Disclaimer: I own nothing. I want everything!
********Chapter 16**********
That night Eressa stayed with Legolas. She slept on the floor, insisting that Legolas needed comfort to help heal his wounds. She knew that the planks that Legolas used as a bed were the total opposite of comfort, but they were better that lying on the cold dirt floor. Besides, she added, she got to sleep in a real bed in the servent's quarters most nights.
Early that morning, Eressa woke just when the night was retreating. Yawning heavily, she rolled over to face Legolas. To her surprise, he was already awake—or so she thought.
He was lying flat on his back, his arms folding over his chest, his blanket still wrapped around him. He was staring blankly at the ceiling. Eressa watched him for a moment, and then glanced towards the door and then to the small window just above her.
"Legolas," she whispered loudly. The elf didn't move. Then Eressa realized something. He wasn't blinking.
Curious, Eressa sat up beside the bed and inspected the elf. His breaths were deep and slow, his face expressionless, aside from his open eyes. They were eerily blank, as if he was looking at nothing.
Eressa raised a hand and waved it in front of the elf's eyes. Still he did not stir.
"Legolas," she repeated, now thoroughly confused with the elf's strange behavior.
Finally she timidly placed a hand on his shoulder, and shook it. Legolas moaned and blinked suddenly, his eyes gaining focus again. He reached up with his hand and rubbed the tiredness from his eyes before looking at Eressa.
"Eressa…" he muttered, looking around. "Why did you wake me?"
"Woke you?" Eressa asked. "But your eyes were open. You seemed to be in a trance."
Legolas smiled and shook his head. "That was no trance you saw me in. Elves naturally sleep with our eyes open."
Eressa's own eyes dropped to the floor as the elf sat up, careful to keep his blanket around his torso.
"Oh." She said, feeling foolish for not knowing more. "I did not know."
"I didn't expect you to." Legolas said, lying back down and stretching. "I should have told you."
"It's alright." Eressa said, brushing it aside. She stood up, as did Legolas, and she realized how tall he really was. He stood a good 7 inches higher than she. Their height difference put her in a position in which she was eye level with his chest and she blushed as she looked up at him.
Legolas chuckled in embarrassment and tightened his grip on the fabric around him and turned away, looking out of the small window.
"The guards will be coming soon." He said, partially to himself.
"Yes, I know." Eressa said, joining him. "That was why I woke you."
As if to prove her point, Legolas's sensitive ears picked up the sound of the guards voices. It was not long before Eressa heard them as well.
"Legolas," she said his name softly, so the guards outside would not hear. "What you spoke of last night? About escaping? What shall I do?"
Legolas looked at her firmly. "Nothing, for the moment. I need to consult with Eredor first."
Eressa turned towards the heavy wood and iron door as she heard the lock being worked.
"I will bring you a shirt next time I come, alright?" She said hastily. Then she quickly rearranged her clothing to make it look like she was putting it back on at the last moment.
Legolas watched her with an interested eye. She noticed and whispered to him: "This way there won't be any suspicions."
Legolas nodded and smiled just as the guards managed to get the creaky door open. They motioned for Eressa to come with them, which she obeyed. One led her down the hall and the other moved forward. Legolas removed his blanket and allowed him to clamp him in irons. Then it was off to morning training.
************
The guards gathered all the prisoners and led them to the arena. Eredor was shooting Legolas smiles as usual, and Legolas returned them, wondering how his friend would react upon knowing his sister had been taken to his cell to spend the night.
The guards began to order the slaves to jog around the ring, but then Angarod appeared. He was dressed less formally than last time Legolas had seen him, and behind him was Malkor. The generous guard caught Legolas's eye but his face remained expressionless as he stood by his superior.
"Enjoy you rest boys?" Angarod greeted cheerfully. When he received no reply, he grinned. "Well that's good, because today you'll need it." He turned to Malkor. "Laps." He said, and the guard nodded and motioned for the others guards to hook up the slaves.
They were just about to hook up Legolas next to Eredor in the back of the line when Angarod let out a shout.
"Wait!" He ordered and marched towards him. "Not him."
Legolas was pulled away from the line roughly by the guards and taken before Angarod.
"Easy with him, boys." Angarod warned. "He's worth more than you are." As he said this he grinned a wide grin at Legolas, which the elf did not return.
"Leave us." Angarod ordered. The guards bowed before him and then began ushering the other prisoners around the ring. Angarod took Legolas's chains in his own hand and led the elf towards the wall.
"You fought well yesterday," Angarod began, motioning for Legolas to sit down. "You've shown me that you don't need to be driven around. I have other plans for you." He said. "But first just rest here. You deserved it."
Legolas stared at the man with the mangled face as he watched his 'boys' as he liked to call them, run around the ring. So far he had been given a blanket, a woman, and now this? Angarod must have been impressed with his fight yesterday. Why else would he be pampering Legolas like this?
Legolas sighed, and then he too began to watch the other prisoners dash around the ring. He needed to learn not to depend so much on sense and reasoning. Not all things happened for a reason. Or did they?
Closing his eyes and turning his head away from the harsh morning sun, he leaned his head back and rested it on the stone in back of him, supporting himself on the wall. Slowly he bent his knees and slide down to the ground. The movement scraped his injured back against the rough stone, but Legolas didn't care. The Athelas had helped during the night and his wounds were healing quickly.
Legolas watched the prisoners circle for some time, their bodies slowly beginning to tire. Angarod looked on with a smile on his face, and then called out for the guards to bring the slaves to a stop.
"Pair them up in groups of two!" He shouted. "Except for Eredor."
The guards nodded and unattached Eredor from the line of the prisoners and led him over towards were Legolas rested. Eredor happily sat next to Legolas.
"Unchain them!" yelled Angarod, and the guards hastily removed all of the prisoners of their chains.
Angarod turned his ugly face to Legolas. "This is where you come in." He said.
Legolas narrowed his eyes at the man. Once again, he had begun to speak in riddles.
Angarod yelled out orders and the guards ran inside and fetched a trunk full of weapons—wooden ones. Legolas was baffled, but soon Eredor cleared things up for him.
"Duels for the sake of training only," he whispered. "So no one gets hurt."
Legolas looked back at the prisoners picking out weapons and nodded. Some chose wooden swords, others chose wood shaped to mimic the form of a hand axe, and others simply grabbed a wooden club. Some were given shields while others were left with no protection other than their wits and their weapons.
Angarod smiled, satisfied when his slaves were ready. Then he turned back to Legolas.
"I heard the elven-folk are experts at special fighting techniques," He said. "Now's your chance to prove that."
Legolas said nothing, as Angarod expected. So he continued.
"Now elf, I'll tell ye what we're going to do. Two of my blokes are going to fight…" He pointed towards the other slaves. "…and you are going to watch. You tell me what each or one of them is doing wrong, if anything. You might learn a thing or two from it."
Legolas shot the man a look and then turned away. He hadn't verbally spoken to Angarod since he came here, and he wasn't about to start now. Besides, he knew enough about fighting techniques.
Angarod wasn't stunned by the elf's silent refusal. "Now I know that you'd rather get 30 lashings again than speak to me directly," He said, as if he was reading the elf's mind. "And I've noticed that you and Eredor have become friends."
At this comment the elf looked up in alarm. What did Eredor have to do with this?
Angarod smiled, showing his nearly toothless mouth. "So if you don't want to talk to me, you can go ahead and tell him everything the boys are doing wrong, and then he can pass that on to me. Does that suit you?"
Legolas glared at him coldly for a second before turning to Eredor. The young man shrugged at his friend.
"Just do it." He said softly, purposely not using Legolas's name. He knew that Legolas wanted to remain anonymous to his captors.
Legolas frowned and nodded meekly. Angarod smiled even wider and motioned to the guards to get the first duel going.
Legolas watched the fights blankly, every once in a while pausing his thoughts to tell Eredor something.
"Before he swings his sword he always takes a step back. It's an advance warning to is partner."
"He's trying to get too many swings in too little time. He should slow down and plan his movements."
"He's staring at his opponent's weapon. He should be looking at his eyes. The eyes tell you what he's going to do next."
Eredor passed on Legolas's advice to Angarod, who merely nodded and stroked his beard. Eredor himself was impressed by Legolas's knowledge of fighting. He partially wished he had been there to witness one of his friends fights to see exactly how good he was. Legolas had told him that he was a young warrior, but Eredor had been confused on exactly what 'young' was to the elves, who were an immortal race.
The young man shrugged and he continued listening to Legolas and speaking to Angarod. The fights were brief and soon it was time for breakfast.
"Alright, off with ya!" cried Angarod, as he set out to eat his own breakfast. Legolas watched the proud man walk away and thoughts of cruel comments he could shout out rushed threw his head. But he had long since learned to ignore his thoughts in the presence of Angarod.
Eredor was chained back up, as was Legolas, and they were led along with the others into the mess hall. The two collected their food and sat down at 'their' table, across the room from the other slaves, where no one could hear their conversation.
"How did Angarod know we were friends?" Legolas wondered, although it really wasn't important. He took a bite of his loaf of bread he had been given and winced at the taste.
"One of the guards probably told him we've been eating together." Eredor said carelessly. "I wouldn't think anything of it, Legolas."
"You are right." Legolas agreed. "I have enough to think about. Too much. I fear my mind is aging faster than my body."
Eredor wiped his mouth free of bread crumps. "Speaking of age, you never told me exactly how old you are." He smiled. "I mean, you told me that you were young for an elf, but what exactly is 'young' for an elf?"
Legolas smiled at his friends confusion. "I'm 2889 years old."
Eredor's eyes widened greatly. "That's young?"
Legolas waved his hand in the air. "Not exactly young. I'm considered adult, but still young. Some of the elves here are older than Middle Earth itself."
Eredor made a 'Mm-hm' sound and took another bite of his bread. He said nothing more, and Legolas was suddenly reminded of Eressa. He had yet to tell her brother what had happened.
"I got my reward last night," he said slyly.
Eredor's head shot up. "Really? What was it?"
Legolas just smiled at him. Eredor saw the glimmer in his eyes.
"You got a girl, didn't you, Legolas?" Eredor asked mischievously.
Legolas continued to grin as he took another bite from his bread and nodded. He was about to tell Eredor exactly who the girl was when he looked up again. Eredor was staring at him expectantly.
"What?" He asked.
Eredor cocked his head to one side. "So?"
Legolas chuckled. "So what?"
"So how was she?"
Legolas laughed and shook his head. "I wouldn't know."
Eredor made a face. "Why not?
"Because I didn't sleep with her." Legolas answered.
"Why not?" Eredor repeated as his face fell.
"Eredor, it was Eressa." Legolas said, looking seriously at his friend.
Eredor's eyes suddenly reflected fear. Legolas had never known Eredor to fear anything before. Not even fighting two opponents at once.
"They gave you my sister?" He said in disbelief.
Legolas nodded his head. "Yes, they did."
Eredor's fear quickly switched to anger. "But—but she's only seventeen!" He said, raising his voice slightly.
Legolas held a finger to his lips. "Apparently that's old enough for them. She's just lucky that she didn't go to someone else."
Eredor opened his mouth to protest again but then forced himself to calm down. "I suppose I should thank you for that. Thank you." He said genuinely.
"Your welcome." Legolas replied immediately, and then resumed eating.
Eredor did not. "What she frightened?" He asked softly, his eyes clearly showing the worry and fear he felt for his only kin.
Legolas sighed and smiled, trying to reassure his friend. Normally it was Eredor that reassured him whenever he was doubtful, not the other way around. He felt not at all comfortable with this. Eredor was so headstrong that he found only the slightest remorse in killing men like him—yet when it came to his sister and friends, he seemed to become like a piece of thin glass about to be dropped, and shattered to pieces.
"She was nervous." Legolas said. "Or at least that's what she told me. But I sensed she was afraid."
Eredor clasped his hands together and cupped them over his mouth worriedly. Then he looked at Legolas curiously. "What did she do when she saw you without a shirt?"
Legolas could see that he was fighting back a smiled as he said it. He winced. He had been afraid that Eredor would ask him this.
"Well, I wasn't completely…" He searched for the right word. "…exposed. They also gave me a blanket, and I covered myself up with that. But she was kind enough to offer to make me a shirt."
"Yes, you'll be seeing her again." Eredor said, finally smiling a little. "Thank you again, my friend."
"Your welcome, Eredor." Legolas repeated.
"So if you didn't…use her, then what did you two do all night?" Eredor asked, his small smile widening on his face.
Legolas blinked. His plan. He needed to tell Eredor about his plan. But first he wanted to know if Eredor was as reluctant about it as his sister was.
Legolas looked around and leaned in closer to his friend, lowering his voice to that of a musical whisper.
"Eredor, have you ever thought of getting out of this place?" He said, changing the subject. "Being free?"
Eredor sat back in his seat quickly, Legolas's question clearly surprising and shocking him. "Well, no. I mean yes, but it would never…"
"We can do it. I know we can. Eressa has access to the outside when we don't. She can bring me the information we need to escape to me when she sees me and I can pass it on to you." Legolas explained slowly, hoping his friend would understand.
"Legolas you must be bluffing." Eredor said. "No one has escaped from the cells. They are too heavily guarded!"
Legolas cocked his head to one side. "I've counted. There have been 17 separate guards that I have seen, at various times and places. And there are 25 of us." Legolas grinned, motioning to the other prisoners around the room.
"We can do it if we work together." Legolas concluded, and then he sat back and waited for Eredor to say something.
The young man stared at him disbelievingly for a few seconds, before snapping out of his stuper. "You're mad!" He accused of Legolas.
"No, I'm determined." Legolas leaned forward again. "Eredor, think of your sister." He said seriously. He hated to use his friend's one weakness against him like this, but he was confident he could get this to work if only he could get Eredor's approval.
Eredor shut up at the mention of his sister. His eyes dropped heavily to the table in front of him and he didn't move. Legolas sat back again, satisfied his plan had worked. He waited patiently for Eredor's response.
Eredor sat there unmoving for many long moments. He weighed the possible consequences. He knew that if they were caught, Curdolin could have them killed. Eredor had seen what had happened to the other poor fools who tried to escape.
"Legolas." He said, looking up. All trace of the young man was gone to him, it seemed, for a short instant. To Legolas he seemed like an old brittle man, sad and aged with sorrow.
"Yes?" The elf answered softly.
Eredor wiped his eyes, and the bridge of his nose. "I'll do it. But not because you said so. For my sister. Because she deserves a better life."
"We all do." Legolas agreed.
Eredor glanced nervously at the other slaves. "25 trained slaves against 17 armed guards. Do you really believe that will work?"
Legolas smiled slowly. "I have a plan in development."
************Personal thingy***************
AN: *dun-dun-dun* Here we go! I hope this chapter satisfied you people, it was long, the longest I've written, I think. Next chapter will be up shortly! Reviews, please?
Starknight: Hi! How are you? I'm good. Yes, I liked your chapter. I like your whole story! Very much. And just so you know, I was kidding about what I said with Poshnak and Legolas! I know he wants him to eat him, don't worry. I was just joking.
Good! I surprised you with Eressa being who she is! Good good good…now I have to keep doing it…and I'm not telling whether she's gonna tell whether she's the love interest or not cuz she is and…oops. Anywho…I'll do something about the elf/human love thing. You'll have to wait and see. My story is just beginning, believe it or not, and it's already on the 16th chapter…so this is gonna be a very very very long story. I tried to maybe break it apart into two, but it wouldn't work so it's gonna be very very very long.
You know what I did last night? I rented From Hell (Johnny Depp—yummy yummy, I wanna touch him—sorry.) and Oh. My. Gosh. Weird, gross, and yet pretty good movie. It's about Jack the Ripper (No, Johnny's not the ripper, he's the detective whose addicted to drugs trying to catch the ripper) and ohmigosh you know who the Ripper really is? Ian Holm. Yep. Bilbo. It's so weird watching this guy who you think is a sweet old humble hobbit kill and gut whores on the streets of London. It's not the kind of movie I'd recommend to you. It was rated R for like everything a movie can be rated R for. Gross. But I got lots of Johnny-goodness, so therefore I liked it. At least the Johnny parts.
I am really dreading the school year now that I don't have study hall. I'm not gonna have time for anything! Waa! But I'll see you soon!
Bye! *gives you cookie*
Truffles: Hey! I was wondering what happened to you! Boom! New chapter! Glad you liked it. I bet you liked this chapter too, this one was really long! Thanks! *gives you cookie*
Nikki: Yep…the plot is finally taking place. Believe it or not, this is still just the beginning of my story. There's a lot more coming! Yes, it is sort of sad that Eressa and Eredor don't understand what freedom is…cuz they've never experienced it before. Legolas is gonna help her. Yep, this is gonna be a romance fic eventually. I'm not telling between who, but you got a good idea, so I don't need to. Shirtless Lego! Yay! Thanks! *gives you cookie*
Anolinde: Plan is brewing…yep. Actually, I'm still trying to figure out exactly how Legolas and the others are gonna escape. I'd better pick up the pace, eh? I'll try and make some of it funny, just for you, kay? Thanks! *gives you cookie*
XxDarkgoddessxX: Thank you again and again and again! *gives you cookie*
Thanks for checking up on my Spanish for me! I'm glad I got at least some of it right! Does 'guapo' really mean "player?" Oh, dear, then what does 'guapa' mean? "Slut?" LOL.
Yes, Orlando the Sexy Man is how Orli should be refered to all the time!
DEAL! *shakes your hand, then runs off with Will and Haldir*
Oh, I'm spoiled all right. I've got a TV/VCR in my room, and a stereo and I'm taking piano lessons and my parents said their giving me voice lessons soon and they are also paying for two trips (possibly three) that my Honors Choir is taking—I think one of them is to New York City and the other is to the Mall of America. So I guess I'm spoiled in my own way.
Yeah, we have a Hot Topic at the mall where I live, but I don't shop there. The cloths are a bit too expensive for my taste, but I still like them. If it weren't for my parents and my reputation (I'm known as one of them innocent, nice, never-naughty girls—not a nerd, but not a preppie or a punk.) I'd happily wear that stuff! I really like the punk look, but only the stuff without like ten ear piercings and belly button and nose rings and dyed green hair or something. Like the Avirl Lavigne look.
I saw that Legolas shirt on the net! Actually they have three of them, but they're all different. What's yours like? I have Legolas apparel of my own…I used to have a bunch of them letter beads and I stringed them all into necklaces so they said "I Love Legolas" or "I Love Orlando" and I also have one that says "Kiss me Orli". I also have a bit of that cool paper that you can put thru your printer and then iron on whatever you printed off to a shirt, so I'm gonna make myself a Legolas or Orlando t-shirt one of these days. But my printer is broken. It's got a piece of paper lodged in it and my parents won't get it out! Grrr…
Oh. Well if the picture is in a message board on msn.com I might as well not look for it. It's probably waaaay in the back now anyways. And it's probably best that I don't see it! LOL.
Thanks again! Bye!
Samwise the Strong: I'm not that young. I'm best friends with a nineteen-year-old. But whatever. Yeah, I have to go back to school! Life sucks, for me at least. You're lucky! Of course you're weird. Everybody's weird. I always used to say "When someone tells you you're weird, thank them and say that its better than being ordinary."
Thanks a bunch for inviting me to join your URL group but there's a slight problem…and please forgive the extreme blonde-ness of this question, but I'm not very familiar with anything on Yahoo except the search engine and the e-mail… but what is a URL group? I'd be more than happy to join if you tell me that! Thanks!
*is about to give you cookie but then remembers that you said you would no longer like cookies. But now what do I give you?* Anywho, Thanks again!
The Noble Platypus: Hiya! Long updates rock! I bet you liked this chapter then! It was the longest I've written yet, I think! I went and read your Pirate-fic! It was great! You probably already know that, because I reviewed like 9 times! I also added you to my favorites! Are you writhing with joy yet? Thanks! *gives you cookie*
breeNbloom: Hey! I'm glad your first week wasn't too bad! Oh, then seniors sound mean! At my school they don't do that—but they do play a senior prank each year. Last year they brought a cow upstairs and you know how cows can go up stairs but not down them…I don't know how the school people handled that one. And they set spray-painted chickens and mice loose too! And of course there's the usual toilet-papering trees and writing on the windows with soap…but they never do anything mean to freshmen!
I'm sorry about you not making volleyball! I hope you have better luck with golf!
Yeah I know…none of my fave authors have updated a lot either…so I just write more of my story when I'm bored.
Glad you liked my chapter! Thanks very much! I hoped you liked this one as much as the others!
My history teacher last year was scary too! He was like an Elvis throw-back—he had the hair thing going on—but the problem is that he's been a history teacher so long that some of my neighbors (who have kids and are in their late 30s early 40s) had him as a history teacher! And he smoked so his voice is really raspy so he talks really loud and sometimes he leans on the desks in the front and spits in your face as he's talking. So we'd all try not to sit in the front row!
Well, good luck with your school year! Mine's coming up soon…waa! I don't wanna go! But Thanks for your compliments! *gives you cookie*