1Sorry to leave you guys off with a cliffhanger! I honestly couldn't resist. But, hey, you've waited, so here it is.
RECAP:
"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-"
Arya glared up at Legolas. "I..." he tried again... He couldn't do this! He couldn't do this to Tari... No matter what happened, he would not comply; he would rather kill himself. "I will not." he said at last, firmly, loudly, and in a voice of finality. The whispering that had been going through the crowds was now doubled. Thranduil stood up, and walked up to his son, pulling him casually off to the side.
"Don't do this Legolas, not for her..." he hissed, meaning Tari. "Whatever you might think about Arya, it isn't true. She is a wonderful elleth, and would never harm anyone."
Legolas stared at his father in disbelief. "No adar. She has worn a mask in your presence. If you have any shred of trust in your son left, you will believe me. Are you not even curious as to why Tari is gone? She swore to me that she would see this through - to be here for me. And yet she is gone, and a falsely written note is all that is left!"
"You're over-reacting, Legolas." Thranduil said, holding his son by the shoulders and meeting his fierce stare with his own. "Tari is fine. Now stop this foolishness! You dishonor me by behaving like this-"
"Then I shall leave! And seek the one that I truly wish to be with! I cannot live with someone I do not love! I will find Tari, even if you offer me no aid, and you disown me from your family."
"I could not disown you, my son... Never could I do such a thing."
"Then let me go father! Let me find her! Would you hold yourself responsible for her death? What if I am right? Dare you doubt me?" Legolas asked, his fair face stricken with concern and anxiousness.
Thranduil looked from Legolas, to Arya. He could not do this to his own son... Not when someone he held so dear was 'missing'... "Very well, son."
"What!" Arya cried in outrage, throwing her flowers onto the ground. "Thranduil! How could you allow this!"
"Calm your temper Lady Arya!" Thranduil warned, his dark blue eyes lit like flames. When he turned back around to speak again to his son, he was gone...
"Aragorn! Hurry your pace you sluggish mortal!" Legolas called to him as he mounted his horse. Arwen stifled a small giggle as she saw Aragorn emerge from the barn with his horse, throwing a glare in Legolas's direction. They were to go to Minas Tirith, so they could recruit Aragorn's best men, and search for Tari. "Where is that ill-tempered dwarf?" Legolas asked, peering around for Gimli.
"Watch your words, little prince, lest I cut out your tongue with my axe." answered Gimli as he too came out of the barn, sitting upon a tall chestnut pony that the elflings usually rode upon.
"A threat I have heard many times, and you have yet to fulfill!" Legolas answered, watching as the dwarf feebly tried to regain his seat. "Come! Let us ride to the home of the King of Men!"
After many days (all of which Tari refused food and drink) four maids had come to Tari, and practically dragged her out of her dingy cell. They led her up the stairs, and down numerous corridors until they came upon a more modest door. Tari barely had time to register the chamber's contents when one of the maids attacked her hair with a brush, and another stripped off her garments. Tari protested angrily, trying to shield her nude form. The maidens paid no mind to her, and pushed her into a tub of cold water where they scrubbed all the dirt and grime away from her fair skin until it glowed again with elven fairness. From there, she was drug out of the tub, dried, and forced into a black velvet gown, with a corset bodice that was tightened to it's fullest. She could hardly breathe.
One of the elder looking maidens grabbed her hand again and led her out the door forcefully, and down another set of corridors. They were dark, and as augean as her cell that she had spent so many days in. Her eyes met a tall set of black oak double doors. The maid opened it, and shoved her inside with just as much force. Despite her elven grace, Tari fell to the marble floor on the other side of the door. She was in a hall... An enormous hall of black marble and pillars. And far, far opposite her were what looked like two thrones. One was occupied, the other empty. Sircin glared at her from where he sat, and made a small motion with his hand. The instant he did so, Tari felt arms snake around her own and lift her up off the ground in pain. "Let me go you scum! You vile, loathsome bast-" but her sentenced didn't finish as she was thrown back onto the ground in front of Sircin. He seemed to cackle (if that is what it was) in mirth as he looked upon her.
"I'll have you know, that your 'beloved' prince, refused to marry my daughter. He is now on his way to Minas Tirith with the sniveling ranger Aragorn. From there, my spies tell me that he plans to search for you... But he'll never find you. Not here..." Sircin stood up from his black throne, gesturing for the guards to pick her up again. He looked at her with hatred. "You will serve me now... And not just me, but my men as well..." he nodded his head toward the grinning guards holding her firmly. Tari's eyes couldn't help but widen. Torture was one thing, but defilement from these wretched men was another level of suffering entirely. Sircin saw the fear in her eyes, and he laughed again. "Fear! I see fear in your eyes! And I was told you feared nothing... The 'princess' fears to be defiled... Torture, pain, and defilement will break your will. Remember this Tari..." he leaned in so that he was speaking right into her elven ear, "He-will-never-come-for-you..."