When the Snow Falls Red

Chapter 17: Reunion in the Cave

Don't own.

This chapter will be Náessë, Haldir, and Aranel, along with the four guards.

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The air in the forest gradually got cooler and the winter air set in around them as they got further and further away from the fire. Valar knows how long it would burn. Elerossë scouted ahead, and found that nothing was out of place. They quickened their pace and were soon at the mouth of the damp cave.

Saeros laid Náessë down against the cave. He took a small cloth and wiped away the ash from her face. Dearon put Haldir down beside her and opened his tunic to find his wound. Elerossë was watching his two comrades, when he remembered something.

"We forgot about the prince." He said suddenly, and he turned on his heel and strode through the cave to the back.

Aranel heard voices and soft footsteps, so he opened his eyes. He saw one of the guards who was demoted walking towards him. He shut his eyes again, afraid that he was coming to hurt him. He tensed his body, waiting for the first blow, but it never came. Instead, he felt the bonds on his arms and legs being cut. Soon, his hands and legs were free. He opened his eyes and saw the guard holding out a hand to him. He took it and the guard hoisted Aranel to his feet. He swayed at first, but the guard's hand on his arm kept him from falling down.

"Come with me. There's someone here you might want to see." He said in a low voice. Aranel nodded, and followed, still a little dizzy.

They walked through the cave, and soon came to the mouth of the cave. Aranel saw Náessë lying on the ground, and beside her, Haldir! He ran, stumbling, and fell to his knees beside his sister and his friend.

"What happened?" He asked the guard standing next to him, who was Fëanor.

"It would be wise to wait until they woke up." he said. Aranel nodded and looked back to his sister. He reached up to her face and touched it. How long had he been in that cave. He didn't remember much except that…

"Aranel?" A soft voice said. He opened his eyes from thinking, and saw that Náessë was waking up. He sighed in relief. But to his surprise, she back away from him, a terrified look on her face.

"Náessë?" He asked in confusion.

"How do I know you're really my brother?" She asked. The elf who had brought Aranel to her spoke.

"He really is, your highness. We have a lot of explaining to do." He said. Náessë looked up at him, and then watched as the three other guards stood at his sides. One of them had stitched up Haldir's wound, and the Loríen elf was now resting peacefully. They sat down in front of Náessë, Aranel, and Haldir, and began their story.

"My name is Elerossë. This is Saeros, the one who accidentally shot Prince Legolas with an arrow." He said gesturing to an elf with dark hair and green eyes. Saeros grinned sheepishly. "This is Daeron," He said, pointing to the light-haired elf. "And this is Fëanor." he said pointing to the dark brown haired elf. "Anyway, after we found out that were demoted, we were indeed angry, and we did leave the stables on our own to get away."

"But," continued Fëanor, "that's when we met Eärendir. He was wondering the forest, and when he found out that we used to work for the palace, he was interested. He told us his story. He claimed that he was the twin of Aranel, the Crowned Prince of Mirkwood. Since we knew what Prince Aranel looked like, we figured he must be telling the truth. So he told us that if we helped him to get rid of the royal family, then we would get a share in the rule of the kingdom."

"Since we were still angry, we agreed to help him." Searos continued. "We agreed to help when all he wanted us to do was to trash the prince's room or the Hall of Healing, though we felt bad when we did it. But when it came to hurting you, Princess, we just couldn't. So he did that himself. He used the arrows we had stolen from Prince Legolas's room. It was his intention to frame Legolas. That was also the night that he kidnapped Prince Aranel and took his place. He drugged the prince with very strong sleeping herbs, and, we helped him drag him away. We had found this cave and thought it would be a good hiding place." He paused, taking in the looks he was getting from the Prince and Princess. Aranel was completely surprised at the fact that he might have a twin brother, and Náessë was just plain shocked. Dearon continued.

"We started to think that he was going too far when he wanted the elves in the stables hurt. We did not help him with that. We refused. We didn't think he'd be able to do it alone, and that somehow he would be caught and killed, but we were wrong."

Here, Aranel interjected a question. "What about when Finwë got sick? Elves do not fall ill." He asked. The four guards looked down at the floor.

"That was us. There was a cow wandering in the forest a while ago, and he was sick, so when he died, we took some of the flu he had and we kept it. It was just a little thing we wanted to keep, but then when we were demoted, we thought it would be a good idea to use on the captain." Elerossë said, still looking at the ground.

At this point, there were mixed feelings circling the cave. The guards were having trouble trying to not hate the prince and princess for getting them demoted, but they still felt betrayed and they did not think it was fair.

Aranel was trying to figure out whether to kill the guards now, or wait until later.

Náessë didn't know whether to feel sorry for the guards, or to hate them. "Go on." She said at last. Elerossë spoke.

"After what happened with the stables, we were starting to not trust him, and we were thinking of going back to the palace to tell the king what was going on, whether he would trust us or not. But when he wanted us to light the forest on fire, we knew there something wrong with him. Then we realized that we had lit the forest on fire while you were out there, Princess, so we went back to save you." He said.

At this last part, the red in Aranel's face went down and the anger in his eyes lessened. They had tried to help Náessë and they saved her life. Maybe they weren't all that bad.

"Why was "Until the Snow Falls Red" written in the rooms he destroyed?" Náessë asked.

"He's crazy. He thinks that the day that he becomes king, the snow will fall red, stained with blood, the blood that he drew." Saeros said. Silence fell upon the cave as each elf retreated into his or hers own thoughts.

"Valandil?" Náessë asked. Daeron looked up.

"That's was us, on orders from Eärendir. We didn't want to do it. We are sorry." He said. Náessë was angry, it was obvious, but there wasn't much she could do about it. These four had save her life, and Haldir's life. It became silent again.

"We understand that the king, and you two and Prince Legoals will hate us, and you have every reason to. We did not think before acting, and we have caused a lot of problems. Despite that, we want to help fix what we wronged. Even if we are put to death in the end, our guilt will at least be released from us." Fëanor said, lifting his head a little to look into the eyes of Aranel. The two held each other's gaze for a few moments, before Aranel smiled.

"Well, we obviously can't take care of him alone. I promise that your lives will be spared, as long as you help us." He said. Náessë looked to her brother, smiling.

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Now are your questions answered? Haha. Anyways, the next chapter will be happening at the same time as this one. I don't know for sure. I'll let you know.

Later-

Blue September Rain