Hello Everyone!

Dear Raphael,

I love to disappoint. This story will continue. It is, in fact, finished in its rough texture. But I owe an explanation to my beloved readers. Here it is:

So much has happened in this past month! First and foremost, I moved and was, therefore, cut off the internet for a long time. Second, my status in the company that I am working at changed dramatically – in my favor, cause I went up from being the manager to the owner. Alas, this was preceded by going to court and kicking a sadist bastard out. And thirdly, I am about to go overseas for both a surgery and a vacation.

A lot of drama going on in the real world and believe me, I felt the pressure of the delayed update on my neck. If I had the internet connection I probably would have written anyway, but it took a while to get that.

I know that I have many lovers and haters and I promised them both six finished stories (counting Irulan 3). They will get them – whether they like it or not. It will be a repetition but fear not – I will NOT abandon my stories. Pentimento is impossible to abandon anyway – it is, in its essence, finished.

Now…as for the upcoming vacation – I will have no internet access and the next chapter has to wait. I will try to squeeze in another chapter before I go but don't hold me to that.

Someone offered her generous help for Irulan's journey through China and yes, if you read this, it would be amazing if you could give me that. Many have written beautiful words and praises – believe me, nothing could motivate me better. I didn't have the time to reply but I read them all – several times. And finally, some have spat their hatred. Thanks to them, too. If anything is more motivating than praise, it would be spit. Ha ha ha.

Let us proceed. The pace is slow and the action is building. Have patience – every chapter leads us to where we are bound to go and is therefore, necessary.

Oh and note – the woman who kills John is neither Amanda, nor Elizabeth. Guys, your imagination certainly outwits mine! She was just a background figure, hired for that little job. Amanda would never have the guts or the stomach to do that, I think.

Much love and hope for patience.

Darma Druid

Ellen blew out the smoke and squinted into the crowded night. "Nice country, this."

Irulan sighed and sipped from her green tea. "Amazing. I love it so far. And it seems to get better with every stop."

"So where're you headed to?"

Irulan smiled and glanced at the slim, muscular woman sitting across her and chainsmoking. Brunette, slightly freckled with sharp features and a gorgeous eye color that seemed to drift between hazel and green. A hiker, climber, biker and everything in between from San Fransisco, Ellen seemed to be utterly at home in Hangzhou, though it was her first time, just like Irulan. 'But then she has traveled almost everywhere,' Irulan thought a bit resentful. 'All this must be rather usual for her'. "Nancheng," she sighed finally, glancing around the terrace that was located above the crowded street and offered a fascinating night view of Hangzhou. "Eventually. A friend of mine has a house there. It's the journey that matters, of course." Ellen nodded in full understanding and glanced up at the dozens of colorful lanterns swinging in the cool breeze above them. "You think it's dangerous?" she prodded on.

"Dangerous?" snorted Ellen and blew another puff of smoke. "For your sake, I hope so."

"I intend to get there alive, thank you," Irulan grinned.

"Not more dangerous than New York, my dear," the other grinned back. "Heck, a little danger is good for you. Pumps up those hormones in you, y'know."

Irulan nodded and looked over the city again. She had spent the entire day walking around and now her soles were hurting from the effort. Not that she regretted it! Not at all! She loved Hangzhou, even more than Shanghai. It was incredibly exotic, lush and gave off the impression of an untouched territory – although it was swarming with tourists. It had the local, authentic Chinese flavor that Shanghai seemed to lack.

"How about you?" she asked then.

Ellen took her time fishing out another cigarette and lightning it before she answered. "I'll stick here for a while. Then probably head further north." She gave Irulan a feral grin. "On foot, of course."

"You are crazy," Irulan rolled her eyes. "You should get a map of China. You'll change your mind when you see how big it is."

"Excuse me, city GIRL," was the response, accompanied by a wider grin.

"Excused, cavewoman," Irulan said, then coughed a little when the smoke flew her way. She sighed suddenly. "My friend died, you know," she added finally, her tone a mere murmur. Ellen didn't interfere. "Then one who owned the house. He...left it to me."

"He must have liked ya."

"I guess," she said.

"Or hated ya."

"Huh? Impossible!"

"Well he gave you a friggin house in the middle of nowhere. Sounds kind of vengeance to me." She leaned forward a little, her eyes flashing with amusement. "You angered him?"

"No," Irulan groaned and sipped a little more tea.

"Sure," was the sly reply.

Irulan gave her mock spiteful look. "How is your room?"

"Like yours," laughed Ellen. "It's across yours, in case you haven't noticed."

"I know that, you spiteful thing," seethed Irulan. "I mean is the shower working in yours?"

"Yeah. Used it this morning. Why?"

"Mine is not," Irulan huffed.

"No shit?"

"Yeah. I told the reception and they said they would fix it. Only tomorrow!"

"Well…use mine."

"Really?"

"Yeah. Actually, use my room. I showered this morning and I'll take it back tomorrow once you leave. Until then..." she shrugged to that.

Irulan blinked with surprise. "Truly?"

Ellen gave her a long look as the smoke swirled around her. "I'm not offering myself in it, you know. I'll take yours."

Irulan laughed then, waving away the smoke. "Ah well...I had to ask!" she chuckled with mock disappointment.

Ellen grinned again. And lighted another cigarette.

So it was that Irulan dragged her backpack across the corridor and bid Ellen goodnight, then locked her door and changed before she slid beneath the the sheets. She sighed and thought of her day. It had been amazing, to say the least. That is, aside all the times she had thought of Legolas. Which had been a lot, to be honest.

She exhaled in frustration and turned in her bed. "I put all this distance between us, and yet I think of him! Cursed! That's what I am, cursed!" she muttered. The thought that she could be here with him came to her and it was enraging not to know whether she felt elated or discouraged by that idea. It had been so nice to travel with Legolas. A true feast for the ego, that was sure. All aside, he could have probably told her a lot about China and his past experiences there. She sighed again. 'And that, exactly, is my curse," she mumbled to herself. Her passion for knowledge. Her interest in the past. Things like battles, emperors, great men and women who had lived and breathed long before her time. Things lost to her. Legolas had told her during their trip that maybe Irulan shouldn't prod the past so much, that the truth she might find out about it could wash away the mystery and leave the bitter tang of disappointment. "History books are full with imaginary, fictional things, Irulan," he had told her, smiling that enigmatic smile of his. "The passage of time softens the rough edge of things and leaves a dust of mystery on past occurrences. The truth behind it all dwindles into mist and haze and the human mind tries to weld in connections that were not present. Most 'heroes' you admire so much were probably dull and shallow in real life. Great many of the kings and leaders you speak so in awe of were, in truth, mean, selfish and utterly boring. Humans like to elate names once they are gone and everyone who knew them once, has been forgotten."

"So true," she mumbled to herself as the haze of sleep loomed over her and the noises of Hangzhou faded into the background. Anyone who knew elves from books and legend would think them to be perfect in every any and any way, wouldn't they? Hadn't Irulan thought of them as these graceful, magical, serene beings? And then she had met elves. It wasn't a disappointment - not at all. But her thoughts concerning them that dated before her meeting appeared childish and naive to her, now. Now she knew that they were just like humans - beautiful, yet never perfect; strong, yet dented with weaknesses. But Legolas had been wrong. The truth hadn't diminished them in her eyes. It was the fact that they were as they were that made it all interesting. 'Who cares about great men and women who emanate only perfection? It is the fact that they were flawed like everyone else and yet achieved what they did, that makes it interesting.'

Sleep overwhelmed her then and Irulan sighed softly, announcing defeat in the face of it. The conscious part of her mind wondered if she would dream again. Her dreams had been so vivid ever since she had come to China, and mostly they centered either around Legolas, or Baeron. It didn't seem strange to her. She was here because of Baeron and it was only natural that the more she thought of him the more she would dream of him. And it was never strange to dream of Legolas, anyway. His presence as well as his absence was hard to ignore. She drifted off and let go, ready to face either elf. But it was neither elf who visited. Irulan slept a dark, fitful slumber, her dreams lost in the blackness that closed in on her.

Anne glanced at her food. "I am a pig," she thought, then stuffed another chopstickfull into her mouth. Her expression was pure ecstasy. Normally not fond of Chinese food, she discovered that it had only been so because she hadn't eaten REAL Chinese food. It was simply amazing and good enough to ignore the tightening of her jeans on her waistline.

"He is a philosopher, for God's sake!" grunted Russel with objection and rolled some more lo mein unto his fork (he had no intentions of using chopsticks and embracing himself in front of the whole restaurant along with the elves).

"If they call every cunning, ancient, ugly and overly cruel man a philosopher, then yes, Confucious was no doubt the sifu of all philosophers," Haldir grinned.

Legolas chuckled and shook his head. Just seeing him like that brought a flare of relief into Anne's heart. But she knew that his demeanor was deceiving. Legolas was in a foul mood and she knew that if he wasn't courteous and hadn't that elvish patience of his, he would rather grab the table and turn it upside down - preferably so that the food would land in Russel's face, too. The faint tenseness that was coming from his direction was like a constant, accursed itch. She knew that he was restless. Because although they had spent an entire day in Nanjing, they had been unable to locate any track of Irulan. It was no surprise to her - no matter how efficient the web of information that the Circle possessed, it was unfair to expect them to find a single woman in such a crowded (not to mention, chaotic) place on such short notice. Haldir had told her that Legolas was fuming with anger at the 'incapability' of the Circle and had hissed remarks about how obviously major changes were necessary in its structure, since it was of no damn use at all when needed.

But the Marchwarden had added with a lower tone that it was only worry that made the Prince speak so. The Circle was more than efficient, he had explained to her. It's been running for hundreds and thousands of years all over the globe and just the fact that only very few knew of it was proof of how good it was functioning. Nevertheless, just like a complicated living organism, the Circle had adapted itself to satisfy its needs in the best manner. Meaning, while it knew the location of every crime leader, could obtain or simply hack the codes of every organization or institution on the planet, could locate a government official within minutes in any country and any time and knew the secret ceremonies and names of every member of every secret religious sect -in short, things that it needed to know to continue it's task- it was baffled to silence by a request that demanded an American woman to be found IMMEDIATELY in a city in China. True enough, Irulan was not any woman. She was the heir of Aragorn and no doubt, she would probably faint out of sheer fury if she knew how much the Circle knew about her up to date (Mercifully only a tiny section of those files had been revealed to her). But even an organization as vast as the Circle could not spend needless energy and time simply to track down every heir or every mortal and immortal member of the organization. "Given enough time, they would find her," Haldir had sighed. "But...given enough TIME," he had repeated resentfully.

Anne gulped down another mouthful and kept her eyes on Legolas, who was listening to Haldir with amusement as the Marchwarden told a stunned Russel his conversations with the famous Chinese philosopher. The blue gaze of the Prince would drift towards Russel every now and then. Anne had to admit that he was good at hiding his emotions. Very good. Better than anyone else. And yet, the dislike, curiosity and jealousy he felt for Russel must have been too overwhelming to hide ALL of it, because even in those fleeting looks she could read those expressions - if only for an instant. Russel, on the other hand, was far easier to read and the really surprising part was that the very same sentiments rang in his eyes, too, when he chose to gaze at the elf. If not for Haldir, who played the bridge part far better than herself, the two men would have probably grabbed each other's throat ages ago.

'Okay, so it wasn't a good idea, after all,' she thought with something like misery and played with her food with her chopsticks. The feeling of regret showed its head and Anne hated that particular sentiment with a passion, so she quickly added 'But it was the only option. So, there!' It didn't make her feel better. Not because Legolas found Russel irritating (I mean, come on, who didn't??) or because Russel found Legolas unbearable (Well...who can argue with that?), but soley and merely and only because if her "little" lie faced the light of day, SHE herself would be the one to suffer. 'Is that selfish?' Anne thought, chewing softly on her stick. Regret made another attempt to come forth amongst the bushes. 'Not at all,' she thought quickly. 'It's only logical.'

"You met...Socrates?" Russel whispered with pure awe and broke her train of thought. She blinked and looked at the elves. Both had that irritable smile on their faces - something between a smirk and a grin. Russel cleared his throat, obviously disturbed by how impressed he was and concentrated on winding his fork into the lo mein when he spoke again. "What was he like?"

"Another sifu of sifus," grinned Haldir broader. He was as mean, cruel and ugly as Confucius. Only a bit younger."

"Alas," Legolas sighed and crossed his arms on his chest, giving Haldir an amused look. "At least he was not elaborating on frogs while explaining his philosophy."

Both Haldir and Legolas laughed at that and the human members of the table remained frozen, stunned by the sound of that incredible music. Other guests turned towards their table -women with intrigued smiles, men with frowns of surprise- but the elves seemed oblivious to it. Anne knew that their laughter was one distinctive characteristic of elves. She had always thought that weird. Until now, that is.

"And he used to beat me with that stick of his, old Confucius," Haldir chuckled, shaking his head.

"Why did you let him?" Anne said, still dumbfounded.

Haldir smiled. "Because," he sighed. "I bow to the mighty. And believe me, it was never hard to bow to Confucius."

"Or to Socrates," Legolas mused, gazing towards the bright windows. His fingers played with his green tea cup for a moment and the table hushed, lost in his concentration.

"Did he really drink that poison?"

Legolas blinked out of his reverie and turned to her. She could see that Russel was watching with silent curiosity as well. "He did," he said with both sorrow and bitterness. Anne exhaled a breath she didn't know she was holding. "His resentment for the conservative regime in Athens was greater than his love for life."

They were silent for a moment. "I wish I could have met him," Russel mumbled suddenly. It surprised all of them -the longing in it- and by the looks of it, Russel himself, too. "I mean...the guy was a great man," he choked out.

"How come you know all these people?" Anne asked, glancing at the elves.

"It is easy when you know the means and easier if you have them. Time, of course, is essential, too," Haldir said gently. "You must have lots of it."

"No, I mean..." she sighed and placed the chopsticks into her plate as a waiter scurried over to replace it with a cup with steaming green tea. "We are here. We have the means. But how would we know whom to seek? Maybe there are a lot of interesting people out there right now," she said, waving her direction in the direction where the street should be. "But how would we know who they are?"

"Ah, I understand your question," Haldir said with a deft smile. "To that, I can only say that it was far easier in the past than it is now."

"Why so?"

"The world is a very crowded place now," he sighed, sipping from his tea. "For one thing. Also, the values and lifestyles of today are vastly different from the past. Before," he emphasized, locking eyes with her to make it clear that he meant the past, "people became famous and known for different skills. Surely money and wealth was important. But true fame -the kind that had pupils and seekers come from continents away in hope to meet the person- came with true skill. If you had stepped into the borders of Athens at that time, dear Anne, and spoken to anyone at a small gathering by a fountain -which the Greeks were so fond of- you would hear the name of Socrates and his disciples in less than five minutes. People were not famous because they only looked good back then," he said with a grimace of distaste. Anne, who knew his dislike for "pop culture" and the whole generation good looking actors and actresses, seriously lacking talent but nevertheless cheered by huge crowds, smiled slyly. "Looking good was not enough to earn fame and respect. They had to BE good at something."

Russel –another anti-pop culture person- nodded with consent. "So tell me," he said. "What kind of man was he?"

Haldir smiled and glanced at Legolas. "You should ask Lord Legolas," he said slowly. "They were rather close."

Russel gave a surprised glance at the Prince who seemed to deftly bloat with smugness. The elf opened his mouth and Anne leaned unconsciously forward in expectation.

The phone rang.

The quartet glanced at each other, surprised by the sound. Then finally Russel drew his cellphone from his back pocket, glanced at the unknown number, cursed softly under his breath thinking of the phone bill that would greet him next month just because his pals back in the States decided to say, and finally answered with a gruff "Yeah?"

"Russel? It's me."

For a moment it didn't sink in at all. He just froze, unable to believe that Irulan was speaking to him when he had been hunting her for several days now. "Irulan? Where are you?" he managed finally with obvious disbelief. The absurdity only grew further when Anne gasped and Haldir's head swept around to give him a surprised look. Legolas looked at him as if he meant to grab the phone himself, so he pulled back slightly and tried to focus on the conversation at hand.

Irulan's grin was perceptible from her tone. "In China, you fool." She sighed with the satisfaction of hearing his voice again. She had missed him so much! Unlike Anne, he hadn't meddled in her affairs and had been nothing but supportif. He had taken care of her while she was sick and had been abused by Legolas for her sake. Out of sheer want to talk to him again, she called him before she got on the train.

Russel hesitated, unable to come with an answer but Anne drew closer and waved her hand in urgency as if asking him to continue. "I know that," he concluded, glancing at the blonde woman. "I meant WHERE in China."

Irulan sighed and looked around. "I was in Shanghai for a few days. But now I'm on my way to Baeron's estate. I just wanted to call you and tell you that everything is fine. I'm having a great time."

Russel was silent for a moment and when he spoke there was a slight strain in his voice that she could not comprehend. "Good idea. I was beginning to worry."

"Is this a bad time?" she said and checked her watch. "Sorry...oh...it must be the wee hours of the morning, there. I forgot about that, sorry."

"No, no! It's okay." He halted again and the hiss of the bad connection remained. "I missed you," he said finally, softer.

Irulan sighed. "I missed you, too," she said solemnly. "Look, I want to apologize for departing like that. I was angry at Anne. And Le...everyone else. It wasn't you."

As absurd as it sounded, Russel felt damned good about the fact that she had called him and not any other. She hadn't called Anne. Not Haldir. And certainly not Legolas. He turned and glanced at the elf, but his face proved to be unreadable.

Russel's feelings for him were mixed to say the least. When he first came face to face with him at Irulan's doorstep, there had been a definite curiosity as well as...jealousy? Russel had denied it often enough, but the truth remained. He had felt jealousy. Not a lover's jealousy, for he had never thought of Irulan in that way - that spot had been reserved for Anne for a long time, now. More like a friend's or a brother's jealousy. Him and Irulan had been inseparable for many years now and she was his closest friend.

"What's up with that chick?" his friends used to taunt him in the bar as they threw darts and eyed him wearily.

Russel just used to scratch his neck and take a gulp from his beer. "She is not a chick," he would say then. Because Irulan wasn't. To him, she was everything but merely a 'chick'. She was the woman every man would love to have at his side - caring but not suffocating; honest but not brutal. Never as brutal as Anne, anyway. Irulan was never jealous of his girlfriends or would never judge his 'manly' silly habits. She would never try to be a 'woman' around him, and never once had tried to change him. Something that every other woman in his life had tried so painfully. She was simply there, supportive and sincere and many times he had wished that he would have felt for her what he felt for Anne. It would have been wiser, no doubt.

And so it was that while he was hitchhiking in Canada, Irulan had met this guy, this Heath Greenleaf, and everything had changed. For one thing, before him she had had boyfriends, of course, but they had never affected her as Heath had. She returned as a different Irulan. Broken and bitter she was - so different from the eager, curious, vivid woman she had been. Thankfully Irulan had a very good ability in rebouncing from hard surfaces and even the steely surface of LORD Greenleaf didn't kill her. Russel had been with her during that time and it had brought them closer than anything else had. He had waited in patience and prodded gently and she had told him of her story and how it had ended with Baeron. She didn't go into details - such as what kind of accident it was that brought upon the death of the man.

And then he had of course heard how Heath kept tracking her and all that and well...he had disliked it, to say the least. He had wished to encounter this Heath to give him a piece of his mind but it never happened. Heath had never come to her house before and neither did he show up where Russel was present. Usually he confronted Irulan alone or when she was with Anne. Understandable, since Anne was already on his side in the matter and probably had warned Heath that Russel wouldn't be.

Finally one summer day he had shown up on the threshold. Who could blame Russel of being jealous? Any sensible man would be jealous of someone like Heath. A rich man. A handsome man. A powerful man. The way Anne spoke of him, the world lay at his feet and he was some sort of demi-god. Russel had been satisfied to know that, unlike the world, Irulan was NOT crawling before him. But...would she? He hadn't told her, of course, because that would only make him look childish, but deep in his heart, Russel was afraid to lose her favor, just like a brother was afraid of another man showing up in her sister's life and stealing his time with her. He had acted indifferent - or had tried to, but he was not a fool. He knew that he was no match for this Greenleaf guy. Even before he knew that he was an elf and the head of the Circle, Russel had known that men like himself and men like Legolas were simply in different leagues. He had grace, manners, education, intelligence, money and power. All things that he lacked. Not that he felt worse for it - he liked himself well enough, but he knew that it would hurt him if Irulan would take the slightest step away from him just to spend a few more hours with Heath.

And now he wasn't even Heath. He was Legolas. The Legolas. 'I am doomed!' Russel had thought wryly as soon as he found out. 'I am doomed.' In Chinatown he had watched the fascinated expression of Anne and the deft signs of love on Irulan's face and he had known just in a matter of minutes that Legolas had them both and that the ties that bound them to him were far stronger than what Russel could ever accomplish - no matter how many years he would be given to befriend them.

Now, though, Irulan had called him. Only him. She had thought of HIM first and she had trusted HIM with her intimacy. It was silly and stupid to feel like a giant just because a woman had given him a call over his cellphone. But Russel rather liked feeling like a giant and he saw no need to suppress it. "Yeah, you had a right to be," he said, almost to himself. Then he cleared his throat. "So where is this estate?"

She grimaced and looked towards where the train was bound to show up. "In the south. I think it will take me several days to get there. Why Baeron chose to live in a Gorforsaken place like that, I don't know. But it's the quest that matters and so far, it's been fun," she added with enthusiasm.

"Oh," he said and this time the elapse in his speech was longer. For a moment she thought she had lost him, but then he spoke again. "You won't tell me where it is," he said, a bit hurt.

She blinked in surprise. "No, why wouldn't I? Hold on..." She searched her pockets for the piece of paper, found it and fished it out. "It's in...the Jianxi region. I'm probably spelling all this wrong, but anyway. They say it's really beautiful out there. I'm soon getting on a train that will take me as far as..." he hesitated, trying to read the word, "...Nancheng?"

"Oh...okay," he murmured. He felt the company leaning slightly towards him but Chinese people had the habit of talking and yelling like maniacs during lunch so it was impossible for them to hear a single word. He glanced at the Prince, who was seated across him as still as a statue. 'Good,' he thought distantly. 'He should know. He should know that I care for her and she cares for me. And that I am her friend while he is only someone who broke her heart.' It was a spiteful thing to think, but from where he stood, it was only true. Elf or not, Legolas or not, he had brought only grief and fear into her life. 'I can be a mere human and worse than most,' he thought, 'but at least she will remember the support, love and friendship I have offered. Irulan wouldn't forget. She would never forget.' He didn't look up to meet the gaze of the others and only thought of the woman at the other end of the line. "Irulan," he added then, with a more determined tone. "Be careful. I mean...you are out there alone and...damn, I wish you would have allowed me to tag along."

She smiled ruefully. "I'm sorry. But I had to do this alone. However," she added with a lighter tone, "we should do this together again sometime." She waited a moment before she said "Did you hear anything..." she cleared her throat, "I mean do you know if..."

"If what?"

"I know that...he was sick," she managed to choke out. "I mean...I'm sure he's all right now but...do you know maybe if..."

There it was again! She had called him and trusted him, but she HAD to ask about that damned elf! 'Love makes fools of all of us,' he thought ruefully and barely kept himself from glancing at Anne. 'God knows I am the biggest of all!' came the bitter addition in his mind. "You mean Legolas?"

Irulan did a sharp intake of breath. "Yes," she whispered finally.

"What? I can't hear you."

"Yes!" she said, louder. "Not that it matters," she said with exasperation. Then chewed her lip and said "I mean it matters of course...I just want to..." She exhaled in frustration. "Did you hear anything? Maybe Anne said something?"

"Legolas is fine," Russel said a moment later and it came out flat enough. The Prince, though, had guessed the context of the conversation and those blue eyes twinkled with sincere joy.

"Oh," she said, then cleared her throat again. "Good. Not that I care, you know..."

"Then why ask?" was the dry reply.

"Well...I just..." she didn't know how to continue, so she didn't. No wonder that Russel liked him even less now and who cared, anyway? Russel had been right from the beginning - the company of a creature like that wasn't for her. "I'm glad for him. And Amanda," she said, and her throat hurt just by saying it.

"Yeah," he snorted then. "Whatever." He felt Legolas shifting on his seat, but other than a drift of urgency and curiousity, there was nothing he could sense coming from him.

"Yeah," she sighed. "Whatever." She glanced at the approaching train in the distance. "Look...this conversation is a bit expensive and my train is about to arrive. I don't know if I can call you again, so don't worry, I'm doing fine, okay?"

Russel, sweating to find something to say that would keep Irulan from moving on and not knowing how to say it without raising her suspicion, swallowed with unease. "Irulan," he began and halted. He had no idea how to continue. The boring look he was receiving from Legolas was not helping either. She waited in silence and he racked his brains, trying to think of something. Finally he exhaled and merely said "Be careful, okay?"

There was a short silence and when she spoke again, her whisper seemed to reflect timidity. "Why do you say that?"

"Well...I mean...you should be, that's why," he said. He bit his lower lip and glanced at the rest of the company, locked to him. "Is there something you're not telling me?" he added then, suddenly feeling a slight dizziness.

"Umm...no, no," she said, but he knew her better than that.

"Irulan, you're killing me woman! Tell me what it is!"

Haldir tensed and Anne placed her hand on Russel's. The man gazed down and if not for his anxiety at the moment, would probably feel utter joy at that.

She took a deep breath. "It's nothing. I mean...a...a coincidence, that's all." Russel clenched his jaws, so she decided to continue. Just to ease his mind so he wouldn't jump to any more horrific explanations. "Okay...I stayed in this hotel yesterday. And...my bathroom didn't work..." a train hooted in the distance and she hesitated for a moment before she continued. "Yeah so I switched rooms with her. And she...she..." her voice was trembling now and unconsciously his knuckles whitened as he tightened his hold on the phone. "She was dead this morning, Russel." He knew then that his expression spoke of his terror because Legolas was on his feet in an instant and glared down at him as if that horrible situation –whatever it was- was Russel's fault. "They say she was drunk and got up to go to the bathroom and...hit her head. I saw a glimpse of her bathroom...there was blood everywhere Russel!"

She was crying now and although Russel thought he was stunned wordless, he heard his own voice soothing her. "Ssshhh....okay...calm down. She was drunk?"

"She...I...I don't think so!" Irulan cried. "We ate together and yes, she was drinking but she seemed better off than me."

"Maybe," he said, trying to force breath into his lungs while Legolas was killing him with mere glares, "maybe she drank some extra after you parted."

"Yeah...." she sniffed. "They found lots of empty bottles in her room. She took a deep shaky breath. "Anyway...we had dinner together just...before. I couldn't believe she was dead the next morning."

"Irulan, listen to me," Russel said, forcing his own voice not to tremble. "I think you might be in danger."

She laughed a little to that. It was a nervous chuckle. "Yes, mom." Her tone was softer when she continued. "I love you, Russel. I really do. You are the best friend one can hope to have."

He scratched his head and tried to fight off the grin appearing on his face. "I love you, too. Even though you are a pain in the neck. But that is another matter. I think you should stay put and..."

"What?" came her voice as the hoot of the train was repeated, rather loud this time. "I can't hear you!"

"Irulan!" he yelled into the phone and cursed softly. "Can you hear me?"

"Russel?" The sound was very audible this time and drowned her voice. "I have to go! I'll...I'll call you!" she screamed, her words hard to pick out. "Don't worry, I'm fine. Love you!"

She hung up then and he sighed with irritation, looking at his cellphone. A moment later it was snatched from his hands and he looked up, dumbfounded. Legolas was holding it and the look on his face was pure frostiness. "What the..." began Russel and was cut short by the other's seething interruption.

"With your permission..." He dialed a number, ignoring Russel's bafflement and waited before he spoke "Give me the location from where the last call was made to this number." He turned it off then and almost threw it at Russel. "

"What's up with the attitude?"

Legolas crossed his arms on his chest and gave Russel a long look. "What did she say?"

"She said the estate is in...Jiangzie or something."

"Jianxi," Haldir corrected and nodded for him to go on with a bemused expression on his face.

"Yeah, there. And that she is on the train to...Nepchal."

Haldir gave Legolas a surprised look. "But that is almost the opposite direction from where we are going."

Legolas clenched his jaws. "We were obviously misled."

"Why would John lie?" Anne asked.

"I don't know," Haldir mused. "I would think it was to protect Irulan...but that seems highly doubtful." He glanced at the Prince once more. "This is very strange."

"It is," Legolas whispered. The vision he had seen threatened to overcome him again and he hastily turned to Russel to prevent that. "What else?"

"Well..." Russel swallowed at the looks he received from the trio. "Okay, I am very worried now. And don't cross me when I'm worried," he said grimly.

"What is it?!" urged Anne with a hiss.

Russel pursed his lips for a moment. Then repeated what Irulan had told her.

He was glad that he was not the only one who looked terrified after that.

"Damn it all!" hissed Legolas and barely kept himself from punching down at the table. The table was silent and waited. "Get up!" he commanded and Russel found himself jumping to his feet before he could think about it. "We are leaving. NOW!"

He strode out the restaurant and the others hurried to follow, like a general and his own small private army.