" the dark haired Elf screamed. "I have hated you from the moment you were born. The moment I laid eyes on you, I knew that you would be a disappointment. You would fail your family, your country, yourself."

Legolas cried out, not bothering to even try and prevent the tears from flowing. He had done all that he could to stop their escape, but to hear these words from his father was just too much for the young Prince to bear. He wanted to die. He would rather die than have all of this abuse thrown at him by one who he loved, one whom he thought returned the love.

"I have never loved you. And do you know why that is? Because you are a murderer. You could do nothing to gain my love, so you killed your mother! That's why you did it!" Calaen hissed. He paused in his cruel beating to push some hair from his eyes.

"No Ada," Legolas sobbed. "I did not murder her. I did not mean for her to fall. Please..." He broke off and rested his head against the wooden bedpost he was tied to, body shaking.

"You are a murderer. What are you?" Calaen asked. When all he got was silence, he dealt his brother five more lashes. "Tell me what you are!"

Legolas drew in a sharp breath, and let it back out again quickly. He wanted to die. He wanted nothing more than to die. And he would do just that. He would let go of his life, if it meant that he was spared from admitting that he was a murderer.

……………………………………………………………………………………………....

Airëlus breathed a sigh of relief he had not known he held as he and his father jumped off their horses and ran up the palace steps. Both were exhausted, even with their Elven stamina, but their desire to see Legolas and Calaen, to find reassurance that they were safe was what drove them on.

Thranduil pushed open the palace doors and ran through the corridors, the fact that there were no servants or advisors around barely registering in his mind. But as heard screams and yells from one of the higher floors, he froze in his tracks and stared upwards, as though trying to see what was happening through the ceiling.

"Ada, what is going on?" Airëlus whispered, confusion flashing through his blue eyes.

The Elven-king shook his head helplessly. "Valar knows. Come."

………………………………………………………………………………………………

"You will say it," Calaen murmured. He had not yet switched back to his own voice. "Tell me what you are. Finally admit what you are, and then I will stop. It is as easy as that."

Legolas inhaled deeply and screwed up his eyes, searching for strength he was beginning to doubt that he had. "Never!" he spat.

"Then you will feel more pain," Calaen said carelessly.

"Beat me as much as you like!" Legolas hissed through sobs of pain, as the cruel punishment continued. "I will never say that. Hurt me, torture me. I do not care any more. But you will never force me to admit to something like that. Never!"

Anger flitted across Calaen's face, and he curled his lip in disgust. "You are scum! You are filth!" he screamed. "You do not deserve to be called an Elf! You are a disgrace to the Elven race!"

The pain was excruciating, but despite that, Legolas sighed in relief. His vision was becoming clouded, and it would not be long before he was rescued. He only prayed that this time, it would be more than unconsciousness that he succumbed to. He prayed for death. He prayed for the end of his life.

As Calaen hit his brother again, the door to the room suddenly flew open, and hit the wall with a bang. He snapped his head up, and stared in horror at the newcomers. In his shock, he dropped the belt to the floor, and the sound was horribly loud in the deadly silence. Not once did his eyes leave his father and elder brother.

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