(-)Chapter 2(-)

Ecthelion frowned in confusion at this new information, "Fading?"

"Ai, sorry, fading is..." he flinched and glanced to the ground, "Is basically the only natural way an elf can die."

Ecthelion looked terribly alarmed at this.

Denethor growled and rolled his eyes, "And what would you know about elves? He is playing you father," he sneered, "to get his way. He knows not what he speaks of!"

That was it, Aragorn snapped, glaring full-out at the man in a way he had not done in years he sneered right back at him, "Then your memory fails you sire for I had indeed arrived with elves and these two were among them! I would not have you attempt to destroy my honour! I would not 'play' the Steward of Gondor and I do not do this for myself! I do it for the well-being of my fa-friends! They have not been proven guilty and I know they will not as well! If that is was it takes I will go out there right now and prove their innocence! I would not expect you, though, to understand why I do this because you have little love in your heart! One look at a person and you can say you do not like them! Is that not what you did with me? The day I came here to speak with your father you stood there glaring at me and for naught! I did not come here to argue with you Denethor, I came to speak with the Steward, I will abide by what he decides and only by what he decides. If you have a problem with this then so be it but I care not!"

The ranger stopped suddenly, looking shocked by his own outburst and simply stood there, shaking.

"I... Lord Ecthelion please, forgive me," he gasped, "I have not been myself, I will leave if you wish it."

Ecthelion simply shook his head, "Nay, all is well Thorongil," he looked down at the shaking human sadly, "I have seen the changes in you Thorongil. You have been working much too hard in the last four years. You need a break. If it is what you wish, I will go down with you and if you can find one piece of evidence towards their innocence, you may house them."

Aragorn glanced up at him hopefully.

Denethor growled, "Father! Have you not heard what he has said to me? How can you allow him to say these things to me?"

"Because he has a point!"

The younger man froze in shock.

"I really do hate to say this, but you have to stop judging people so rashly, Gondor does not need a steward that judges people unfairly!" he sighed, "I am sorry, but it has to be said my son, I will be back soon, take a break and think on what both I and Thorongil have said."

With that he left and with a sad glance at the man behind him he quickly followed the Steward.

The two reached the gates in no time and rode out to where the two children had been found dead and the elves had been caught.

Aragorn immediately stopped them and dropped from his horse.

Ecthelion watched the man from where he had been asked to stop, he had never actually watched the man at work and he had to admit it was quite interesting.

Aragorn scouted the ground, inch by inch, looking for something, anything that could be counted in their favour. He paused and nodded triumphantly, holding a small, blood-spattered brooch.

"Lord Ecthelion?" he spoke suddenly.

"Aye?"

Aragorn simply walked over and showed him the brooch, "Will this work well enough?"

"It could belong to anyone," he said slowly.

"Perhaps," Aragorn nodded, "but look, this is not an elven brooch, see here? The writing is Dwarven, the blond elf, he is a wood-elf, from Mirkwood, they are not on good terms with the dwarves for... various reasons, he would not own a dwarven brooch, the other elf is from Rivendell, he does not have one like this, I would know if he did, and he had his still anyway. It does not belong to either of them, and from the looks of the tracks here, it was dropped when the man that did this captured the children."

"How do you know it was a human?"

"There is my second piece of evidence, the tracks here are much too deep to be elven, they would have been much more shallow than these. But at the same time they are too light to be dwarven, their's would be much deeper. They aren't orcish. There would have been more of them, they wouldn't dare come this close to Minas Tirith, they would have been seen, and the boots are most definately human, orcs are heavier as well. And I do believe it's safe to say it wasn't a hobbit," he managed a slight smile.

"Indeed," the Steward looked impressed, "aye, that is plenty of evidence for me. More than enough. Unfortunetly I do not believe it will stand alone in a trial."

Aragorn nodded, "I'd like to know, if it is okay, what it was the children were killed with..."

Ecthelion frowned slightly and nodded, "It was with a short sword."

"Indeed? Did they not even check the elves weapons?"

"I would think they did... but they may not have realized what they were killed with, they may not have thought of it."

"Right... but you see, they don't carry short swords. They have bows, the one from Rivendell carries a longer, elven sword while the other has two blades, not quite as long as a short sword and thinner. They had the normal hunting knives I'm sure but no short sword, and there obviously isn't one here either."

Ecthelion's frown deepened, "I see... you have plenty of evidence here, do you wish to head back now?"

Aragorn forced a smiled and nodded, "Of cour-" he cut himself off and frowned, flipping over the brooch he glanced up at the Steward a wry look on his face, "this man was not too bright, his name in engraved on the back of this."

Ecthelion accepted it when it was handed to him and nodded, "I know this man, I will bring him in and question him. If we can get him to confess the elves are free to go."

Aragorn nodded, forcing yet another smile, though he was greatly relieved.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Aragorn quietly opened the cell door and knelt next to his father.

Elrond shifted and woke slowly as he felt his son's presence next to him.

Aragorn helped the elf sit up and managed a small smile, "Come, we are going back to my house."

Elrond frowned, "We? We are not allowed to leave Estel, you know this."

"But you are allowed, I've been given permission by the Steward to take you under my watch."

"You are going to be watching us?" Came a very quiet, weak, yet somehow amused voice.

Aragorn jumped slightly and forced a smile for his friend, "Yes Legolas, now come, the sooner we get you out of here the better."

The human helped his father to his feet and turned back to Legolas, who looked as though he fully expected to walk as well. Aragorn simply pushed the blanket back over him and lifted the elf off the ground.

Legolas blinked in shock before squirming weakly, "Strider... put me down."

"You'd end up hurting yourself if I did."

Legolas smirked weakly, "Dirty human..."

Aragorn just glanced down at him and sighed before kicking open the cell door which had swung shut and walking down the hall and carefully climbing the stairs.

Elrond followed him silently, carrying the pillows his son had forgotten, frowning. Something was very wrong with him, now that his sight was returning to normal he could suddenly see the fatigue in his sons very stance. He looked, the elf flinched, old. He quietly took in his son's slumped shoulders, the way he dragged his feet and even his eyes seemed aged and tired.

Aragorn opened the door and handed the guards the key back, they simply nodded, already knowing he had permission to take the elves.

Legolas had gone quiet and hadn't said anything since the man's failure to reply to him in the cell, he as well had noticed something was wrong.

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Teralin frowned as he watched his friend leave the citadel and glanced over at where Ecthelion was and quickly ran over to speak to him. He simply couldn't believe they had taken Thorongil's father and friend as prisoners, he knew there was no way they were the ones that killed the children.

"Lord Ecthelion?"

The Steward paused and turned, "Yes Teralin?

"You believed those two elves to be the murderers of the children?" he couldn't keep the shock out of his voice.

"I did, but I don't anymore."

Teralin looked relieved, "But you will still have a trial?"

"Unless I can find the real murderer and get him to confess."

"Sire... I think you may want to know..." he paused, "those two elves? There is no reason for them to attack us. I know them as well, from a few years ago, when we went missing for a while because he was poisoned."

"Indeed? Perhaps you will tell me who they are? Thorongil never mentioned their names."

Teralin nodded slightly, "Well... they are... the blond one? His name is Legolas... he is... the Prince of Mirkwood, and the other-"

"The Prince?" the Steward's eyes widened slightly, this could be trouble, if word got back to Mirkwood that their Prince had been captured by Gondor they could have a war on their hands.

"Yes sire... the other is Lord Elrond of Rivendell."

Ecthelion cursed himself quietly, "Ai..."

(-)(-)(-)(-)(-)

Elrond had opened the door of his son's house. It was not the same one the man had last time they were here. He had been moved up to the sixth level so it was easy to reach from the citadel.

Aragorn went straight in to lie the elf on the small bed in the second room.

Legolas stared at him a moment, glanced behind him at Elrond before turning back to his friend, "Strider... what's wrong?"

Aragorn shook his head, "Nothing is wrong Legolas."

"Something is wrong Estel," Elrond spoke, frowning, "you look unwell."

"I'm fi-ne," he faltered slightly as he realised it really wasn't true.

Elrond just stared at him, the look he gave his son clearly saying he wasn't willing to play this game with him.

"I'm tired," he said quietly, "that's all."

A/N

Elven Kitten: Hola:) Hope you all enjoyed the chapter! And I hope didn't TAKE OUT THE PUNCTUATION THIS TIME! ...if you haven't noticed that has been driving me insane... XP Lol :P

Gwenenth - Lol, I'm glad you liked the beginning... Lol, and about the previous stories? This is the 8th in a series Lol, (Of which the first few are terrible... XP) lol, but it can stand on its own. I hope you enjoyed this chapter!

Kalayna - Lol, trouble follows Aragorn and Legolas, poor Elrond just got dragged into it. :P I pity him... I really do...

(Elrond: from somewhere in the background I do not need pity...

Aragorn: Of course not... just medical attention...) lol hope you enjoyed:P

sielge - Lol, Legolas and Aragorn together is bad enough, we're lucky I didn't throw the twins in there... THAT could be disasterous... Meh... Hope you liked it!

IwishChan - Lol, poor Elrond and Legolas... nods lol. I'm glad you enjoyed the beginning! Hope this chapter lived up to your expectations:)

MicroChips - ... Farmers do wild things with animals and trees... Oo... DON'T FEED ECTHELION TO A BALROG! I need him... and he'll give... uhm... (Oh what the heck) Bob indigestion. nods oh yes... Lol, OO... uhm... yeah... sure... send the valar into the void... good luck with that! Something tells me you'll need it:P

Aranna Undomiel - Lol, yeah, the beginning was a bit abrupt but... meh, Lol, just sleep in school! Be aware, though, if caught... you'll be made fun of... by your teacher... XP Lol glad you liked it:)

grumpy - Glad you liked the beginning! And Elrond and Legolas in Gondor? It hasn't really been mentioned but it's really no big deal, they had just come to visit Aragorn. Shrugs :)

Sunnflowers - HI! AGAIN! So glad you came back to review:) Lol, I think that meant you like it? Lol, hope you liked the second chapter:) :)

marbienl - Stray chickens at your school? Oo... ish very confused o...k... oO ... As for how Elrond and Legolas landed in this mess? It's Legolas! Elrond's just an unfortunate that got dragged in behind him... :P lol, cha, if it was Denethor they'd be in quite a bit of trouble... or... well... I mean... they are but... they'd be... in more... -.- lol, oh... DON'T make their lives miserable... ah... well... I wont kill them:P yes yes... poor elves... :) Hope you enjoyed:)

E.K.: OKAY! There :) Hope you all continue to RR :) Namarie! And remember! FARMERS DO WILD THINGS TO ANIMALS AND TREES! (-Socials teacher who has a bad habit of making things come out SO wrong...)

Elenmeoi