A/N: Imbecamiel, my wonderful editor, just got her first job as a "real" editor - so she hasn't had a to chance to go over either my responses, or my story very thoroughly this time. Please have mercy on the poor, editorless author, LOL.

This chapter is dedicated to: Willy, Pip, and Cami. -huggles-

See Chapter 1 for disclaimer.

Chapter 2: Volunteering for Trouble

"If all else fails, we can always go spider-hunting." Aragorn sat cross-legged on Legolas's bed.

Legolas snorted incredulously from his position in the windowsill. "Just the two of us?"

"Well…" Aragorn's silver eyes sparkled mischievously, reflecting the early-morning light streaming in through the window. "We could bring Dolenil with us, I suppose."

"I thought you didn't like Dolenil."

"I don't, mellon-nín, but I was thinking more along the lines of bait..."

"Estel!" Legolas frowned at the ranger in reprimand.

"Oh, you're right." Aragorn sighed resignedly. "The spiders wouldn't be tempted: he's too sour."

With commendable self-control, Legolas struggled not to laugh, but in the end he lost the battle. When their laughter died down, they finally realized someone was knocking softly on the door—and had been for some time.

"Prince Legolas?" Came the strained, but polite, inquiry.

Legolas sat up so suddenly he hit his head on the top of the window with a dull "thump".

"My Lord?" The voice became tainted with impatience, only bridled by the greater need for decorum.

Rubbing his head, Legolas finally reached the door.

"Forgive me, hir-nín," the long-suffering elf said as soon as the door was opened. "I am sorry I had to interrupt your…conversation…" He glanced disapprovingly at Aragorn. "But the King requests your presence."

Legolas managed to produce something between a grimace and a smile for the messenger, and nodded his thanks. Undoubtedly Thranduil was finally getting around to giving him his long-belated lecture for his latest misadventure.

By experience, Aragorn knew what having your presence "requested" could portend. He grinned. "It was nice knowing you, mellon-nin. It's a pity our friendship had to come to such and abrupt and tragic ending."

"A loyal friend would choose to die along with his friend," Legolas grabbed Aragorn by the hand and hauled him to his feet. "facing the same peril side-by-side."

"…facing the same peril side by side… I'm a friend, yes, but I don't know if I'm that good a friend," Aragorn muttered as he was towed down the hallway to Thranduil's study.

The King was sitting at his desk, unfocused eyes vacantly staring ahead, hands resting on the myriad of papers strewn in front of him. When they entered, he didn't seem to notice them.

Aragorn looked at Legolas. "Not a morning person?"

Rolling his eyes at his friend, Legolas cleared his throat loud enough to wake his father. "You wanted to see me?"

With a struggle, Thranduil's eyes refocused, and he look at them blearily. "I did?"

Working hard to hide a smile, Legolas answered as respectfully as he could. "Yes, Ada."

It took a long moment, but finally Thranduil shook himself and said, "Oh, yes, I wished to speak with you about…" He tried to stifle a persistent yawn.

"Ada, have you been up all night?..." Legolas asked suspiciously.

Thranduil shook his head. "No, not all night."

"The delegates." This time Legolas's voice held certainty. "The delegates arrived last night."

"Yes, yes, the delegates…" Thranduil sighed wearily. "They arrived in the middle of the night and, Eru alone knows why, insisted on speaking with me immediately." He massaged his temples absentmindedly. "They had nothing of great importance to talk about, but…"

"They kept you up most of the night." It wasn't a question.

"I guess you could say that," he answered cynically. "But, ion-nín, I have been up all night before—it won't kill me."

"I know, but you've been up all night one too many times in a row lately; elves are blessed with immortality, not invulnerability." Legolas's voice turned slightly pleading. "Please, Ada, get a little sleep?"

To say Aragorn was surprised would have been an understatement. He'd never seen King Thranduil in such a state of exhaustion. The normal barrier he kept up against strangers, and sometimes even his own son, seemed stripped from him. He wondered if anyone had ever witnessed Thranduil so run-down, and Legolas so firmly authoritative. Perhaps they would get away without a lecture after all…

Thranduil tried to dismiss the idea with a wave of his hand. "I would, but the delegates will wish to see me later this morning."

"Ada, if they were rude enough to arrive in the middle of the night, and insist on an immediate audience, then they can just wait until later to talk with you again. Whatever they have to say can wait."

Thranduil sighed again. When had his son learned to be so stubborn? In any case, he was too exhausted to argue today. "Very well, my son, if you insist. But now, you two have a seat. I have something to discuss with you." After they were seated he said, "It's not a serious matter, but you will remember, Legolas, that it is time to formally renew the trade agreements with Laketown." Getting down to business at last, he seemed to regain a certain amount of dignity, although he still had a slightly disheveled aura. "I know you usually go, but since you two are still somewhat recovering from your latest…journey…" Legolas flinched at the reference to their misadventure, wondering if the subject would finally be broached, but Thranduil continued, "I thought you might prefer to send someone else."

Hesitantly, not sure whether Aragorn would be prepared to go, Legolas started to open his mouth to answer. Aragorn beat him to it.

"If Legolas is willing, your majesty, I would very much like to accompany him to Laketown."

"Well, Legolas?" Thranduil looked at his son.

Legolas paused, looking intently into his friend's eyes. "You're sure you want to go, mellon-nín?"

Knowing why Legolas asked, Aragorn replied just as seriously. "I'm alright, really, I'd like to go."

Content, Legolas nodded slowly. "Then we'll go."

"Good." Thranduil smiled, albeit tiredly. "You'll still need to bring an escort with you, of course."

"Of course." Legolas tried not to groan. "We'll bring Dolenil, and Dinerion along." He prayed that his father wouldn't notice either his choice, or the small number he'd chosen. In Thranduil's opinion, Legolas could never have too large a contingent. However, Legolas' fears were unfounded this time.

"Fine…That will do." Thranduil didn't appear to have noticed. "You should notify them right away, and be ready to leave this afternoon; you will be expected there in a couple of days."

They nodded and turned to go, hardly daring to believe their luck. Not only did they get away with bringing a guard contingent of two, but they'd also managed to escape from a lecture.

"Oh, and Legolas," Thranduil looked up from his desk. "that lecture will be waiting for you when you come back."

-o0o-

The dark-haired man scanned the busy tavern for a familiar face. He smiled when he saw a young man materialize out of the crowd, advancing toward his table. Meeting the younger man's eyes, he motioned to a seat.

"Kadrin," he greeted as the other man seated himself across from him. "never a minute early, or a second too late."

The young man nodded his own greeting, sun-streaked blond hair glinting in the low lantern light. "I cannot afford to do otherwise. For me, timing can be a matter of life or death."

"Yes, I can imagine." He chuckled.

Before their conversation could go further, a third man approached their table. Kadrin eyed him critically. The newcomer's appearance was fairly average, with stringy hair of an unrecognizable color, and rugged, ill-fitting clothes. But there were two things that stood out to Kadrin's experienced eye. The man's face spoke of unwarranted cruelty and meaningless brutality. He looked in disgust at the stump where the man's right hand used to be—it implied carelessness and incompetence. In short, it took only two words to describe the man: a liability. When the man spoke, things just got worse.

"Acharndil, there you are!"

Kadrin didn't even try to disguise a flinch as the man's coarse voice grated further on his nerves.

"Sweet Eru above!" His older companion, across the table, rolled his eyes but managed to keep his own voice even. "Keep your voice down, Dagron."

Dagron growled something indistinguishable, but kept his peace. He glowered at Kadrin, his malicious brown eyes glinting with question. Kadrin, in his turn, eyed him disdainfully, cold blue eyes boring into him. In the end, Dagron looked away first with another menacing growl.

Acharndil decided to speak up before things got worse. "Dagron, go get yourself a drink…" He motioned vaguely and turned back to Kadrin.

Kadrin wasn't bothering with formalities. "Who was that?" The question was calm but forthright.

"That," He paused to sigh heavily. "was my dear cousin."

"I thought you said you would be getting rid of him." Kadrin's voice remained even, but his glance towards Dagron's retreating figure was one of controlled but growing impatience and intense annoyance.

"Dagron isn't easy to 'get rid' of." Acharndil said wryly. Noticing the other man's irritation, he hurried to add, "Don't worry about him, I'll make sure he stays out of the way. If he gives you any trouble, tell me and I'll take care of him."

Kadrin nodded slowly. "Just so long as he doesn't interfere with my job, I don't think there will be any problems between us. But I would warn you, as a friend, not to keep that walking hazard around if you hope to succeed in your plans."

"'Walking hazard', eh?" Acharndil laughed. "That certainly describes him well."

Kadrin didn't appear to find much to laugh about in the situation. "Nonetheless, that is what he is: a liability, a disaster just waiting to happen.. He'll only cause trouble, and I suggest you get rid of him if you ever hope to have your revenge."

"You are very perceptive for only having seen him once." Acharndil rubbed the bridge of his nose, something he had an unconscious habit of doing every time he was worried—in other words, whenever he thought about Dagron. "I appreciate your advice. I agree with it, and I would… But I'm afraid the only way to permanently rid myself of Dagron would be to kill him." He chuckled at the highly appealing, but ridiculous thought. Dagron may have been the biggest "walking hazard" in the whole of Middle-Earth, but he was still family. His only family, at that.

Personally, Kadrin didn't think the proposition sounded too ineffectual or unworkable. But his employer was obviously not inclined to agree, so he wisely kept the idea to himself.

Dagron returned, carrying a mug in his good hand.

With hardly a glance at him, Acharndil motioned him to a seat. "And keep your mouth shut," he ordered. "We have business to discuss, and I do not need your opinion on anything."

After that, Dagron proceeded to sulk, watching them with a dark expression and noisily sipping his drink occasionally. But he did not speak, and for that Acharndil was grateful.

"Now, my friend, tell me what has been happening." Acharndil asked Kadrin pleasantly.

"He left sooner than we thought he would." There was no question on either side as to who "he" was. "And he brought another elf and a human with him."

Acharndil tensed, but found his voice. "A human? What does he look like?"

"Tall, dark hair, blue eyes…" Kadrin trailed off, not truly interested in the human. "He will be a complication if he stays as close to the Prince as he has their entire journey to Mirkwood."

But Acharndil wasn't listening. His mind was working furiously. This human was the same ranger he'd caught a while ago when he'd tried to bait the twin sons of Elrond into a trap. He had to be. The description fit perfectly, and he had followed Legolas on his journey. He'd witnessed their extreme loyalty, and he really should have taken his accompanying Legolas into account.

It wasn't only his careless oversight that was bothering him, though. He couldn't get those pleading silver eyes to stop haunting his memories. They reminded him so much—too much—of the brother he was working to avenge… The human had been innocent, and he'd almost killed him without—

"Acharndil, are you alright, my friend?"

Kadrin's voice broke through his thoughts.

"Yes, yes…" He shook himself, sentimental guilt fleeing in an instant. "I'm alright. It's only that I think I know this human. I captured him not long ago, when I was trying to trap the Lords Elladan and Elrohir." He added in a low voice, "He is fiercely loyal to both the Peredhils, and the Prince."

"Then he most certainly will be a great obstacle in getting to any of them." Kadrin, too, kept his voice low. It wasn't likely they'd be overheard, but he was not about to take the risk. "Perhaps it would be best to take both of them now while they're alone? They are accompanied by no more than two other elves."

"No!" Acharndil said too quickly, before saying again more slowly, "No. I do not think that is the best way." He paused thoughtfully. "How far have you followed them? Where, exactly, are they at the moment?"

"I followed them from Rivendell to Mirkwood. Now, it seems, they are traveling to Laketown so the Prince can renew a trade-agreement. The King agreed to let the Prince go with a contingent of three: the ranger, and two other elves." Kadrin smiled. "Fortunately for us, and thanks to a late-night visit from some ambassadors, plus a few nights of sleeplessness, Thranduil was in the right frame of mind to be somewhat lax with his son. Now, the four of them are nearly half way to Laketown."

Acharndil listened to Kadrin, his level of respect increasing another notch. How in the name of Eru did the man learn so much? Did the man actually go so far as to sneak around the Palace listening in on conversations? However he did it, Acharndil wasn't about to question or complain about his methods. He'd heard of the incredible skill of Kadrin Númair, but this man was something else…

"Good. That will work perfectly." Acharndil nodded.

Kadrin looked closely at his employer and repeated his question. "But why not take them now?"

"I have worked hard for this, these plan must be flawless. Forgive me for not explaining, but I'm afraid you are just going to have to trust me. I do have my reasons."

Acharndil chewed absently on his lip, all too aware of the shallowness of his own words. They sounded empty, even to him. But he did have his reasons.

Cowardly reasons. Afraid of meeting the ranger again? Afraid of how you might have to use him for your goals? Afraid you'll be too weak to use him a second time as you did the first?

He nearly growled out loud as he mentally batted aside the barrage of self-accusations. He had other reasons. Necessary, logical, unemotional reason. He was not stalling because of the ranger.

"If you wish to keep it that way, of course." Kadrin's voice held no rebellion, only acceptance; but it held no true humility either. "I will do what I am paid to do, when and where I am paid to do it—without question."

"Thank you for your understanding," Acharndil said, nearly sagging with relief. He wasn't entirely sure what he would have said if Kadrin had insisted that he give more of an explanation. "I will have everything ready on my end by tomorrow. We will be ready for them."

TBC...

Ok...I hope you all got my reviewer responses - I'm been having a few difficulties with getting them sent :-P See you all next Saturday!

Wow – thank you all SO much for the wonderful reviews. They really mean a lot to me. I know a few of you said I didn't have to respond…but I still would like to at least thank Sarah Schönburg, annika, FallenEagle, and crazyAZN kid for their encouragement, even though I didn't get to say so in the responses ;-)