CB: Many thanks to all who reviewed, you'll be properly showered with love and attention at the end of the chapter! ^_~
Dedication: I've decided to dedicate this to Makiko Igami, whose writing is just beyond cool. Her fics are here (well, one is) and on Mediaminer.org…go read, they're worth the time and effort, she's great! *Waves at Makiko who seems to have been one of her most faithful reviewers ever* This is for you now!
Legolas's expression froze, as the world seemed to spin several times, very fast before coming sharply back into focus, as his gaze landed on Arwen's upturned face. "This…this is Aragorn?" he asked, his tone of voice bordering on disbelief, "This is the one you told me about?" A small part of his mind pointed out that he was being tactless, but the rest of him was too focused on Arwen's reply to try a less direct route to the information he wanted.
"Yes." Arwen's puzzled expression changed to one of sheer horror in a split second as she suddenly began to realise what she had just said. Her face went pale, becoming almost luminous in the lights of the torches that lined the corridor as she opened her mouth again, fingers trembling as she let her hand slip off of her friend's arm. "Oh…sweet Valar, I'm sorry…I didn't mean to…oh NO!" Her voice echoed off the ceiling and bounced down the corridor as she shrieked the last word, her face a picture of utmost guilt, regret and panic. "I…no…I…I…" She stumbled to a halt, her voice fading away as she took in Legolas's pale face and Aragorn's puzzled expression.
"Legolas, are you feeling well?" The man looked hard at the Mirkwood Prince, "You are as pale as a ghost." He frowned, glancing at Arwen, "What is the matter?"
Legolas heard Estel's…no, Aragorn's voice as if from a long way off. Forcing himself to look up, he glanced into worried grey eyes and forced his lips into a smile that made him feel nauseous. "I am well…Aragorn…but please forgive me, I have suddenly remembered something to which I must attend." He turned to the guilty Evenstar, "Lady Arwen, perhaps you would accompany me for a moment?" Without waiting for her reply, he gripped her arm and moved swiftly off down the corridor, his face still frozen in a terrible smile, leaving a very confused and rather worried Aragorn behind.
As they rounded a corner, he turned to her, blue eyes revealing pain beyond comprehension…even to Arwen. "Why did you not tell me?" He hissed, his voice hiding none of his despair and anger, "You knew, all this time, you knew that Estel was…" His voice trailed off and he gritted his teeth together in a sudden burst of anger, making Arwen steps back; her expression alarmed. "Why didn't you tell me?" His lips were thinned into a tight line, his face lined with fury and despair as he waited for her answer.
"I thought…" Arwen began, raising one shaking hand to touch her pale throat, "I thought I was mistaken." She managed eventually. Pleadingly she looked up into the cold of eyes of an elf she had known from childhood. "Please…Galadh, please, I thought I was wrong, I did not believe…" She swallowed and looked down, "I am sorry." She whispered.
As Legolas looked at her, he felt a momentary pang of sympathy; he and Arwen were more similar than he had believed. They had both fallen for the same man, both pulled under his spell of innocent seduction, so similar and yet so different. 'But did Es…Aragorn…ever treat her the way he treated me?' Unconsciously, finger came up to trace lightly over soft lips as he remembered the feel of the man's mouth on his own. A bittersweet shadow now…and yet…and yet…
"Arwen." Legolas' voice was calmer now as he took hold of the princess's chin, forcing her to look up at him. "Why did you deliberately throw us together in this bet?" He frowned slightly, looking more puzzled than angry now. "Particularly if you were worried I would steal your man away from you."
"I don't know." Arwen's voice sounded frustrated and closer to tears than he'd heard for a long time. "It just…happened." She shifted slightly, waving her hand as she tried to explain what she'd told Elrohir and Elladan earlier the previous night. "It wasn't me," she managed finally, "It was someone else…someone up here." She touched her temple lightly, trying to explain. "It was a voice, it had the power to make me say things I didn't want to." She smiled, slightly sadly. "Galadh, we have known one another for a long time…the friendship of the elves is sometimes even stronger than that of love…" Her voice shook slightly, but her eyes were steady and she held her head high. "Elrohir and Elladan bade me from my folly last night. Let us not fight over Aragorn, the choice is his to make. We cannot quarrel over his affections if it is hopeless." She cupped a hand around her friend's cheek, "Let the man decide." She said quietly.
The blond archer's lips tightened momentarily before he nodded once. "So be it, Aragorn will decide, and we will neither pressure him nor ask him to decide when we so wish." Abruptly he turned and walked swiftly down the corridor, not looking back towards one of his oldest friends who was still standing there, silent tears streaming down her pale face.
********
Elladan tapped his fingers against the wooden table in the corner of Elrohir's room. Sighing, he glanced at his twin out of the corner of his eye. Elrohir was oblivious to his boredom instead, he was quietly sharpening his dagger with the intense precision that comes from a warrior reared from birth to care for his weaponry.
Tap, tap, tap. Elladan sighed again, shifting some of the papers that lay scattered on the polished surface as his fingers drummed a staccato. 'I wonder what everyone else is doing?' He thought gloomily, green eyes wandering back to his brother's form again, 'Probably enjoying a good deal more entertainment that I am.' He added sourly, almost as an after thought. 'I wonder when Haldir is arriving with the halflings we were promised would be coming to the councils.' His fingers continued to move restlessly, short fingernails making sharp clicking noises against the hard surface of the table as he scowled in Elrohir's general direction. 'Do I look that focused when I'm tending my weapons?' He wondered, pausing his rhythm for a brief moment to take a closer look at his twin's face. 'He looks as though he is preparing for battle!' A small snort escaped his mouth, making Elrohir look up.
Green eyes met their twin's across the room and Elrohir's lips curved into a small smile as he put the dagger down and stood up, stretching. A shaft of sunlight fell across his light white shirt, softly illuminating the body beneath and showing a wiry but strong frame that befitted one of the Elven people. Dark hair was highlighted from behind, creating a certain radiance in the ebony locks and Elladan grinned appreciatively as his twin padded across the room to stop in front of him.
"Bored already?" His twin asked, mischief sharply highlighting his features.
Elladan sighed pitifully and also stood up. "My brother," He said, resting his hand briefly on his twin's shoulder, "If I were any more bored, I would willingly submit to sitting on one of father's councils, simply to stop myself from losing what few wits I have managed to retain!" He smiled as Elrohir laughed before squeezing his twin's shoulder briefly and releasing it. "Is there nothing we can do?" He asked pitifully, "If I stay in this room a moment longer…I shall go mad with boredom."
Elrohir looked thoughtful as he stared at the ceiling. "Well," He said finally, "We could always go…"
"…Riding." Elladan finished with a smile. "My brother, our minds think very much alike; but you are right, riding would be a relief from this drudgery." He indicated the room with a sweep of his hand, "I am sick of these same walls."
"Why not go to your own room then?" His twin suggested mischievously.
"Elrohir!"
The other twin sighed in mock tragedy, "Oh very well, we'll go riding." He said, trying to look put upon and failing because his eyes were dancing in his face.
Thirty minutes later the twins were clattering out through one of the side gates, Elladan mounted on a dapple-grey mare and Elrohir on a chestnut stallion. Both wore green riding habits and soft leather belts, into which were strapped the newly sharpened knives. The air was cool, more than a hint of winter in its temperature, and the sky was covered with ominous looking clouds that showed inky black. Gusts of wind moved over the land and through the forests, rustling grass, leaves, branches and hair as the twins pounded down the narrow trail that wound throughout the wooded area.
"'Tis not so pleasant a day as I first believed." Elladan shouted over the pounding hooves of the horses and the whistling wind.
"No." Elrohir agreed loudly, "I believe we may see the first rain today."
"Aye, and be caught in it!"
Elrohir laughed and pulled his mount to a halt, the horse's flanks heaving as its breath puffed out in clouds of steam in the cold air. Looking around, he remarked, "Well, we are far enough into this forest that if it does rain, it is likely we will be protected from the worst of it." He shot a sly glance at his twin, "Unless you are too delicate for a bit of water."
To his surprise, Elladan did not answer; instead, his eyes seemed fixed on a point near one of the large oak trees that grew in the forest. His green eyes were wide and his lips slightly parted as his mount shifted restlessly, dancing on the spot as she, too, eyed the same place. Puzzled, Elrohir glanced towards where both horse and elf were looking and felt his own mouth fall open in surprise, just as there was an ominous crack of thunder and the sudden pattering sound of a sheet of rain falling from the sky.
Both twins were instantly soaked to the skin, but neither noticed as the elf woman smiled at them. She seemed luminous, even in the gloom of the forest and her hair was woven into a long, gold plait that fell down her back. Her blue eyes seemed to shine with an internal light and her simple white dress and blood red cloak only served to enhance her beauty.
"Hail twins of Rivendell." She said, by way of greeting, her voice grave as she looked from one to the other. "Fortunate is our meeting in this place."
"Hail, lady." Both twins replied in unison, and to Elrohir, it felt as though his mouth was functioning without the use of his brain, which did not seem to be working in the usual manner.
"Long have I walked these woods in the hope of speaking to one of the house of Elrond, and instead, I am granted two." A pale hand lifted in a silent gesture of acceptance, the elf's fingers delicately spread as she turned the hand palm upwards, almost in invitation. Both horses snorted and stamped their feet, shying slightly from this strange visitor as their riders sat motionless, identical expressions of confusion and suspicion on their faces.
"Who are you?" Elrohir managed, but the words had to be forced out of his mouth, and they came out very unwillingly, like the slow trickle of treacle. "What do you want with us?"
The woman smiled slightly, the edges of her mouth curling up as she looked at the slightly taller twin. "Elrohir of Rivendell, just is your question, but unjustly must I answer it. I am no one. No one is my name now, and no one is my company. I have lost all that made me and retain only that which fed my desire for a short while." Her eyes held infinite sadness, "Long have I watched my children thrive in this place and long have I desired to walk among them once more." She stepped nearer to the horse, and without warning, reached up and tangled a hand in Elrohir's hair, pulling him awkwardly down to face level as she looked into his eyes, her free hand tracing his features. "So similar," She whispered softly, her voice no more than a breath of wind, but one both twins heard clearly, "So similar and yet so different." Gently she traced his lips with one finger before releasing him and looking at Elladan with a smile. "Your emotion betrays you." She remarked softly to the other twin.
Elladan shot her a surprised look, but said nothing, although his lips tightened, a fact that did not go unnoticed by Elrohir, who looked slightly confused. "What do you want?" He repeated again, more to direct attention back to himself and relieve his twin's embarrassment than anything else. However, when the blue eyes drilled into him, he felt himself shrinking back from the calm gaze.
"To tell you." The woman's voice sounded like the sighing wind, her face still unbearably beautiful and sad.
"To tell us what?" Elrohir's own voice was no more than a whisper as he leant forward on his horse, eyes intent on the woman's visage. "What do you want to inform us of?"
"Danger." The woman's beautiful eyes flickered from one face to another and back again, "There is danger in this land. It walks abroad masked as a friend, it slips unnoticed through the crowds in your house, it spreads poisonous lies and deceit wherever it goes…and all the time it is searching…searching for the one who can fulfil its needs and desires." Her voice grew deeper as she looked at both of them, "It is close to finding its victim."
There was another, sudden clap of thunder, much louder than the first, and Elladan's horse (already skittish) reared, throwing its rider to the ground. Elrohir's head snapped around as his twin's head hit the unforgiving earth with a dull thump, and before he could think, he had thrown himself out of his own saddle and had dropped to his knees next to his twin.
"El…" he whispered, placing a pale hand on the wet forehead, "El, are you alright?"
He received no reply, and when he peered closer, he saw that Elladan had been knocked unconscious.
Biting his lip, Elrohir gently scooped the warm body up and, cradling it in his arms, looked around for the red-cloaked woman, wanting to ask her for assistance. His gaze only met with dripping trees, soaking turf and a steady stream of rain that fell from the sky, soaking everything that it touched.
The woman had vanished.
********
Elaría pulled the hood of her cloak further over her face to protect it from the rain and swore under her breath as she peered about in the darkening twilight, looking for any sign of the twins.
Water dripped off the hem of her hood and cloak as she impatiently paced by the main gate, her footfalls light on the stone paved surface as she kept looking down the main path through Rivendell hoping for some sign of her charges. The guards posted at the gate exchanged looks, their expression identical: a mixture of worry and apprehension. Elaría had been known to vent her anger on innocent bystanders when she was frustrated, and they were directly in the line of fire.
One of the guards ventured a nervous cough. "My lady, maybe it would be better if you waited inside, out of the cold…"
The words had barely left his mouth when Elaría rounded on him, her expression grim and her eyes spitting fury. "Idiot! Why should I wait indoors when the heirs to the throne are out there somewhere in this storm? I don't deserve the comfort of a warm building when I was foolish enough to allow them to slip away without me noticing!" Her lips were drawn into a thin line as she spoke, her fingers clenched into balled fists, but just as it seemed likely she would hit the guard, there was the clattering of hooves from further up the street.
Immediately Elaría spun around, eyes intent on the falling rain and the shape that seemed to be coming out of it. Blurring, wobbling slightly and wavering between the droplets, it eventually formed itself into a thoroughly soaked Elrohir, mounted on his horse and leading Elladan's. Elaría strained her eyes, and managed to make out something slung across the back of the chestnut stallion as it came to a standstill in front of her, allowing its rider to slide from the saddle and pick the other shape up, cradling it close to his body.
"Elrohir!" The elf woman's voice lashed across the intervening space and the guards noted with some interest that even Elrond's son flinched back from her angry tone. "Just what did you think you were doing?" She cried, storming across the flagstones towards him, making the older elf take a small step back, leaning against his horse as if for reassurance. "It's wet, it's cold, it's thundering and YOU think you can WALTZ out of here for a little jaunt with your brother!" Elaría's voice rose to a shriek as she scolded him. "If it hadn't been for a halfling that spotted you leaving, I would have been out of my mind with worry. Do you have any idea what you've just put me through?" She paused as her brain seemed to catch up with her mouth, and she glanced around. "Where is Elladan?" She demanded sharply, "He should be here…where is he?"
"Here." Elrohir said reluctantly, offering the cradled shape in his arms, although the guards saw that he kept his brother clutched tightly to his breast, as if afraid that once he let go, Elladan would vanish. Indeed, the elf lord seemed paler than usual, and his eyes kept flitting back down to the still form of his twin. "He fell from his horse."
"He did WHAT?" Elaría's voice had reached such a high pitch that all the other elves visibly winced as she reached out one hand to smooth the hood of Elladan's cloak back from his face so she could peer at him. "He is very pale, and unconscious." She announced, before looking up, her gaze meeting Elrohir's. "What happened to him?"
"I…" Elrohir opened his mouth to tell the truth and instead, found himself saying something quite different, "…I don't know." He said, his eyes coolly meeting his supervisor's, "I only arrived after he had fallen." He shrugged, with difficulty because he was still clutching Elladan. "He seems to have hit his head on something…his horse was nearby and I put her in a train with my own." Green eyes flickered to the guards, who immediately tried to wipe the interested looks off their faces and simply stared ahead. "I will place him in our rooms and tend to him." He announced, gaze coming back to rest on Elaría's upturned face.
She pursed her lips and said nothing, simply waving a hand at one of the guards to come and relieve Elrohir of his burden; but the prince snarled silently as the other elf tried to take his brother, and instead of releasing him ended up clutching him even more tightly. "Mine." He hissed angrily, upper lip curling slightly to reveal strong white teeth. There was a moment of shocked silence during which only the rain could be heard, before Elaría shrugged.
"Very well, take him to your rooms." She said, before sweeping back towards the main door of the palace. Her outwards calm seemed unbreakable, but inside, she was shocked. Elrohir had never behaved like that before, and she was more than a little surprised that Elladan had been unhorsed, it took a great deal to throw an elf.
'Something's going on here.' She thought grimly.
********
Legolas had always been taught that a good politician never showed his true emotions. A good politician should always lie, cheat and even steal if necessary…this was perhaps why he'd never made a very good one in his own opinion. On the other hand, he had an amazing talent to keep any feelings from showing on his face which countered perfectly with his warm and understanding nature, making other people want to confide in him…this was why everyone else thought he was a good politician.
His talent was serving him very well as he walked calmly down a hallway lined with torches. Outside, he was presenting a calm, collected aura that served to reassure yet discourage anyone who wished to speak to him. Inside, he was a screaming, gibbering wreck. He longed to smash something into pieces, cry, scream, wail and generally make a very large scene…and yet he knew this wasn't possible.
'Arwen and Aragorn…even their names sound as though they should be written in the stars together.' He thought miserably, 'How could I have been so stupid? I saw Arwen's expression when I spoke of Estel, she was shocked, worried and I…being the fool that I am….ignored her completely in favour of an unobtainable dream. It is far better that I learnt Estel's true identity now, rather than later, when I may have fallen seriously in love with him.' His heart gave a sudden lurch, fluttering like a bird and he stumbled, falling hard against a wall.
"Steady there!" A low voice said from somewhere to his left, and he felt slender hands gripping his elbow, "Are you well?"
"I…yes…" The Elven prince managed to croak, although his chest was heaving, and spots seemed to be dancing in front of his eyes, "I am perfectly well, I assure you."
"Nay, you do not look it!" The voice commented with a hint of laughter in its tone, "Come, where are your chambers and I will help you back to them so that you may rest."
Legolas seemed to hear everything from a long way off as he stared hard at the cold flagstones, willing the pain, which had suddenly blossomed in his heart, to vanish. When it did not, he forced himself to say. "Five corridors down, eleventh door on the right." His jaw was clenched tightly as he gripped the unknown saviour's arms, trying to walk on his own and failing. 'Curse it!' He thought miserably, 'I am usually strong…what is the matter with me?' Blue eyes widened as he felt himself being swept along a corridor, but he saw nothing. 'I am a fool!' He wailed inwardly, sounding much like a child, 'I see it now, as plain as the fact that I cannot have him…it is already serious. I am beyond aid. It is true that my kin die of only two things and I appear to have caught one of the diseases that robs us of our life. Ah, my heart has finally betrayed me in favour of another.' He sighed, 'There is no cure save for love in return, and with the Evenstar's affection, what man would turn to an elf such as I for love?'
He half felt himself being laid down on a bed and the soothing voice saying, "I will be back to check on you at the fifth watch." Before there was the sound of receding footsteps, the quiet click of a large oak door and then silence.
Legolas lay on his back with his blue eyes open, and saw nothing.
********
Aragorn wished he'd been allowed to wear his sword around the palace.
If he'd had his sword on, he concluded as he glared angrily at the poor guard he was currently interrogating, none of this would be necessary. He could have made the usual threats and been into the room in only half the time it was taking to bribe, wheedle, intimidate and beg his way in to see Arwen.
It wasn't as if he even wanted to see her particularly, more that he wanted to understand the clearly significant conversation he had been a witness but not party to this morning. Something had happened, that much he was sure of, and since then, he had been able to find neither Arwen nor Legolas. In fact, he'd only just heard that the Evenstar was back in her room, and he had hastened there in the hope of enlightenment.
"Look," He said as patiently as possible, eyeing the elf who was a good two inches taller than himself, "I am willing to pay whatever it takes to get in there."
"I am sorry my lord," The other answered respectfully, "But my lady's instructions were to allow nobody in, not even you, sir." The elf saw Aragorn's disbelieving look and decided to correct himself. "Especially not you, sir."
"Right, I see." Aragorn said thoughtfully, "It is going to be like that?"
"I'm afraid do sir."
"Good, I am glad we got that sorted out in advance." And without further warning, Isildur's heir produced a slightly curved and incredibly sharp dagger from his belt and held it at the taller elf's throat in one fluid motion. 'No one ever mentioned not carrying daggers around.' He thought, with a sense of grim satisfaction as he noted the now widened eyes. "Right, shall we review the situation one last time?" He said, almost pleasantly. "I wish to get in to see the Evenstar, you are blocking my way. Now, as I see it, you have two choices. One: Open the door and allow me in, or, two: I cut your throat open and get in anyway…what is it to be?"
The guard thought long and hard before he replied, very carefully, "Option One."
"Good man." Aragorn stepped back and slid his dagger back into its sheath, waiting as the door swung open, before he strode quickly into Arwen's private rooms.
She was standing by the window, looking out over the land that she had grown up in, her back towards him and her hair unbound, spilling across the white linen of her dress in dark rivulets. "Aragorn," She said without turning around, "I had wondered how long it would be before you managed to break my door down." Turning, she looked him full in the face, deep blue eyes unreadable. "I know what it is you wish to ask." At Aragorn's raised eyebrow, she smiled slightly, "It is decidedly obvious, is it not?"
The man shrugged and sank into a carved chair, "Well?" Was all he said.
Arwen sighed, suddenly looking much older, despite her youth. "He loves you." She said simply and did not miss the slight widening of grey eyes. "He loves you and I love you, we are one and the same in our emotions. Legolas knew not your true identity until this morning," She smiled bitterly, "He believed you to be a simple man by the name of Estel, but I…I knew otherwise." She sighed and turned to look out of the window once more. "But I couldn't tell him about you, Aragorn. Why? I know not, all I am conscious of is being unable to utter a word that would break my forced vow of silence…until this morning." Pale fingers idly traced a random design on the window sill as Arwen bent her dark head. "Despite your apparent humble beginnings, he loved you from the moment he saw you. You have that power Aragorn, whether you believe it or not, your inner courage and strength shines out plainly on your face." She turned once more, and saw the man staring at her.
"He…loves me?" Aragorn's voice was hoarse with disbelief, his eyes wide in his face as he stared at the Evenstar.
"Aye, he loves you and I love you." The female elf sighed. "For this situation to be decided, you must choose."
"Choose? But how?"
********
Sauron stretched as he padded across his bed chamber towards the mirror. His honey blond hair swung on either side of his face in straight strands as he looked into the mirror, watching his own pale face.
That elf, the one he'd helped back to his chambers…by Valar he was beautiful. Green eyes narrowed slightly as the continued to stare at the mirror's surface, unseeing.
'He might be the one,' he thought silently to himself, a pink tongue running across full lips, 'can it be that this was the one who was promised to me long ago?'
TBC
CB: Ok, onto the thanks!
Silvawen The Elf Crumpet S-Star Fayth Reikon Jenna Melissa Lupin Earendilstar trustingfriendship LittleSpacedemon Moonfairy2000 Kelsiface goldmund (Thanks to you, you've been an extremely faithful reviewer! *Hugs*) Makiko Igami (*Tackle glomps* Good to see ya reviewing again! ^_^) Sakura (Thanks for the tips, I've never read the Silmarillon.) Ladylianna kat xxx Aidenfire
CB: Thanks to all you guys, I'll answer your reviews more properly next time, but I'm in a flying rush right now! Oh, and anyone want any other pairings in there, let me know and I'll see what I can do! *Dashes off*