Overcoming Prejudices

By washow

Rating: PG

Summary: Things go badly for the elves of Mirkwood and their only salvation may come in the form of a ranger of the north. Will the woodland king swallow his pride and ask for help?

Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings nor am I making any profit from this story. Any similarities to other fan fiction are purely coincidental. This is not slash but a tale of friendship and family love.

Chapter 6: Surprise arrival

The next day Thranduil and Aragorn were riding side by side on the path from Lake-town to Mirkwood, they had left before the grainery manager had been apprehended but had been assured it was only a matter of time. As they rode along the king abruptly broke the comfortable silence, "I understand now."

The ranger tore his gaze from the road ahead and instead focused on the elf beside him, "Understand what?"

The king met the man's gaze and smiled, "Why my son calls you friend. You are trustworthy and loyal even when it means you will turn against your own kind for the sake of what is right."

The ranger blushed, "Thank you for your kind words my lord. Your son is also very fond of you and I can now see why he loves you so."

"One thing I can not understand." The king continued, "Is how it is you and my son always get into such trouble. Until now I believed his claims that it was your fault but now – now I am not sure. We have managed to travel without harassment, unlike that time you and he tried to make this same journey years ago."

The quite conversation continued as the two traveled, trading stories and sharing laughter. The travelers were so preoccupied that they did not notice the men in the trees until suddenly they and their horses were caught under a large net. The confinement caused the horses to panic and they reared repeatedly until finally their riders were required to slide off and murmur calming words in their ears. When the horses calmed man and elf turned to face their captors and found themselves looking at a man they never thought to see outside of Lake-town -Gordor.

Thranduil's anger was so palatable that Aragorn could swear he could feel it as it rolled off the elf. The king narrowed his eyes at the man, "I see you are a snake, and one who has managed to slither between the bars of his cage. How did you manage to escape, oh no matter I am sure you will be caught soon and then I personally will ensure that you never escape from your new cage which shall be a pine box six feet under ground!" Suddenly the king's head snapped forward and then he fell to the ground.

"Ah, much better – thank you Fortin that pompous creature was really starting to get on my nerves." The man then switched his gaze from the man holding the branch to the one kneeling under the net next to the prone elf, "Don't worry, he's still alive – he wouldn't be any good to me if he wasn't." The ranger glanced up and Gordor smiled at the question in his eyes, "Yes, I have plans for him. Why would I have went to all this trouble if I did not." The man's only response was to glare at his captor which caused Gordor to chuckle evilly, "You, however, are a traitor to mankind and will be executed for your actions." The man had an evil glint in his eyes which caused Aragorn to fear, although he refused to show it to this piece of filth. Gordor on the other hand was no longer concerned with the ranger but was focusing his attention on his accomplice, the same man, Aragorn noted, who had led to his downfall by mouthing off in the pub. "Get them out from under that net." Gordor barked at his helper.

"Do you want me to bind the both of them?" Fortin asked.

The grainery manager knelt next to the woodland king and regarded him closely, "Don't bother with this one he is out cold just bind the other and do it quickly, my patience grows thin."

Fortin obediently started pulling the net away but sensed this was not going to work with the ranger armed and swiftly delivered him a blow to the head.

"Why did you do that for?" Gordor demanded angrily, "You know I want to torment him before he dies."

Fortin was making quick work of tying the man's hands and feet now that he was free of the net and took time only to nod in the direction of the man and elf's weapons, "I had to get those away from him else he would have killed us both. Not to worry though with a little slap he'll wake up quick enough."

In order to prove his point the man slapped the ranger a few times and was finally rewarded with a pair of silver eyes staring straight back at him. Gordor came over and was delighted to see the ranger looking at him, "Ah Fortin was right you are awake. Good now we can carry out your sentence." The man was turning to grab something from the dirt behind him when his attention was drawn back to the ranger, "You trust him! It is his fault I found out what you were up to, it seems he is incapable of keeping his mouth shut."

Gordor diverted his gaze from the prone ranger to his helper, "Is that so, well I'll have to punish him for his stupidity after I'm through with you but first what say you, lets have some fun." The man then produced a club from behind his back, only it was no ordinary club but one in which iron spikes had been embedded. The sight of such a cruel weapon caused the ranger to struggle in his bonds causing the man to smile, "Like it, do you? Ah I thought you would, you see it is used to harvest wheat – you know that thing you have such interest in." With that Gordor forcefully brought the thresher in contact with Aragorn's back bringing forth a small moan of pain. "Trying to be the hero, are you, refusing to cry out your pain for fear of looking less in the eyes of your peers. Well by the time I'm done with you – you'll be crying for mercy."

"Why are you doing this?" Aragorn gasp out around the pain.

The man smiled evilly, "Why? Because you betrayed our kind for that of elves, you sided with them instead of us. And for that you deserve to die but before you die you deserve to suffer for disrupting my plans. You see it was all going to be so easy – a quarter of Mirkwood in exchange for enough food to keep the elves alive for the winter. Then once the land was mine I was going to raze it to the ground and plant the largest amount of wheat in this part of Middle Earth, and I would be rich – rich beyond imagine and I would be respected for the wise man I am. Ah but you had to interfere with my plan – no harm done though for now I have the king and will be able to get what I want and some for I'm sure the king's life is worth half of the land of the wood elves."

"I did not know someone could be that stupid." The man ground out, "The elves will never surrender Mirkwood to you nor will they stomach you touching their king – you will be dead before you ever open your mouth." This seemed to incense the man as he rained a series of blows upon the man's back, sides and abdomen. One or two landing exactly on his healing wound and causing it to split open and spill the ranger's blood on the ground. Just as Aragorn was starting to lose consciousness the blows stopped and he found himself sputtering as he was doused with water.

"Oh, no you don't – can't have you losing consciousness before the grand finale – I want your eyes open when I take your life. I want to see your fear." Aragorn was shaking his head in an attempt to clear the cobwebs when suddenly a sword appeared in his line of sight, not just any sword but his sword, the one which had faithfully defended his life all these years was now going to be the one which would take it. Aragorn took as deep a breathe as his hurting ribs would allow and looked his assassin in the eyes, "Do it then coward and hasten your trip into the pits of Angband."

The man's only response was to smile and begin his downward strike – Aragorn watched the blade descend and could not help but thinking – Legolas is going to be so mad at me.

TBC

A/N: Sorry to leave you hanging there, really I am. The next chapter will be up tomorrow.