A/n: Caliene's thoughts are in ^...^
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Blainieal came out of the room and motioned for them to come in. They stepped in the room and once Thranduil saw Legolas lying there motionless he rushed over to his side. Alandriel slowly sat down on a chair near the bed.
"What's wrong with him?!" Thranduil demanded to know.
"He was poisoned," Blainieal sighed, "May I see the milk you gave him?"
"Yes, of course," Thranduil replied, dazed.
He got up and quickly headed down the colorful hallway to Legolas's bedroom. He slowly opened the door and went to the chair where he had left the milk carton and bottle. He picked up the milk carton and looked around. He was just about to leave when something caught his eye. He looked closer and saw that it was a folded piece of paper. Thranduil picked it up and unfolded it. It read:
Be careful what you do; be careful what you say, for I know your every move ever single day.
Yours truly,
Oh, yeah, you don't know my name yet!
This frightened Thranduil greatly. Someone out there knew his every move and now wanted his son dead. And he didn't even have any clue of who it was. His mind raced and he ran out the door.
All of a sudden an arrow shot towards his head but missed by a fraction of an inch. Another one flew at him and then another. Up ahead, Thranduil saw Caliene, one of his guards.
"Caliene! Help! I'm get shot at!" he yelled.
Caliene darted towards Thranduil and got out his bow. Thranduil suddenly felt dizzy but shook the feeling away. Another arrow flew and Caliene found where they were coming from. He shot four times and heard a yell of pain. Caliene ran forward and pulled an elf out of the bushes. He gasped and almost let go of the elf.
"My lord, it's Burweilei!" Caliene exclaimed.
Thranduil had fired him for intolerably irrational behavior. Caliene picked up Burweilei's body and followed Thranduil to the healing chamber. Thranduil was sure that they could help Legolas with the three pieces of evidence they had.
Once they got there they opened the door and walked in. Thranduil started feeling dizzy and weak again and this time he collapsed on the ground and passed out. Alandriel gasped and Blainieal rushed to Thranduil's side to check his pulse.
"What happened?" she asked.
"He got shot at by Burweilei," he replied, hauling Burweilei off his shoulder and onto the floor.
Blainieal looked at Thranduil and saw no obvious wounds. Caliene flipped Thranduil on his stomach on a hunch and found a slight gash across his back from where an arrow must have skimmed him. Blainieal tended to the cut while Alandriel took the items from his hands. She read the note in silence and then gasped.
"There is a note that Thranduil carried in," she explained to them when they stared at her, "It says: Be careful what you do, be careful what you say, for I know your every move every single day."
"Oh, Elbereth! Does that mean there are spies all around the castle?!" Blainieal cried.
"I guess so. I'll set up an extra strong watch system with the guards so nothing like this happens again," Caliene announced.
"Caliene, could you please take the milk down to Ruvio in the research lab to test it for poison?" Blainieal asked.
"Of course, but first I'll help you move the bodies to the beds," he replied.
Caliene took the milk and left. Blainieal and Alandriel sat there in silence, thinking about the letter. All of a sudden they heard a noise behind them and Alandriel spun around and simultaneously pulled out her knife which she never takes off. Out of the corner of her eyes as she was spinning she saw that Burweilei had gotten a knife out. As soon as she was totally turned around, Burweilei was too surprised to do anything, she stabbed him in the leg to distract him but not kill him. Then, while he was focused on his leg, she hit him over the head with the hilt of the knife. She didn't want him dead because they would need to interrogate him later.
"How long until he wakes up again?" Blainieal asked in a shaky voice.
"A couple of hours," Alandriel informed her, "Could you get me three to four ropes? They have to be strong."
"Of course," she nodded and left the room.
Alandriel carefully dislodged her knife from Burweilei and took it over to the sink. She washed all the blood off of it and put it back in its sheath. She got some healing herbs and some bandages and tended to Burweilei's wounds. Once Blainieal returned with the ropes they carefully but firmly tied Burweilei up.
Once they were done they went to check on Thranduil and Legolas. They had gotten a high fever and had raspy breathing. Both had the same kind of poisoning.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Alandriel slowly got up and opened it. She stepped aside and Caliene walked in with a grim face.
"Well?! What is it?!" Alandriel cried.
"Nothing, the milk is not poisoned," he sighed.
Alandriel examined his face with searching eyes and exclaimed, "Well something must have caused this! ...... I've got it! If it wasn't the milk, it must have been on the bottle!"
Alandriel raced out with Caliene following right on her tail. Blainieal stayed behind to watch Legolas and Thranduil. When Alandriel reached Legolas's room she barged in and looked around for the bottle. It wasn't anywhere to be seen! She looked at the table, hoping it would be there but instead she saw a green envelope. She slowly went over and picked it up. It read:
So, you finally thought of testing the bottle! I was beginning to think you'd never come! Well, I have some bad news, though, you're too late! I already have it!
Sincerely,
I forgot; you still don't know my name yet!
"Oh, no. What are we going to do now?" she moaned.
"I don't know. Maybe there is something else with the poison that we could use," Caliene asked.
"Well...what about the arrows? They must have had poison on it for it to poison King Thranduil!" Alandriel figured.
She dashed out of the room again and searched the ground for the arrows that were shot. She suddenly realized that they must have been collected, too, because they were gone. Alandriel sighed and hung her head.
"Did Burweilei still have arrows left when you brought him back?" she asked.
After a moment of silence Caliene answered, "Yes."
"Let's go, then!" she cried, running down the hall.
^Elbereth, she runs fast and takes off just as fast! ^
They rushed down the hall and burst through the door. Alandriel stopped dead in her tracks and Caliene almost ran into her. Confused at her abrupt stop, he peered around Alandriel to look into the room. What he saw shocked him: Blainieal was hog tied on the floor, everything had been thrown about on the ground, and Burweilei was gone!
Alandriel finally came to her senses and rushed over to Blainieal. She pulled out her knife and carefully cut her bonds to find that she had rope burns from being tied up so tightly. Alandriel gently rubbed Blainieal's arm but she groaned and pulled away. Alandriel then ripped her healer dress off to find big black, blue, and purple bruises all over her body.
"Caliene, get me that medicine bag. Now, Blainieal, tell me what happened," Alandriel whispered.
"They barged in and grabbed me. They tied me up and started kicking and punching me. Then they threw me on the ground and wrecked everything in the room. They took Burweilei and left," she mumbled.
Alandriel got out the herbs she needed and put them on Blainieal. She then wrapped her in bandages and put fresh clothes on her. Alandriel then picked her up and put her on the bed. On the bed she saw a third envelope. She picked it up and read it aloud.
"It says: 'I thought you'd never think of it and come back. What took you so long? Anyway, just to let you know, the poison gives a very slow and painful death. They are deteriorating at this very moment. If you don't hurry, they will die. Sincerely, you still don't know who!'" she read.
"We've failed them," Caliene sighed.
"No, not yet," she told him angrily.
Blainieal came out of the room and motioned for them to come in. They stepped in the room and once Thranduil saw Legolas lying there motionless he rushed over to his side. Alandriel slowly sat down on a chair near the bed.
"What's wrong with him?!" Thranduil demanded to know.
"He was poisoned," Blainieal sighed, "May I see the milk you gave him?"
"Yes, of course," Thranduil replied, dazed.
He got up and quickly headed down the colorful hallway to Legolas's bedroom. He slowly opened the door and went to the chair where he had left the milk carton and bottle. He picked up the milk carton and looked around. He was just about to leave when something caught his eye. He looked closer and saw that it was a folded piece of paper. Thranduil picked it up and unfolded it. It read:
Be careful what you do; be careful what you say, for I know your every move ever single day.
Yours truly,
Oh, yeah, you don't know my name yet!
This frightened Thranduil greatly. Someone out there knew his every move and now wanted his son dead. And he didn't even have any clue of who it was. His mind raced and he ran out the door.
All of a sudden an arrow shot towards his head but missed by a fraction of an inch. Another one flew at him and then another. Up ahead, Thranduil saw Caliene, one of his guards.
"Caliene! Help! I'm get shot at!" he yelled.
Caliene darted towards Thranduil and got out his bow. Thranduil suddenly felt dizzy but shook the feeling away. Another arrow flew and Caliene found where they were coming from. He shot four times and heard a yell of pain. Caliene ran forward and pulled an elf out of the bushes. He gasped and almost let go of the elf.
"My lord, it's Burweilei!" Caliene exclaimed.
Thranduil had fired him for intolerably irrational behavior. Caliene picked up Burweilei's body and followed Thranduil to the healing chamber. Thranduil was sure that they could help Legolas with the three pieces of evidence they had.
Once they got there they opened the door and walked in. Thranduil started feeling dizzy and weak again and this time he collapsed on the ground and passed out. Alandriel gasped and Blainieal rushed to Thranduil's side to check his pulse.
"What happened?" she asked.
"He got shot at by Burweilei," he replied, hauling Burweilei off his shoulder and onto the floor.
Blainieal looked at Thranduil and saw no obvious wounds. Caliene flipped Thranduil on his stomach on a hunch and found a slight gash across his back from where an arrow must have skimmed him. Blainieal tended to the cut while Alandriel took the items from his hands. She read the note in silence and then gasped.
"There is a note that Thranduil carried in," she explained to them when they stared at her, "It says: Be careful what you do, be careful what you say, for I know your every move every single day."
"Oh, Elbereth! Does that mean there are spies all around the castle?!" Blainieal cried.
"I guess so. I'll set up an extra strong watch system with the guards so nothing like this happens again," Caliene announced.
"Caliene, could you please take the milk down to Ruvio in the research lab to test it for poison?" Blainieal asked.
"Of course, but first I'll help you move the bodies to the beds," he replied.
Caliene took the milk and left. Blainieal and Alandriel sat there in silence, thinking about the letter. All of a sudden they heard a noise behind them and Alandriel spun around and simultaneously pulled out her knife which she never takes off. Out of the corner of her eyes as she was spinning she saw that Burweilei had gotten a knife out. As soon as she was totally turned around, Burweilei was too surprised to do anything, she stabbed him in the leg to distract him but not kill him. Then, while he was focused on his leg, she hit him over the head with the hilt of the knife. She didn't want him dead because they would need to interrogate him later.
"How long until he wakes up again?" Blainieal asked in a shaky voice.
"A couple of hours," Alandriel informed her, "Could you get me three to four ropes? They have to be strong."
"Of course," she nodded and left the room.
Alandriel carefully dislodged her knife from Burweilei and took it over to the sink. She washed all the blood off of it and put it back in its sheath. She got some healing herbs and some bandages and tended to Burweilei's wounds. Once Blainieal returned with the ropes they carefully but firmly tied Burweilei up.
Once they were done they went to check on Thranduil and Legolas. They had gotten a high fever and had raspy breathing. Both had the same kind of poisoning.
Suddenly there was a knock at the door. Alandriel slowly got up and opened it. She stepped aside and Caliene walked in with a grim face.
"Well?! What is it?!" Alandriel cried.
"Nothing, the milk is not poisoned," he sighed.
Alandriel examined his face with searching eyes and exclaimed, "Well something must have caused this! ...... I've got it! If it wasn't the milk, it must have been on the bottle!"
Alandriel raced out with Caliene following right on her tail. Blainieal stayed behind to watch Legolas and Thranduil. When Alandriel reached Legolas's room she barged in and looked around for the bottle. It wasn't anywhere to be seen! She looked at the table, hoping it would be there but instead she saw a green envelope. She slowly went over and picked it up. It read:
So, you finally thought of testing the bottle! I was beginning to think you'd never come! Well, I have some bad news, though, you're too late! I already have it!
Sincerely,
I forgot; you still don't know my name yet!
"Oh, no. What are we going to do now?" she moaned.
"I don't know. Maybe there is something else with the poison that we could use," Caliene asked.
"Well...what about the arrows? They must have had poison on it for it to poison King Thranduil!" Alandriel figured.
She dashed out of the room again and searched the ground for the arrows that were shot. She suddenly realized that they must have been collected, too, because they were gone. Alandriel sighed and hung her head.
"Did Burweilei still have arrows left when you brought him back?" she asked.
After a moment of silence Caliene answered, "Yes."
"Let's go, then!" she cried, running down the hall.
^Elbereth, she runs fast and takes off just as fast! ^
They rushed down the hall and burst through the door. Alandriel stopped dead in her tracks and Caliene almost ran into her. Confused at her abrupt stop, he peered around Alandriel to look into the room. What he saw shocked him: Blainieal was hog tied on the floor, everything had been thrown about on the ground, and Burweilei was gone!
Alandriel finally came to her senses and rushed over to Blainieal. She pulled out her knife and carefully cut her bonds to find that she had rope burns from being tied up so tightly. Alandriel gently rubbed Blainieal's arm but she groaned and pulled away. Alandriel then ripped her healer dress off to find big black, blue, and purple bruises all over her body.
"Caliene, get me that medicine bag. Now, Blainieal, tell me what happened," Alandriel whispered.
"They barged in and grabbed me. They tied me up and started kicking and punching me. Then they threw me on the ground and wrecked everything in the room. They took Burweilei and left," she mumbled.
Alandriel got out the herbs she needed and put them on Blainieal. She then wrapped her in bandages and put fresh clothes on her. Alandriel then picked her up and put her on the bed. On the bed she saw a third envelope. She picked it up and read it aloud.
"It says: 'I thought you'd never think of it and come back. What took you so long? Anyway, just to let you know, the poison gives a very slow and painful death. They are deteriorating at this very moment. If you don't hurry, they will die. Sincerely, you still don't know who!'" she read.
"We've failed them," Caliene sighed.
"No, not yet," she told him angrily.