The day's search proved fruitless. In the evening Katie, no longer necessary in the kitchen, wandered out to the stable yard. As she arrived, Mithrandir was leaving. She watched him ride out, his strange staff tucked under one arm and his grey robes flapping behind him.

Arwen stood mildly watching his departure as well, her hands on her hips. It had apparently been her that had led his horse out for him. She rubbed her forehead with the back of one hand. Her working dress was a little dusty, and she wore heavier shoes than her usual graceful slippers. Lithorniel had told Katie that the ellith often wore leggings under their dresses when they worked with the horses. Katie had trouble imagining the great and graceful Lady Arwen serving the people who generally treated her with such deference, but really, it wasn't all that odd. Arwen was doing her part, just as everyone else in this difficult time. It was like some lady of the English nobility helping out the villagers during the blitz. Except that it was her own brother they were trying to save.

"Why's he leaving so soon?" Katie asked. Lossefalme had said he had just ridden in that morning from a long distance.

Arwen turned to her. "I do not know. Mithrandir has purposes we know not. But I think it touches upon my brother, for before he left, he told me to be of good hope."

Katie saw that a sorrowing light was in the elf lady's eyes. She longed to give her some word of hope, but she had none to give. Elrohir, she believed, had some role to play yet in the history of Middle-earth, but how could she be sure he would live to play it?

She herself was supposed to be the guarantee that one of her friends would survive—or at least, that had been the idea the first time she had come. But she had no guarantee that that was the cause of her stay here this time. And indeed, she had been her much longer this time than the last. That had been about ten days; this was gaining on the three-month mark.

Elrohir himself (Katie gulped a bit at the thought) would have told her to trust in Ilúvatar, that he knew what he was doing. But she couldn't help feeling more than a bit helpless, and very useless.

000

Elrohir must've passed out again, and was coming to slowly. The pain was the first thing he was aware of, and he groaned.

"Ah, awake at last, are we?" a voice spoke from above him.

Elrohir, from his position on his stomach, couldn't turn his head far enough to see his interlocutor, but he was pretty sure it was Garaveg.

Well, he wasn't going to grovel here at the feet of his captor. Despite his burning ribs, Elrohir put his hands flat on the floor and pushed himself up onto his hands and knees.

His valiant gesture was in vain. Garaveg simply gave him a good kick in the stomach, and Elrohir collapsed again. It was a small measure of relief to him that he landed on his back this time. At least the pressure was off his ribs—although the kick certainly hadn't helped them any. He shut his eyes tight, trying to keep breathing.

Garaveg chuckled. "Your family is out searching for you," he said conversationally.

Elrohir opened his eyes and looked up at him. Garaveg was leaning against the pillar with his arms crossed, lazily gazing down at his captive.

"Yes, your brother has been out here hunting all day. He will wear himself out if he is not careful. Rides around, looking like a thundercloud. Your sister and father are probably no more cheerful, are they?"

Elrohir ignored him and concentrated on slowing his breathing to a less painful speed.

"I think they will be even less cheerful by the time we are done… In fact, I think they will be dead," Garaveg said blandly.

Elrohir tried to continue to ignore him, but felt himself blanch. Garaveg was probably lying, after all—just trying to get a rise out of him. Well, he won't succeed, Elrohir thought wryly, we have just proven that I cannot at present rise anyway.

000

Katie was not there to see Elladan's return that evening, but Arwen was. She was just tidying up one more thing at the stable before she went and got some rest, when the sound of hooves was heard, and her eldest brother rode up.

"Elladan!" she exclaimed, holding his horse as he dismounted. He greeted her with a kiss on the cheek, but his expression was grim. "No sign of him?" Arwen asked in a low voice.

Elladan shook his head. "None," he said in an equally quiet tone. They stood silently together for a moment, Elladan with his arm around his sister's shoulders.

Finally Arwen shook herself. "You have been searching all day; you surely need a rest, and some food. There should be plenty in the kitchen; I'll take care of your horse."

"Hannon le, muinthel-nín," Elladan said gratefully, gave her another quick peck, and strode off in the direction of the house.

Another elf approached as Arwen led the horse into the stables. He opened the stall door for her and helped her take off the saddle and bridle.

"Thank you, Sadron," she said as he began pitching hay while she poured out some water for the tired beast.

"Sa gell nîn, Hiril-nín," he answered simply. "I know you will want to spend time with your brother."

When Arwen walked into the kitchen, Elladan was sitting at the table, staring distractedly at the piece of bread in his hand. She walked in behind him and put a hand on his shoulder. He looked up.

"I believe you could use a rest," she said with a small smile.

"I could, but I do not want to rest too much," he said, putting down the bread and stretching out stiff shoulders while she took a chair across from him. "I want to go back out and start searching again. I am confident that we can find a sign of him."

000

But Elladan's confidence seemed misplaced. All the next day they searched, and found nothing. The elder twin returned in the evening, saying barely a word to anyone, and looking angry. Luckily, everyone knew that was just his way of dealing with his worry, and put no store by it if he seemed snappish.

Arwen continued to help in the stables, and Katie in the kitchens. Cooking was something she actually knew how to do at home, unlike some of the other tasks she could've taken on here, and although it was a very different thing without electricity, she was managing alright. Mostly, she just tried to stay out of everyone's way. When Elladan returned, she took one look at his face and left him alone. It was obvious that no progress had been made, and she didn't want to bother him.

The search party began to spread out, combing the countryside far and wide in search of their missing comrade. But not a single sign more could they find.

The report came back that Mithrandir had been seen heading at a good speed toward the Trollshaws, but what he was planning on doing there, no one seemed to be hazarding a guess.

All in all, Rivendell was not the pleasant place it usually was, and the tension was palpable.

000

It was difficult for Elrohir to keep track of the time in that cellar where no light shone. His captors didn't help the situation any. They seemed to take an unholy glee in aiming a kick at him every time they passed, and some of them landed on his head. They seemed to hope to keep his wits addled and his body weakened enough that he could not run from them nor fight them.

Unfortunately, it seemed to be working.

He tried to count the meals that they took (himself not included, as his captors gave him nothing to eat), but he rather thought their eating schedules weren't regular, and he was unconscious enough of the time that it was difficult to keep track.

So he didn't know what day or time of day it was when two of the men took his arms and hauled him to his feet, tying his hands behind his back. It was the first time he had been upright for days, and his head spun sickeningly.

The cellars seemed to have been filling with men for the last couple days, and now most of them were trying to crowd into this, the main room. The men on either side of Elrohir held him upright, and he gazed around the room in dismay.

Near the stairway, Delwon stood with a man Elrohir recognized as Radek. He had seen him in conversation with Delwon and Garaveg several times. He was a long, lean man with a slight hare-lip and keen eyes of a brown so dark they were almost black. He was rough-spoken and said little, but he observed everything. Garaveg was nowhere to be seen.

The men seemed to be restless, ready for action. They murmured amongst themselves. With his sharp hearing, Elladan caught a few snatches of conversation.

"D'you suppose Garaveg's in position yet?"

"Oh, surely. We won't know, though. Only Delwon'll hear 'im."

"Look, there he goes up the stairs!"

Indeed, Delwon had mounted to the top of the stairs, up where Elrohir was sure there must be a trap-door. The room quieted, and Delwon turned his head as if listening.

After a minute, he said, "There! The signal. Now we must wait a little while to make sure the area is clear, and we will march!"

There was a muffled cheer.

Elrohir had a bad feeling that had nothing to do with his broken ribs.

000

It was getting on toward evening, and no one had seen any signs of Elladan or the rest of the search party. Katie, having a break from the work in the kitchen, had come out to the stable yard, and now she and Arwen stood watching the sun go down.

"Come," Arwen said suddenly, "they will be returning soon. How about we go down to meet them?"

Katie agreed, and Arwen went and saddled a horse. Katie rode behind Arwen, as they didn't want to use any more horses than they had to. The ones in the stable might be needed.

The air was pleasantly warm as they trotted out beyond the house and into the trees. The last lights of sunset cast strange and beautiful colors on the wood, and a bird was singing somewhere up high. The horse tossed his head happily. Katie felt she could almost agree. If it weren't for the present situation, it would have been a beautiful evening.

The sun slipped below the horizon as they drew near the Ford. The birds ceased their noise and the gaps between the trees grew dark with twilight. Suddenly, Arwen stopped the horse, listening.

"There is someone coming," she said to Katie, "and it is not the search party."

TBC

AN: Sa gell nîn, Hiril-nín: It is my pleasure, my Lady. You would not believe how long it took me to find the Sindarin for "You're welcome"…

Retraction: When Elrohir called Katie "gwethel"—that should've been "gwathel". I need to learn to check my Sindarin, even if I'm sure of myself…

Ravens Destiny: I would like to point out for clarification that my reply was neither an affirmation nor a denial of your theory. :)

Fk306: Yeah, Delwon just kind of dropped it on the floor.

werewolflemming: Finished HBP yesterday. Well, I was wrong on who I thought the hbp was (although it was my second guess) and I was wrong about who I thought Harry would end up with (although I'm really not surprised) and I love what happened with Remus at the end! —adores Remus—

Laer4572: Yes! Angst! Always fun stuff. :) Thanks!

Darkened Dreams: Well, this chapter is about a third to a half of a page longer than usual.

FallenTruth: —knowing look— Glad to see you're paying attention! Yes, the ending of HBP was very shocking. I always thought the bad guy was gonna turn out to be alright in the end, but boy was I wrong! Mae govannen, always happy to see a new face!

Thanks also to IwishChan, Madd Hatter and Arlindor. —does the happy review dance—

Ever heard the joke about View and Re-View?. :)