Disclaimer: I still do not own any of these wonderful; characters.
Thank you, Katy
Chapter Twenty Nine
Elrond did not sleep long; even though his heart craved the rest his mind was still far too active. He woke to find the room silent. Thranduil was dozing by Legolas' side and the others were either reading or playing games very quietly in the corner. Galadriel and Celeborn were not present, neither was Estel.
Some thing warm lay beside him and he looked down to find Elrohir fast asleep beside him.
Glorfindel was the first to realise he was awake. "Good afternoon, Mellon-nin pleasant dreams I hope?"
"You drugged me!" The accusation in his voice was clear.
"You needed the rest. We knew you would protest that need. Do you feel better?" Glorfindel's voice was kind.
"Yes, I do actually. How is Legolas?" Elrond turned gently trying not to wake Elrohir.
"Still sleeping, but he look better and even appears to be resting better." The relief in Glorfindel's eyes spoke volumes.
"Good, no further seizures?" Elrond was gently and slowly moving away from Elrohir.
"No non at all."
Once Elrond was standing they made their way across to Legolas side. Looking down he was pleased to see that the pallor the young Prince had been exhibiting was better. He no longer looked grey and whilst he had no real colour at least he did not quiet look as if had been made of wax. Even his lips had more pigmentation. All in all he looked a lot better than the last time Elrond had seen him.
He gently picked up the pale limp wrist, reaching for the pulse point he was pleased to find a nice steady pulse.
"I am pleased with how he is healing. Where are Celeborn and Galadriel?" Elrond asked.
"They went to their chambers for a while; they asked that I let them know when you were awake."
"Good, we need to talk with Fingoran."
Glorfindel left to fetch the Lord and Lady of Lothlorien and Elrond woke Thranduil from his rest. They left Elladan in charge of Legolas and as much as Thranduil hated to do it, they left the chamber. They met the others just outside the chamber that was holding Fingoran.
Entering they found Estel glaring daggers at the other Elf. Two guards stood either side of the pallet hands on pummels ready if he should try to escape. There were also guards on the door.
Fingoran was lounging on the pallet, looking up he sneered as they moved closer to the pallet." Well look what we have here the five greatest idiots in Middle Earth."
"You may think we are idiots but which of us is currently being held on charges of multiple murders and even more attempted murders?" Glorfindel's voice was low and he had a dangerous glint in his eye.
He would never ever forget what this Elf had done in the past.
Flash back
They approached the secluded hut as quietly as they could, which was very quiet considering they were Elves. Over the last few months both Elves and humans of either sex had been found mutilated beyond recognition.
The search for who ever was to blame had been long and hard. Because the victims had been of all three Realms, Glorfindel was in the company of Galadriel, Celeborn and Thranduil. It was also help that all would be present for the trial and sentencing.
They had finally had the break they had been hoping for and they had taken advantage of that. The clue had come in the form of a slip up on the part of who ever this was.
Glorfindel had to admit that he thought this was probably an Elf. No human could move like this and leave no trace, not even the rangers. No this was an Elf he would bet his sword on it.
He watched as Thranduil and Elrond positioned their men with a flick of their hands, all fell silent as they settled into their hiding places to wait. They already knew that this being was not here at present, the minute tracks had been leading away from the hut.
A while later he noticed that Thranduil was edging silently towards Elrond, leaning to hear what the other was saying he was not disappointed.
"He is coming, the trees are warning me." Only Glorfindel's Elven ears could have picked up the really low whisper and then he had to strain to hear.
"Good, we are ready. I want him to be inside the hut before we attack. I want proof that he knows this place, I do not want him saying that he found it by accident."
The three Lords and one Lady nodded their agreement. Glorfindel had to smile as he remembered Thranduil's warning. Wood Elves and their trees! Still it cam in handy to have them around at times.
They could all hear the soft rustle of leaves and plants as their target moved into the clearing that housed the hut. He was tall and thin, as all Elves tended to be. He also wore a dark cloak its hood drawn up to conceal his identity.
They all held their breath as he made his way to the hut, unerringly. His hand reached for the door to push it open when he stopped and listened intently to the wood around him. Nothing moved, no one breathed for the long moment that the other stretched his senses.
Glorfindel very nearly sagged with relief when the other pushed the door open and disappeared inside. That was all that they needed. As soon as the door closed they were moving blades and swords at the ready.
The room was dark, very dark. One of the warriors with them held the door open so that they could see. The room itself was empty; it held not one piece of furniture. Confused they all began to look around, trying to find where the other could have disappeared to.
It was Thranduil who found the crack. Their target had not fully closed the concealed door behind him. Gingerly he opened the door, looking through before moving he found him self in a kind of tunnel. With a nod of agreement they all entered the tunnel. It was only wide enough to move in single file.
The tunnel changed as they made their way onwards. It had gone from being made of wood to stone wall. Thranduil could even see the pick marks where the tunnel had been hewn from the rock. They were three quarters of a way along the tunnel when the first scream sounded. It was blood curdling and they all felt their blood run cold.
They hurried forward until the tunnel opened into a wide chamber. If any of them could have spoken they failed. It was a torture chamber pure and simple and they had never seen anything like it in their immortal lives.
Changes hung from the walls. Two held captives. One an Elf the other a human both were naked. They were unconscious; blood had dried on their arms from the wounds garnered from trying to escape their bonds. An assortment of whips lay in careful lines on the old table that stood to one side.
A pole with a large ring stood in the centre of the room and even from where they stood they could see the dark stain on the floor beneath it. It did not need for them to be a healer to know this was old dried blood.
Another table was placed near to this pole. It held an Elf maiden; she too was naked and unconscious. Under the bruises and scars she was pale and Glorfindel found him self wincing at the sight of the blood between her legs. She had been raped and multiple times by the look of it.
He did not have time to ponder this as another anguished scream rang out and they all headed toward where the sound had come from. Another door led into a small chamber with a makeshift bed in the centre.
Upon the bed was a male Elf, he was tied to the bed on his stomach. Hovering above him was another Elf if the long dark hair was anything to go by. They had caught who ever this was raping another. Cold rage filled all those present and Thranduil steeped forward sword raised ready to knock him out.
The other Elf turned before the blow could fall. Rising with fluidity only Elves had he lifted his own sword ready to counter attack.
Elrond's voice rang through the chamber a mixture of shocked horror clear. "Fingoran?"
The Elf used Thranduil's momentary laps of concentration to attack. Luckily the King realised just before the sword connected. It left a long bloody gash down his right arm but he could still fight. He attacked primarily to get the other disarmed. He succeeded finally, by pure accident as Thranduil was trying to stab Fingoran's shoulder the other moved and the sword sliced down his cheek.
Fingoran screamed dropping his sword he clutched at his face. Within minutes he was at the mercy of a dozen swords and had no where to escape to.
Glorfindel would never forget that day.
End of flash back
Glorfindel shook the memory away, glaring at the evil Elf in front of him. How he wished he could wipe the smile of off that smug face.
"You have no proof that it was me." Even his voice was smug and oily.
"I have your confession." Elrond looked down on his old friend and could only pity him. Once this had been such a wonderful mind.
"I suppose every one would believe you and you Thranduil. I still have to pay you back for this little scar. I only wish I could have finished the Prince off. I should never have left others to do it for me." They all watched as he winced.
It was then that Elrond noticed his ornate dagger still embedded into the flesh. He turned a quizzical eye to Estel.
"The blade is resting against a main artery in his chest, if I take it out he will bleed to death in minutes. So I left it where it was. I have given him some mild painkilling herbs." Estel sounded completely unperturbed by the other Elf's situation.
Elrond moved to take a look him self, but Fingoran would not let him. Hissing to him self as he pushed him self further up the pallet and away from those hands. Elrond eventually gave up.
"Why did you target the Prince?" Galadriel asked breaking the short silence that had fallen.
"He saw me; I was receiving information from my master and giving him the areas that those stupid Wood Elves would be in. He saw me and I had to make sure that he told no one else." Fingoran glared at her, he received a gentle smile in return, although it did not reach her eyes.
"What were Saefnol's orders?" Thranduil's voice was icy once more.
"To kill the Prince and his guard. They attacked them just as they reached the high pass. I had given them poison to coat their weapons with. It was a precaution, just in case they survived. It would prevent their wounds from healing and cause huge infection. I should have guessed that you would find a cure."
"I was lucky, Glorfindel was watching over the Prince and realised that something was very wrong. The Prince will recover."
"Pity, I really would have liked to see Thranduil suffer through the loss of his only child."
It took both Celeborn and Glorfindel to stop Thranduil from lunging at the other Elf.
Once the King had calmed down sufficiently Elrond continued.
"You said earlier about you should have been King; can you tell me your reasoning about that?" This was the one thing that had made him uneasy. Fingoran was his cousin and neither had any claim on the Mirkwood throne.
"Like I said our grandsire should have changed the order of succession. He should never have been King. He had ruined my Realm, encouraged the Orcs and spiders to advance." Fingoran was cut off by Elrond.
"You said your self earlier that you encouraged those, not Thranduil. Also you seem to have rather conveniently forgotten that we are no blood relatives of Thranduil and as such have no claim on the throne."
"He should have been able to stop them. A strong leader would have been able to. I do not see Orcs or spiders here. We should have been made heirs not him, he does not deserve it!"
Elrond raised an eyebrow at that. "That is true, there are no spiders or Orcs here, but then neither are we near to Dul Guldur and the evil that was once there."
"And is again, I am afraid. One of Legolas' last patrols took him near to the tower and it would appear that the Ring Wraiths are once more in residence."
If any one was shocked at this revelation they did not show it
"You also said that you arranged for Mirkwood's Queen to be murdered by the Orcs. Is this true?"
"Yes, I wanted him to suffer. It was just such a shame that the Princeling survived. He was not meant to live." He turned blazing eyes at Thranduil. "You should not have had an heir; she was far too good for you. She should have belonged to me; I hate you for taking her from me. She should have been mine!"
"You are mad. She chose me because I loved her for who she was. You only wanted a possession. She would have hated living with you. You make my flesh crawl. You did kill two that day, Saeliana was pregnant. I will curse you to the end of Middle Earth." Thranduil could not stop the tears that ran down his face as he remembered the joy that they had both felt at the news, just the day before her death.
No one apart from Fingoran knew what to say. "At least Mirkwood had one less mouth to feed."
This time they could not stop Thranduil from punching Fingoran and the Elf's head snapped around by the force, he would have carried on but was held back once more. He glowered at Glorfindel, who returned the glare.
"What are you doing for Sauron?" Celeborn loomed over the bed ridden Elf.
"Do you really expect me to tell you, even if I did know?" The sneer was back.
"No, but I wanted to ask." Was the calm reply.
"Is Sauron planning an attack?" Mithrandir had been watching all this in silence.
"If he is you would not stand a chance. Soon you will be bowing to him, Maia or not." Fingoran glared at the wizard.
"I will promise you know I will never bow to him. I will fight it until my last day on Middle Earth." Mithrandir's voice was proud.
"As will I." They all turned to Estel, surprise filling their faces, they had forgotten he was their.
Fingoran let out what could only be a cackle. He sounded nothing like an Elf and more than a little like an Orc. "You, fight against Sauron? A ranger? This is just too priceless. What can you do?"
Estel bent down so that he was level to the Elf. "More than you can ever dream of. I will not let Middle Earth fall to evil, if I have to die doing so I will be happy."
"I think that goes for every one in this room, Ion-nin." Estel looked up to see the pride that shone in his foster fathers eyes.
"What do we do with this piece of filth now?" Estel kept his voice hard despite the warmth that filled him at his father's words.
"Now he will be tried and sentenced. I think we can safely say that he will never be bale to hurt any one ever again." Galadriel stated to the room.
"You will have no where to keep me that I can not escape from." The boast was strong.
"Who said that we would be keeping you anywhere? Your crimes are enough to warrant the death penalty. Or Thranduil can keep you in his darkest cave under constant surveillance." Thranduil nodded his agreement at that suggestion.
"I would never give you the satisfaction." Before any one could move he gripped the dagger still in his chest and pulled it out in one move, gasping at the pain.
For one long, long second no one moved stunned by what they had witnessed. Elrond quickly tried to help, but the bright red arterial blood spoke volumes. He could do nothing but watch as his Cousin Exanguinated in front of him.
Fingoran grew paler by the second but he managed to look up into Elrond's face. "I will never forgive you." Then his eyes closed in death.
Elrond could only stare at the body before him. Some where deep inside he knew that the old Fingoran would be pleased to be released from his torment, that the evil Elf was another side to the Elfling that he played with as an Elfling.
Galadriel placed a pale hand on his arm and he looked up to find she had tears in her eyes. "Come let us leave this place. We need some rest."
With one last glance at his cousin he let himself be led from the chamber.
To be continued
Thank you all once again for reviewing and reading this story.
Replies to reviews:
Blue September Rain: Good thinking with the duct tape, it will keep you safe from harm. I hope this chapter reaches you before you leave for camp, if not I hope you had a nice time!
Legolas-gurl88: As you say she MUST bring him back or I will be camping on her doorstep till she does, just joking of course. Elves rule!!!!! Here is the next chapter for you.
PopcornandGreenery: Phew! Glad that the apoplexy has gone!
Barbara Kennedy: You read the situation perfectly, well done.
Deana: I'm sorry I didn't quiet make it in time, but here you go another chapter!
Laer4572: Please don't bite you nails that will hurt!
Well just one maybe two more chapters till this one ends. But never fear the next one is waiting in the wings.
See you soon,
Shell