Beta: Laura and Tsunami Warning: A bit of violence and attempted non-con Disclaimer: Aragorn and Legolas both belong to Tolkien, as do many of the supporting cast and I do solemnly swear I am making no profit from this.
Authors Notes: This was written in September 2003 and published in November 2003 in the Melethryn #1 fanzine.
Part 4
Gimli sat with unusual patience as Aragorn explained to him what had occurred between himself and Legolas.
"You and the elf are amongst those I count as kin. I wish you nothing but happiness my friend," the dwarf said finally.
Aragorn looked up disbelievingly. "Gimli, have you heard nothing I've said. Legolas wants nothing to do with me, is in fact violently repulsed by my advances."
Gimli laughed. "I think he is anything but repulsed by your attentions Aragorn."
Aragorn shook his head sadly. "If he were at all receptive he would not have reacted so violently and run from me."
The dwarf sighed, rising from his seat at the side of the room and approaching the king still seated on the floor. He patted the man's arm sharing a sympathetic look over the king's head with Eldarion. "Lad the only reason he ran off is because he is not unaffected by you. He runs because he fears his response to you, not because he is repulsed. You must give him time and he will realise it, although perhaps not too much time, those elves spend far too much time thinking about things that they forget the rest of us don't have the same years available to us."
"Do you really believe so Gimli?" Aragorn asked, his expression wary, not willing to give in to hope just yet.
"I'd stake my axe on it," Gimli stated smiling. "Now, let's get you and the young lad here cleaned up. I shall go and see how the elf fares."
Aragorn nodded and rose from the floor before allowing his son to guide him from the training room.
Gimli walked slowly back towards his room, thinking about the sudden change in his friends' relationship. He was not concerned about the fact that both were male, love was a rare enough thing that you did not turn it away upon discovering it, and he was quite sure that this was not what concerned Legolas either. Perhaps the elf was simply confused, certainly he himself had never noticed any change in Aragorn's feelings towards the elf, and to be confronted so suddenly, which seemed to have awoken feelings that the elven prince had either been unaware of or had buried so deeply he seemed to have been unmoved by them, well it would certainly explain the elf's panic at the situation he found himself in.
Gimli arrived at the door to his own room but walked past, heading instead to his friend's room. He knocked gently on the door, knowing that with his superior hearing the elf would hear, yet there was no response. Gimli softly opened the door before peering inside. The room looked undisturbed, and although he knew that elves in general left little sign of their passing, the room also felt empty as though it had not held any occupants recently. Frowning Gimli left quietly and walked back down, deciding to try the gardens next, a well-known refuge for the elf.
He spent the next hour wandering the palace gardens calling out his friend's name and peering up through foliage into the dense branches of trees. He finally admitted defeat acknowledging that either Legolas had found somewhere new to hide or he simply did not wish to be found in his wooded refuge. Sighing he decided to return to the palace to see if Legolas had shown up there. If not he would leave the elf until he was ready for company, there was little else he could do.
Gimli's concern mounted as evening meal approached and there was still no sign of his friend. He made his way to the dining hall and seeing Aragorn's questioning glance shook his head. The king's shoulders dropped slightly, Eldarion sitting beside him put his hand on his father's arm as a gesture of support.
"I am sorry Aragorn," Gimli said as he sat beside the king. "I looked everywhere I could think of but could not find him. Perhaps he simply needs time to cool down."
Aragorn nodded slightly and then with a lack of enthusiasm gestured for the evening meal to begin.
Legolas returned to wakefulness with a start. With it came flooding the memories that lead to his unconsciousness. He gasped, immediately pulling himself up to a sitting position. He was forcibly halted and pulled back by his own momentum by chains that were secured to the wall and from there to his wrists. The prince manipulated his wrists as best he could, trying to work out how the manacles around him were locked and whether he could do anything about that. Finding himself helpless in that regard he turned to assessing his current predicament.
Wherever he had been contained was dark, so dark that the keen sighted elf could detect no light at all. The air around him felt cold and damp and it smelt badly of decay. His clothes had remained untouched but he felt manacles similar to those around his wrist, firmly attached to his ankles. He lifted his legs to test the range of the chains that held him down, and found he could not lift them more than a foot from the floor where he lay. He shivered slightly as he extended his senses, trying to determine his location. He felt an edge of panic when the only thing that greeted him was cold stone and Legolas had to force himself not to call out. He could not be sure that his captors would not hear him and he had no wish at present to attract their attention.
He thought back to his capture and the strange ideas Lord Cadofel seemed to be harbouring, and that brought his thoughts to Lord Harodel. He wondered whether the man had been left alone after his own capture. Realistically he knew it was unlikely that the other man was even still alive unless Cadofel had some plans for him. The older man would not want his actions to be announced so that he could be hunted.
The elven prince considered then exactly where he could be. He could not tell how long he had been unconscious therefore he could be anywhere. Most likely he had been removed from Gondor to some secret place that only his captors knew of. He slid his hands up and around his head to delicately probe at the wound he had received and hissed in pain as his fingers encountered a large lump that was crusted with dried blood, matting his hair against the wound. He thought then that he could not have been unconscious for too long since his healing abilities had yet to make any significant impact upon this injury.
He felt a small measure of comfort from this fact. The closer it was to the city the easier it would be for his friends to rescue him. Aragorn! Legolas felt a moment of regret that the king would think his absence was due to the events in the training room, and Gimli would soon be beside himself with worry. The dwarf was not a patient creature and after his search for his friend yielded only failure he would begin to imagine what fate could have befallen the elf.
A distant sound interrupted his musings. His keen hearing caught the sound of approaching footsteps. He knew he would be better off if he continued to feign unconsciousness before his captors, perhaps learning something as they spoke unguardedly. He quickly settled himself back into a lying position, relaxing his body in seeming repose. The footsteps grew louder, and the elven prince could discern several different treads approaching. The footsteps stopped and a new sound could be heard, that of a key turning in a lock. Keeping his breathing even he waited to see what would happen next.
"Quickly blindfold and bind him and then bring him to me," an authoritative voice said.
Legolas had to restrain himself from jerking in reaction to Cadofel's voice. Instead he continued to lie loose limbed as several men approached him, one immediately placing a rough cloth around his eyes and two others removing his chains from where they were attached to ceiling and floor. One large pair of hands then grasped him, before heaving him up to land hard across a broad shoulder, before he was carried from the room.
The group travelled in silence for a short while with enough twists that Legolas realised it was futile to attempt to map the area in his mind. His only warning that they had arrived was when he was tossed down hard onto a raised stone surface. The air rushed from his lungs in an audible oof, alerting his captors that his unconsciousness had been a ruse.
"Quickly get the chains in place," Cadofel called out.
The prince felt his arms and legs being stretched out a little, but was unable to react quickly enough to stop the chains attached to his manacles from being affixed to points above and below him.
"It seems that deceitfulness is in your very nature my prince," Cadofel said suddenly, his voice very close to the elf's ear.
Legolas frowned at the hypocrisy of that statement but said nothing.
"Enjoy your silence for it will not last long and soon you will be begging for release from this life," the older Gondorian snarled. There was a flurry of motion near the prince's head and Legolas felt the man move away from him before his voice rang out again. "Begin!"
Legolas was left with little time to brace himself as hands suddenly found his body and began tearing at his clothing until he was left in little but the rags of his breeches, enough only to cover his modesty. The chains securing him were pulled taut and the prince felt his unprepared muscles protest slightly at the mistreatment. A movement sensed at his side and suddenly fire spread across his chest as something tore through his skin like a hot knife through butter. The pain gradually began to fade into a dull burn but the prince's body remained tense feeling small ribbons of blood trail down his side. He assessed the wound through his restricted senses and decided that this had just been a shallow cut.
He had to bite back a sudden yell when again his chest was sliced, this time more deeply. Perspiration formed on the prince's body and he tried to brace himself against the sudden attacks. He locked his jaw in determination though, refusing to give voice to his pain and bring satisfaction to the sadistic men who carried out these acts upon him.
The attacks on his chest seemed to last for hours but in truth last only a short time. When the men appeared to have ceased for a time Legolas allowed a shaky breath to escape him. His chest burned fiercely and he felt his blood flowing in small rivulets from the gashes on his body, down his sides, to pool beneath him.
A hand caressing his head startled him and he jerked in reaction, he had been so caught up in managing the pain that he had not taken notice of what was going on around him.
"Having fun yet my prince?" Cadofel asked, and again Legolas refused to answer, stubbornly turning his head away from that voice. "Turn him over, start on his back," the Gondorian said finally, and Legolas braced himself once more.
The evening meal seemed to last an abnormally long time to the Royal family and their friend Gimli. Finally it had ended still without an appearance from Legolas and Aragorn, no longer wanting to remain in attendance with his people gestured towards his son and Gimli that they depart for his own study which would be considerably more peaceful.
As they moved to leave the room a hesitant looking servant halted them. Aragorn glanced quizzically at the nervous man blocking his way. The servant was young in appearance and seemed to have problems in finding his voice.
His patience reaching its limits the king of Gondor snapped out his question. "Yes, what is it?"
The servant appeared to visibly quail before his liege. Eldarion fearing they would never get a response from the man, stepped forward raising his hands in a placatory manner. "Who is your Lord?" he asked softly.
"L... Lord Harodel, Highness," the man responded, his gaze darting nervously between King and Prince.
"I see, and has your lord sent you here with a specific purpose?" Eldarion asked.
The servant shook his head, his expression becoming more frantic. He turned back to address the King. "Sire that is why I have come to you. My Lord Harodel has disappeared."
Aragorn's gaze sharpened and he focussed on the man before him, his ears taking in the shocked gasps of his son and Gimli. "Follow me, you will tell us what you know," the king said, already walking towards the exit. With a subtle gesture he beckoned his head guardsman to follow as well.
Aragorn took the group to a small meeting room set aside for more private sessions with his councillors or visiting dignitaries. He forced himself to take a seat and project a more calm veneer. Waiting until Corlis, head of his private guard, had joined them, Aragorn then gestured for Harodel's serving man to continue.
"Sire, this afternoon Lord Harodel dismissed us from his rooms, saying that he wanted a little privacy. This is not so unusual, he does so quite frequently when he wishes to think without anything to disturb him, or to entertain certain… visitors." Aragorn's face darkened at the servant's words, but he motioned for the young man to continue. "We did as we were told, continuing with our other duties, but later one of my colleagues spotted Prince Legolas entering Lord Harodel's chambers. We thought nothing of that either, for Prince Legolas had visited with our Lord before and Lord Harodel had informed us to make the prince welcome. However later, I made my way back to my lord's chambers to help him prepare for the evening meal but when I entered his rooms both he and the prince were missing," the young man stated.
Aragorn frowned. "What makes you think that your Lord and Legolas did not just venture out for a stroll?" he asked.
The servant again looked nervous. He reached carefully into his pocket before pulling out something wrapped in cloth. He unwrapped the item to reveal a dagger whose hilt was stained with dried blood.
Corlis moved forward then snatching the dagger from the servant and examining it more closely. "Why did you not bring this to the attention of one of the king's guards?" he asked, looking suspiciously at the man.
"I...I do not know...I..." the young man trailed off looking miserably at his feet.
"What is your name lad?" Eldarion asked gently.
"Froyen, your highness," the young man responded quietly.
"Well Froyen, it matters not who you reported it to, the important thing is that you did report it. I would advise you to go now to your lord's rooms and await news. It may be that this all has a simple explanation and if so it is better that you wait to see if your lord returns and then inform us," Eldarion stated and watched as bowing in acknowledgement of the dismissal the young man left the room.
"I knew it," Aragorn exploded as soon as the servant had left the room. He took the dagger from Corlis quickly examining the blood on the hilt. "Elvish blood! I knew he could not be trusted. He has taken Legolas," the king declared.
"My lord?" Corlis queried in confusion.
"Harodel. He covets Legolas and has taken him to carry out his nefarious schemes. We must mount a search quickly. They cannot have gotten too far from the city yet. Corlis, get your best men out, I want him found and dragged back to the city." The fury on the king's face ensured that Corlis was swift in leaving to carry out his liege's orders.
"Father, what makes you so sure that Lord Harodel is responsible for Legolas' disappearance?" Eldarion asked once Corlis had departed.
"You have seen how his follows Legolas around, always trying to lead him away, and Legolas is too caring to really know the black heart of men," the king spat out venomously.
"That is just your jealousy speaking lad," Gimli interrupted brusquely.
Aragorn turned astonished eyes upon the dwarf whose gaze did not falter under the stormy grey glare of the king. Finally Aragorn's gaze lowered, his shoulder dropping with defeat and the air leaving his body in a long sigh.
"You are very wise friend Gimli," the king said finally. "What, then, are we to do? I am sure somewhere there is foul play afoot."
"Indeed, for I know Legolas well and he would not have disappeared for this length of time without letting one of us know his intentions," the dwarf stated with certainty.
"There may be little we can do until Corlis reports his findings," Eldarion stated softly, not wanting to dampen the hopes of his father and friend. Silence greeted him.
Legolas lay still, forcing himself to take deep steady breaths instead of panting wildly as his body insisted it should be. The slashes across his chest and back had been bad enough, the knife seemingly laced with something that caused more pain, but that had been nothing compared to what came after. He had thought Cadofel had conceded defeat for the time being once his men had completed their work with the blades, and the prince had still refused to make a sound.
The Gondorian had then ordered for water and his men had poured the cooling substance over the bleeding Prince. Legolas had first thought that Cadofel felt some squeamish desire to wash away the sight and smell of the blood that had been spilt and the water had been refreshing at first. Then a searing agony tore through his body where the water had met the knife wounds. He could not withhold a whimper, his back arched painfully and his mouth open in a soundless scream of agony.
"It is surprising what life-giving water can do to a body when it comes into contact with a simple mineral," Cadofel said, his gloating voice floating near the Prince's head.
Legolas ignored the man in an effort to save his concentration and to work on pushing away the pain. However nothing seemed to work and as the intensity of the searing pain increased Legolas felt the edges of his consciousness dull, and with a small gasp he gave into the warm embrace of the darkness that beckoned.
Cadofel smiled as he watched the elf succumb to unconsciousness. He was pleased that the creature was not proving easy to break, it meant that the satisfaction he got out of this would be increased. He turned to one of his men. "Bring me the other one as well. Blindfold and gag him and then secure him to that wall over there," the Gondorian ordered. Movement at the doorway caught his attention. "Well?"
The man who entered smiled maliciously. "It went as you expected my lord," he stated simply.
Cadofel laughed in delight. "Excellent. Things go well indeed. Return to the palace and watch," he said turning back to the bound form in the centre of the room and effectively dismissing the man behind him.
A short time later his men returned dragging a bound Lord Harodel into the room. He was out cold from a blow to the head but that did not bother the older man, he was content to wait for both his captives to awaken before beginning again.
This time Legolas' return to consciousness was slower, leaving the elf feeling groggy and confused. He almost panicked when he realised he could not see, but then as he other senses came alive once more he understood that he was still blindfolded. He pulled weakly against the restraints but choked back a pained cry instead as the movement caused the pain from his wounds to flare in response.
"Will you not give in to your pain," a voice whispered from his left. "Scream just once and you'll feel so much better," Cadofel continued, his fingers idly tracing patterns upon the prince's wounded body.
"Nay, I will not," Legolas forced out through gritted teeth. His breath hitched as a sharp fingernail probed one of the gashes. "Why are you doing this? What do you want from me?" he asked finally, needing to understand the reason behind his abduction and torture.
The hand withdrew from his body. "Why am I doing this? There are many reasons actually but all of them are for my satisfaction. What I want from you, that is something different. At first I sought to woo you. I would have given you anything you desired, your only reason to exist would have been to pleasure me, but you show yourself as the whore you are, throwing yourself at lesser men. Now I would not taint myself by sinking into your used flesh, instead you will give me satisfaction with your death, however I have not decided yet when I will grant you that boon."
He heard Cadofel move further away from him, his senses focussed on tracking the man. He was unprepared for the sudden pain of a sharp dagger being embedded in his right thigh. A moan broke free of his lips, a wretched sound that should have invoked pity for the poor creature that had created it. Instead it was an encouragement to those that heard it and circling the elven prince, Cadofel's henchman waited until the Prince had recovered a little before driving a narrow spike into the prince's side.
Over the next few hours Legolas spent his time between fighting back the urge to give voice to his agony in defiance of Cadofel's twisted pleasure, and trying to fight back the pain whilst wondering when the next blow would fall. Jarik was not a foolish man, he had long since honed his skills in the service of Lord Cadofel and he used that to his advantage now as he teased the wounded elf, sometimes allowing minutes to pass between blows, at others striking one part of the body immediately after another. He could see the elf fighting the need to scream, and he renewed his efforts to force a cry of pain from the prince.
When he had finished his work the broken form of the elf lay still. Lungs labouring to draw breath into lungs supported by broken ribs, each breath sharply pulling along the sharp edges of bone that threatened to tear the thin lining of the prince's lungs. He looked over at his lord who sat with the now conscious Harodel. The younger man's blindfold had been removed for him to witness the prince's pain, and tears slowly tracked their way down his face. Cadofel smiled in satisfaction as he watched the apparent distress on the other noble's face. His satisfaction increased as he looked upon the semi conscious elf prince.
Jarik looked questioningly at his lord who nodded in response and the henchman released the prince from the chains that were no longer needed to restrain him. Muffled whimpers of pain escaped the prince as his arms were returned to his sides, broken bones and bleeding wounds announcing their displeasure at the movement with searing pain. The blindfold was then removed. Legolas winced as even the dim light of this torture chamber assaulted his sensitive eyes.
"You see how beautiful he is in his pain?" Cadofel remarked lightly to Harodel.
The younger lord made an angry sound through his gag, his eyes shooting daggers at his captor. Cadofel laughed, patting Harodel's head in a patronising manner before rising to his feet and walking over to his other captive. He looked down at the elf, the fair face untouched by any mark, the eyes glazed with pain and he felt his body stir in response.
Legolas was aware of very little beyond his own pain, but the feeling of fingers lightly stroking his face brought him out of his daze. He jerked weakly away but received only more agony for his actions, as his body protested the movement.
"So beautiful in your distress," Cadofel said in an almost wondering tone, his hand moving to stroke the golden hair, now damp with the prince's sweat and blood. "Things could have been so much easier for you had you not just given into me that first time. One dance and things would have been so different. You would have been cherished and protected instead of lying here in pain." Cadofel removed his hand from Legolas' hair instead taking one of the elf's hands into his own, turning it over and lightly stroking along the palm and slender fingers. "You have beautiful hands my prince, which is why I ordered them to remain untouched."
Legolas watched helplessly as his hand was taken into the grasp of his captor, Cadofel's words fading into background noise. He closed his eyes in despair. He could not hold back a muffled whimper as his hand was pulled along with his arm away from his body. He turned his head with effort to see what Cadofel was doing and was alarmed to see the tented breeches of the Gondorian. Cadofel pulled the elf's hand towards his clothed flesh and Legolas felt his gorge rise as his hand was forced into contact with the hard length of the man's desire. His fingers were forced into a parody of a caress that stroked along the flesh, which was hot even through the man's garments and regardless of the pain he knew it would cause, he struggled anew, his panic increasing as the strong grip of his captor refused to release him.
The Gondorian lord had been unable to resist as he took the elf's hand. He stroked his hand across flesh calloused from a lifetime of weapons training yet still remarkably soft and fair. He brought the hand lower to his cloth covered straining flesh, moving the fingers in a semblance of a stroke. He sighed in pleasure as the friction heightened his arousal. Then the elf began to struggle. He growled in frustration as the elf attempted to pull away from him. His ire growing, he released the prince before calling Jarik to him.
He cast another baleful glare at the elf before issuing his order. "Bury him," he bit out.
Jarik nodded, knowing what his lord had planned and he called for two of his men to come and assist him in transporting the prince. Between them they lifted the struggling form of the immortal uncaring of his injuries and took him from the room.
When he had heard and understood Cadofel's orders Legolas felt his heart clench tightly in terror, they were going to bury him, alive? He struggled violently against the hands that grasped him, but his own injuries served to defeat him, and it was not long before he lost the strength to fight further and the men were able to carry him unhindered from the room. They did not travel far and Legolas was unable to do anything as his body was tossed roughly into a small cell. The door was slammed shut and he was thrust into darkness once more as all light disappeared. He heard the sounds of a key in a rusty lock and then the footsteps moved away.
He lay where he had been thrown, unable to command his body to move. Of their own volition his senses stretched out but all he could feel was stone, all around him. Thick metres of stone that would trap any screams within. Legolas felt the weight of the stone crushing him and for the first time in his immortal life he wished death would come swiftly. He let out a scream of anguish, calling for his love and with tears streaming down his face he gave in to the dark embrace that called out to him.
Aragorn woke from his troubled sleep with one name on his lips. "Legolas!"
End of part 4
tbc