It was early in the night when Aragorn and his men finally passed into the City. As the passed silently through the streets, they were all aware of the stares coming from the windows of houses, though none of them even bothered to look anywhere but straight ahead. To the palace they rode and at the front gate they parted ways. Faramir and the rest of the men led Boromir away to the jail while Aragorn and Gimli took Legolas inside. Through the halls, Aragorn carried the elf, speaking to no one, but heading steadily to the Main Hall, where he knew he would find Arwen. What he found was Arwen comforting Thranduil, and as soon as they heard the king enter the room, they turned to him.
Thranduil's face paled as he saw his son laying limply in Aragorn's arms. Arwen gasped in shock, for though Harrasim had warned them that the elf was injured, they had never imagined what the extent of his injuries would be.
"Legolas!" cried Thranduil as he rushed to his son. Lovingly, he caressed his child's cheek and looked at Aragorn pleadingly.
"We must get him into a bed. Is the room prepared?" Aragorn asked.
"Yes, Harrasim warned us before the sun had set. Come with me," Arwen said as she led her husband to the room.
It was a cheerful room under ordinary circumstances. Spacious and light in color, a few potted plants gave it an outdoors feel. The large window faced the east, but now the shutters were closed to keep out the chill of the night. Dark blue warm blankets were upon the bed.
Here, Aragorn gently lowered Legolas and laid him upon the bed. Arwen drew the blankets over him, as he continued to shake in his troubled dreams. A servant took Aragorn's dirty and slightly bloodied bedroll away, but not before the king asked for warm water and some athelas plant. When this had been brought to him, he once again cleansed the elf's wounds, though in his heart, he wondered what go it could possibly do for Legolas. How he wished Gandalf were there! But the wizard was away in the north with the hobbits.
"Aragorn," said Thranduil late into the night as the two kept vigil. He had not spoken before, his mind reeling and a sense of dread weighing far too heavily upon his heart. "I want to thank you for all that you have done for Legolas. But you must tell me…what happened to him?"
Aragorn sighed and studied the elder elf with pitied eyes. "I will tell you all that I know, though there are some riddles I have yet to find the answers to."
In a hushed and pained voice, Aragorn recounted all of the events from the time Gimli had rushed into the Main Hall until their return to Gondor. At the end of the tale, Thranduil looked stricken. Aragorn fell silent and turned back to Legolas. His friend was steadily getting worse. Again his body temperature had dropped. If it fell much lower, the elf's organs would begin to shut down, one by one and there would be nothing that the others could do for him.
