Title: Inseparable
Author: Legolas-gurl88
Disclaimer: I still own nothing.
Author Note: This chapter isn't quite as long as the last two, but enjoy it all the same! It's got a pretty cool ending!
Enjoy the chappie!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
19. Possible Escape?
Elrond sat in Thranduil's room, next to Thranduil, rubbing his arm in comfort as the King cried on, as he had been doing for the past half hour. Thranduil had been constantly murmuring elven curse words, referring to himself about being powerless. The two of them jumped as the door slammed open, ricocheting off the wall. Ecthelion stepped inside, pulling Estel in. Once inside, he threw the boy onto the ground where Estel crawled to Elrond.
The Elf-lord slid out of his chair and kneeled on the floor, putting his arms around his foster son as the boy cried, curling himself into a small ball.
"What is the meaning of this, Ecthelion?" Elrond asked, outraged at the fear he could feel in his son.
"I'll tell you what the meaning is! You son was beating up my son! I heard shouts and went to Denethor's room. When I opened it, I saw Aragorn punching him!"
"Estel, is this true?" Elrond asked, grasping his son's shoulders and forcing the boy to face him. Estel nodded. "Why?"
"That's precisely what I want to know! Why were you hurting my son?! WHY WERE YOU HURTING MY SON?!" Ecthelion ran over to Estel. "SPEAK, YOU CHILD OF THE DEVIL!" He kicked Estel, who cried out, recoiled, and buried his face in Elrond's chest. Elrond hugged him tighter, shielding him from Ecthelion's oncoming attacks.
"Ecthelion, please! I would ask you not to harm him!"
"He has caused my son harm! Why should he not feel my son's pain!"
"Estel might have had a good reason for attacking your son!"
"Are you siding against me, Elrond?"
"I am siding with no one! I only ask that you hear Estel out!"
"You asked me to do so with that idiotic elf prince, but he was guilty! I say we lock Aragorn away!"
At the mention of Legolas, Thranduil cried out and buried his face in his hands once more.
"Do not lock him away, Ecthelion! Listen to yourself! You are going power mad!"
"I AM NOT MAD!" Ecthelion yelled.
"He-- he hurt Legolas--" Estel whimpered into Elrond's chest. Ecthelion stopped yelling and glared at Estel.
"What did you say, ion-nin?" Elrond asked, looking at his son. Estel pulled himself from his father, wiping his face, eyes and nose. He sniffled a few times, taking the time to figure how he was going to word this. Denethor had gone too far. It was time to reveal his plans. It was time to confess."
"Denethor-- he hurt Arwen, Ada-- not Legolas."
"What are you saying, boy?" Ecthelion asked.
"Be silent, Ecthelion, let the boy talk." Elrond said. The room went quiet. Even Thranduil had stopped crying to hear what Estel had to say.
"When we first got here, Denethor led me inside and told me that he was supposed to become ruler of Gondor, not me. I told him I would rather become King than to see Gondor fall into his hands, so he punched me and threatened to kill one of the elves if I spoke of his meeting. That night, I told Legolas and Denethor must have overheard, so he told me he had snuck into Legolas's room, grabbed Legolas's knife and hurt Arwen."
"THAT'S A LIE!" Ecthelion yelled. "MY SON WOULD NEVER DO THAT!"
"But, he told me!" Estel yelled.
"I do not believe this idiocy you are telling me!"
"But--"
"NO MORE! YOU WILL EITHER BE SILENT, OR FIND YOURSELF SEARCHING FOR A NEW PLACE TO STAY!"
"But Legolas is innocent!"
"THAT'S IT!" Ecthelion yelled, running forward, knocking Elrond's arms away from Estel, grabbing hold of the boy's neck and dragging him out of the door.
"Ecthelion!" Elrond said, standing up and running after him. Thranduil followed. In attempt to save Estel from Ecthelion, Elrond pulled at the Steward's hand, trying to loosen his grip on the boy's neck. Estel was now making choking noises due to lack of air in his lungs. Tears were streaming down his face as he grabbed hold of Ecthelion's hand himself and pulled. But Ecthelion, whether out of furiousness or madness, Ecthelion had a strong hold.
Estel's leg caught onto a loose and sharp edge of a tile on the floor and it ripped his leg painfully. The boy cried out, costing him much air.
"Ecthelion, let my son go!" Elrond said, pulling at Ecthelion's hand more, anger boiling in his heart. Ecthelion used his free hand to push the Elf-lord roughly into the wall. As Elrond hit the wall, he knocked over a vase right next to him and the shards scattered all around, including under Estel, who yelled more as the sharp pieces of glass cut into his skin. Elrond's head bashed into the wall and it took him a while to clear his head.
By the time he did, Ecthelion had already went around the corner. Thranduil followed Elrond as he chased the Steward and the boy, not knowing what else to do. But when they reached the corner, about four guards came around the corner, and two of them each took an arm of Elrond or Thranduil.
"By order of the Steward Ecthelion, you are to be confined to your rooms until further notice. Any attempts of escape will lead to serious punishments. If you chose to fight, you can expect more guards to be called and we will be forced to harm you. Do not make it hard on yourselves." One of the guards rehearsed.
"Unhand me! Ecthelion has my son! I must save him!" Elrond said.
"Please to not fight with us." The guard said, and the elves were lead to their rooms and locked there, unable to help Estel or Legolas.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ecthelion reached the outside of Minas Tirith and threw Estel down the stairs and the boy cried out in pain as he hit each of the many steps. Ecthelion watched this and when the boy finally stopped at the foot of the stairs, he turned to another guard.
"See that he makes it out of Minas Tirith's borders and does not return."
The guard nodded and ran down the stairs. Once Ecthelion's back was turned, he leaned over the boy, concerned. Aragorn appeared to be breathing, but he had bruises around his neck and his lower half was all bloody. His heart went out to the boy, but he shook Aragorn awake. The King moaned.
"My Lord, we are to escort you out of Minas Tirith's gates. Can you stand?"
There was now a crowd of peasants that had been passing by. They were crowding around and whispering to one another.
"There is nothing to see here! As you were, or face the consequences!" The guard yelled and the crowd lessoned. He looked back at the boy, whose eyes were open. He helped the child up and they walked down the street together, slowly. Once outside of Minas Tirith's gates, the guard bowed and left Estel alone.
The boy was hurting badly. He wanted to turn around and save Legolas. He tried to do so, but when he did, the gates closed. He hammered at them for the longest time, until he finally gave up. Where to go now?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elrohir had just left Galadriel and Celeborn in their room, when he turned around and saw Elladan walking his way, Arwen right next to him, her arm around his shoulder, supporting herself. Her neck was bandaged heavily, yet Elrohir could still see small patches of red where the blood had soaked through. He ran forward and grabbed his sister's other arm to give Elladan a break, for he looked tired.
"How are you, Arwen?" Elrohir asked.
"I am faring well. How are you?"
Elrohir remained quiet.
"What?" Arwen said, looking at her brother as he lowered her head.
"Nothing." Elrohir answered.
"I may not be able to read your thoughts like Grandmother, but I know when something is wrong. Out with it, Elrohir." Arwen said.
"Legolas." Elrohir answered and they began walking.
"What about him?" Arwen asked. Elrohir bowed his head and Elladan answered for him.
"He-- he… well, Arwen, we're not quite sure."
"What do you mean?" Arwen asked.
"He's in the dungeons."
"Why?"
"Because the knife that hurt you was his. He says it wasn't him and the only person who doesn't believe him is Ecthelion."
"Why should he not believe Legolas?"
"We're not sure." Elrohir said, "I was just going to go visit him. Do you two want to come?" Elladan and Arwen nodded and the three of them walked to the dungeons, not knowing that Elrond or Thranduil or Estel were in trouble.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas lay in the hammock that was in his cell, looking at the ceiling tiles, thinking. Estel would never hurt him. Estel would have never hurt Arwen. Denethor had to be lying. But what if he was telling the truth? After all, after his and Estel's talk in the tree, the boy was pretty mad at him. Maybe that was his way of getting Legolas back. That must have been it. He heard the dungeon door open and figured it was Denethor, coming back to poke more fun. To save himself from the torment, he continued to stare at the ceiling, only he tried to glaze his eyes over a little bit to give the impression that he was sleeping. Instead, what he heard were the soft voices of Elves.
"Legolas? Are you awake?" Elrohir asked.
"What?" Legolas whispered hoarsely as his throat was tight from crying.
"Someone is here to see you."
Legolas looked around and saw Arwen smiling at him. He sat up in his hammock and swung his legs around so he could stand up and walk to Arwen. His hair had completely come undone from it's braid and now the hairs strayed across his face.
"Arwen," Legolas said, "Are you alright? You never answered me before."
"No, Legolas, I am not alright. I will not be alright as long as you are here in this cell. I know you are innocent, Legolas, and you know it as well."
"What can we do about it? No one believes me." Legolas said, turning back around and sitting back down in the hammock.
"We believe you, Legolas." Elladan said.
"Yes and that should be enough."
"But they found my knife beside your bed, Arwen."
"That doesn't mean you did it."
"Who is going to believe me?" Legolas said, then, when Arwen, Elladan and Elrohir opened their mouths, he added "Besides you three."
"Your Adar believes you." Elladan said. Legolas laughed softly and angrily.
"My Adar?" he said, "He doesn't believe me. If he did, he would have helped me back up in my room, but even when I asked for help, I received none."
"Your father didn't want to get himself or you into worse trouble." Elrohir said. "You should have seen him crying just after you left."
Legolas's eyes filled with tears as he heard that his father really did care for him, but he shook his head.
"He hasn't even come to visit me. I've been waiting for him, but he will not come. I counted the tiles in the room while waiting for him, but the only one who showed up was Denethor."
"Denethor? What was he doing here?"
"Rousing trouble." Legolas said, wiping a sleeve over his eyes and running his hand though his messy hair.
"What did he do?" Elladan asked, "If he hurt you in any way, I'll hunt him down and--"
"Elladan." Arwen said warningly.
"He came down here and told me that Estel hurt you, Arwen. Now, I don't know who to believe. He told me about my argument with Estel, and told me that Estel hurt you to get back at me, but then again, what Estel told me--"
"What did he tell you?" Elrohir pushed.
"I promised I wouldn't tell." Legolas said.
"If you care one inkling about Estel, you will tell us what he said."
"Well… he told me that Denethor threatened to hurt one of us if Estel told about some meeting, and Estel told me, and then you got hurt Arwen. I just don't know who to believe." Legolas looked down at his lap and fidgeted with the purple robe he still wore.
"Legolas… I don't know what to say." Elladan said when neither Elrohir nor Arwen could bring themselves to say anything to the hurt Elf.
"Don't say anything. Could you just get my Ada? I want to speak with him."
"Of course, Legolas, of course." Elrohir said. And the three of them left Legolas alone as he waited for his father to come. It was now getting dark out. So much had happened today. So much.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elladan and Elrohir had just dropped Arwen off back at her room and she fell asleep almost instantly in her bed. Now, the twins walked to Thranduil's room, not talking. Once they made it to Thranduil's room, they lifted their heads as they saw two guards guarding the door and a pounding from inside.
"What's going on?" Elladan asked.
"We are under the orders to guard this Elf and make sure he doesn't escape." One of the guards answered.
"What for?"
"We don't know every single reason why the King asks us to do these things. Our job is to just do it without question!"
"Come on, Elladan, we'd better tell Ada."
"You won't have much luck as he's also locked up in his room."
"What about Galadriel and Celeborn?" Elrohir asked.
"Locked up."
"Arwen?"
"Locked up."
"What about us?" Elladan asked. The guard shrugged. As if to answer their question, two guards came around the corner and one shouted "There they are! Catch them!" Without another word, the twins looked at each other and then ran. But then, two more guards came from the other corner and trapped Elladan and Elrohir. Then, they were dragged off to their room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was now completely dark in the dungeons. There was absolutely no light whatsoever. Legolas's only light was himself; his Elvish glow, which dimly lit nothing farther than one foot from him. What was taking Elladan, Elrohir and Arwen so long to get his Adar, because he had been waiting at least thirty minutes. Even the guards had vacated to a lighter spot; far away from the dungeons. There were no other prisoners… only he was there. Suddenly, he heard the door open from about fifty feet away and he stood up and went to the bars.
"Ada?" he called, trying to poke his head out from the bars to see his father walking towards him, but the bars were too close together.
"Ada?" Legolas called again.
"No, Prince Legolas, it is not your Ada." A cloaked figure said, coming into view of Legolas, holding a torch. But the torch was held so the torchlight hit the hood of the figure so it shadowed his face.
"Who are you?" Legolas said, his eyes narrowing.
"Later, Prince Legolas. All I can say is I'm friend, not foe. I am here to get you out."
Legolas laughed bitterly.
"Where would I go if I were out. I have no place to go."
"Well, you do now, because Estel is gone."
"Estel? Gone? Where? Wait." Legolas eyes narrowed even more, "How do you know his Elvish name."
"All will be explained, but right now, I will tell you, I can get you out, only if you will take me with you."
"Why?"
"I care for Estel as much as you do, even if I have not known him as long. And I have been searching around for my right place for years and I have found it. It is to be riding with you, Prince Legolas, so I will follow you to whatever end."
"Do you know where the stables are? My horse is there and she could easily carry both of us."
"Do not worry, I have a horse too."
"Very well, I will take you with me, but I do not know where to go."
"We can look together."
"Alright. Can you get me out?"
"Say no more." The figure said, pulling out the keys and unlocking Legolas's cell.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
About half an hour later:
Ecthelion sat in his study, fuming at everything that had happened today. Suddenly, there was a knock on his door.
"What?" He snapped and the head guard came in, his helmet in his hands and he fidgeted with it uncomfortably.
"My lord… the Elf, Legolas--"
"What about him?" Ecthelion snapped again.
"He's gone as well as his horse."
"Are you sure?"
"We have searched the entire palace for him."
Ecthelion swore loudly and cursed the Elven race.
"My Lord?" The guard said, tentatively.
"What!?" Ecthelion practically yelled.
"The servant, Barlay, is gone as well."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Ha, ha! Barlay is cool! He's awesome! Just to let you guys know… he's old… he's got graying hair. I wanted to let you know, because I didn't really explain it that well in my other chapters! But, YAY! Leggy is free! But now what happens *laughs evilly, coughs and says* R-reviews!
Mistopurr- Willyillyam! Ha, ha! I'm still laughing about that! Thank you so much for your compliments! When I wrote this, I had had inspiration and when I get that, I just go all out and write like you wouldn't believe! I'll e-mail you later! Princess Legolas-gurl88 (that's a mouthful!) I should come up with a cute little sign like yours, only… not. Like you have 'x-x' I should come up with something like that! Any suggestions? Talk to you later! P.S. When you wrote all those compliments, you made me feel really good and I had been in a bad mood. Thanks! You're good at cheering me up!
Leggylover03- Sorry I'm making you 'mad!' Well, as you can tell, Elrond did try to stop Ecthelion and now they are all locked up. But, behold! Legolas is free!
The evil witch queen- I am so sorry! I can't believe I forgot you AGAIN! After I promised I wouldn't! I feel so bad! I'm SO sorry! You have no idea how sorry I am! SORRY! I could have sworn I'd responded! But, please forgive me! I was in a real hurry to post and my stupid printer wasn't working, so I had to write down what everyone had reviewed to me and I was writing so fast I must have skipped over yours! It was so unintentional! I'M REALLY SORRY! EVIL DENETHOR! I don't mind long reviews! I love them! So, please, do go on and I will try to remember to review to you from now on. *Slaps head in remembrance* I've just remembered! Since you were reviewing for both stories, I had done 'ONU' first so I must have thought I'd already reviewed to you when I'd done 'INS'! I'm so sorry! Please forgive me!
Trinityelf- I actually LIKE writing angst stories! Isn't that awful!? I can't wait for Lopez either! And the ride up there (which will take 5 hours, just to let you know) will be so fun, because we can watch ROTK! That will be awesome! I'm sorry I never really have anything to say when I'm responding, but I say it all at school! I hope I can get a new flute! It will help my tone so much! Talk to you later! BUBBLEGUM! BOOM! Heh, heh!
Deana- Well, at least you know how to spell 'POOR LEGOLAS' Heh, heh! You almost cried? I'm sorry! Does that mean I'm a good angst writer? Wow! I can't believe I almost made you cry! This chapter is a little happier! I hope you liked it!
Thank you so much for the reviews, you guys! WOW! 114 reviews! I wasn't expecting to get that many! I'm glad you all liked it! I'll post the next chapter A.S.A.P. (first, I have to type it!) I've gotten to the point where I'm gonna have to type the chappies really quick, so over the weekend, I'll probably type like the wind! Thanks again!
DON'T FORGET TO REVIEW!
Luv,
Legolas-gurl88