Eldarion pushed his sheets off. He had to go to Aldoryth; he didn't care who tried to stop him. He just had this gut feeling that Elemariel was in trouble, and despite how much he might get annoyed with her sometimes, he loved her dearly and didn't know what he would do if he were ever to lose her. He packed his bag, grabbed a spare sword, and started to write a note explaining to Aragorn where he had gone. He hated to leave his family like this, but at least they were safe. He didn't know that this was a terribly wrong assumption to make.

Elemariel crept down the hall after she had visited one of the storage rooms. That was where she planned to take Legolas. There was food and water there, as well as clothes and other supplies, which they desperately needed, seeing as all their bags were taken. She was on her way back to get Legolas now. But as she turned the corner, some unseen figure grabbed her from behind. She drew her knife and attempted to release herself from her attacker's grip.

"Elemariel?"

"Legolas?" She whispered. She lowered her knife. "Well, at least you're awake. I was starting to get worried about you. Follow me, I found a storage room that we can stay in for now."

They made their way back to the room that Elemariel had found, each of the hoping that they would be safe there. At least for now. When they got there Elemariel began to clean Legolas' wounds. As she removed his bloodstained shirt she drew her breath in quickly. There were welts forming and blood running from the open slashes.

"Legolas, I'm so sorry. This is all my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid and so intent on scouting this place, you wouldn't have had to come and chaperone me. I'm so sorry." Elemariel could feel tears forming in her eyes. This was her fault, no matter how you looked at it. She was no warrior, she had seen no harsh winters, and she didn't belong here. She should have just let Boromir or Gimli do it; they wouldn't be in this position right now.

"Elemariel, please don't shed a single tear over this. If you think I haven't seen worse wounds, you obviously haven't heard stories from my father and Lord Elrond. Your father and I were a mess, and still are. We've been in just as deep before. Besides, we'll have one great story to tell when we get back." Legolas comforted her.

"What makes you so sure we'll ever get back?" Elemariel asked.

"El, you have your father's strong blood coursing through your veins. And I've been in situations like this before. We'll get out alright."

Elemariel smiled. As scared as she was, she couldn't help feeling a little bit stronger with Legolas here.

"You're bleeding." Legolas said, interrupting her thoughts.

"It's only a few small cuts." She replied, not wanting to worry him. The truth was that her head was killing her.

"You really are just like your father, always wanting your injuries to be a small thing." Legolas told her. "You know I'll have to look at it sooner or later."

Elemariel nodded, but she wasn't really listening. Elmindor and Legolas had met before, she knew it. Legolas had obviously defeated some evil scheme of his, and Elmindor had lost his throne and all of his power. Why hadn't anyone ever told her about this?

"Legolas, what happened the last time you met Elmindor?" Elemariel asked him. She was feeling brave at the moment, and she desperately wanted to know.

"I guess it's obvious that we've met before, isn't it?" Legolas asked. Elemariel nodded. "Well, you might as well know. You'll find out sooner or later, and I'd rather you heard it from me and got the real version rather then Elmindor's construed version of events. When I was young, when my mother was still alive, I met him. My mother was betrayed by one of my father's closest friends, Astelion. He told her that my father and I were in trouble when we were really helping the butler, Farlin, with supper, especially since Astelion had planted a cherry bomb in the kitchen. He told her that we had been out hunting and that we had gotten lost. Of course, she had no reason not to believe him. So she went with him into the woods, where he attacked her and brought her to Aldoryth. I followed closely behind them, but my father didn't know where either of us had gone, and when he sent out search parties he didn't think to look out that far. Anyway, they took my mother into their castle and when I tried to follow them, they caught me. When my mother and I were in the dungeon, just before they killed her, I swore that I would protect her. But they took me with her and chained me to the wall, where they forced me to watch her die. I did escape, obviously before they could kill me too. I killed Astelion and I thought I had killed Elmindor, but obviously I was wrong. That's my story." Legolas finished.

"Legolas, I'm so sorry. I had no idea." It had never occurred to Elemariel that Legolas didn't have a mother.

"It's okay, I'm over it. That was about a thousand years ago. It's just that I feel like I'm living that same nightmare over again. That's why I can't let anything happen to you. You're my best friend's daughter, and you yourself are my friend. I can't lose another person that I swore to protect."

Elemariel smiled at him. It had never occurred to her that he had monsters in his past too, like any other person.

"Don't worry about protecting me. You said yourself we'll get out of here."

"Yes, that I did." Legolas smiled