1Wow! That was a-lot of reviews in a few short days! Thanks everybody!

I hate to stall, so I'll get on with it. I'm not sure how much longer this is going to last, but... Hey, I might do a sequel. Yeah, that'd be nice. I'll have to think about it. Crap! I'm stalling! Here's the next chapter.

The Wedding

The forest was utterly dark, and quite frightening. Yet the thought that Legolas was waiting for her in here drove Tari to keep walking. Deeper and deeper she went into the woods, still following the raven. The wind swept through the forest, rustling her light robe and causing her to suddenly shiver. Little did she know that it was not the wind that had caused it. She looked up, and saw the raven flying not far from her. Suddenly, it swooped down and was lost in the darkness of the trees; Tari unable to see it anymore. "Hello?" she called. Her answer was the sound of a branch snapping loudly. "Legolas?" she called again.

"Your prince isn' 'ere, she-elf..." growled a harsh voice. Out of the darkness emerged several orcs, all had a weapon of some sort drawn against the weaponless elf. "We were sent 'ere to take care of a problem... and you 're it."

"Do you mean to kill me? I'm warning you-"

The orcs laughed. "One, we aren't goin' 'ter kill you. That's up to our master. And two, you 'aven't got a weapon. An' no one is comin' to help you." They advanced slowly. She could only see about twenty, but knew that there must be more hiding.

Tari turned and ran as fast as her legs could carry her, knowing that she it was useless to stay and try to fight them off. One of the orcs that were hiding sprang from a bush, pinning her to the ground. Tari cried out for help, as loud as her voice could go. She was silenced in seconds as a thick cloth was tied about her mouth. Her hands flailed, trying to hit and wound her enemies. They too were grabbed and bound with thick bristly ropes.

"Where is it 'at Sircin said we'd bring her?" asked on as he tightened the ropes hard.

"That is our job." said a cool male voice.

Tari looked to the speaker, and saw what looked like three Easterlings approaching her on evil looking horses. "He paid us to take her to Durthang on the borders of Mordor. He says that he has 'a humble abode there the equivalent of Angband...'"

Tari couldn't help but let here eyes widen. Angband was the name of the great dungeon fortress of Morgoth. It's name meant 'iron-prison', or 'Hell of iron'. Yet Durthang was said to have been abandoned. Had he built a fortress of evil right under Gondor's nose? She struggled violently against her orc captives, her unbound legs trying to kick at their faces. Suddenly, she felt a stinging pain in the side of her neck. She reached up to it with her bound hands and pulled something away from her neck; it looked like a small dart. Tari couldn't recall what happened the next few second, for a great dizziness had swept through her body, and she felt herself falling to the ground; laughter ringing in her ears...

"Tari?" Legolas called, finally opening her chamber door after so many minutes of knocking. Her chamber was empty; her bed had not been made. "Tari?" he called again. No answer. Legolas strode forward into the room, taking in that there were no signs of struggle. Her sword was still here. As he passed the table, he saw the note lying forgotten face down. With curious hands, he picked up the slip of parchment, and read the words that looked remarkably like his own handwriting. Yet he had never even written such a note as this! Had Tari left last night? To seek the forger of this note in the forest? How could she be so foolish! 'She probably had no qualms that it was not me...' he thought. But now, it was nearly afternoon! What had happened to her? Where was she now? He needed to find her! Now!

"Legolas?" Aragorn called from the doorway.

Legolas turned sharply at his friend's call, relief flooding him like Anduin. Here was someone who would unconditionally help him. "Aragorn, it's Tari. She is gone!"

Aragorn walked to him, his eyebrows knitting together. "Gone as in, from her room? Or, 'Gone' as in, she probably isn't in Eryn Lasgalen anymore?"

In answer, Legolas thrust the note into his hands, walking from the room. He had only entered the hallway, when he had to suddenly halt to keep himself from running into Arya. She stood there, looking very smug indeed. "Suilas, meleth nin." (Greetings, my love) she cooed.

Legolas stared at her with the utmost hatred, his eyes showing his mind putting two and two together. "It was you..." he accused, taking a step toward her, "What did you do to Tari!"

"I have not seen her, meleth." (Love) Arya answered, masking her emotions with a look of mildly bemused. "Perhaps she is plotting my death."

"More likely you have been plotting hers!"

"Legolas!" Aragorn warned, as he stepped into the hallway. "Don't. Not here, not now..."

Arya grinned, and stepped closer to Legolas, and whispered in his ear, "No one shall believe that it was I who got rid of her... They will think you plead this in a way to get out of the wedding. You'll never, ever see her again, Legolas... So love me instead."

Legolas pulled himself away from her, as though her words were burning off his ears. "Where is she?" he asked, his voice deathly cold and calm. His eyes were frightening... They had frosted, and there was a sense of power radiating in his elven glow.

"I don't know." she said. And even though Legolas didn't want to believe it, he saw truth in her eyes. She truly didn't know where Tari was.

"Now..." Arya cooed, sweeping over to him and nudging her hips against his, "You should be getting ready for your wedding. It is only in a few hours..."

The first thing Tari noticed when she woke at last, was that she couldn't move. She wasn't bound with anything, she just simply couldn't motivate her limbs to respond to her will. As her eyes adjusted to the darkness around her, she realized that she was in some type of cell. There was something like a cot in a corner, and a rickety wooden table with an unlit candle in a holder beside it. Other than that, the room was bare; no windows, no torches, nothing.

The thick wooden door across from her suddenly opened, and there stood Sircin, with a look of such smugness that she wished she could kill him right then and there. But she was still weaponless, and she was still in her nightdress and robe. How long had she even been unconscious?

She turned her mind to Sircin, and tried to bend it to her will. Her father taught her as much as he could, but Galadriel had sailed to the Havens before she had had a chance to study with her. 'Step away from the door... Step away from the door...' she thought, trying to curve his wish. But as she did so, she felt a searing pain in her head, which caused her to emit a slight gasp.

To her utter amazement, Sircin began to laugh. It was a cold, mirthful laugh that made the sparse hairs on her neck stand on end. "Did you really think that I would bring you here and allow you to use your gift against me? My mind's will is stronger than yours! There was more in that dart than you think. Why do you think you can't move? That you can't use your power? Because you have no power! It is gone!"

Sircin bent down next to her, and grasped her chin harshly, forcing her to look into his pitiless eyes. "You are nothing but a slave here now. You'll never see your home again. You can't die either. The poison on that dart prevents you from fading, even if you are in utter despair. You are going to feel such pain here, that you will wish you could die... And as for your beloved Legolas? He will soon forget about you." he said casually, "He is to wed today." Sircin pushed her away roughly, and stood up. He stopped at the doorway, and hissed, "No one is going to come for you - this, is where you'll spend the rest of your never-ending life..."

"Adar! Please understand me!" Legolas pleaded with his father. He had just told him all about Arya and her father's malefic plan, and his father wouldn't hear a word of it.

"You're just nervous son, it's alright. Tari is probably off riding somewhere." Thranduil said, trying to calm his son's nerves as he replaced one of the clasps on Legolas's white-silver wedding tunic that had come undone. "I'm sure she'll be back before the feast is over; I doubt she'd want to miss your wedding."

'She would rather kill herself than want to witness my wedding to another elleth. And an evil one who nearly killed her at that.' Legolas thought savagely, trying without success to shrug off the white robe his father was putting on him. "Adar saes! Call off the wedding! I do not want to marry Arya for the thousandth time! I hate her! I loathe her!"

"That's enough Legolas!" Thranduil scolded, placing his son's silver circlet upon his head, so that it was held in place by his braiding; which signified him as not only royal, but a militant as well. "Now, come!" he chivied him out of his room and down the hall.

The courtyard of Eryn Lasgalen was now expertly decorated with white ribbons, roses, banners, and streamers. There was a long, white carpet stretching from the long steps from the hall, up to the pavillion that was now decorated as a wedding pavillion, and where the elven minister now stood. There must have been hundreds of elves in that courtyard, sitting and staring as their elven prince reluctantly stood at the pavillion.

The moment his foot touched the last stair, the elven minstrels began to play, and Arya came forward alone. Anyone who looked upon her was struck with awe at her beauty. Everyone except Legolas; who was at a complete loss at what to do now. His father didn't believe him, he was about to be forced to make a vow he didn't want to make, and his true beloved was probably at the hands of a kidnapper! Legolas barely heard the elf as he began the ceremony, asking Illuvatar and the Valar to bless this union, and so forth. "Arya, daughter of Sircin, do you solemnly swear to love Legolas Thranduillion all of your life, to never falter in that love, to honor and cherish him, and never love another?"

"I do so solemnly swear." Arya answered readily, staring up into Legolas's eyes with a smug look. It was then that Legolas heard her voice inside his own head. 'You will say I Do or else Tari will die...' she seemed to hiss. Legolas stared at her disbelievingly. So she did know where Tari was... And was now holding Tari's life over his head. Even if he did say I Do, would he truly ever see her again?

"Legolas, son of King Thranduil, do you solemnly swear to love Arya all of your life, to never falter in that love, to honor and cherish her, and never love another?"

His mind was racing... his heart was beating so fast in his chest he thought it might explode... what was he to say? To never love another... The words echoed over and over in his head. ...all your life... But if it saved Tari? He couldn't leave her to death... Yet Sircin would probably kill her anyway, wouldn't he?

People in the crowd started to chatter and gossip among themselves now. "...why does he not say it?" "Is it a trick?" "Perhaps he is just nervous." "...never loved her in the first place." "But I thought he was to wed the youngest of Elrond? Tari?"

Legolas...

Legolas looked up. He heard her...

... help me... please...

It was her voice, but she wasn't here...

Legolas...

Legolas...

"Legolas!" Thranduil hissed in warning.

Legolas looked from his father to Arya, and back again... He couldn't do this... He couldn't. But how would he save Tari then?...

"I-"

Haha! Cliffie! You'll have to wait until the next one to find out what he says! Don't judge too soon! He might/might not say what you're thinking!