Chapter 7:
Traitors Among Us

Arminas walked down the hall, his face not showing the extreme annoyance he was currently feeling. He had had a very long two weeks, meeting with all of the people that the King would not be bothered with. Or rather, the people his other advisors had deemed not important enough to bother him with. Despite the fact that the King himself had only said to send them all to him chambers, they still insisted on making HIM meet with them. He was the chief advisor, and what he said should have gone, at least in the Kings absence. They hadn't listened.

His brooding was interrupted by three very noisy elflings suddenly running past him. The first two, with dark hair, he did not recognize. The third was Legolas. It seemed the disruptive little brat was feeling better. He could have sworn that he was still in bed covered with bandages yesterday. King Thranduil had probably exaggerated on how bad his injuries had been.

The three little elves were followed shortly by a much older elf. He was covered in dirty water and pond scum. He caught a glimpse of his face and recognized him as one of the elves that had accompanied Lord Elrond. Erestor, wasn't that his name?

"Elladan! Elrohir! When I catch you and your little friend I am going to feed you all to a dragon!" Erestor threatened, quickly catching up to the three. Amused, Arminas discreetly followed them.

Erestor finally caught them just as they passed the door to the thrown room. He certainly was stronger they he looked. The elder elf easily picked up and carried the three squirming children off. He was so angry that he still didn't notice Arminas as he continued to follow them back. The door to what was presumably Erestor's chamber was slammed shut. He couldn't help himself. He put his ear to the door.

"Ow! Stop let me go! Ow!" It was Thranduil's brat. And from the sound of it, he was getting a spanking. Good! That oaf deserved that and more! He snickered and listened gleefully to the prince's shouts, soon followed by his crying. He wished he could get away with doing that, but Thranduil would never allow it.

Arminas, cheered considerably, abandoned his eves dropping as he began to hear the whole thing being repeated, except with one of the other elflings that had gotten caught. He could care less about them. And besides, he had somewhere to go.

If Legolas was out and about again, the King could take care of his own duties, and the other councilors could stuff their complaints in their ears. If they wanted to continue to give the King free time, they could take his duties themselves.

Wonderful. He had just ruined him mood once again. He silently cursed the King, his son, and his subjects. Well, they would be delt with soon enough.

As he exited the palace and walked through the forest, he imagined never having to deal with these trivial matters again. He would get the chance to when the Greenwood had been properly delt with. Yes, he could just imagine their faces when they saw the truth.

His thoughts were once again interrupted, but not by something as annoying as elflings. He had walked into a particularly dark shadow, but instead of passing, it seemed to follow him. Ah. Good.

"Master?" Arminas said into what had become complete darkness.

"Arminas, my slave. What have you to report?" A voice that would make others run away said. It dripped with darkness and evil. The elf didn't even flinch.

"It turns out Thranduil has a brat of his own. His name is Legolas, and the King is quite taken with him." He said, sneering at the memory. The darkness around him almost became a living thing, and then it suddenly rushed at him. Arminas felt himself squeezed painfully; his entire body felt like it would collapse in on itself at any moment. Then the next moment, he was no longer standing in the forest right outside the castle.

Arminas opened his eyes to find himself shackled hand and foot to his master's dark throne, lying on the floor at his master's feet. A hand reached down and grabbed him by his hair, pulled him painfully up until he was actually lying on his master's lap.

"Now," The dark being above him said, hands still pulled at his already tender scalp. That evil face looked down at him. "Tell me all that you have learned."

Arminas returned to the palace with a gigantic headache. His master had asked him so many questions that his head swam. All of them had had something to do with Legolas. It was clear that he was planning something.

Well, at least he didn't need to worry about that for now. All he wanted to do now was sleep for about a week. Let the fools take care of themselves for a while.

Thranduil, while overjoyed that his son was healed, could not spend the time he wanted with him. The danger that lurked within Mirkwood's trees was of more concern at the moment.

"How long has this been going on?" Elrond asked, brow creased in worry.

"This has been the situation for many years. I hadn't realized how much worst it was getting, until that spider's nest was… discovered so close to the caves." The King answered.

"Have you sent anyone to find out where it is coming from?"

"Yes, I sent an entire party out once. Only one of them returned."

"Who? What was his condition upon return?" Elrond asked, deeply disturbed with this new information.

"His name is Arminas. When he returned he was on foot. His horse had been killed, and he was badly wounded. The Valar alone know how he survived. To say the least, he was traumatized. Permanently, it was feared. However, he did bounce back rather quickly. He is now my chief advisor, since he is a very wise, but has not the heart to do battle any longer. I am afraid that it still haunts him, though." Thranduil said with a sigh. He remembered all to well exactly how he had looked. It had been months before he had actually come back, and even longer to help him recover.

"During the early part of his recovery he kept babbling about a tower and a terrible monster. That was the only thing that we could make sense of in his screaming. After he had recovered he became reserved and secretive, and even to this day he flinches if someone so much as touches him on the shoulder." He finished. Elrond considered this for a moment.

"Perhaps we should speak with him once again? It may help us." The lord suggested.

"We have tried to do so before. He says he remembers the party finding a tower, and a horrible monster emerging and killing all but him. Beyond that, he says he only remembers being found near the palace and being brought back. That is all he will say, and as you might expect, he becomes terribly upset whenever it is brought up." Elrond nodded, his brow creasing in thought.

"We shall have to think deeply on what is to be done. I believe we should ask Lord Celeborn to come to Mirkwood. His council will be very valuable in this matter." He concluded. The King looked surprised.

"The Lord of Lorien? Will he leave the Golden Wood? Mirkwood is very dangerous now. What if something were to happen to him?" He said, though he couldn't deny that he was right. Any input that the Lord of the Golden Wood had would certainly be valuable.

"Under heavy guard of course. Mirkwood is in such a state that you cannot leave it without a King for any length of time. You could not afford to go to Lorien yourself. He has his Lady to keep order if he must leave. I believe he will quickly agree to come. Entrust his safety to the Galadhrim, Thranduil. They are quite prepared to defend their Lord if it should come to that." Elrond said. The King nodded.

"Then we will send a letter immediately."

An evil laugh echoed through the halls of the tower.

"Yes, very good. Now Thranduil has a weakness, and even better, Elrond is here. The time to strike will be very soon."

The voice then quieted, leaving behind it a silence more oppressing then anything else.

A/N: Very minor revisions in this chapter.