Disclaimer: I own nothing of Tolkien's work.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Gwenél

"What do you think of this ghost?" Asked Aragorn as the man and elf walked through the city the next morning.

Legolas frowned, the tale his father had spoken of the night before had kept him up thinking most of the night. Mirkwood never really had a ghost before, at least, none that he could remember. "It is strange." He said, "That Mirkwood should receive so renowned a guest in so short a period of time."

Aragorn nodded in agreement, he walked with his hands clasped behind his back., his brow wrinkling thus proved the depth of his thought. The elves of Eryn Lasgalen were busily going about their every day lives. The various shops were open, men, women, and children walked through the streets. There were traders from all corners of the forest, come to sell their wares. The young maidens were flirting with the tall, young male elves recently returned from war. Legolas couldn't help but smile, the war has changed us; but we still live on.

"You...aren't the least bit curious on the matter are you?" Asked Aragorn quietly, shaking his head with a smile at a rather persuasive shopkeeper. Legolas looked at his friend and grinned,

"None whatsoever." He answered cooly.

"So...you wouldn't want to find more on the subject would you? And leave it alone as your father advised?" Quipped Aragorn, a mischievous gleam in his eyes. The elf and human exchanged glances and Legolas shrugged helplessly.

"No desire at all mellon nin, really none at all."

"So, if we were going to find out something about a ghost," Began Aragorn slowly, "where would we start?"

The two were seated in the palace kitchen, sipping mugs of mead. "I am not sure." Legolas said with a smile. "I have never gone hunting for the deceased before."

"We are not hunting." Corrected Aragorn. "We are just...searching."

"Searching?"

"Yes, we are searching for this ghost."

Legolas smiled again as he thought on Aragorn's original question. "Well, we could look for survivors of her visits, do you not agree?"

Aragorn nodded, "But how do we begin to finding those who have returned?" He asked.

Legolas shook his head, "That is what I am not certain of." The Prince turned at the sound of footsteps approaching the table and was met by a young maiden. She blushed furiously, curtseying.

"Forgive me my lords, but I overheard that you are searching for survivors of Gwenél?"

The elf and man exchanged glanced, "Yes, we are." Legolas said quietly.

"If you will pardon my boldness Prince Legolas, my brother has seen the ghost, he might be able to help you."

Aragorn let out a cry of victory which was so unlike the human that it caused Legolas to jump and the maiden to take a step back in alarm.

"That is perfect! A real ghost hunt mellon nin!"

The maiden smiled at Aragorn and blushed once more. "Where would we find your brother miss...?" Asked Legolas.

"My name is Celin, your majesty, and please, I am no one of importance. Just call me Celin."

Legolas smiled kindly at her, Celin was fair-haired, silver eyed, and soft spoken. She was young, but thus far she was the greatest help they had, had so far. "Thank you very much Celin." The Prince said. "What is your brother's name?"

"Balamrún. But my Lord, I can bring you to him. Our flet is not far away and my work here is over for a few hours. He is still recovering there and has been unable to work."

Aragorn frowned, "Recovering?" He asked.

The elf maiden turned to him in surprise, "Why yes sir, from his last sighting of Gwenél."

Celin had spoken true, her flet was only a matter of moments from the kitchen doors. She paused outside the door to her flet, calling softly inside. She turned to look at the two lords standing behind her.

"I have not had much time to tidy up lately, I apologize."

"You do not need to apologize." Legolas said kindly.

"Where are your parents?" Asked Aragorn.

She turned to look to the north, "Oh, they passed many years ago." She seemed lost in thought and for a moment the faintest traces of a smile could be seen on her lips before she once more turned back to them. "If your lordships will follow me this way."

The flet was cleverly designed, a tall tree stood in its center and the whole building seemed to be either built into it, around it, or drawn to it. There were three rooms, a large and smaller room, and a third room which appeared to serve as the main room and the kitchen. Celin bade them through the flet to the larger of the two rooms and gently opened the door. Lying on a bed was the figure of a tall, broad shouldered and pale elf. His eyes were open in the fashion of sleep and his face seemed drawn and taunt.

"Balamrún." Celin called softly as she knelt by the bed. The warrior stirred, blinking and turning to his sister.

"What is it? Why are you home so early?" He asked softly. His fair hair was identical to that of his sister's, and his eyes were the same grey. Celin smiled at him,

"I have brought Prince Legolas and the Lord Aragorn to see you. They request your assistance."

"About what?"

"About Gwenél."

His eyes flickered with an un-explained emotion, he controlled himself and turned to the door way where Aragorn and Legolas now stood. He struggled to get up with the aid of his sister who propped pillows up behind his back so that he could stand up. Once he was upright, he looked upon his visitors and bowed his head in respect.

"Prince Legolas, King Aragorn. Won't you come in?"

Balamrún was neither ashamed nor overly awed by the presence of the elf and man. Yes his respect for them was evident upon his face, his expression devoid of all other emotion. Legolas sat in a chair while Aragorn moved behind Celin and leaned up against the wall.

"Now, what is it that my Lord is seeking from me?" Asked Balamrún, bowing his head in respect, first to Legolas and then to Aragorn.

"Your sister informed us that you encountered the new Ghost of Mirkwood." Balamrún nodded.

"I have seen Gwenél, this," He gestured to himself laying weakly on the bed, "was the second time."

"Second?" Exclaimed Aragorn in surprise.

Balamrún's eyes turned to the King of Gondor and he nodded again, wordlessly. "I was found on the borders of the forest one week ago."

"One week? Pardon the interruption," Said Legolas, "but I was informed that those who had seen Gwenél suffered temporary insanity or memory loss."

Balamrún nodded, "That is what happened the first time, when I wandered into her territory. I can remember not how I returned. However this time, I was only weakened."

"Why is that?" Asked Aragorn.

"Because I only saw her this time, she did not hold as much sway over me."

"I am not sure I understand." Stated the Dúnedan slowly, his brow wrinkling.

"You would not." Answered Balamrún, "Few can. Understanding her is often only accomplished by those who have seen the ghost herself." A cloudy mist entered the young warrior's eyes. "She is very beautiful." He said softly. "Yet very sad, she wanders through the forest singing." The warrior drifted off, apparently lost in his own thoughts.

"What does she sing?" Asked Aragorn curiously.

"A lament." The elf answered, "For loved ones that she had lost. She mourns their parting, vowing never to forget. There were flowers in her hair...she shone like a star." The mist cleared and he hurriedly shook his head. "I will never forget her face, wreathed with such sorrow and pain..." He sighed, "I cannot imagine what made her that way."

"Where can we find her?" Asked Legolas, interrupting the other elf's dampening memory. He looked up,

"I was in the northen woods, near the grey mountains."

"That is all?" Legolas asked after a brief period of silence. "How can we find her?" Added Aragorn in confusion.

Balamrún looked long and hard from the elf to the human, his eyes calm and dark. "There is no finding her." He said simply. "If Gwenél is found by either of you it will be purely by chance. If you do stumble upon her, Gwenél can disappear quickly if she does not want to be found."

"I cannot decide if Balamrún's tale has told us anything that will be particularly useful in our new quest mellon nin." Aragorn said as the two walked through the streets after their visit with Balamrún.

"I would say that we have a rather large problem on our hands." Said Legolas. "The north is mainly uncharted, inhabited mostly by spiders..." (Here Aragorn had to fight a shudder) "...but this Gwenél is a threat to my people. Leaving them helpless to wander in the northern woods is not something I can leave unattended to."

"Do you think she is really a ghost?"

"At this point I do not care. Right now our main concern is how on earth we are going to actually find her."

"So what exactly are you proposing?" Asked Aragorn with a eager gleam in his eye.

"That we prepare to leave as soon as possible of course." Answered Legolas.

The King of Gondor smiled, "I had hoped you would say that."

Neither prince nor king had time to prepare for the abrupt addition of company that graced them in that next moment. But suddenly Legolas heard the shouts of warriors as he turned and jerked to the side as a flash of blur ran past him. The blur was followed by five elven warriors, all shouting curses to the blur as it dashed on. The elf grabbed the arm of a warrior as he tried to pass.

"What goes on here?" He asked anxiously.

The warrior regained his composure quickly, nodding his head in respect to his prince and lord before answering the question. "My Lord, we have found a dangerous convict who was trying to steal bread."

"A dangerous convict...for stealing bread?" Asked Aragorn in amusement.

"I can explain better when the convict is caught my Lords. If you please my Prince." He glanced hurriedly at the latter's hand on his arm and Legolas released it as if he had been burnt by flame.

"Of course."

The warrior dashed off after the others without another word leaving the man and elf with slightly stunned looks on their faces.

"A convict? We have not heard of trouble of this sort in Mirkwood for some time now."

"Not that we know of at least." Muttered the prince, looking intently up the street the warriors had ran.

"So...in the time you've been gone, a ghost and a dangerous convict have been added to your home. There's a bit of excitement...maybe you should stay away more often."

Legolas did not laugh, though he did glance sideways at his grinning friend. There was nothing funny about this. He had been away for so short a time...and yet why did he feel like a stranger? He turned slowly, his mind working frantically as he looked up another street.

"That street." He said slowly, recalling all the old maps and all the old ways of the city. "...leads north of the palace towards the woods. Right where they should be ending up."

"They as in the pursued and the pursuers?"

Aragorn was having way too much fun teasing him. Legolas turned to him, cocking his head. "We could catch up with them."

"Shall I take you up on that?" Asked the human, holding out his hand to seal the bet. Legolas glanced at the hand, before smiling slightly and shaking it.

"By all means." replied the elf.

He had remembered the street, but as Legolas and Aragorn ran up the street, he had forgotten how very long it was. Neither was breathless by the time they stopped at the borders of the woods, but Legolas could tell by the look on his friend's face that Aragorn was not exactly pain free in the least.

He looked around, but there was still no one there. "This is it." He said slowly, his grey eyes glancing around quickly. His brows wrinkled in confusion as he noted the stillness of the place.

"I win." Stated Aragorn cheerfully when suddenly there was a loud crash to their right. Legolas stared as a cloaked figure ran through the street, avoiding the flets only by a hair's breath as he ran from the elven warriors hot on his heels. Legolas did not stop to think, he ran after the figure after less then a moments consideration. The figure started when it saw Legolas running towards it and it he stopped dead. He glanced up for only a second, then with a bound scrambled onto the rooftops and began to run down the line of them. Legolas followed, his lean body striding onto the flets with ease. The cloaked figure was tiring, he could see his shoulders dropping with fatigue. It was almost too easy, Legolas caught up with the figure after a short run and with a giant leap he hurled himself into the cloaked back, grabbed his arms and the two plummeted to the cobblestone street.

The convict landed on his back with Legolas on top, pinning him to the ground. The man was breathless, the face covered by a black cloth that ran under two startling blue eyes. Legolas only stared at the man for a moments as he was helped off the man to his feet. The warriors hauled the man roughly to his feet and the soul cried out in pain as they did so.

Aragorn had a hand under his shoulders, pulling him up straight. "Show off." He muttered darkly into the elf's ear. Legolas would have smiled normally, but this was not normal.

"Now, what has happened here." Asked Legolas of the warriors slowly, "Of what has this man been accused."

"Thank you for your assistance sir." Quipped a young elf, hardly in his centuries yet. "This human is wanted for the assassination of the village of Gilloth." Legolas' eyes bore no understanding of the accusation.

"I am not familiar with this injustice, but might I inquire as to how you know this is the man you are looking for?"

A warrior pointed to the man's chest. "The medallion sir. Besides that, I would recognize this...this murderer, anywhere." Said another of the warriors darkly.

Legolas turned to him curiously. "How would you know?"

The warriors' face grew cold and stern. "My wife, child, and sister were among the dead. A little girl I had. My sister had not even reached adulthood yet...she was only a child. And my wife..." His voice cracked and he paused before continuing. "I saw the aftermath of the village with my own eyes my lord."

The prisoner still had water streaming from his eyes and for the life of him, Legolas could not believe that the water was in fact tears. Women? Children...? What kind of man could do such a thing? "Let me see the medallion." He said finally, holding out his hand.

The warrior who had just spoken lifted it off the prisoner's chest and wrenched it from his neck with a quick jerk. The man cried out before stiffening as the warrior glared at him. The warrior placed it in the Prince's hand. "My respects sir, but one does not forget a medallion such as that."

No, Legolas mused as he looked at it, one does not. His brow wrinkled in thought and he stared harder at it. It was a silver medallion, well-made, the creator had been a master at his craft. A sudden memory made him jerk however and burn with anger. "Where did you get this?" He demanded, his silver eyes boring into the man's iced blue ones. The man however, remained silent.

"SPEAK!" Legolas shouted, he clenched his fist, his anger coursing red hot through him. He fought the urge to strike the man with violent determination, he would not break, this was not the time for this. But the man only stared back defiantly, not uttering a word as he stared back at the prince icily under long, strangely feminine eyelashes.

Legolas turned to the warriors, "Take him to the dungeons, I must speak to my father on this."

"Yes my Lord." Said the warrior, he nodded to the others and they turned, leading the man back to the palace. The man groaned, but did not falter even as he limped and while one arm swung sickeningly out of socket.

Well, how did you all like that? A double post and another chapter will be following hot in its heels because I wrote most of it while I was away. :) So, we now have two new developments, our dear Legolas and Aragorn are going on a ghost hunt, and the assassin of Gilloth has been captured. Who is this assassin? And why did the sight of the medallion make Legolas so angry? Well, I'm not going to tell you...but you will eventually find out:)

Thanks to all who read and reviewed. And thanks a million to my beta, Kiann. :)

You all can expect an update soon:)

TO BE CONTINUED...