Here's another chapter! Hope you enjoy!

In Minas Tirith the level of unrest was steadily rising. Éomer, having come for the wedding only to find the bride kidnapped and the groom missing, had quite a few choice words for a weary Aragorn. That, plus the pressure by the lords to do something about the Imduinath situation, was causing Aragorn to think that living in the depths of Mordor didn't sound all that bad.

What weighed most heavily on the king's mind, though, was the parting argument with his brother. Yes, he knew that the twins and Glorfindel had gone with Faramir, but so many things could still go wrong and the last words out of his brother's mouth had been full of such anger. As the king stood on the balcony outside his bedroom he was startled by his Ada's voice behind him. "You worry about Tir."

"Do you not?"

Elrond came to stand beside his foster son. "Indeed. I always worry when my children are out of my sight. Invariably something is bound to go wrong." The elf-lord looked out across the city and surrounding lands. "Arwen told me the two of you had words before he left. Or more correctly, he yelled and you had no time to even speak in your defense."

Aragorn sighed and rubbed his hand over his eyes. "I cannot even understand how he came to think the way he did! I may care for my country, but I would not use my brother for my own gain."

"There is a reason he was so irrational, and it was not just stress from having his beloved fiancée kidnapped." The king looked as his father and saw that the elf seemed lost in a memory. "I do not know if you remember being told the story, since you were not there when it happened, but when Tir was about 12 years old he was kidnapped by a group of ruffians who wished for a heavy ransom." Aragorn stared, having only a vague recollection of this tale. Elrond's taut lips told the king that this was not a pleasant memory for the elf. "The kidnappers drugged him with a very powerful, very addictive potion. I will not go into the details, but know that even after he was rescued Tir suffered greatly."

The pieces fell into place in Aragorn's mind. "He fears the same for Éowyn."

Elrond nodded but before he could say more someone began pounding loudly at the door. Aragorn groaned inwardly and opened the door. A young servant-boy stood there, panting. "My lord, I just came from the Houses of Healing. Someone tried to kill Mistress Fulla!"

Aragorn's stomach dropped. "Is she alright? Did they catch the villain?"

The boy held onto the doorway, obviously having run the entire way from the Houses. "Yes to both, my lord. They are holding him in the cells on the Sixth level."

.,.

Aragorn stormed into the holding cells and ordered the guards to take him to the prisoner. At seeing the man chained behind the iron bars, Aragorn froze in his steps. "Lord Fuingon?"

The small, portly man glared at the king. "Forgive me for not bowing, your majesty."

Aragorn almost could not believe it. Actually, he could believe that Fuingon was capable of murder, just not by his own hands. "Why did you attempt to slay Mistress Fulla?" The man said nothing, just sat there looking contemptuously at the king. "Who are you working for? Daendil?" The former ranger's sharp eyes caught the glint of fear in the lord's eyes and decided to play on that. "Attempted murder is a capital offense. You could be executed as soon as I can arrange for an axe-man." Fuingon's fear was clearly seen now. "Tell me what you know and I may lessen your sentence."

...

Aragorn strode out of the cells where his captain of the guard waited. "Call out the men. Search the city and arrest Lord Valglin and Lord Daendil for the attempted murder of Mistress Fulla, the kidnapping of Lady Éowyn, and for treason against the king and Gondor." As the captain hurried to do his lords bidding, Aragorn faced south, worry lines creasing his forehead. The other information Fuingon had given had hit personally. 'Beware, Tir. I fear what these foul vermin have in store for you.'

.,.

Faramir was growing more frantic with each passing moment. Nearly a week had passed since Éowyn had disappeared and there had been no sign of her. Glorfindel, Elladan, and Elrohir were more concerned with Faramir's health. He slept little and ate less. That, plus the weight of what they assumed was an argument with Estel, worried the three elves. They neared one of the patches of woods that surrounded a large, rocky chain of hills.

As they rode, Faramir's mind was on one thing: Éowyn. Would he get to her before she was hurt? Was she already hurt? New thoughts entered his mind. 'What will happen now that I no longer am Steward? Will she still marry me? Will Éomer let her marry me? Can I even marry her without a way to provide for us?' He shook the thoughts away. It did not matter right now. Saving Éowyn mattered.

Finally, they stumbled onto a clue. Well, Elladan pushed Elrohir off his horse and the younger twin fell on the clue. Unfortunately. "Ugh, gross Elladan!" The older twin had to chuckle at the sight of his brother with his hand covered in horse manure. "At least it was not your face. Though that would have been an improvement."

Glorfindel coughed to catch their attention. "If you two would quit acting like children long enough, you might notice that the pile Elrohir so gracefully landed on is not from one of our horses. This, along with the hoof-prints in front of us, most likely means that a rider passed through here not too long ago. I can also see signs showing movement of a small group of people."

Faramir, who hadn't even laughed when his brother landed in horse manure, smiled at this turn of events. "Perhaps we are finally getting somewhere. Come on."

As the elves followed the newly revitalized Faramir, Elrohir rolled his eyes at his brother as he daintily wiped his hand on his twin's shirt. "Can you believe Glorfindel called us children?"

"And after that incident with Ada's hairbrush and the mud?"

"He needs to learn a lesson in childishness, my brother."

Glorfindel rolled his eyes. "I heard that Elrohir!"

.,.

After riding a little while Glorfindel had them stop and dismount. The horses would stay where they were while the elves and their human companion continued on foot. It did not take them long before they reached what seemed to be a camp of ruffians. There was no sign of Éowyn so Glorfindel motioned for the twins to move around to the other side of the camp while he and Faramir moved closer to try and overhear a conversation two of the men seemed to be having.

"This is getting out of control. What is 'e thinking, taking 'er off like that?"

"We don't question Moradanur."

"Well I didn't sign up to be played like this. 'e told us it was just a 'ostage-taking. 'e didn't say anything about a trap for the Steward."

Faramir had heard enough and stepped into view. Instantly the camp came on alert, only to find themselves facing three elves and a very angry former Steward. "A trap for me? This is not a very good one if I may say."

The lone female ruffian walked calmly up to him. "We are not the trap, my lord. We did not know about the trap until Danny took Éowyn away."

Faramir's hand tightened around his drawn sword. "Where is she?"

The female ruffian didn't seem threatened. "Put down the sword, my lord. Unless you want to prove that Éowyn's words about 'ow kind and good you are wrong."

Faramir's hand wavered slightly. "And I am just supposed to trust you?"

She sighed. "Listen. My name is Naicalle. My brother just took the woman you love as bait to trap you, though I do not know 'is reason. I 'ave no wish to fight you, or your elves 'ere. My men, on the other 'and, are raring to fight so unless you want your 'ead rolling to Mirkwood and the rest of you to Belfalas, I would put down the sword."

Though wary, Faramir saw the truth in Naicalle's eyes. Lowering the sword he glared at her. "Fine, now tell me where Éowyn is!"

Naicalle bit her lip. To tell Faramir would be to betray her brother. Yet she felt that the situation was indeed going out of control. Moradanur was no match for three elves and an angry fiancé, nor had she wanted to trap the Steward either. She just wanted to be able to feed her men through the winter. "I will tell you where 'e took 'er if you promise us food and shelter through the cold season and amnesty from the king."

Faramir hesitated, then cleared his throat. "I am no longer the Steward of Gondor and cannot speak for King Elessar."

Elladan, though startled at this little tidbit of information that Faramir had conveniently forgotten to tell them, stepped forward to speak. "I, on the other hand, am the eldest son of Lord Elrond of Rivendell. Tell us where Lady Éowyn is and I promise you refuge there."

While Faramir shot his brother a grateful look, Naicalle quickly realized that this was the best she would get. "Agreed. Danny took 'er east that way. I assume 'e is taking 'er to one of the caves in the 'ills there. Though 'e probably left a trail since it is a trap and 'e wants you to find 'im." She hesitated before speaking again. "I would ask if you would be easy on Danny. 'e is just trying to support us the only way 'e knows 'ow."

Faramir smiled at her. "I thank you for your help. And I will be as lenient as possible to your brother, given the circumstances." He looked at the other men in the group, not liking the looks of some of them. Glancing at his elven companions he saw Glorfindel nod at him. "One of my friends here will stay with you." At Naicalle's frown he quickly added, "For your own protection. There may be others out here that may not like you for helping us."

Naicalle of course knew that the former Steward didn't fully trust them, though that was expected. She also knew that this golden-haired elf that stayed behind as Faramir and the identical elves left could probably take on the entire band and win. This was firmly assured when the elf introduced himself, grinning rather wickedly. "Hello. My name is Glorfindel, formerly of Gondolin. You may have heard of me. I like killing things in my spare time."

Forgive me. I could not help putting that last line in, it just struck my funny bone. Of course he doesn't really kill things for a hobby (that we know of). Also, Elrond's mentioning of Faramir being kidnapped has not been fully explored, though I plan on it in the future. I'm planning a whole long series (kinda prequels) based on Elrond that lead up to and perhaps past the events in these stories. It will probably take me until the day I die, but hopefully I will get them finished.