Barnir.
So that was the man's name... Barnir. Aridel's eyes glazed over as she sat in thought upon the horse's back, the methodical rhythm of it's hooves droning ever on. She could tell he was not pleased about moving, but that must mean her people were close. And really, what are the chances of a small group of mortal men hiding from a group of elves that outnumber them a dozen to one or more, in the elves own forest? This thought made her feel better and her eyes came back into focus. She gazed down at her sleeping brother, her worries not quite abated. Why did they want her and her brother? He knew who their father was, so why was he bothering to do this, knowing what would happen if him and his men were caught? He must want something. But what could he possibly want? Why doesn't he just go home?
Barnir glanced nervously behind him as he led his company through the dark forest. He had heard rumours of vicious spiders lurking in the trees, and didn't want anything to draw attention to them in case any elvish patrols were nearby. His mind wandered once again to where his brother and his men could have gone. Not quite four months ago his twin, leading a company of 11, travelled into Mirkwood forest on a simple mission: to parley. They had received a summons from someone, they knew not who, and Barnir's brother was the best man they could find. However, he was to have heard back from the company three weeks previous. Their father had died the past year in battle, and their mother had died from the grief. Barnir would not loose the last of his family, his brother, his twin; and who else dwells in Mirkwood forest but the elves? Barnir had always heard rumour of their viciousness towards outsiders, towards men imparticularly. The captain of their army had ordered him and his company into the forest on a rescue mission only. In fact, if his captain knew what he was doing, he'd most likely be severely punished. But he knew, he knew, that the Elvenking had his brother's company in his dungeons. There could be no other possible explanation! He was not the type of man to harm children... and hopefully he would not need to. 'No, the threat will be enough.' he thought. But if it is indeed the only way of getting his brother back... well, they are only elves. But at the moment his main concern was finding a safe location from which to make his demands. After all, holding the King's children captive will do nothing to help him get his brother back if the King doesn't know where they are.
King Thranduil had not been doing well. He knew it was irrational, but he had been hoping beyond hope that the first of his scouts would return with his children. When one by one they returned with no news, his heart began to sink even lower than it had been. How could everything go so wrong all at once? His wife ill, his children missing; what else could go wrong? He sipped a hot drink from his cup as the last of the sun sank below the horizon, wishing he did not feel so helpless. He knew tomorrow he could not sit idly by and do nothing; he would lead one of the scouting parties himself. If only he had a million eyes and could be in a hundred places at once, maybe he would feel better. But he continued to lay there for that night, with visions of his family laughing together playing in his mind.
It seemed to go on for weeks. Riding on the horse, stopping for too few hours to sleep, and doing it all over again the next day. It couldn't be said their captors were horribley cruel; they did recieve food, water, and rest. But then again, there was the time Legolas tried to run away in the middle of the night. Aridel was actually starting to doubt they'd be hurt at all, until she awoke when Barnir threw Legolas roughly back into the small tent where they slept, a large bruise forming on his head, and crying loud enough to wake the entire forest.
"Keep him QUIET! And NEVER, NEVER try to run again, or I promise, you won't be able to!" he spat violently onto the ground and stormed away in a rage. Aridel stared on in shock as she tried to comfort her brother, shaking in fright.
"Legolas... Legolas, pelase, please be quiet..."
She hugged him tightly as he calmed down, wanting to hurt that man so badly she could hardly stop herself from rushing out there and attacking him.
"Ari... Ari I want to go home... I want Ada..." he sniffled and hiccuped as he gazed bleary eyed up at his big sister.
"I know, gwador, I know... so do I" she said as she looked down at him.
"Will we get home soon, Ari? Ada will find us... won't he?" The pleading look in his eyes was too much for Aridel to take, and tears started rolling down her cheeks too.
"I hope so gwador... I hope so!" They sat awake in the tent for a long time after that, holding each other and wanting to go home.
After that the atmosphere was quite tense. Barnir would whisper with his men almost continually, and it was rare that Aridel could make out anything they said. She wished they would just stop moving soon. For the first few days she had kept tabs pretty well on where they were; after all, she had grown up in the forest. But now she was so hopelessly lost that even if their captors had let them go, she probably wouldn't have been able to find her way home at all. However, in a few days time she got her wish. They stopped at sundown and set up a semi-permanent looking camp. Aridel and Legolas sat down quietly, and one of the men came up to them holding two plates of some very gross looking food.
"Eat" he said, and turned to walk away.
"Wait!" Aridel called after him.
"Is this where we're staying?"
The man turned around and glared angirly at her.
"Yes, it is. And don't ask questions!" He grumbled as he walked off, and Aridel looked back at Legolas, poking his plate uncertainly.
"It's okay Legolas. I know it's nasty, but it's all we have. We must eat it." The elfling wrinkled up his nose, slowly put a bit of the substance into his mouth, and promptly spit it back out.
"It's gross Ari..." he whined, and pouted, as if she could give him something better.
"It's either that or you go hungry. Now eat" she shoveled some of the unusually nasty food into her mouth, and swallowed it practially without chewing.
"See? Yummy!" she said as she tried not to grimace, and Legolas eventually gave in and began eating.
I know it's been a long time since I updated, and I'm very sorry! Thank you so much if you're still out there reading this, and I hope another new chapter will be up soon! Please lease a review to tell me what you think and to let me know you read this, so I can know if anyone's still out there! Thank you! And yes... there will be more to come! Bwahahahaha!
