The Wrong One
By Nefhiriel
A/N: Yes, I know I said I'd have this up on Wednesday, but you've all been so nice to me that I decided to post a day early : )Maybe I should apologize for not posting when I said I would... but somehow I doubt any of you will mind TOO much, LOL. I hope it's not too painful, anyways! So, this week I will not be needing to write an apologetic note! Incredible: yet another AUTHOR'S note! If I'm not careful, this could get to be a habit... My brain is VERY happy about its recent reprieve from wall-banging, though. Ever since I stopped, it's been giving me all kinds of lovely plot bunnies - and actually helping me write them too!
Another three word chapter title, I have strange little fetishes... (no wait! my sister's been helping me with chapter titles – WE have strange little fetishes ; )
A nice loooong chapter! (sort of) And you get to find out who the notorious "Creepy Guy in Black" is! Hope you enjoy!
- Dedicated to my Adar and Naneth – the worlds #1 parents (aren't I lucky?) -
Chapter 5: Innocence or Guilt
The four companions sprawled lazily in the library. All of them were endeavoring to act casual about the whole situation, but were being met with only minimal success. Ironically, Aragorn seemed the most at ease of them all. He rested his head against the back of his chair and listened to the birds as they sang their morning songs.
Outwardly he looked at peace, inwardly his thoughts were different.
What if this never ends?
He knew his family and Legolas would do all in their power to help him and he had every faith in Elrond's healing abilities. Still, his thoughts wavered back and forth. One moment trusting that eventually everything would come out all right, the next wondering if it was foolishness to continue thinking that way.
Am I setting myself up for the worst disappointment of my life? In the end will they really be able to do anything?
If that were true, he was beginning to ask himself just how he would be able to go on each day trying to hide his feelings from the others. There were no words that could describe the fear of waking up to pitch blackness and not being able to light a lamp or pull the shades. No words could describe the pain of only being able to feel the sun and never see it.
At the moment, closing his eyes and focusing on his other senses was the only thing keeping him from running and locking himself in his room. For his brothers' sakes and for Elrond and Legolas he kept up his façade of complete control, underneath that façade the swells of fear freely flowed. Or at least they had freely flowed. Although at first his bravery had been a complete act, now he gave his thoughts full range, he listened to them, and began to understand—to admit—that he might be blind forever. And he began to accept that fact. When there's bravery on the outside, no matter how forced, it is rarely completely absent on the inside and Aragorn's mock bravery was hardly a mockery anymore. Maybe it wasn't too much, after all, to say that he was, out of the four of them, the most at peace.
I must go on, if not for myself, for Ada, Elladan, Elrohir, and for Legolas.
The voice of his friend cut through his thoughts.
"No matter how hard I think, there's just no reason to any of this! Why would anyone want to kill either of you? True, you can both be a pain in the neck at times, but who would spend so much time and energy—not to mention risk of discovery—just because they wanted to get rid of you two?"
"So you're saying we're not even worth killing?" Elladan asked, glaring at Legolas.
"Don't answer mellon-nín," Aragorn spoke up from his corner, "it's a trick question."
Legolas winked at his friend, and then sadly realized Aragorn couldn't see him.
"Hannon le, Estel, for the warning." He turned serious, "But really, what cause would anyone have to try and poison you?"
"Your guess is as good as anyone's." said Elrohir.
"Why don't we make a list of all the suspects?" Legolas suggested.
"Well, there's Dolenil. Did you see the looks he was giving us?" Aragorn shuddered.
"He has been behaving rather awkwardly..." Elladan added thoughtfully.
"Look," Legolas rolled his eyes, "just because Dolenil hasn't yet mastered diplomacy doesn't mean that he would commit a murder."
"Besides, El," Elrohir joined Legolas in Dolenil's defense, "if a person were automatically blamed for everything bad that happens, just because he's awkward... I'm afraid you would have already been accused of many crimes, and more than likely would already be executed. Just think of that incident when you tripped on the carpet just as Glorfindel and Ada were coming out of the infirmary. That difficult and painstakingly constructed brew they had been working on for the last two hours was splattered all over the walls by a certain clumsy elf who came crashing down right on top of—"
"Are you finished yet, muindor?" brother Elladan asked glaring at his Elrohir, although not seriously upset with his brother—yet.
All of them were glad to see things returning somewhat to their normal state. Elladan would have sacrificed a lot more than his dignity to help Estel. It was embarrassing, but seeing everyone laughing again was ample restitution for the loss of his pride.
"Not nearly! It's hard to say who really got the worst of it," Elrohir held the rapt attention of everyone but Elladan, "Glorfindel got it splattered all over himself, ruining his outfit and turning his arms green. And Ada," he shook his head in sympathy, "he got a face full. With the mixture of Caradon and the Pladron weed in that brew they were both stained green for almost a week! And the smell...! So you see, if ever an elf were to receive an award for incompetence and gracelessness, Elladan would surely get first prize."
"You can quit boasting about me Elrohir." Elladan remarked dryly, "I feel quite flattered enough already."
"You're sure?" Elrohir offered generously.
"I'm absolutely, without a doubt, completely certain."
"Just remember I'm always here to help raise your self-esteem—that's what brothers are for."
Legolas and Elrohir burst into laughter at the sour face Elladan made. Aragorn didn't need to see the look—it was one that could easily be judged by the others' reactions. Eventually even Elladan succumbed to the infectious laughter.
"Now that you've all had a little fun at my expense..."
"Don't worry Elladan, I know an elf who's even more clumsy than you." Legolas made an attempt to comfort him, "As a matter of fact, I do believe he's one of the clumsiest beings I've ever met..." a fond smile played across Legolas' face.
"An elf, the clumsiest being you've ever met?!" Elladan whistled, "This I have got to see."
"But you have to admit, we do have a point: Dolenil can't be blamed for everything simply because he doesn't appear to like any of us." said Elrohir, interrupting Elladan and recalling the conversation to the original subject, "And what motive would he have?"
"The same as anyone else." Legolas sighed, "None at all. At least not that I can think of. There's also Eglaer, he would have had plenty of time to slip the poison into the glasses."
"He had the time, but do you really think he had the heart?" asked Elladan. "Besides, whoever did this was very premeditative and knew exactly what he was doing. Tarmal isn't a weed you just find growing on the roadside. Eglaer is a bright boy, but he's just that—little more than a boy! How in Arda could he know so much about poison? He's been with the rangers ever since he was very young. I highly doubt Taradin has been teaching him the fine art of poisonous plants and their fatal qualities."
"But there's no one else who would have done it!" Elrohir said.
"Obviously there its someone, Elrohir." Aragorn rested his head against the back of his chair, "That seems to be the only thing about this whole situation that we do know. People don't just accidentally slip poison into a glass of lemonade and then walk off thinking, 'Oops. Do you think I should tell anyone?' And like Elladan said, Tarmal is extremely unusual. You don't find it growing just anywhere, someone planned this carefully."
Legolas laughed.
"That would be a big 'Oops'." a mischevious smile played around the corner of his lips, "We do have another suspect."
"Who?" asked Aragorn.
"Why Ceboril of course! He had the time as well as the motive. Wasn't it just a few days ago, Estel, that these two dragged mud in and tracked it all over Ceboril's recently cleaned floors? If that's not a motive for murder, what is?"
Aragorn pretended to consider it seriously.
"Yes, you're absolutely right! I can just picture Ceboril with a bloodthirsty look in his eyes, slipping the Tarmal into their glasses. Although, I never thought of him as the poisoning type... No, not Ceboril, you two would just have woken up one morning and found yourselves without your heads—now that would be Ceboril's style!"
They all laughed.
"I agree, poison isn't Ceboril's style at all..." Elladan said, "Must have been someone else. I still think that Dolenil is our prime suspect. We must be careful to an eye on him, I don't want him slipping away before we have all this straightened out."
Aragorn's brows furrowed.
"But did he have the time? It's possible, but is it likely? He would have to be awfully fast. Eglaer is the one most of the evidence points to. I don't want to believe that he could have done this. Taradin trusts him, and I trust Taradin. Still, he could be wrong about Eglaer, as we all could." Aragorn sighed and pulled himself out of his chair, quickly heading for the door.
"Were are you going?" asked Elladan, all three elves rose.
"Only out into the garden for a little while." Aragorn answered.
Elrohir joined Elladan.
"We'll come with you."
"I know you're both concerned, but I'll be fine—really. I've lived here ever since I can remember. I could find my way around with my eyes closed. I'll manage to find the gardens without a guide." Aragorn sounded weary, but not angry. All he wanted at the moment was to escape out from under his brothers' protective gazes, and have some time to think.
He was half-way out the door before Elladan and Elrohir hurried forward to follow.
Legolas immediately placed a hand on each of their shoulders to restrain them.
"Daro!(stop)" He whispered fiercely, "Let him be. He needs time to sort out his thoughts, he needs to be alone for awhile. Let him regain his self-confidence, or at least give him enough time to gather his emotions! It's not every day that you go blind and you two aren't helping him any, hanging over him like Crebain ready to descend."
"Are you through yet Naneth?(mother)" Elladan grumbled.
"No, I'm not done, ion-nín, (my son)" Legolas answered in a condescending and authoritative voice, garnering a smirk from the twins. "Come on, I have some more questions for Ceboril."
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In the kitchen, there was no sign of Ceboril. Legolas stuck his head out into the dining area, but turned around when he heard Elladan utter an exclamation of surprise.
"Legolas! Look at this!"
Elladan held up a small, circular brooch. Legolas and Elrohir joined Elladan in staring at the object.
"Where did you find this?" Legolas took the brooch from Elladan, turning it over in his hand.
"I found it on the floor, underneath the ledge of the counter." Elladan indicated the spot with the tip of his boot. "It must have come loose from someone's cloak and then gotten kicked under here."
Elrohir grinned.
"What were you doing lying on the floor?"
"I saw something sparkle and decided to see what it was." Elladan defended himself, "And it was a good thing too, otherwise we would have missed this."
"What's so important about this particular brooch?" interjected Elrohir, "It could be anyone's!"
"Not hardly." Legolas spoke up, he studied the brooch and turned it over and over, as if somehow expecting to find the answers to all their questions. "This doesn't look at all familiar to me. I don't think I've ever seen it before in Mirkwood or Rivendell. It's not Eglaer's, that's for sure. You two live here though, have you seen anyone in Rivendell wearing this?"
They both shook their heads.
"Even if we had, Legolas, what does that tell us?" Elrohir gestured exasperatedly, "Right now Rivendell is swarming with people. Just because someone lost a pin in the kitchen doesn't necessarily mean that same person was in the kitchen yesterday slipping poison into our glasses. Whoever lost this could have lost it a week ago for all we know."
"I think I can find out the latest day this could possibly have been left here..." Legolas said vaguely.
"Would you mind letting us in on your thoughts, mellon-nín?" Elladan took the pin back.
"If you two geniuses would just use your brains!" Legolas smirked, sighing dramatically."Think about it: how often does Ceboril clean the floors?"
"Just about every day!" Elladan exclaimed excitedly, catching on to what his friend was thinking, "Here, you two go and show this to Ada. I'll find Ceboril and see how long it's been since he last cleaned the kitchen floor. Then I'll join you. Do you think we should go get Aragorn?"
"No, give him some more time." Legolas smiled sadly, "I have a feeling he would only feel clumsy and useless if he tried helping us right now. He needs to get used to being... Well never mind, let's find Lord Elrond."
Legolas and Elrohir found Elrond in his study, pouring over a pile of huge books. It was not hard to guess what he was reading about.
"Ada, Elladan found this under a table in the kitchen where Celboril prepared the drinks." Elrohir began, "He is checking to see how long it's been since Ceboril cleaned that floor so that we'll know how long it's been there." Elrond closed the book he was reading and turned to take the brooch. "Have you ever seen it before?"
They watched as Elrond carefully inspected it.
"I know I've seen this before, and recently at that. Where was it..." He paused thoughtfully, "Ah yes, now I recall. It was on the cloak of one of the younger hunters, his name was Curuar I think. Taradin introduced him to me."
Elladan entered the room.
"Ceboril says that he cleaned it two days ago. I told him about the brooch and he's absolutely certain he would have noticed it if it had been there then. Do you recognize it Ada? Have you seen it before?"
"Yes, I've seen it before, on the cloak of a boy named Curuar."
Elladan clenched his jaw and, despite the serious circumstances, Legolas could hardly keep himself from laughing. The expression on his face—jaw clenched, eyes set and determined—made him look exactly like Elrond. Legolas sobered when he remembered Aragorn. This Curuar was the one responsible for the fact that his friend was now forced to live in darkness, possibly for the rest of his life.
Raising his hand, Elrond halted Elladan from running off to mutilate the young hunter.
"Don't go jumping to conclusions ion-nín. Curuar may be innocent. Give him a chance to speak before you accuse him. Murder is not something to be taken lightly. If he has attempted it, he will pay for it. But for now we must assume he is innocent until we're able to prove it one way or the other."
"We have his brooch, doubtlessly left when he was hurriedly leaving after he put the poison into our glasses." Elladan pointed to the pin. "What other proof do we need?!"
"For one thing, a motive would be nice." Elrond was having difficulty not showing his amusement at his son's impetuosity. "And we still can't be sure that he dropped this yesterday afternoon, or even that it was he that dropped it." he continued before Elladan could plunge into another tirade, "I agree that we must summon him, I only ask that you give him a fair hearing. Things look bad for him, but if you were in his place, wouldn't you want a fighting chance? If he is innocent and we accuse him, not looking any further than the obvious, then the real murderer goes free."
Cooling off a little, Elladan nodded.
"I'll have Mora and Glamdil bring him."
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Curuar stood nervously in the middle of the room. Fearfully he sought the faces of the elves that surrounded him. He rested his glance on the most friendly of the four. Elrond returned his gaze, not unkindly, but steadily and searchingly, soon forcing Curuar to drop his gaze to the floor.
"There are some serious accusations against you." Curuar didn't raise his eyes when Elrond began to speak. "Do you recognize this?" he held up the brooch, Curuar got a glimpse out of the corner of his eye and his head shot up.
"Where did you get that?" barely concealed panic laced his voice.
Elrond repeated himself.
"Do you recognize this?"
"It's mine." Curuar swallowed hard, "Please, it was my father's. May I have it back?" he timidly held his hand out, as if he expected it to be cut off any minute. He flinched slightly as Elrond stretched his hand forward, but his eyes opened wide when all he felt was the cold of metal touching his palm.
"Someone placed some poison in two glasses that were on their way to my son's room. It was either placed there by Eglaer, the boy who carried them there, or by someone else while they were left in the kitchen." they could all see the color drain from his face as Elrond talked. "Now that," he indicated the brooch Curuar clutched in his hand. "was found under the same counter the drinks were left sitting on. Ceboril cleaned the floor two days ago, he is sure that wasn't there then." Elrond rose and gently placed his hand on Curuar's shoulder, "What have you to say in defense of yourself?"
The gentleness of the elven lord seem to undo Curuar, for he looked up at Elrond with tears in his eyes.
"He put me up to it! I- I didn't realize," he stammered, "I didn't realize it was poison! If I had known, I never would have done it! I swear, I wouldn't have! I thought he was my friend, this was supposed to be a joke, I never meant to hurt anyone! It didn't actually kill anyone, though, did it? I heard you say Strider will be alright..." he ended meekly.
It was more than Elladan could stand, he stood up and grabbed Curuar by the collar.
"No, no one is dead! At least you didn't manage to kill me or Elrohir like you planned! Oh no, you only blinded my brother!"
"I'm sorry," he choked, fear making him almost unintelligible, "I'm so, so sorry! I never meant for that happen."
"Well, whether you did or didn't—it happened! And you're the one who did it!" Elladan nearly dragged the shorter boy off his feet.
Elrond put his hand on Elladan's shoulder.
"Ion-nín." the voice Elrond used stopped Elladan instantly. "Sedho hodo.(be still, be calm)"
Elladan let go of Curuar's collar. Giving him one last dark look, he stepped back in gesture that seemed to say 'he's all yours, but if you grow tired I'll be happy to maim him for you'. It was a look Elladan did exceptionally well.
With Elladan somewhat under control, Elrond turned back to Curuar.
"Now, tell us."
The words came rushing out, one after another, in a confession that both shocked and angered them. But their anger was not at him, it was reserved for another...
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Glad to be free from the suffocating indoor atmosphere, Aragorn strolled through the gardens. He halted briefly as he came to the spot were he knew the back gate was, smiling again as he thought of the panicked state his brothers would be in if he dared to wander out into the woods. He walked by the gate and commenced to pace the garden paths. No, his brothers had enough to worry about without him playing pranks on them. Besides, when you try to find your way through a woods in the middle of the night, even a woods you knew well can become dangerous. It didn't matter that it was still morning, to Aragorn everything was now eternal night. Aragorn, practiced woodsman though he was, knew better than to attempt something so foolhardy.
He closed his eyes as the wind blew against him, pulling his dark hair back away from his face. Aragorn smiled: the wind. There was something you could feel, hear, even smell. You didn't need eyes to sense the wind. He had never experienced so much pleasure from something as simple as the sound of the wind rustling the leaves of a tree. Suddenly he tensed. That wasn't the sound of rustling leaves, it was the sound of a footfall. Then there was another footfall, closer this time.
And now it was right behind him.
"El?" he asked uncertainly.
No answer.
If El and El are trying to sneak up on me they're doing an unusually bad job of it.
"Mellon-nín? Is that you Legolas?"
Still no answer. He stiffened as he felt the cold metal of a dagger come to rest under his chin. A voice whispered in his ear, distorted and cruel sounding, but also strangely familiar.
"I wouldn't move if I were you," the voice mockingly added, "—Estel."
To Be Continued...
Reviewer responses:
polingly: Orthodontist...Cruel...Unimaginably heartless cruel...No, I wouldn't wish their "treatment" upon my worst enemy...I can easily see why you'd feel guilt over being the only sibling to escape torture (grins). Poor orthodontist, they're only doing their jobs...But why, pray tell, do they have to do it with such delight on their faces? Hehe - but I'm done with braces! YAYS! No more pain, no more Tylenol, and no more refraining from jaw-breakers : D And yes, I love to heap guilt upon poor Legolas ; ) Making all these characters miserable has become a hobby of sorts for me (laughs evilly). Oooo, I want to hear what your suspicions are! Leeanne already told me hers. Don't tell me you suspect Chauvelin too?! LOL. Well, now you know who the creep is – are you happy? He's not EXACTALLY your prototype villain... I wouldn't be surprised if a great deal of people have already guessed correctly by now as to who's behind all this. I suppose it's embarrassingly obvious to all you intellectual Sherlockians (yes, that is the real word for a Sherlock Holmes fan : ) out there. Oh well, I'm not much of a mystery writer (even though I AM a Sherlockian!) : b I hope my angst/action/adventure writing will be better (bites lip). This mystery at the beginning is only a very small part of the story, actually. And to tell you the truth, I hadn't expected my "creepy guy in the black cape" to attract so much attention! Again, I guess I'm just not seeing my story from a readers' point of view. Oh, I'm so glad that you, and so many others, liked my attempt at humor! I can only pray that you don't get bored with my weird sense of humor as this story progresses... Just ask Imbecamiel, half the story (even during moments that are SUPPOSED to be all sentimental and emotional) seems to have become filled with my wackiness.(a small voice in her head laughes manaically)Well you wrote it, genius! WHO'S wackiness do you expect this story to be filled with?! (sighs) Perfect, now I've got voices talking to me. Hmm, it does have a point though...(smiles) Thanks for the review, gwathel-nín : )
elvingirl3737: Oh good, I'm glad that you thought the chapter was sweet. I must admit, I was afraid that most would just find it boring : b As you can see, it's already getting a lot more exciting. I'm so glad nobody gave up on me during that rather "dry" spell of writing : ) Yeah, I too like to find stories that way (by looking at other stories by authors I like) – it really works! Imbecamiel says to say thanks for saying thanks, LOL. Thank you for recognizing all the work that she did "behind the scenes". Also, thank you so much for following this story, and for telling me what you think of it!
sielge: I'm so glad you liked my non-cliffy : ) Thanks for reviewing!
Mornflower: OH NO! YOU LEFT YOUR BAND MUSIC AT SCHOOL?! Boy, sounds traumatic... : ) Being home schooled, I don't know the excruciating pain that comes from leaving at school something so essential to life - and having to wait an entire DAY to retrieve it! Hehe, I loved your response to Legolas: "Calm down you Drama Queen...er King....er Prince" That really had me giggling, LOL. And no, a power outage is NOT the true cause of Estel's blindness : ) Interesting theory though... Thank you, mellon-nín, for sticking with my story, and for both of your lovely reviews!
naesse: (blushes bright red) Such wonderful compliments! Thank you so much for continuing to review my story!
Lady Leeanne: Oh, mellon-nín...Your review was a positive life-saver! I'm serious! I was having a simply horrible day: up in the attic, packing 12 years worth of stuff into boxes... : b I felt half-dead! And then along came your lovely review to brighten up my day : ) I'm sorry if you're not happy (typing things up twice is such a head-ache!), but - you certainly made my day – so thanks for doing it! And I know what you mean about computers being difficult (like not letting you repeat letters). Sometimes I start to feel like it's really alive and out to get me! But then, sometimes I think that my piano teacher is really a Nazgul in disguise... Hehe, yes, I do have a rather vivid imagination. Chauvelin!? There's a suspect that I hadn't thought of before... But then, "Sneaky Guy in Black" really does sound like a description of our favorite terrorist, LOL. Well, even though he isn't the "Sneaky Guy in Black", feel free to make his life miserable. (mutters) Stupid terrorist, putting Percy in prison! (Um, yeah, I still haven't forgiven him for Eldorado...) I guess you can make life miserable for Curuar too, if you still hate him that is. Of course, you'll have to get past his elven guards first... But you're sneaky enough to do that, right? Hehe, the F.F.F.F.F! I like it... ; ) BTW, how bad are your feet? Mine are horribly painful, and often make my back hurt too : b I got arch supports, but they're kind of hard to wear in sandals (sigh). Thank you sooo much for reviewing! (throws all dignity to the wind and huggles Leeanne) Thank you!!!
Drylith: I agree with you (as do most LotR fans!) that it's a pity PJ didn't include the twins or the rangers in the films... I do like, though, his addition of elves at Helm's Deep – that was really awesome! I'm so glad you think I'm doing a good job "filling in the gaps"! Ah, we all know how school can be : b Oh, well... Thanks so much for continuing to review!!
springfairy: You're my second reviewer (at least that I know of) that's from Germany – does this mean that I get to say I'm an internationally known author? Cool... : ) Oh, and don't worry, your English is EXCELLENT! Really, I admire people, like you, who can use other languages so well – I'm embarrassingly deficient in that area : b My story is one of your favorite stories?! Wow! I'm so happy that you liked the way I did all the banter and joking between Legolas, Aragorn and the twins! I know it's a common theme in many stories, so to know that I'm bringing the characters to life in a new and interesting way is highly encouraging! And Mora... Well, I was kind of nervous about attempting him, but I'm glad he's working out too. I have every hope of being able to continue updating every few days, so I hope I'll keep you happy : ) Oh, and don't worry, PLENTY of "Aragorn angst" coming up ; ) As far as I can tell, the desire for that is by no means uncommon, so you can tell your sister that there are LOTS of other people just as insane as you : ) Thank you for reviewing!
jacquelinestel: I can just picture "sweet" little Estel and Legolas dancing over your grave : ) Don't worry, I'M happy to have you back (ecstatic in fact!), even if they're not (sticks tongue out at ungrateful characters). They just don't know what's good for them. (thinks a moment) Either that, or they know us authors all too well... Estel, a valet driver? Ooo, do you think there's any chance he'll be hiring out? I'd LOVE to hire him ; ) That's right: "Prince Charming" doesn't "sprint" off into the sunset! Get yourself a CAR Legolas, or better yet - a HORSE! LOL. I just HAVE to comment on one more joke in your review. Estel: "Oh! My head!" JE: "Yes, it's still there." Hehehe...You're such a fun reviewer : ) I'm glad you liked that way I handled Legolas' guilt. He's always so logical about things like that, isn't he? Thanks so much for the humor!
HarryEstel: Oh, You are TOO nice to me! It was WONDERFUL to get FOUR reviews from you! Thank you for going back and taking the time to review all of the chapters – it was very encouraging to say the least! And yes, you're right, Aragorn does manage to get himself into more than his fair share of trouble, a fact that everyone loves to point out to him : ) Again, thank you SO much for reviewing!
Lizzie Blakeney: Ah, so it's finally decided to let you see the rest of my story - hurrah! I'm so glad you came back and persevered : ) I've started uploading this differently, and it seems to be working, since no one has mentioned having problems. I hope it works! I'm sorry this is such a short answer (got to run!), but I am truly greatful for your review. I promise to be a little more chatty next time : ) Thank you!
A special thanks to HarryEstel for putting me on her authors alerts!
Another cliffy coming up! It's called "Without a Trace". Please review? (pleading look) I've got a REALLY hard week ahead of me, and I could really use the encouragment! And, besides, I'm DYING to know what you think about this chapter in particular...(evil grin) In many ways I consider this chapter the "real" beginning of the story - so let me know your thoughts, whatever they may be! You have all been soooo kind to me, and I appreciate all of your reviews very, very much!!! Thank you all! I hope to have the next chapter up on Friday.
- Nefhiriel
Vice President and Co-founder of the SNWCG, and proud new member of the F.F.F.F.F (winks at Leeanne ; )