They had not traveled for very long at all when Elrohir halted the line. A call rang through the forest, and in a few moments, a small party of elves appeared, with Glorfindel in the fore. Just behind him rode Lord Elrond.

The search party hailed them joyfully. Elrond rode over to greet his sons. "Mae govannen," he cried as he reached them. "I am glad to see you well, my sons."

"And you, Father," Elladan answered.

Elrond's eyes dropped to Dorlarth, who gazed back unconcernedly.

Legolas and Katie rode up from the back of the party. "It is good to see you healthy again as well, young prince," Elrond said.

"It is good to be healthy again!" Legolas returned with a smile. "And it is all thanks to Katie," he added.

"Indeed?" Elrond smiled at Katie, who grinned and dropped her eyes, a little embarrassed. "I will enjoy hearing that story." He turned back to view the prisoners. "But it looks like it will have to wait."

"My lord, there is a large clearing nearby where we may hold court," Glorfindel suggested.

Elrond nodded. The sentence for some of these elves was sure to be exile, and Elrond preferred that the guilty parties not be brought back into Rivendell. Their very presence there was a defilement of the idyllic place.

They repaired to the clearing Glorfindel had mentioned. There, the prisoners were made to stand in a line on the west side, facing Elrond, his sons, Legolas and Glorfindel on the east. The rest of the warriors made a half-circle around the prisoners in order to keep an eye on them. Katie stood a little off to the side, watching the proceedings.

When all was arranged, Elrond spoke. "The accusations that are brought against you are numerous and grave. You are charged with thievery, assault, conspiracy to murder, treason, and being in league with Dol Guldor. These are far from light matters. What have you to say for yourselves?"

No one spoke. Some of the prisoners stared hard back at the elf lord, but many dropped their gazes to the ground. The expressions of a few were strangely surprised. Dorlarth continued to look somewhat triumphant.

"Will you not defend yourselves?" Elrond repeated. "Will none of you speak up for another?" Still no one answered. "Will anyone here speak for these transgressors?"

"I will, if it please my lord," Glawar said deferentially in the silence.

"Speak, then," Elrond answered.

"You know, my lord, that although my brother and I participated in Dorlarth's infamy, we were not completely aware of the depths of his villainy, nor the entire depravity of his plots. I am convinced that many here are still not cognizant of the iniquity to which they have been party. I beg my lord will lay the whole before them and take into account their ignorance and the deceptions that have been played upon them before administering your justice."

A silence fell over the glade at this eloquent and well-tempered speech. Katie listened, enthralled. She had never heard people actually talk like that before, except in Shakespearean plays. To hear someone actually come up with it off the cuff was almost thrilling.

Elrond nodded. "Very well, I will so do. Well spoke, Glawar Gwestion."

The lord of Rivendell clasped his hands behind his back and paced down the line of prisoners, deep in thought. All eyes were upon him. Finally, he spoke. "I am aware that Dorlarth has told you many terrible things about me, for quite some time. I am accused of keeping you here like prisoners, of having led my people into battle against Sauron. It is said among you that I want only to enslave the people of Rivendell, and unrightfully so, with the Ring of Air. He has told you that once in possession of this ring, he will destroy it.

"I am convinced that if you examine the situation closely, you will find a fine fabric of lies and half-truths. It is true that I would prefer to keep my people here, and yet allow my sons to ride with the Dúnedain. But I have never kept anyone here against their will. Had one of you come to me and put before me your intention to travel far afield from the protection of Imladris, I would surely have let you.

"I defended my actions against Sauron thousands of years ago, but I will reiterate my explanations. Had Sauron's influence been allowed to spread, Imladris would not now exist. He would have poisoned all of Middle Earth, and there would have been no refuge from him.

"You have followed Dorlarth, blindly believing all that he has told you about me and about himself. He says he wants to destroy Vilya. But how do you know that he will not keep it for himself? He has already proven his overbearing pride, and the fact that he will stop at nothing to achieve his ends.

"I am positive you are not acquainted with all the facts of this most recent treachery you have been involved in. The elf you call your leader has murdered our innocent fellow, Orain, and then horrifically mutilated his body. Glawar himself can testify that Dorlarth will sacrifice any of his followers to have his will done. None of you can be aware that Gúrvel committed suicide upon his capture." Elrond's voice was low and sorrowing. Many of the captives murmured in dismay. Some still looked defiant, however. Dorlarth was entirely unconcerned. Katie thought if he hadn't been in such a solemn place, he might have been whistling.

In fact, his expression was turning almost gleeful. He glanced off into the trees, unaware that anyone was observing him. Katie followed his gaze—and caught a glimpse of movement.

There were people around them, people Dorlarth was glad to see.

It was an ambush.

"Look out!" Katie cried, just as a slew of elves burst into the clearing. Absolute chaos ensued. Elrond's elves were unprepared for the attack, not having thought that there were any more of Dorlarth's rebels to contend with. They all went for their weapons, but having been caught off their guard, they were mostly a moment too late. Their assailant began to overpower them. Some of them cut the bonds of the captives, who helped to disarm Elrond's elves.

Elrond generally did not carry his sword, but Glorfindel, Legolas, and his sons all went for their weapons immediately. But some of the assailants had circled around behind them. One tackled Legolas as the prince was aiming his bow, and knocked his shot wild, besides throwing him off-balance. The attacker had to wrestle him to the ground and sit on his back, twisting his arms behind him. He bashed his face into the dirt once for good measure.

"Don't kill them!" Dorlarth was ordering his forces.

One rapped Estel sharply on the back of the head with the hilt of his sword. Stunned, the human fell to the ground, and his assailant calmly wrested his weapon from his hand.

The other three fared no better. It took two elves each to overpower Elrohir and Glorfindel. Elladan made out the worst. He was still very sore from his skirmish with the orcs the day before, and his reflexes were slowed. When one aggressor engaged him, he parried a few blows before the other elf managed to knock his sword sideways. While Elladan attempted to recover his balance, the enemy, seeing that his tunic was torn and there was a bandage underneath, punched him in the side, right over his stitches. Elladan doubled over in pain and was driven to his knees. His opponent kicked the sword out of his hand and twisted one arm behind him, holding his knife to the twin's throat.

It was over too quickly. Estel blinked dazedly and stared around the clearing at the aftermath. Elrond's elves were left without weapons in various positions of helplessness. One of Dorlarth's people had caught Katie, as well. The girl was white as a sheet. He looked around to see where the rest of his comrades were.

Legolas was on his stomach with someone pressing a warning knee into the small of his back. He looked uncomfortable and furious, but not badly injured. Elrohir and Glorfindel had had their hands tied quickly tied behind their backs, and looked angry. But Elrohir also looked worried, and Estel sought out Elladan.

The twin was on his knees, and whiter than Katie. His chest heaved with exertion and pain, and his foe grinned sadistically, holding the blade of a knife to the elder twin's throat. Estel burned with rage and fear.

But it seemed that his father's words had gotten through to some of the accused. While a few who had been brought to trial were triumphantly standing over their defeated opponents, others just sort of stood helplessly by, watching the proceedings, obviously confused. They were no longer quite as sure of their leader, but Dorlarth held the power now. Dorlarth himself was standing in the middle of the clearing, smiling wickedly at Elrond.

Elrond had managed to stay out of the skirmish, and no one had directly attacked him, probably out of fear for the power he wielded with his ring. Now he stood well apart from them all, surveying the scene with a stoic expression.

Not taking his gaze off of the other elf, Dorlarth called over his shoulder, "Glawar!"

Glawar strode over to him. "Yes, Sir?" he asked, bowing.

Estel saw Elrohir clench his jaw.

"Glawar, ride to Imladris and inform the people that their deliverance has come," Dorlarth said, gloating.

"Yes, Sir."

"And Glawar—your loyalty shall be rewarded."

Glawar nodded, expressionless. He turned to obey, then paused. He walked over to Elrohir, whose stare was hard and cold.

"You were right, my lord, to judge me on my actions and not my words," he told the twin, with unnecessary emphasis.

Elrohir refused to change his expression. Glawar mounted his horse and rode off into the woods. The sound of his hoofbeats receded into the distance.

Dorlarth still did not approach Elrond. "We have had to listen to many lies from you today," he said slowly. "We have heard them all before, for many centuries. Now, you will listen to us—you will listen to me."

TBC

AN: Toldja it wasn't over yet. :D

Once again, I'd just like to say, that I hate writing fight scenes.

Oh man, I didn't mean to whine on the last one about lack of reviews! You guys love me after all! –huggles everyone— lol

EresseElrondiel: No! Not the dreaded one-eyed-one-horned-flying-purple-people-eater! No thanks, they all came back. But you can yell at Glawar and Dorlarth all you like!

Madd Hatter: How was your trip? I was supposed to go to Indiana this month for my grandma's 90th birthday, but I'm singing in two concerts that day, so I can't make it. :( Hope your trip turned out better!

werewolflemming: Thanks! Yes, the idea of making Elladan sing that in a game of Truth or Dare just sort of popped into my head, and I couldn't resist…

Arami: Eh, Legolas is just teasing. They're friends now. Yeah, I'm kinda scared to play T or D with some people… Thanks!

fk306: :D

Thanks also to Hermione at Heart, Coollilyflower, KearaGoldleaf and MaverickGirl!

A couple of stats: This fic is now the longest one on my profile, at least by way of number of chapters. It also has the most reviews, and is the first of mine to top a hundred! I'm psyched! Hopefully it will also be the first one I actually finish… Heh. (Yeah, "Snow Falling on Palm Trees" was finished, but I wasn't the only one working on that.)

Please review! —blows kisses to everyone—