Corruption
By iced1
Chapter VI
"My lord!" An elf rushed through the doors of King Thranduil's study. The elf's raven hair was mussed, wisps of hair flying out of the braids.
Thranduil's desk was a tidy arrangement of unsigned decrees, unfinished letters and stacks of elvish scripture. In the very center of the desk, lying beside the king's elbow, was a scrap of parchment filled with small drawings of scraggly poultry, shapes and outlines of blobs. The king's head was propped up by his left hand. His left hand held a quill, and was slowly making it's way across the parchment.
"My lord!" The visitor now stood in front of the desk, his form shaking the king from his thoughts.
"Good morning…" the king made a vague gesture at the other elf, trying to summon a name from his memory.
"Erundur, sire."
"Ah, yes, good morning Erundur. What can I do for you?"
"My lord, the main gate is in chaos. Screaming, sire, shrill yells resounding throughout the arch! The Commander has sent me to escort you to the gates. We are hoping that you will be able to restore order."
The King pushed aside all thoughts of his son's latest mission and followed Erundur out of the castle. They passed out of the stone walls, passed through the archery fields, the orchards, and reached the scout tower near the main gate.
True to Erundur's word, there was chaos around the gate. A wailing crowd steadily grew as the king strode to the edge of the mass of elves.
"Dartho! Hold!" The crying stopped as soon as Thranduil raised his voice. "What is this nonsense?"
"Let the king pass." At Erundur's call, the crowd parted, clearing a trail to the gate. Thranduil strode through the two groups of elves, Erundur and the Commander in tow, stopping before the great iron gate.
"Sire, allow me." The commander stepped past the king, stooped, slipped one slender arm through the gate, pulling an arrow from the ground. He stared at it for a second, before passing the arrow to the king, his face a ghostly white.
The king snatched the arrow from the commander, ripping off the gray cloth from the arrow shaft. He flipped it over and gasped, for on the edge of the muddied cloth was a beautiful and fancy elven scripture, embroidered with silver thread. There was no mistaking the sign of the Royal House.
"The army is to be ready for departure tomorrow morning."
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Arien guided the vessel carrying the fruit of Laurelin away from the skies as Tilion and the fruit of Telperion rose into the sky. The plain was shrouded in near-darkness, the only light coming from the Moon.
The fires from the orcs' camp had extinguished and no creature moved.
"Aragorn, tollen i l, it is time," Legolas hissed into the night air. There was no response from the man.
'A bit louder? No.' Calling any louder would be foolish. 'calling out will only wake the beasts.' The elf shuffled in a half circle on his side until his head reached the man.
During the afternoon, the prisoners had been placed together. Aragorn and Gimli had been lifted and dumped unceremoniously close to the elf, as Legolas was the closest to the camps, and the most in the open. Fortunately for the three of them, the orcs did not notice the blade glinting in the sunlight. Neither did they tie the dwarf, elf and man to posts by their wrists. Instead, they tied them by their ankles, which kept them from being able to stand and run, or cut through the rope that tied them in place.
"Estel!" Legolas knocked his forehead into the man's stomach.
"What," Aragorn hissed.
"Now is the time. Roll over so that I can saw through your bonds." Legolas scooted back to where he had hidden the blade earlier that day beneath a clump of dead grass. He closed his mouth around the handle, grimacing at the taste. He scooted his body back and spat the dagger out of his mouth.
"Estel, I told you to turn over." Legolas smiled to himself as the man obeyed. He carefully picked the dagger's handle up again, and bent his knees slightly so that the edge of the blade touched the rope tying Aragorn's wrists together.
"The knot," whispered Aragorn.
"What difference is there in which part of the rope I sever?" Legolas whispered back, annoyed at having to drop the dagger once more.
"We need rope to tie our wrists back together. Where do you think we're going to get it?"
"Right." Legolas picked the dagger up in his mouth once more and touched the blade to center of the knot. He tilted his head back, running the length of the blade across the knot before moving his head back into its original position. Nothing happened. He applied a bit of pressure and a few strands of rope began to split.
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"Estel, dig a hole and hide the bits of rope from the knot."
"Don't think I haven't done that already, elf."
"Be quiet and let's get that lump of a dwarf free of his wrist bonds."
Legolas and Aragorn both twisted themselves around and scooted their bodies in the direction of the sleeping dwarf. It was a good three hours later, and both man and elf had both arms free. It had taken Legolas two hours to slice through the knot and at least ten minutes for the human to gain control of his hands again.
"I can't reach him, Legolas."
"Nor can I."
"Just leave him. He'd ruin our plans anyway."
"Such kind words from a king."
"I will choose to ignore that, elf. Now take the dagger and slip it into your boots before we retie your wrists. The orcs are less likely to search you."
There was a pause.
"Estel? What plans?"
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A/N Exactly two weeks. So I do live up to my promises. I think this story will be finished in about seven more chapters. Depends if I suddenly decide to add something in, like I did with Thranduil. I have the whole story planned out mentally.
I know my descriptions went a bit iffy. Just bear with me.
I just want you readers to know that I have no idea what a 'normal knot' is. I don't know my knots.
Also, thanks a ton to Deana, for staying with me from the beginning of this story up till now. I love you (:
Oh, and to Jia and WickedFantasies, but I actually know you two.
To the other reviewers, thanks.
Kindly Review