"I hate this," groaned Legolas miserably.

Several days – over a week, in fact – had passed since Eldarion was attacked in his bedchamber and this was the first time since then that Legolas had been out of calling distance from him for more than five minutes. The only things that were able to finally tear him from his son's side were Elladan and Elrohir's emphatic reassurances that Eldarion was fine and his promise to Aragorn that once that was the case they would implement Lord Tanondor and Lord Eärnil's plan to find out if any of the guards were in league with the stalker. Legolas still remembered with perfect detail how cold his skin got when his husband recounted the two advisors' suspicions to him after they'd left the royal chambers on the day of the attack. It felt hideously right that whoever was threatening his family was someone so close, but there was still something about this that seemed so wrong…

Legolas propped his elbows up on the Council meeting hall table, resting his forehead in his palms as he peered over at his pacing husband. "This isn't right," he stressed, feeling frustrated and helpless – two emotions that had been fairly unfamiliar previous to the whole mess and now had become unsettlingly common. "There are absolutely no words to describe how much I utterly loathe this situation."

"No one is all that crazy about it," replied Aragorn, forcing himself to stop pacing. Giving a loud and weary sigh, he sat down heavily next to Legolas and turned to face him. A new wave of guilt washed over him when he saw the tiredness that was in his beloved's eyes. After all of these years he still couldn't seem to find a way to make the city a place where Legolas and their children could safely enjoy their lives! "I'm sorry –"

"Don't." Legolas grabbed Aragorn's face with both hands and pulled it close enough for him to plant a tender kiss on his lips. "None of this is any more your fault than it is mine. This is our home, our people, our children who are under threat and I claim just as much responsibility for them as you do."

Aragorn caressed the elf's cheek and let his hand slide back to smooth his long blonde hair. "This will be over soon, beloved," he vowed. "Lord Tanondor is right – there's something about all of this that isn't adding up quite right when it comes to the stalker and the guards' inability to capture him no matter how close he comes; they're highly trained, after all, and supposedly devoted to protecting us no matter what. We must find out if all of them are trustworthy or not – our children's well being are at stake! If all goes as planned, we'll have a better idea by tonight as to whether or not we've placed our faith in the wrong people."

"I understand why this is very important," said Legolas. He shook his head, searching for the right words to explain the instincts that were plaguing him. "But there's something…off about what's been going on. Oh Aragorn, I have this feeling in the pit of my stomach that somehow we're not seeing some of the most important pieces of this puzzle! I don't want to put our family through this plan for no good reason if that's the case."

"I think that making sure that all of the people we trust to protect them aren't in fact out to do them harm is an exceedingly good reason," reiterated Aragorn as he grabbed Legolas' hand and started massaging one of the elf's knuckles with his thumb. "Besides, none of them will be in any physical danger as long as we stick to the plan. Lord Tanondor and Lord Eärnil have thought out every last detail rather impressively."

The lords' plan, conjured up even before Eldarion's attack and tweaked to as close to perfection as they could get in the days since, was simple enough on the surface: the guards' loyalties needed to be tested, so why not do just that? Aragorn and Legolas would act secretive for two days before calling the guards before them to a private meeting right after the dinner meal. There they would apprise the guards of a "plan" that was already in progress: Man and elf would claim that they'd arranged for their children to be secreted away to Gimli's house in the city, as it was clear that the citadel was no longer a safe place for them to be. When the guards asked why they were kept out of the loop until the last minute, the couple would say that they were trying to minimize the threat of accidental leaks as they'd started to suspect that some people, namely a few members of the Council, might not be as loyal as they were presenting themselves to be.

This covered all of what they needed for the plan to work: since the guards wouldn't be informed until the last minute and wouldn't be dismissed from the citadel afterwards there would be less of a risk that one of them could claim that something accidentally slipped and it wasn't really their fault. It also gave them what whoever might be behind this thought was the perfect cover – the king, they would believe, already suspected Council members.

After the meeting, all that would be left to do was waiting; if anything happened at Gimli's house they would have enough proof to openly accuse some of the guards of treason and start pinning down who it was that was behind the stalking.

Of course, neither the children, Gimli, nor Thranduil (who'd been staying at the dwarf's house while this threat hung over his family) would actually be in any danger that night. Aragorn and Legolas had taken Gimli and Thranduil into their confidence immediately after the Man had explained the plan to his husband and together they'd devised a way to make the second part of it feasible if the first part proved that there were traitors in their midst. Doing their part, Thranduil and Gimli had every day traveled outside of the city walls during one guard shift and coming back during another; coming and going at all hours so that the guards would get used to assuming that they were back in the city if someone else said so even when they hadn't seen them come back.

They'd left that morning and were now waiting five miles away from the city in the direction of Ithilien but the guards who'd cared in inquire would be told that they had returned already. Aragorn hoped that none of the guards asked about it; he'd almost been driven insane to have to take so long in plotting and carrying out so many details when the people that he loved was under threat and he wasn't sure that he could keep all of those emotions off of his face should he have to deal with that question. Thank the Valar that all of that meticulous work was about to pay off!

Aragorn might have been relieved and antsy now that the big day had finally arrived but the whole situation made Legolas frightfully uneasy, and even the knowledge that Eldarion, Laurelin, Gilraen, and Meren would really be staying in the citadel, hidden away under the protection of their well-armed uncles Elladan and Elrohir, didn't make that feeling go away. "I don't think that Eldarion has fully recovered yet," he argued stubbornly, fierce and pleading at the same time.

"My brothers have –"

"I don't care what Elladan and Elrohir say," countered Legolas. "They aren't his father. They didn't carry him for eight difficult months – I did and I say that it will not safe for him or anyone else if he goes through this ordeal with his emotions still somewhat out of control."

"He's fine," stressed Aragorn, knowing better than to suggest that perhaps it wasn't Eldarion whose emotions were out of control. "Neither he nor the girls will be in any jeopardy."

"Don't talk to me in that tone," warned Legolas. "Though I suppose I shouldn't blame you; I mean, who am I but a centuries-old elf with plenty of battle experience and political knowledge? I don't even understand the children all that well – they were only a part of my body for the better part of a year. You told me that you trusted my instincts; that I have a foresight that even I haven't fully realized yet!"

He would have jumped up and walked pointedly away had Aragorn not suddenly grabbed his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. "I would never dismiss you or your suspicions like that," said the Man firmly. "Nor would I bring our children into this so lightly. Please, Legolas; do you truly believe that I would be going along with this if I thought for even one second that our children could end up hurt as a result?"

"No," conceded Legolas. His anger drained, forcing him to face the emotion that he was using all of that rage to ignore: fear. "But – but most if not all of those guards, they…watched the children grow up. They put up with Laurelin when she went through that stage of always wanting to sing to them; showed Eldarion their weapons whenever he was curious; they rejoiced more than anyone outside of our family when we found out that I was carrying twins because they already loved our first two so much. Now we think…"

He paused and swallowed. "I'm sorry, Aragorn," he whispered. "Just considering that just one of them might have betrayed us after all of that – it makes me want to scream and weep; it truly does."

Aragorn pulled his husband into an embrace and was shocked to find Legolas willing to just let him hold him. Usually the elf insisted that he wrap his arms around Aragorn every time the Man did the same but now Legolas slumped against him as if all of his strength had been temporarily drained. The plan was in motion now and Aragorn knew that they shouldn't halt it; but at the same time he realized that if his normally unflappable husband was reacting so strongly against the notion of the guards' guilt that there was probably more to the story than what they were seeing. "All of this will probably amount to nothing," the Man tried to reassure him.

"What if it's not?" asked Legolas. He was amazed when he felt a tear trickle down his cheek and hastily wiped it away. "Elbereth, what's wrong with me? There was a time that I could look into the eyes of the fiercest orc and not flinch and now a stressful situation is wringing tears. This is like pregnancy-strong emotions, only without the nice payoff in the end."

"You're but a person, just like everyone else," said Aragorn warmly. "You're allowed your bouts of stress; and I meant what I said: this has probably been blown out of proportion. It might be nothing more than a run of bad luck, an exceptionally sneaky stalker, and an unfortunate misunderstanding – but we must know for certain. Come, Legolas," he added, kissing both of the elf's eyelids. "We need to pull ourselves together; the guards will be here at any moment."

Legolas looked at him bleakly. "I can hear their footsteps now," he murmured. Indeed, soon Aragorn heard the noise of several footfalls hurrying down the corridor toward the meeting hall. When they were almost at the door the elf pulled himself to his feet and walked over, opening it before anyone had the chance to knock. "Enter, good guards, and hurry!"

"Thank you, my prince," said Beren, the leader of the crowd, politely as his Men filtered into the room around him. He took a moment to give Legolas a small, supportive smile before entering himself.

Aragorn eyed them all as they come in and was disturbed by the suspicious way that he was regarding them. Now when he looked at Beren he couldn't see the kindly, loyal guard who could always be relied on through the shadow of threats. When he looked on Mardil the image of the red-faced young Man who'd accidentally seen his husband naked thirteen years prior gave way to something more sinister as he wondered if guard had been in on the stalker plot, and if he was had it been going on since that awkward day. Who were these Men – any of these Men – anyway? Why had he entrusted them with the most important people in his life? Had he really been so blind that he couldn't see such a threat so close to them all?

"I'm glad that you all could come," he said aloud, fighting to keep his mistrust out of his tone. "I'm sure that many of you have some questions concerning what's been going on for the last couple of days."

"That's true," spoke up one of the guards who was usually assigned to protecting Eldarion. "Forgive my boldness, but what has been going on? First there are days in which we hear nothing about the progress being made in finding the stalker; then today – today! This afternoon I was keeping watch over Prince Eldarion, Lady Findowyn, and the two oldest Gamgee children when the Lords Elrohir and Elladan came with your orders to leave the children in their care and go at once to the training grounds. Then to see all of the guards at the grounds –"

"What my colleague is trying to say, your majesties," interrupted Beren in a diplomatic but caring tone before the guard could say anything that might be interpreted as disrespectful in his current state of upset, "is that we've been terribly anxious for awhile, especially since this afternoon. While we would never question your orders, having all of us attend an hours-long training session obviously left you and your family unguarded. Why, we haven't even seen the children since the command came down. I think I speak for us all when I say that we would all feel better if we knew that they were well and safe."

"They are, for the time being," announced Aragorn grimly, discreetly assessing each one of their faces for a hint that someone was hiding something. "I will not apologize for all of the secrecy, as it was unfortunate but necessary. Now I need all of you to listen closely because what I'm about to say is of the greatest importance; and it cannot leave this room, not yet."

Legolas didn't need sharp ears to hear the little intakes of breath coming from members of the crowd. Were they of genuine concern for his children or worry that someone might have been caught? His instincts – or was that foolish hope? – and reason warred within him as his husband continued: "The prince and princesses are in danger."

"Danger?" repeated Beren with muted horror. "How?"

"It is difficult to put into words," spoke up Legolas solemnly, "but the reasons for it might be closer than anyone of us dared to imagine."

Some of the guards exchanged looks; Aragorn tried to take a mental note of who all of them were and all the different interpretations of the expressions might mean. "What do you mean, Prince Legolas?" one of them asked. When it appeared that Legolas was reluctant to say anything more, he turned to Aragorn. "King Elessar?"

"I fear that the stalker might be getting assistance from people who are privy to the secret details of my family's movement and what's been going on in the investigation," Aragorn told them. He was silent for a moment as he let that sink in; and if any of them were guilty of betrayal let them sweat for a second or two! "There are members of the Advisors' Council that I suspect may be helping the stalker."

Beren's eyes flashed. "If that's true than we won't let them get away with it," he vowed with a flair of his nostrils. "What do you need us to do? Just give us an order and it will be done."

"We already have a plan in motion," replied Aragorn, surveying their faces carefully. He was glad that the nature of their plan made it so that he could almost tell them the truth – he'd always hated lying and often found it difficult to keep his story straight when he was this agitated unless it had an element of truth to it. "Lord Gimli and King Thranduil have offered to watch over the children at the lord's house until we can figure out who can be trusted."

"Of course," breathed one of the guards. "And we will be there to escort them there safely."

"They're already there," Aragorn informed them. "We wanted to get them to the house without too many people noticing. That's why we concocted the whole training-session scenario: we couldn't have a lot of guards hovering around without being seen; and yet it would have been too suspicious if we had you stand down for no apparent reason."

"We could have been discreet," said Mardil almost defensively. "We will show you that; no one will see us when we guard Lord Gimli's house tonight."

"No, they won't," agreed Aragorn, "because you'll do no such thing. My father-in-law, friend, and the fact that their location is a secret will keep the prince and the princesses safe for now. Besides, we have a more important task for you: stay here and pretend that nothing has changed – the Council has many eyes and ears within the citadel. We need you to use that discretion of yours to focus on finding any unusual activities going on in the royal quarters."

The Man put his hand on Legolas' (who'd gone strangely quiet again) back and felt a pang of regret at the tension that he felt there. "This is about the well being of our children," he stressed to the guards, even though it was just as much for Legolas' benefit than it was for them. "You need to do what we've already planned so that we can ensure their safety." Legolas looked up at him with grim determination and Aragorn felt better. "That is it, my loyal guards' now can you obey these commands to the letter?"

A chorus of affirmative murmurs buzzed through the crowd. "Good," declared Aragorn. "Then you are dismissed to carry them out – with my thanks," he added hastily as he usually did, not wanting to do anything to arouse their suspicions.

Legolas bit his lower lip as the guards left. "I don't like this," he said in a quiet voice after they were all gone and the door had been shut behind them. His stomach twinged and he wrapped his arms around it. "This isn't right. Aragorn –"

"We must find out," interrupted Aragorn gently, pulling the elf into another comforting embrace.

"I just hope that we're not making a terrible mistake," said Legolas in a far-away voice as if he was trying to see the future. "I can feel it, my love – everything depends on what happens tonight. If we've judged this wrongly in any way I fear that we will lose our children. They will fall out of our sights, Aragorn, and I'm afraid that if that happens we will never see them again."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Very few people knew, but in the back of the royal quarters sat a short row of rooms. They were too large to be called closets yet too small to be serviceable bedchambers and out-of-the way of the guards' normal patrol to be used for much of anything else. Usually they were used for storage, but on that night one of them had another purpose: to serve as the cramped but adequate hiding place for Eldarion, Laurelin, Meren, Gilraen, and their two minders. Late into the night as Elrohir and Elladan kept diligent watch, the two eldest children slept on small cots in the corners while the babies nestled down into baskets.

"I believe that in spite of everything this may be the easiest baby-sitting duty that we've ever had," observed Elladan wryly. "At least they're being quiet; I don't think that even Estel was as well behaved as they are right now."

"Hush," admonished Elrohir. "Don't do or say anything that might make them wake up! I'm surprised that they dropped off as quickly as they did; let's not, as I've heard some of the farmers on the outskirts of the city say, look a gift horse in the mouth."

"I for one am not surprised at all," countered Elladan with no malice. "The poor things must have been exhausted! Estel's told me that Laurelin hasn't been sleeping well lately and Eldarion's been so restless. I can't imagine how difficult it's been for them to go through all of this for – dear Elbereth, has it been a month?"

"Not quite, but close," Elrohir told him wearily. He sighed and glanced over at a small, empty pitcher that was sitting on the floor next to their nephew's cot. "Maybe we should think about getting some more water. Our dear little niece and nephew drank down what Lord Eärnil and Lord Tanondor brought fairly quickly. They might want more when they wake up and I know that I wouldn't mind a drink myself."

"Get some if you want," said Elladan blithely, a teasing smile playing on his lips. "I won't be moved from this spot because you're thirsty."

Shaking his head at his twin's laziness but not willing to dignify it with a verbal response, Elrohir got up and grabbed the pitcher in one smooth, dramatic motion. He then marched to the door and almost hit an incoming Aragorn and Legolas in the process.

"Good to see you too," called the Man when his brother just waved the empty container and continued on his way.

"Any news?" wondered Elladan as the pair entered the room and closed the door behind them.

"Nothing as of yet," replied Aragorn, sounding much older than his years. "Lord Tanondor and Lord Eärnil were scheduled to head down to Gimli's house some fifteen minutes ago, but we have some time before we need to slip outside and meet them. All's been quiet on their end too, though. That's a good sign, right? No news is good news?"

"Sometimes," said Elladan in a noncommittal tone. "I know that there have been times that you yourself haven't believed that."

While the brothers talked, Legolas had made his way over to check on all of his children. "No news," he repeated with a shiver as he brushed a strand of hair away from Laurelin's nose. "Maybe we should go down there ourselves, Aragorn; I have a horrible feeling that something's wrong."

"Like what?" asked the Man.

"I don't know," replied Legolas restlessly. "I wish that I had my bow with me."

"My love –" Aragorn began, a bit confused by his husband's uncharacteristic behavior. He cut himself off, though, when both Legolas and his brother suddenly tensed and straightened up. "What is it?" he hissed urgently.

"Footsteps," whispered Legolas, reaching down to finger his white knives that were concealed under his tunic. He'd stopped carrying them with him years ago when he and Aragorn stopped traveling out of the city to do battle with orcs on a regular basis, but that night it seemed only fitting to have them at his disposal once more. "They're coming this way at a great pace."

A second later Aragorn could hear them too – two of them, in fact, and something that sounded like a fluttering echo. Another breath later and the door burst open; a frantic-looking Elrohir rushed in, flanked by the advisors Tanondor and Eärnil. "What's wrong?" wondered Aragorn, staring in amazement at his brother. "I heard your footsteps, Elrohir! Something's definitely wrong."

"It burns!" cried a horrified Elrohir. "I saw it from the window – it burns!"

"What burns?" demanded Aragorn, though he feared that he already knew the answer.

Eärnil stepped forward. "Lord Gimli's house," he reported breathlessly. "We went out to check on it and it was ablaze."

"Did you notice if any of the guards were lingering around there?" demanded Elladan.

"News spread through the citadel rather quickly," answered Eärnil. "Some of them were already down there and we passed others on the way; it's impossible to tell right now who was in on the conspiracy and who just went down to help. But now we know and alas that we were right! There is no excuse for this kind of treachery!"

"King Elessar, Prince Legolas," spoke up Tanondor tersely. "I believe that we know have sufficient proof that at least one of the guards cannot be trusted. May I suggest that we take this opportunity to carry out the rest of the plan while most of the city is distracted by the fire?"

Legolas tensed immediately. He loathed with all of his being the second part of the plan, for it called for the unthinkable: separation from his children for an indefinite amount of time. That's why Thranduil and Gimli were waiting five miles outside of the city; it had been decided that in the event that the guards failed the test Eärnil and Tanondor – the least inconspicuous of them all, as they weren't royalty or a different species – would smuggle the prince and princesses to them. From there the children would accompany their grandfathers to Ithilien for safe keeping while the advisors headed back to Minas Tirith to assist in the investigation. That would give Aragorn and Legolas some assurance of their safety while they made their way through the guards' interrogations – a process that could very well take days…weeks, even. Legolas could barely stand to think about it, let alone see it happen.

"My prince," said Tanondor, sensing his hesitation, "I know that this grieves you and I'm truly sorry, but it's become necessary. I'm afraid that the prince and princesses cannot remain safe and stay in the city at the same time."

"All right," Legolas relented reluctantly. He knew that he couldn't risk his children's safety just because he hated the idea of being parted from them. "I guess – we should wake them up."

"No," said Aragorn gently as his own heart twisted. "Let them sleep. They deserve to have a few more hours of peace before having to deal with this mess again. We can carry them out to the cart."

OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Legolas felt like crying out in agony as he walked down the corridor to his son's bedchamber. He and Aragorn had seen Tanondor and Eärnil off after tucking the four sleeping children under some blankets; watching the cart get smaller and smaller until it passed down the levels of the city where walls blocked it from his sight was one of the hardest things he ever had to do. Knowing that they had to leave for their safety didn't make it easier to let them go. Now Aragorn was calling for all of the guards to meet them in the royal quarters; Legolas could have been there too, but his husband, seeing how torn up he was, insisted on him getting a moment to himself before facing the person or people responsible for the stalking. The elf had agreed only because he wanted to gather up his drained energy to be able to deal with whoever made this situation necessary with all of his strength.

His thoughts turned melancholy when he stepped in front of Eldarion's door. 'My children are gone and all I can do to be in their presence again is to stand among their things,' he thought as he turned the knob and walked inside. 'I wonder if Ada did anything like this when I went off on the Quest. Oh, why is it that since I became a father I've had the urge to apologize to my own father about everything that I put him through?'

It almost made him laugh at the irony – almost. Instead he sighed and ran his hand over the bedspread to smooth a nonexistent wrinkle. 'My son should be –'

A sudden noise almost made him gasp out loud. Was it his imagination or was something moving around in Eldarion's wardrobe? Legolas narrowed his eyes dangerously as he recalled his son's story about where his attacker came out of. He was sick and tired of the people he loved being in constant danger and he was going to get to the bottom of this now!

Pulling out one of his knives he walked swiftly and silently to the wardrobe door, took one deep breath, and yanked it open. What he encountered there was a face that he recognized all too well looking back at him, startled. "You!" growled Legolas. He smoothly grabbed the person by the collar and brought his knife to the exposed throat. "You have fifteen seconds to explain why you're in my son's wardrobe and how you got in here in the first place. Go."

To be continued…