Chapter 13:
Secrets Revealed

(This note might be kind of long, but the chapter is posted under it)

Dear Readers,

This September I will be going to college. More specifically, a Christian college. Don't let this scare you, I'm not planning on discontinuing my stories. Here's the thing: I'm going to have a computer, but the only Internet aloud is the one provided by the college itself. That means, there will be a filter.
I'm not sure if I will be able to log onto FF.N with those filters. As you can imagine, many stories on this site are not acceptable reading material for a Christian. Since they have much better things to do then read some 10,000 stories individually and block those that are not appropriate, I'm 95 sure that this entire site will be filtered out. That means that I will have to do what writing I can on the word processor, and then wait until a school break to post them at home.
I'm really sorry if this happens, but I respect the college's wishes. Also realize that, besides the fact that I'm just a really slow writer, (--) my studies come first (but most of you probably knew that already). Again, I'm sorry. Thanks to all those who have supported me and my slow-moving stories, and I hope that I will be able to update more regularly then I have been.

-Mandy

Arminas awoke with a start. Someone was pounding on his door, making the pounding in his head even worst.

"A moment!" He shouted harshly. The knocking stopped. He stalked over to the basin on his table, quickly washing away the evidence of his tears. Then, gathering his dignity, he went to the door and opened it. A young elf stood outside, his blonde hair in disarray from running. He shrank back at the councilor's cold look.

"Well? What is it?" He asked impatiently.

"K-King Thranduil, Lord Celeborn, and Mithrandir wish to see you in the council chamber at once." The youngster said, taking a step back.

"Fine." He answered irritably.

Arminas wasn't ready to deal with this. Why did the King and the Lord Celeborn choose the worst possible times to call on him? For that matter, when had Mithrandir gotten here? He pondered this has he made his way down the torch lit stone hallway. He did not look his best. He had dark circles around his eyes, his hair was less then perfect, and he just looked tired.

He sighed. There was not time to make himself presentable, and the King was already worried about his health. This would not improve matters.

When he arrived at the intricately carved oak doors that separated the council chamber from the hallway, he stopped. There was nothing he could do about his appearance, and he hoped the Lords would not think it suspicious. He could just say he was having nightmares (which wasn't that far from the truth) and claim he hadn't gotten much sleep because of them.

He took a moment to pat at his hair futilely, then opened the door and walked in with as much composure as he could muster. The talking that had been going on stopped abruptly at his entrance. Arminas took a moment to look around at those present.

Lord Celeborn, Lord Elrond, and King Thranduil were all seated at the large round table that took up most of the room. Mithrandir, an old man with a long graybeard, gray robs, and a wooden staff, was sitting in a chair against the wall. He looked even more tired then the councilor. That was strange.

Arminas had only seen the wizard a time or two, but when he had, the old man had seemed relentlessly energetic (if not exactly cheerful) and constantly busy. To see him looking worn out made him worry. Then again, maybe it would take some of the attention off of his own appearance.

"You wished to see me, my lords?" He asked with a polite bow.

"Arminas… are you alright?" King Thranduil asked, voice heavy with concern. No such luck.

"I have not been sleeping well, is all." He said, trying not to look too tired. Somehow he couldn't bring himself to say 'nightmares.' It would sound so childish. "Nothing to worry about, my lord."

The King seemed unconvinced, but sighed. He stood and pulled out a chair, an obvious order for him to sit. Unfortunately, the chair was situated right between Elrond and Celeborn. Arminas sat down reluctantly, wondering with annoyance if the King was purposely making him as uncomfortable as possible. There was a moment of silence, and all attention was focused on the councilor.

This does not bode well, Arminas thought, with a sense of dread. Mithrandir stood up and took the chair right across from him. No, this does not bode well at all. What did they want?

"Arminas," The wizard began, a note of reluctance in his voice. "I wish to ask you about something that you may find very hard to talk about." He began. Arminas immediately knew where this was going. He would not discuss this with them!

The councilor jumped up, fully intending to bolt. They must have guessed that he would do that because Elrond and Celeborn immediately grabbed him by the arms and pulled him back into his seat.

"Now Arminas, this is very important." The King said, not at all happy about having to force the other elf into this situation.

"I know that you do not wish to remember, but you must tell us what you can remember about what happened to you and the other members of the spying party." The old man said. "We must know everything we can if the White Council is to defeat it."

The White Council? They're bringing the White Council into this? Yet another piece of information he would have to report to his master, he thought with dread.

"A-a-after the r-rest of the party w-w-was killed, a-all I r-r-remember was th-that I s-started c-c-crawling away." Arminas cursed that weak stutter.

"You crawled all the way back to the palace?" Mithrandir asked.

"I d-d-don't r-remember." The poor elf was shaking now.

:Elrond:

:He is lying.:

:Are you sure it isn't just a repressed memory:

:Positive.:

"What happened before you found yourself back at the palace?" Elrond asked, torn between feeling sorry for this elf who had suffered so much and suspicion that he felt the need to lie. It could have been that he simply did not want to talk about it. But it could be something more insidious.

"I d-d-don't r-r-r-remember!" The stuttering was growing worst and Arminas was beginning to panic.

"Did someone take you inside the tower?" Mithrandir said, obviously not believing that he didn't remember.

"N-n-n-no!"

:He's lying.:

"Did the master of the tower torment you?" The wizard asked. By now, Elrond and Celeborn had to hold the panicked councilor to the chair and keep him from pushing it back.

"N-n-n-n-no!" He could hardly get the word out. He was almost having a seizure and his vision was beginning the blur

:He's lying. Get to the point before he passes out.:

"Did the creature in that tower send you to spy on the King and his subjects?" Mithrandir finally asked the question he had been dreading to hear.

:HE CAN TELL WHEN YOU ARE LYING, YOU FOOL! DO NOT ANSWER THEM: His master's voice screamed at him, causing his head to feel like it was being slit in two.

I have to tell them! His own mind screamed. I have end this before… A picture of Legolas, holding that book in the hallway, sprang up. …before he kills him! Like he killed Tathar!

He fought that dark presence in his mind like he had fought it at the beginning. When he had been beneath that tower, in agony in the dungeon. But this time he didn't seem to be alone. Someone else was fighting it as well.

"H-h-h-he c-c-calls h-himself th-the N-n-n-n-necromancer." That was all Arminas could say before the agony in his head became too much and everything went black.

A/N: It's time I stopped making excuses and admitted that I AM A SLOW WRITER! Unless I have constant bursts of inspiration (which don't come around all that often, and they usually happen when I have first started writing a story rather then in the middle) I update slowly. Sorry, but that's just the way I am. I do try, and since I've made you wait so long, I'm going to push myself into writing another chapter right now. Then I've got to work on "Quest of the Mary-Sue" and it's 12:40 at night. CHARGE!