The sun was not yet over the horizon when Elrohir slipped silently from Katie's room and his long vigil. He was leaving at dawn with Elladan and a troop of Gondorian soldiers to care for the bodies of Elboron's guards and to hunt down the orcs responsible for the carnage. He needed to gather his supplies and ready himself to leave. He had probably tarried too long already.

When he entered his room, Elladan was already there. Before his twin could say anything, Elladan told him, "I took the liberty of packing up what you will need and making the arrangements for you. All you need to do is change clothes."

"And you have already laid them out for me!" Elrohir said with a laugh. "Gen hannon, muindor-nín. I was worried I might not have time."

"I knew you would be torn in two directions," Elladan said sympathetically as his brother began to change clothes. When Elrohir didn't answer, he continued, "Are you certain you want to come?"

Elrohir looked up at him in surprise. "That is a strange question to ask, when you have already made all the preparations!"

Elladan took no notice. "There is no need for you to come if you would rather stay here with Katie."

Elrohir set his lips in a firm line. "Yes, there is need for me to go. These orcs are a menace, Elladan, they must be seen to. You and I can dispatch them more quickly and efficiently than any of Estel's doughty warriors." He sighed. "I am indeed very worried about Katie, but this must be done so that we can all be safe."

000

Legolas caught up with the twins in the stableyard and once more offered his services in the hunt for the orcs.

"We appreciate the offer, but we have plenty of manpower already," Elladan reminded their friend. "Estel will need more help here, organizing patrols to protect the settlers. You will be helping him with that." Legolas nodded. Elrohir opened his mouth to speak, then looking around, drew Legolas a little distance away from the bustle.

"There is something else I would ask of you," he said quietly.

"Anything."

"Keep an eye on Katie. Arwen has said already that she will watch over her, but Arwen has the responsibilities of hostess here and cannot always be spared from those duties."

"Of course," Legolas assured him.

Elrohir related, in a very abbreviated way, the story that Katie had told him the night before. "I fear she may become afflicted with the war-terror," he concluded grimly.

"I will do what I can," Legolas said. "But why do you not let me take your place in this hunt, and stay here yourself?"

Elrohir took a deep breath, and looked away. Finally turning back to Legolas, he gave an apologetic smile. "I cannot," he said. "It is more than duty that binds me. No, Elladan and I will ride against the orcs."

After a pause, Legolas nodded in understanding. They were both silent for a moment, not looking at one another.

"There, everyone is mounted up and ready to go," Legolas said, gesturing to the troop in the center of the stableyard. "Elladan has your horse. You must go."

Elrohir nodded and clasped his friend's shoulder. "Le hannon, mellon-nín."

000

Katie slept until mid-afternoon, waking with the expectation of finding Elrohir beside her. But the chair by her bed was vacant.

She sat up and stretched. Why had she expected Elrohir to be there? Oh, he had been there in the middle of the night. When she had had a nightmare.

Of the dead bodies.

She passed a shaking hand over her face. Elrohir was right, she had slept dreamlessly—a thing which she suspected was his doing. But it did not stop her from remembering, now that she was awake.

Someone had been in the room to fill the ewer with water and to lay out clothes for her. They had taken away her stained and reeking clothing, and Katie prayed they had burned them. She never wanted to see or smell them again.

Once washed and dressed, she ventured from her room. The corridors were quiet, and Katie attempted to remember how she had come in as she slipped silently through the house.

After a few wrong turns, she found herself in the Great Hall, and following her nose, made her way to the kitchens. She was ravenously hungry.

She was also immensely relieved to encounter voices and bustling bodies in the kitchens. Not only were servants working, chatting, and laughing here, but Arwen herself was discussing menus with the head cook, and there were three little boys raiding the pantry. Very little boys. They must be Hobbit children!

Arwen noticed her arrival and finished her conversation with the cook. "Katie," she said with a warm smile, coming over and giving her a comforting hug. "How are you this morning?"

Katie managed a very strained smile. "A little better, thank you, my Lady," she said, remembering that she was addressing the Queen of Gondor and Arnor.

"Good." Arwen broke off with a chuckle. "Was not the first luncheon to your taste, that you must needs have another?" she asked the Hobbit children, who were piling their loot on a very short table and preparing to consume it. They grinned back, knowing she was only teasing. "Katie, may I present Frodo, Merry, and Pippin Gardener, three of Sam's children? Gentlemen, this is Katelyn Elvellon."

The boys leapt to their feet and executed neat bows—at least, Frodo and Merry did. Pippin, the youngest of the three, tried to follow their example and almost tripped over himself. Katie smiled a real smile for the first time since her ordeal, and curtsied to them solemnly.

"Won't you join us?" Frodo asked courteously, and they made room for her at the Hobbit-sized table.

Arwen smiled at the little group, and slipped quietly out of the kitchen.

TBC

AN: Slightly shorter than usual, but anything else I was going to get into would make it too long.

Unfortunately, I will now be using the reply function provided by ff dot net and only replying in the chapter to reviews that have no reply link. Any issues in comments which I think need to be brought up, I'll also address here. I'd rather not do it this way, but I don't want to make ff dot net mad.

Skye: lol I thought of that. I see dead people…I've never heard of that game, but then, I don't drink, so I have no experience with drinking games. :)

RenegadeKitsune: lol I play… STENCH OF DEATH! MWA HA HA! TAKE THAT, SUCKER! Honestly, have you ever smelled rotting animal from close quarters? Ain't nice, and you get away from it but the smell clings to things and makes you want to retch… Yicky.

Madd Hatter: Yeah, Elrond would be useful right about now.

Darkened Dreams: lol And now you're got two more!

Megara: Oh, I would totally freak out too.

Erasuithiel: Oh, I always enjoy it when I figure out what's going to happen and then when it happens, I'm like, Yeah! In your face! …But I suppose that's more with books than fanfiction.

Thalion: Well, but we must remember that Middle-earth in this construction is no less real than our world—in fact, it is the same world! So it's just as realistic and hard-hitting. It's just that there's more magic, and therefore more loopholes. :) I love loopholes.

Thank you everybody for reviewing! Each and every one of you is worth your weight in gold—or chocolate, take your pick.

Please review!