When Elrond reentered the study an hour later, Glawar looked up at him, and Elrond thought he saw tears in his eyes. "I am ready to talk," he said quietly.
It seemed Dorlarth had been indoctrinating other elves for quite some time, twisting everything the elf lord and his family said and did to reinforce his message. Glawar gave the names of several other elves who had been involved in the butler's schemes. Upon investigation, it was discovered that none of them were still in Rivendell. They had all gone to Dorlarth's stronghold, on the other side of the Fords of Bruinen. Upon questioning, Glawar admitted that he didn't' know where exactly his stronghold was. Dorlarth had withheld this information from him and his brother because, as Glawar now admitted to himself, he knew they would be captured, and he didn't want them to be able to give anything away. Glawar gave up the few things he knew about its location. Dorlarth apparently never suspected that he would lost his psychological grip on any of his followers. His pride was a very dominant characteristic, as was obvious upon reading the notes he had left. And he had indeed managed to get away with much without ay suspicion falling on him.
Elrond stood as the interview concluded. "Thank you, Glawar," he said wearily to the younger elf. "Perhaps with the information you have given us, we will be able to save this situation." He turned to leave.
"My lord," Glawar said softly, causing Elrond to turn back to him. "I am sincerely ashamed of my brother and myself." His voice did not falter, although tears ran down his cheeks. "I understand that I must accept the consequences of my actions, but I beg you, my lord, do not let my brother be buried without honor, for he was misled and knew not what he did."
Elrond examined Glawar's face closely. There was no hint of deception in the elf's gray eyes, only grief. He turned to his seneschal. "Untie him, Glorfindel," he said. Glorfindel followed his order immediately. As he cut the ropes that held Glawar, Elrond spoke. "You have atoned for your actions with your forthrightness. Your brother will be buried according to custom. Go, join the vigil."
Glawar fell to his knees before the older elf and kissed his ring. "Hannon le, hîr nín."
000
Darkness was falling by the time Glawar left the house. When Elrond himself left the study, he went in search of his sons. He had not allowed them to listen in on Glawar's interrogation, fearing that their presence would tie the captive's tongue.
He found his sons waiting impatiently in the library. As he entered the room, Elladan jumped up. "Did he comply?" He voiced the concern of his brothers.
"Yes," Elrond said, motioning for his son to take a seat and taking one himself. "Unfortunately, he does not know where exactly Dorlarth's stronghold is." He saw Estel's shoulders slump. "Have hope, my son," he said with a small wry smile, putting a hand on his youngest's shoulder. Estel's expression lightened a bit at the pun. The name he had been called in Rivendell from childhood was Elvish for "hope". Elrond remembered the time years ago when Estel had persuaded his brothers to play hide-and-seek with him. Elrond had walked into his study to find his elder sons, some thousands of years old, crawling around on the floor and giggling like children.
"What are you doing?" Elrond had asked mildly. The twins started and looked up.
Completely deadpan, Elladan had answered in Elvish, "We've lost Hope, Father." Of course, this had set Estel into a fit of giggles, and they had found him in a trice.
But now it wasn't Estel they were in danger of losing, it was Legolas. And Katie. If the invective Glawar had spouted off toward Estel had been a product of Dorlarth's indoctrination, then the elves in whose clutches the girl was now in were no great lovers of humans. He feared for her safety. Even if they managed to rescue Legolas before the poison killed him, Dorlarth and his followers might decide that Katie's life wasn't valuable as leverage and might kill her out of hand.
He told his sons what Glawar had told him, including what he knew of the location of the stronghold. At this, Estel leapt to his feet. "We must leave immediately!" he exclaimed. "With those clues to the location, we can track them."
"Not in the dark," Elladan said regretfully. "No doubt Dorlarth covered his tracks well. We will need daylight to find them."
Estel took a turn around the room in frustration. Stopping behind his chair, he gripped the back of it. In a low voice full of desperation he said, "But they may already be dead."
As if on cue, the sound of the lament for Gúrvel began outside. Elrohir rose and put an arm around his little brother's shoulder. "There is nothing we can do but hope," he said, and somehow his voice raised all their spirits. "Ilúvatar brought Katie here for a purpose which she has not yet accomplished, and Legolas will have his purpose in the future, as well. We must have faith that their lives will not be cut off." He looked around at the rest of his family. "It has been a hard and tiring day, and if we are to track them at first light tomorrow, we will need sleep. You especially, muindor-nín," he added to Estel.
The others rose as well to head off to bed. "You are right, Ro," Estel said, turning and hugging his brother. "Thank you."
000
Katie awoke cold and stiff. A movement alerted her to someone's presence nearby, and she jumped as someone took the soup bowl from her frozen fingers. Staring up in terror she beheld one of her captors, filling the bowl with soup and then setting it down beside her again. Completely ignoring her, he left the cell again.
Katie slowly sat up, rubbing her sore neck. Her fingers were so cold they didn't want to bend. Her first thought was to check on Legolas. It was hard to see in the darkness of the cell, but she thought he looked more drawn than before, and his skin was very cold, despite the blanket they had given him. Katie was very concerned about her companion's condition, but there wasn't really anything she could do to help him. She ate the soup.
For several hours, there was nothing Katie could do but sit and think. Elrond would never give up Vilya, and even if he did, she didn't think she and Legolas would get out of this place alive—wherever this place was. So all her hopes were focused on rescue or escape. Rescue sounded likely—she was sure that the elves could find them. And if they couldn't… that left escape.
Katie stood up and walked about the cell a bit. She couldn't find any weaknesses in the chamber. There were no windows, either—she assumed they must be underground, which would account for the cold. Another draft blew in under the door, and she turned her attention that direction.
The door opened inward—maybe she could take the pins out of the hinges! But her icy fingers scrabbled uselessly on the pins. She could barely get a purchase on them, and after scraping up her hands, she realized that they must be made so that the pins couldn't be removed, at least not without tools. Katie's shoulders slumped in defeat. But she wasn't finished yet. She checked all around the door for weaknesses in the construction or the wood. She found none. They were stuck.
Time passed. Katie felt her stomach begin to growl again—it was well past noon. She was awfully hungry. She had had little to eat the day before, what with being unconscious for half the day (a large, sore lump on the back of her head attested to the knock they'd given her) and had only had a small bowl of soup this morning. She assumed they only planned to bring her two bowls of soup a day, one in the morning and one in the evening.
Those times, then, would be when the door would open. Was there some way she could take advantage of that opportunity? But she could think of none. There were two guards outside the cell—when she put her ear against the door, she could hear them talking. Even if she managed to knock out one, she couldn't get the other. And if, on an outside chance, she took them both out, she would have to leave Legolas to go for help. She wouldn't put it past Dorlarth to kill Legolas then and there out of anger—she couldn't abandon him.
As she came to this conclusion, the door suddenly swung open and both guards strode into the cell. Before she could even react, they had hold of her arms and were taking her out of the cell, locking the door behind them. Katie's stomach clenched with fear. What were they going to do now?
000
When Estel said he wanted to leave at first light, he wasn't joking. It was still dark out and the laments were still going when the twins found themselves in the courtyard, saddling up their horses. Elrohir felt bad for the guards, who had been personally roused by Estel at an ungodly hour that morning to accompany them. He noticed Aerchir yawning very widely as he tightened his horse's girth. He caught the elf's eye and grinned wryly at him. Aerchir smiled back apologetically and shrugged.
He seemed about to say something, when a sudden hush fell over the company. He and Elrohir looked up to see Glawar, his face drawn and pale after the night's vigil, leading a saddled horse toward them. Silence met his arrival, broken only by the notes of the lament and the sound of shuffling horses.
"Glawar." A calm and quiet voice drew all eyes toward the speaker. Lord Elrond stood on the steps of the house, Glorfindel just behind him.
Glawar left his horse and dropped to one knee before the lord of Rivendell. "My lord," he said, bowing his head and saluting.
"Why do you come?" Elrond asked without preamble.
Glawar looked up, although he did not rise. "I have come to offer my services to the search party, in reparation for my crimes," he said humbly. Elladan and Elrohir shared a look of surprise and suspicion. Glawar did not at all misinterpret the silence which greeted this pronouncement. "I understand that my honor is certainly in question at present," he continued, "and I would wish to repair it. I will act according to your will my lord." He bowed his head again, waiting for Elrond's judgment.
Elrond looked out at his sons. Elladan nodded, almost imperceptibly. Elrond looked back down at the elf kneeling before him.
"Go forth and prove your honor, Glawar Gwestion."
Glawar stood, and with another bow and salute, moved off alone to finish readying his horse. Conversation rose in the courtyard again.
Estel and the twins moved forward to speak with their father, who gave them each a hug. "Be careful, my sons," he said. He lowered his voice. "And watch that one carefully. I believe his has the best of intentions, but it is better to err on the side of caution."
"We will be careful, Father." Elladan spoke for all of them. "You stay safe, as well."
Elrond smiled. "I will be quite safe—especially with this blond shadow behind me." He shot an amused look at Glorfindel, who simply smiled.
000
Estel took point, with the twins right behind him. They knew their human brother was surprisingly adept at tracking for his age. They only took a few false leads and made good headway until midday. Then, it began to rain—a little drizzle at first, which didn't bother the searchers. But the rain grew heavier and heavier, and soon it began to efface the trail. Soon they were forced to dismount in order to see the tracks.
Finally, Estel straightened up and pushed his drenched hair out of his face. "It's no use," he said despairingly, "the trail is gone."
000
The two elves blindfolded Katie and tied her hands, all of which served to put her in a barely-contained panic. Between that and her hunger and cold, she was shaking as they led her up some stairs and into the open air.
It was a bit warmer outside, and a great deal more humid. A heavy rain was falling, and Katie grew very wet as they led her to… well, she didn't know where. She tried hard to keep track of what directions they turned and how far they walked, how much time passed… But it was impossible. She had never been good at estimating time even in the best of conditions, and she was certainly not in the best of conditions now. Put bluntly, she was terrified.
Eventually they stopped, and Katie felt stone beneath her feet. Someone opened a door, and then they were marching her in the building. When they stopped her there was a little pause in which she could hear her clothes and hair dripping on the floor. Abruptly the blindfold was pulled off. She gazed around dazedly as they untied her hands. They were in a tidy little study with stone walls and small windows. There were shelves on the walls full of odds and ends, some of which were familiar, some which weren't. The only furniture in the room was a desk and two chairs. Katie observed all this in a moment, but her attention was captured by the other elf in the room—Dorlarth.
"Leave us," he commanded, and the guards bowed and left the room, shutting the door behind them. "We have things to discuss," he added, with a wicked smile. A chill ran down Katie's back that had nothing to do with the temperature.
Hannon le, hîr nín.: Thank you, my lord
muindor-nín: My brother
Gwestion: son of Gwest
AN: Wow, that one felt like record time. I realize that nothing much really happened in this chapter, but I got to a good stopping place and I knew there wouldn't be another for some time, so I decided to publish now. Glawar kind of showed up out of nowhere last chapter, but I'm really beginning to be interested in him… Another instance of my story going off on its own and writing itself, huddled in a dark corner of my dorm room while I'm away at class…
To all my reviewers: You guys are the best! I posted late in the evening and when I checked my email the next day, I didn't expect to see any reviews… And lo and behold, I had SEVEN! Yahooooo! You guys rock!
Big thanks also to Arami, who pointed out that Glawar didn't like humans, and that meant that Katie was in more danger. I actually hadn't considered that—I just sort of randomly wrote that bit of prejudice in there without associating it with Dorlarth's teachings. So Arami pointed it out, and lo and behold, it's in the chapter! (In her own words, no less—hope you don't mind.) Never say I don't read reviews. :)
RenegadeKitsune: Thanks for signing my guestbook! I'm in the process of checking out your deviantART page. Yeees, persuasive goodness… It rather disturbs me that your mom has the hots for him, but on second thought, I can understand it. But he's a bit old for us… and for your mom… and for EVERYBODY, since he's freaking 6 and a half thousand years old! Lol I think it would be so awesome to be Lady Macbeth. Ooh, you might like "Snow Falling on Palm Trees", another of my fanfics, that my AP Eng classmates and I wrote. One of the pieces it parodies is Macbeth. And I totally understand people being surprised when you're suddenly all dramatic. One of my friends is so quiet and shy and… then she does this incredibly loud, maniacal laugh, and people STARE… cracks me up.
Madd Hatter: hee hee! Yes, the twins… —sighs happily—
ThoseRainyDays: He spilled!
Arami: Thanks again for your perceptivity! Yes, I really liked Katie when she tried to protect Legolas. But as for them being safe… Well, you decide!
EresseElrondiel: I am totally jealous! I want pointy ears! I have to make do with latex ones that don't match my skin! Lucky! (Wow, I think I used too many exclamation points, there…)
baka-san: Was that quick enough? Lol
Saltwater: Actually, dear, that chapter was just as long as most of the rest—about 3 ½ pages before the author's note and double-spacing. I've set that as a minimum for myself. Lol—you sorta worried me when you said your "poopie" was cute. Took me a moment to realize you meant your dog… My cat also gets mad when he's sitting on my lap at the computer and I stop petting him to type. Yes, it would've been quite amusing if she had managed to knee him in the groin—she may get her chance yet! Hee hee… You're giving me ideas… WHAT on EARTH have you been DOING that you only get that much sleep! Geez! Oh, and you disturbed me greatly with that bit about Gimli's beard…
werewolflemming (again, the coolest flippin' screen name ever!): Thanks!
Okay, guys, let's see if you can break the record for the most reviews of a chapter before I check my email tomorrow morning! Ready… set… review! lol Hugs from the twins all around! Oh, and if anybody ever wants to chat, my AIM SN is Artekka. I'd be thrilled to hear from you!