Dorlarth motioned to the chair. "Have a seat."

Katie willed her voice not to shake and betray her. "I'd prefer to stand."

He shrugged. "Suit yourself. My goodness, you look cold!" Katie had begun to shiver. With false concern, Dorlarth pulled off his ornate coat and draped it over her shoulders. "There. Better?" Katie refused to comment. Dorlarth smiled. He knew he was upsetting her. "How are your living accommodations?"

Katie tried to match his flippant tone. "They're a bit cold."

Dorlarth chuckled, apparently amused that she was playing along. The change in him from caring servant to sadistic and maniacal traitor was disturbing to witness. He had been playing a part before—and playing it quite well, in fact. He was an accomplished actor. Very well, she would act, as well.

"Do send my compliments to the cook, as well," she continued sardonically. "I particularly enjoyed the room service." She turned and took the seat before he had offered her. After all, her knees were shaking, and it wouldn't do to collapse in front of her captor. As she turned to sit, she felt something heavy hit her leg. There was something in the pocket of the coat. Carefully repressing any sign of surprise, Katie seated herself regally and eyed Dorlarth with what she hoped looked more like annoyance than fear.

"Yes, couldn't have you starving on us just yet, could we? Although it will soon be too late for the princeling." Katie clenched her fists in her lap. He didn't seem to notice. "You know, I would be tempted just to kill you rather than take the trouble to keep you alive," he said conversationally. "I could have no use for humans. But you can be useful as leverage." He seated himself behind the desk and eyed her curiously. "Elrond has a particular reason to want you alive, and I want to know what it is." He stared intently at Katie, who tried hard not to blink. "Do you have some hidden power? No, that can't be," he sneered. "A human whelp with no prestigious elven lineage like Aragorn's to lend you power." Katie didn't know who Aragorn was, but she kept her mouth shut.

"Strange how silent you've suddenly become," he said, rising from his chair and walking around the desk. "You would never shut up in Elrond's house." He leaned down to speak in her ear. Katie suppressed the urge or flinch, or worse, run. "But we have ways of making you talk."

Katie felt herself blanch. Just at that moment, the door swung open and a guard strode in. Dorlarth shot up and practically shouted at him in Elvish. The guard replied humbly but urgently. There was a pause.

"We will continue this discussion in a moment," Dorlarth said coldly to Katie's back, and left the room, locking the door behind him.

Katie let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, and sagged in her chair. Her mind flew to the object in Dorlarth's pocket, and she pulled it out.

It was a little glass vial, about two and a half inches long, which contained a silvery-looking liquid. Just as Katie was wondering what it was, she remembered Elrohir's words: "He probably carries the poison on his person."

She griped the vial tightly. It was the antidote! She had a chance to steal it now—the chance would not come again.

With sudden cunning, she pulled a similar object off one of the sleeves and slipped it in the pocket so Dorlarth wouldn't immediately realize the vial was gone. Now how to take the original with her? The elven tunic and leggings she wore had no pockets, and she couldn't put it in her boots for fear of breaking it.

Katie heard a voice outside the door. Dorlarth was back. She had to think!

000

"Now what is this about orcs?" Dorlarth asked the other elf angrily once they were away from his study. He was quite irritated with the guard for interrupting him in the middle of an interrogation which was just beginning to be enjoyable.

"A couple bands of the them have been seen heading this way, apparently from Dol Guldor," the guard answered nervously. "They were being followed y a band of warriors from Mirkwood. What if they should happen upon us, either here or at the cells?"

Dorlarth had tuned his follower out after the words "Dol Guldor". Was it possible that the Necromancer suspected his plans? Suspected that he would use the poison he obtained from that witch king to gain an object of great power? If the Necromancer had guessed that and decided to take Vilya from him, all would be lost.

"My lord?" the elf repeated nervously. Dorlarth snapped back to the present. "We must prepare in case of an attack," he commanded quickly, moving back toward the study. You will take the prisoner back to the cell." He opened the door.

Katie still sat in the chair just as he had left her, terrified and doing a good job of hiding it. But Dorlarth could smell fear. He had smelt it on Orain and he loved it—it made him feel powerful. But he couldn't revel in that power right now.

The guard pulled Katie to her feet and Dorlarth pulled the robe off her shoulders and put it back on. "I'm afraid we must postpone the rest of this conversation for later," he said coldly as the guard blindfolded her and bound her hands behind her back again. As an extra jab, he added, "And I look forward it." The girl was led away.

000

Katie didn't know what had upset Dorlarth's plans, and at this point, she didn't care. Her knees shook with nervous energy as the guards took her back to the cell. Once inside, they untied her and set her evening bowl of soup on the floor, then locked her in again. She waited a tense and breathless moment, listening. When she was sure the guard wouldn't come back in, she dropped to her knees next to Legolas. Fear gripped her heart when she heard his shallow and irregular breathing. Placing a hand on his cheek, she realized he was shaking.

"Oh God," she muttered frantically, "don't let it be too late!"

A few moments before Dorlarth had come back in the study, while she was thinking of how to carry out the vial, a familiar image had come to her mind. It was the end of her favorite movie, Much Ado About Nothing, and in the final scene, Beatrice had received a love letter from Benedick. She had had no pockets, either. So Katie had done what Beatrice did and seated herself back in the chair, reminding herself not to jump as Dorlarth reopened the door. And he never suspected a thing.

With trembling fingers, Katie undid the top button of her tunic and pulled the vial out her shirt. Like Beatrice, she had simply stuck it down the bodice of her camisole.

She pulled Legolas up to cradle his head in the crook of her arm and pulled the cork out of the vial. Trying to steady her hands (and praying desperately that the unconscious elf would swallow it), she poured the liquid into his mouth and waited.

It seemed and eternity before anything happened, although really, it could only have been a few minutes. Legolas's breathing slowly evened out and deepened, and then he murmured something Katie couldn't catch, and stirred. Finally his eyes opened and looked around dazedly in the darkness before focusing in confusion on her face.

"Legolas. Can you hear me? Say my name."

His dry lips parted. "Katie," he whispered.

"Oh, thank God." She bent over him and gave him a very relieved hug. Then she pulled back. "Don't you scare me like that again!" she scolded.

Legolas grinned lopsidedly. Closing his eyes in weariness, he rasped, "Good morning to you too, Sunshine."

000

All Katie could say was, thank heavens for those elven healing abilities. Since Legolas had been without food for such a long time, she persuaded him to drink the soup, and then he had fallen into a deep sleep, his eyes shut and his breathing regular. When he had woken in the early hours of the morning, partly refreshed, she could no longer put off his questions about their situation.

"Where are we?" he asked, sitting up stiffly and pulling the blanket around his shoulders.

"I honestly don't know," Katie said glumly.

"How did we get here, then? How long have I been ill?"

She sighed and pushed her hair back out of her face. "Do you remember when we were sitting in the Hall of Fire and Dorlarth came in with a tray of sweets?" He nodded. She decided to shorten the story. "Well, he poisoned the almond ones because he knew you'd be the only one to eat them. You've been unconscious for three days. Yesterday, somebody distracted everybody, and came into the infirmary and kidnapped us. I tried to stop them, but they knocked me out. And the next thing I knew, we were here.

"They took me to see Dorlarth today—well, actually I guess it would be yesterday, now. He wanted to find out why Elrond wanted me alive. But he was interrupted by one of his guards, and they left the room long enough for me to find the antidote and hide it, and then they brought me back here." She shrugged. "That's all."

"Well, now that we are both conscious," (he smiled), "how are we going to get out of here?"

"I've already thought of that," Katie replied.

She explained her plan of escape to him. Then they waited for their captors to bring breakfast.

The guard never stood a chance. He unlocked the door to the cell and took a step inside. He had only long enough to register that there was only one figure inside before the door suddenly flew into his face with great force. Legolas had hidden behind the door and slammed it back into the elf's face, breaking his nose and knocking him instantly unconscious.

The second guard jumped up at the clatter and stepped over his companion's inert body. "Hey!" he managed to shout, jumping around the door to attack Legolas. But Katie threw the blanket over his head from behind and pulled it tight around his face. His hands went automatically to the back of his head, at which point Legolas grabbed him by the neck, spun him around and slammed his head against the stone wall, knocking him out cold. The guard slid down the wall and slumped over.

Legolas and Katie looked at each other, both panting hard. Katie knew Legolas should not have found the exertion that strenuous—he had healed remarkably since the poison had been counteracted, but he was still very weak from his long illness.

They stumbled out of the cell and dropped into the guards' vacated chairs, slowing themselves a moment of respite. A little soup remained, both Katie's portion and what was left of the guards', and they split it (although Katie made sure Legolas got a larger portion). A little color seemed to be returning to his face, and he looked a bit stronger when they were done eating.

Legolas stood up. "We need to leave; we have tarried too long already."

Katie nodded in agreement, and went back into the cell and fetched the blanket. Tossing this to Legolas, she dragged the guard that lay in the doorway into the cell and relieved him off his keys. She then locked both unconscious elves inside. She turned back to Legolas to see him smiling at her. He raised one eyebrow. She shrugged with a little grin. "Just desserts," she explained.

They took the keys with them, locking the door to the building, as well. "We can let them out later." Katie smiled widely. "Much later," she amended.

They turned to survey the landscape around them. All that was visible of the building was the bit at the top of the stairs they had just ascended; all the rest was underground. They were in a forest in the early hours of the morning. There was a slight mist, and the light was grayish. But that wasn't what either one of them were thinking about.

Neither one of them had any idea where they were, or how to get back to Rivendell.

"Oh, shit," Katie said.

"Indeed," Legolas agreed.

000

After losing the trail, the search party had split up in twos and scoured the immediate area, with no results. Elladan had volunteered to go with Glawar, in order to keep an eye on him. But Glawar had been no trouble, and the only words he had spoken to his companion were necessary communications over the course of the search. Elladan didn't know whether to be glad or worried that Glawar was behaving so well. Was he really repentant, or was he trying to get everyone's guard down before he made his move?

They did not sleep long that night, and were up at first light to continue the search—to no avail. The rain had continued on and off all night, and the ground was so muddy that trying to find a trail was nearly impossible. They split up and fanned out again, only to have to come back together with no clues as to the whereabouts of their companions. In late afternoon, the twins and Estel had a conference.

"We are finding no signs," Elladan said. "We need to make a new plan."

"Like what?" Estel asked, more sharply than he meant to. "I can think of no other way to find them, or Dorlarth's stronghold."

Elrohir had been thinking. "He must have obtained the building materials from somewhere," he said slowly, "and there are no villages nearby. So he must have gotten them from Rivendell."

"You are right," Elladan answered, also deep in thought. "We should return to Rivendell and find the stonemasons—ask them what they know."

Estel shook his head. "You can. But every moment we are not looking for Legolas, the situation grows more desperate. I will continue the search."

"Estel, I would not have you search alone. If there—"

He was cut off by Glawar's voice. "There is something out there!"

000

Faced with no other option, Katie and Legolas just started walking. They did not speak much—there was really nothing to say. About noon, Legolas suddenly stopped and leaned against the nearest tree, shutting his eyes. He was breathing hard.

"Are you alright?" Katie asked in concern.

He nodded. "I am just a little weary."

Katie examined his face in the light. There were dark circles under his eyes, a testament to his tiredness, and she knew perfectly well that he hadn't gotten enough to eat to make up for his three days without food. Come to think of it, she was awfully tired and hungry, as well.

"Come on," she said, taking his arm. She pulled it around her shoulder and put her own arm around his waist. Now they were leaning on each other. "We can do this," she said, looking up at him for confirmation.

He smiled, a little grimly, and nodded. "Yes. Let us go."

They walked for hours like that, with the blanket over both their shoulders. In a couple hours, Katie was leaning against Legolas just as much as he was leaning on her. Her knees felt shaky, and she was light-headed. Dazed with the unchanging landscape, her mind was starting to drift into walking dreams when there was a shout from somewhere ahead of them.

Katie didn't have a chance to react, or even to pull herself out of her stupor, before a dark shape hurtled at them—and caught Legolas up in an embrace. It was Estel.

He clapped Legolas on the back, and the air was full of exclamations. Katie smiled faintly at the reunion of the two friends, and then found herself pulled into a huge hug, as well. It was one of the twins—it was too much effort to try and figure out which one.

"Praise Eru you are alright!" he was exclaiming. "I am so sorry we left you alone!"

Katie looked up at him and smiled seraphically. She managed to figure out that it was Elrohir. "Hi, Ro," she said sweetly. Conversationally, she added, "I think I'm gonna pass out."

She was right.

TBC

AN: Is that chapter long enough? grins

For some reason, isn't allowing me to put an exclamation point or a question mark next to a smiley face. What's up with that? As if it wasn't irritating enough that it won't allow asterisks!

After this part of the story, we begin to enter the part I haven't thought out as clearly. So it may be a little longer wait before the next chapter. Hopefully not (I intend to recruit Dana to bounce some ideas off of), but I thought I'd warn you just in case. And I have no idea what Glawar is up to.

For those of you who wanted Katie and Legolas to get along a little better, does this pass muster? grins

EresseElrondiel: Of course, you may have twin hugs anytime you darn well want 'em!

baka-san: So where are you from? More of Katie and Leggy? Aye aye, Cap'n!

werewolflemming: I'm really glad you liked that part; it was one of my faves, too. Thanks!

RenegadeKitsune: Well, I don't know about anybody else, but I update whenever I've got the chapter finished, so it wasn't intentional! Does your mom know about Glorfy? And more to the point, are you going to tell her? grins

ThoseRainyDays: Thanks so much! Now we're all warm and fuzzy inside! lol Sry, not too much of the twins in this one, either. But that'll change! (Mwa ha ha haaaaa…)

strawberryskittlekisses: Thank you! Yes, I'm not wild about the elf-seduction stories, which is why I decided not to put a romance in this fic—I'm trying to be non-traditional. :) I'm glad you think Katie's personality is strong; that's one of my worries, that I have characters who aren't two-dimensional. Katie's a cross between me and… uh… not me. lol I think if I put my own personality on a page nobody would believe it…

The One Reviewer That Everyone Loves To Hate: I don't hate you! –huggles— hee hee. Bullhorns and pitchforks! Wow, I better get typing!

Madd Hatter: I dunno, Elrond's great in the books and the fics, but he kinda scared me in the movies, more so than Galadriel… Although the expression on his face when Aragorn kisses Arwen at the end is so great!

Ravens Destiny: Thanks! Yep, I know I wouldn't want to pop up in somebody's bed… Yeah, I wish all the guys around here acted like LotR people—the warrior poets! Three cheers for spelling and grammar!

Thanks also to crazycatluver and faeriekitty306 animelover! A special treat for my reviewers today—invisible muffins! (And not an almond one in sight!) Your meal will be accompanied by the Elvish songs of our favorite pointy-eared twins and blondie! So please review! You won't want to miss out!