Well, this sure took a long time to get out didn't it? It's a little bit longer than some of the chapters before it, mostly because I couldn't find a good place to stop it. I noticed from some of the comments for the last part that there were some questions about things in the story. That's what I was looking for, so I'm sorry if it was really confusing for anybody. There's not a whole lot of answers in this one either, probably more questions than anything. Anyway, I'd luv for anyone to R&R! Caution: There's a little more 'angst-y' stuff in here, especially towards the end, so consider yourself warned. ;) Oh, one more thing! There's a part in here that is supposed to be a dream. It might be kind of hard to figure that out at first since the font and punctuation are totally different on the site then what I intended it to be when I typed it. Unfortunately, there's nothing I can do about it. Onto the story!

Prisoner of Consequence

"Father!" Aragorn yelled hoarsely, fighting the panic that was causing his throat to close up.

In his arms he held the limp figure of his friend. The hand he was holding was cold and damp and it was all he could do to let it go, watching it fall to the side as he lifted Legolas and opened the door. Legolas' head lolled to the side as if he were a child's rag doll. An involuntary chill traveled up Aragorn's spine.

Once out in the hallway, Aragorn called for Elrond again, hoping that he would hear him before he had to move Legolas too far. His heart skipped a beat as he saw Eldárwen run out of her room and stop abruptly, her dress swishing sideways.

"What is-...oh no...Legolas!" she choked.

Aragorn saw her face blanch to a deathly white.

"Get him into my room. Now!" she ordered, walking briskly over to where the ranger stood. Touching the elf's face with her hand, she gently placed the other under the long blond hair to support his head. When she glanced the expressionless face of the elf, she stiffened visibly.

"Please, take him to my room, it's the closest. Now, please," she added, more softly this time.

Aragorn obeyed mechanically, following her into the room and placing Legolas on the bed.

"I will watch him. Go and get Lord Elrond immediately, Aragorn," she said, sitting on the edge of the bed. Her eyes were fixed on the still form.

How can I trust her? If Legolas was right, what is going to prevent her from harming him further? He had no choice at the moment, except to send Eldárwen to fetch his father, but that could arouse her suspicion.

"If your friend is to live, I would move faster than you are at the moment," she said, icily. Her eyes were black holes, no trace of color was visible and they pierced his own with such a sharpness that he had to turn away from their unrelenting gaze. Without another thought, he ran from the room, tearing down the hallways to the sleeping Elrond's quarters, his heart pounding in an effort to escape the confines of his own body.

"Father!"
~~ A door. A hand. His hand. Reaching for something. Reaching for the door. Must get to the door. The door is closing. No! Lying on the ground and cannot get up. A voice. Get up, Prince Legolas, off of the floor. Be quick, the door is closing. A quiet voice, a gentle, haunting laugh. Another hand, small and pale, reaches for his face. swish, swish. The sound of dress skirts coming across the floor. Panic. Anger. Why won't she let me go? Her hand is grabbing his, squeezing, crushing the bones. She was too strong. Let me go! If only he could get up off of the floor. No, Legolas. Were those tears on his hand? It is too late for you now. The door shut in his face as heard those last words, felt his head slam onto the floor as her hand hit his face, and tasted the blood that trickled from his lip as he fell further from the light.

Aragorn is next, Legolas. You will not be there to save him.

This slowed his descent from the living slightly, as a sudden anger began to force itself through him.

No! Do something. No! Spare him, please. What could you want with him?

Silence.

Her hand whipped across his face again, making the cut in his lip deeper and he gasped slightly in both surprise and pain. Where was she coming from? He could see nothing in the darkness.

It is not what I want with him, but what I do not want of him. That is all I can tell you.

Lifting his head, he saw her face peering at his own through the darkness and was surprised to find that tears were trickling down from eyes that looked ready to kill. She had the same strange, unsettling look in her eyes she'd had that night he'd had to pin her down to her bed. Someone-or something- was speaking through her, or so it seemed to his tired mind.

He couldn't think straight right now. Nothing made sense. He had no idea where he was, what he was doing there or why he couldn't get up off of the floor. He was too weak to move and he didn't know why.

Answer me! She wrapped her fingers in his hair and jerked his head up, lifting him partially off the ground. He hadn't heard her.

I did not hear your question. He tensed himself, ready for another blow. But it did not come.

I asked you why you killed them.
~ "How is he?" Elrond asked, hurriedly tying a knot in the silk cord around his robe as he entered Eldárwen's room.

Aragorn noticed Eldárwen's eyes fly open and remove her hand quickly from Legolas' own. What was she doing?

"His breathing is steady, my lord, but he has shown no sign of waking," she answered.

Elrond walked quickly over to the bedside, checked Legolas' eyes and placed his fingers on his wrist. After a few seconds had passed, he let his breath out slowly in a mix of both relief and doubt.

"What is it, Father?"

"His breathing is normal and I can find nothing wrong with him. It worries me though, as he seems to be in a deep sleep of some kind."

"Can you wake him?"

"I can try, but I think that only time will bring him out of this. Bring me the athelas and lavender from my pouch in the bedroom, Aragorn,"

Aragorn took this as a signal that Elrond wanted to talk with Eldárwen privately and walked quickly out of the room.

"I am sorry that I have not had the pleasure of meeting you sooner, Eldárwen. As you seem to already know, I am Lord Elrond of Rivendell," he said.

"It is a pleasure to meet you, my lord. And yes, I know of you from the many good things Legolas has told me about you." This was true, and she quickly decided that Elrond was not a man to be trifled with, though he did seem kind.

There was one thing that she wondered about though.

"Lord Elrond, if you do not mind my asking, how is it that you are known as a father to Aragorn?"

"He is my kin and has been raised in my home since he was a small child. I love him as I do my own children."

This revelation both surprised and alarmed her. She knew that when Aragorn was gone, the wrath of Elrond would be great. She shuddered inwardly just thinking of it.

"I see," was all she said before Aragorn reentered the room with the needed herbs.
~ Night had once again fallen on Mirkwood and Aragorn had hardly noticed. He had been sitting in the chair next to Legolas' bedside for hours now, watching for any change in his friend's condition. Elrond had not been able to revive him with the athelas and lavender concoction or anything else of that nature.

Aragorn hadn't moved from Legolas' room since he had been transferred there, sitting and watching the prince's chest rise and fall, just to make sure he was alive. His face was calm, though some bruising on his forehead was visible now, from where his head hit the door as he fell. There was one point earlier in the day, several hours after Legolas had gone unconscious, when he'd noticed his friend flinch twice and mutter something that he couldn't understand. He had figured that it was probably an after-effect from the fall.

"Aragorn?" a quiet voice questioned from outside the door.

Eldárwen. What did she want? "Yes, come in," he said, trying to keep the weariness he felt out of his voice.

"I have come to relieve you of your duties, Aragorn. I will keep watch over Prince Legolas until the morning," she said, resolutely.

"Who told you to come take my place?" he asked, trying not to seem overly critical. He was not at all comfortable with her being in the same room alone with Legolas, especially since he was not completely sure of her intentions.

"Lord Elrond. He knew that you would probably be quite tired by now," she explained.

Elrond? Did he not suspect anything?

"All right...thank you for taking my place. I will come back later tonight," he said, trying to be pleasant. Did Elrond not sense the same dishonesty in her that he felt?

As soon as the door shut behind him, Eldárwen went and sat on the bed next to Legolas.

"Sleep well, my Prince, for the day will soon come when you will wish it would take you and it will not," she hissed.

"Sleep well."
** "Father?" Aragorn questioned softly, peeking his head into the bedroom Elrond occupied. The room was dark, but he could see the elf lord's sleeping figure underneath the blankets.

Aragorn let his breath out in a low whistle. He hated to wake the sleeping elf, but he had to find out if Elrond had really asked Eldárwen to take his place, or if it had simply been a ploy to get him away from Legolas.

As he walked over to Elrond's bed, he noticed that the elder elf did not even stir, though he could have easily detected the human's footsteps. He had never been able to surprise the elf, not even in sleep.

"Father?" he asked again, gently shaking the elf's shoulders. The elf did not even move from his position. What is going on here?

Aragorn turned the elf over to face him and was immediately struck with a horrifying sense of dread. Elrond's eyes were closed, just like Legolas, and his face was deathly white.

"Elrond!" he yelled, and shook him harder this time. His actions were to no avail. Eldárwen. This had to be some sort of evil. He wasn't even sure how she could do something like that, especially since Legolas had been struck with it when he was in a separate room. And she wasn't even in the same room with Elrond. Or maybe she had been earlier?

He walked over to the large window overlooking the side lawn and into the dark woods. Pushing the netted curtains away, he peered into the midnight darkness. He was deep in thought, trying to figure out how she could have done it, what she had even done. His mind was far away from the room and he had no chance to even hear the footsteps behind him before whatever it was hit him in the back of the head. Flashes of light blurred his vision briefly and he fell against and slid down the window's glass, crumpling to the floor beneath him.
~ Why was it so cold? It seemed to take forever for him to open his eyes, which felt like anchors at the moment. Strange though, how his head seemed to feel so light and pounded with every breath he took. His mind and body registered shock as he realized that he was suspended from the ceiling of a cell and his shirt had been removed. Rough cord was wrapped around his wrists in such a way that prevented his circulation from being completely cut off, but still caused them to bleed from open slits whenever he moved them. How long had he been hanging here?

"Ah, I see our prisoner is awake." The quiet, mocking voice came from the shadows behind him in the cell. Slow footsteps tapped across the stone floor as the being made its way toward him. When it stopped in front of him, he still couldn't tell what it was because of the dark brown cloak and hood that it wore to hide its face.

"How are you feeling?" the figure asked, sarcastically.

Aragorn took a deep breath before speaking. His chest ached from lack of air.

"Who are you?" he rasped.

"That doesn't matter right now, and in a few minutes I doubt you will care," the being said, laughing to himself.

Aragorn's heart caught in his throat. He did not like the direction this conversation was taking.

"Where is Legolas?" He had to keep his questions short because he was trying not to gasp for air every time he spoke. It was giving the evil being below him too much pleasure.

"Oh, Eldárwen's taking care of him, I can assure you of that," it said with mock sincerity.

"That...doesn't answer my...question." He tried to pull himself up to take some of the pressure off his arms and chest but the rope bit into his raw, bloodied skin hard; causing him to jerk down suddenly and he couldn't contain the small cry that accompanied the pain.

The being below him just laughed.

"Legolas is upstairs in his room and he is awake now and very distraught I must say, to find that you are missing."

New anger seared through him that helped lessen his awareness of the pain. He noticed that the figure in front of him was within a short kicking distance. He decided to take the chance and swung out, turning his leg to catch the being in the face with his foot. Instead, the figure grabbed his foot and wrenched it downward, tightening the hold of the ropes around his wrists, generating a stifled groan from the human.

"I would suggest that you refrain from behavior such as that, my Lord Aragorn, as it will inflict more pain than you I doubt you can handle," he whispered.

"Do not...hurt him...or your...pain will be much greater...than mine," Aragorn ground out through clenched teeth.

The being laughed. "My pain? I think that will not be so. Guard, bring me the whip," he said, holding out a white palm as a shrouded guard produced the device. Aragorn shut his eyes and tried to calm himself.

"Let us see how much of this you can take, human."

Aragorn could hear the smile on the being's face. He cringed inwardly.

"Or maybe it would be better if you screamed, someone just might hear you in the house up above."

Aragorn knew better than that. These were the dungeons below the house of Mirkwood. The walls were thick. No one would hear him.

"Let us begin."

The whip snapped in the air and landed on the human's chest with a sickening crack. He didn't even flinch, but he felt the sharpened metal point at the end. Again the whip shattered the silence, this time ripping into the skin of his back and making it bleed. This time he flinched. Again and again the whip hit its mark. The dungeons echoed with the sounds of metal tearing skin, and much later on it rang with the anguished cries of one whose strength had been broken.

TBC...