A/N: Thoughts are in italics in this chapter. Also, anytime either the falcon or the horse communicates with anyone, their conversation will also be in italics.

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Chapter 19

The Great Escape

The lullaby that Elladan had sung to her had, indeed, put her into such a relaxed state that she had almost fallen asleep but just before she had entered the realm of elvish dreams, she was abruptly drawn away by a rather frantic call from Shakir.

"My Lady. I come!"

For him to call her from afar and to use that tone of thought meant he must have an urgent message for her and was greatly disturbed by it, she thought to herself. Though she was now fully awake, she kept her eyes closed and waited for her falcon to arrive and it wasn't very much later that the falcon flew in from the balcony and landed on her bed.

"Hey, tasty treat ... off the bed!"

Elrohir tried to shoo the bird off the bed but only managed to get a hiss and a peck on his hand for his efforts. The younger twin jerked his hand back quickly, Elladan snickering at him as he did so.

Finally opening her eyes, Anayah admonished the bird for his lack of manners. At this, Shakir turned towards Elrohir and gave a meek "peep" in apology before turning back to his Lady.

"So, my friend, what has gotten you so upset that you treat my brother in such a fashion?" She gently stoked the bird's head as she looked him in the eyes.

The pictures Shakir gave her seemed to come in the actual order of the events themselves. First, she saw Aragorn and Legolas fighting Orcs, then saw the two of them getting separated after which one of them was buried in an avalanche. Shakir then showed her how both man and elf had been captured, Aragorn by Orcs and Legolas by humans. Though she was greatly disturbed by what Shakir had shown her, she kept her fear and concern for Aragorn and Legolas to herself and ignoring her rapidly beating heart, made plans to try to save them both.

Anayah knew the lives of both her brother and Legolas were in grave danger and that she would have to go to their aid quickly or there was a good possibility they would both die. Admittedly, she wasn't as physically fit as she would like to be to attempt a rescue, but she also knew that, fit or not, she would go to their aid if it meant crawling on all fours to get to them.

Aragorn was her brother and the thought of losing him scared her worse than she had ever been in her entire life with the possible exception being when she had watched her own mother being brutally murdered. Legolas was her brother's best friend, the Crown Prince of Mirkwood and son of King Thranduil. She also knew how Lord Elrond and the twins would react if she left without telling them she was leaving and also before being fully recovered from her own wound so, wisely, for the moment she kept her thoughts to herself.

When Shakir had finished sharing his message with his Lady, he rubbed his soft head against Elrohir's arm in a final apology then removed himself to the balcony where he once more took up his post looking out over Imladris.

"So ... what did he have to say!" Elladan asked the question that both he and his twin had been thinking.

"He was very worried about me (not a lie) and also told me that he had seen Aragorn and Legolas and they were both alive and well before he took off and returned home (not a lie)."

Both brothers relaxed after their sister had given them the falcon's message but what Anayah had not told them was what Shakir had seen once he had been in the air and before he had actually turned towards Imladris. She sighed for though she could gladly and willingly commit herself to the task of finding and rescuing Aragorn and Legolas, she was unwilling to commit anybody else to that same jeopardy. Closing her eyes, Anayah put her mind into high gear thinking about what she was going to do next.

Somehow she would have to distract the twins then dress, grab her weapons and travel pack, lower everything over the balcony, then lower herself to the ground where Elias should be waiting for her. Anayah sent a mental message to Shakir to tell Elias what she was planning and the falcon took off towards the stable. As soon as he got her message, the stallion would take his hackamore to one of the stable hands or the stable master himself as a signal that he needed to be saddled. She had taught her friend how to do this some months before so that preparation time for a quick departure could be significantly reduced.

Finally, her planning was complete. The only task left was one that had to be crafty in both structure and enactment, in other words, she had to be very, very sneaky - Anayah would have to distract the twins. Smiling to herself, she knew exactly how she was going to get both twins out of the room.

She opened her eyes and looked at her two brothers who were both reading books as they sat in identical armchairs by her bed.

"Would you two mind doing me a favor?" Here we go, she thought to herself. "I'm hungry and bored and was wondering if you two would mind getting me something to eat and maybe get me that book of Númenorean History from the library. I would sure appreciate it if you would."

Elladan and Elrohir smiled at her and left without knowing that one of the best escape plans to come along in ages, and one that would rival anything the two of them could ever come up with, was just about to begin.

After the twins had left the room, Anayah threw the covers back on the bed and started to rise. She had to remain still for a few moments and wait for the room to stop spinning and for her arm to stop feeling as if it had recently been chopped in half. Looking to the balcony, she noticed Shakir was no longer on his customary perch and satisfied that her feathered friend had gone to the stables, she dressed as quickly as possible then began to assemble her weapons and traveling pack. Anayah had decided to take Huan with her this time as well as both small crossbows. With a rope she kept in her pack she lowered her equipment to the ground and when she did, noticed that Elias was now standing-by in the courtyard below.

When all seemed ready, she looked around the room once last time then with nothing more needing to be done, Anayah lowered herself over the balcony. Mounting Elias, she rode off at a gallop, to try and save her brother and his friend.

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Sometime later, when the twins returned to the room, they found it empty and realized that they had fallen victim to an elaborate and successful escape plan, one that was truly worthy of the Peredhil family and which, at any other time, might have been amusing. This time, however, it was not for they knew their sister was healing quickly as most elves did, but was still weak from fatigue and blood loss and was running a mysterious fever. As one, Elladan and Elrohir turned and ran back down the stairs.

TBC