A/N : Yes, I'm late again. But I just can't help it. You see, for my recent birthday, someone have given me three Harlan Coben's bestseller thrillers—Tell No One, No Second Chance and The Innocent. OMG! These books are incredible! I just couldn't put them down. Truly, I completely forgot about everything else! I'm totally hooked! Afterwards, I even bought myself the entire collection of Coben's Myron Bolitar series that cost me quite a fortune! So guys, I suggest you read this author's works. He is one hell of a writer, I tell you! He so loves to put this incredible twist and turn at every page. You would be frequently surprised, especially at the last chapter, I can guarantee that.

Enough promotion, now let's get back to business. I'm glad you all found the last chapter gross. LOL! I guess you won't be looking at lye soap the same way anymore.

Now here's the next installment.

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It was mid-morning, a time when the city of Harodem began to stir awake. Most shops and businesses were still closed, with only a handful of people filling the town streets. And, like most other taverns in Middle-earth, the 'Minas Tirith' was also still asleep at this time of a day. Its hall that was noisy and crowded in the night was now quiet and deserted, except for the occasional snores coming from several drunkards who lay sprawled under the table or in the dark corners. The bartender was nowhere to be seen. Probably still abed with one of the serving girls.

The boardinghouse above was equally silent, even though all the helps had risen up early. Most of them were busy with their tasks, either working in the kitchen or doing the laundry. The narrow hallway that cut through the rented rooms was still deserted. Not a single soul was about. Immersed in wonderful dreams, the guests were not ready to rise and leave their bed yet.

The same could not be said about the guests in one particular room at the far end of the hallway, though. In fact, a heated argument was actively brewing.

"For the third time, Darion, YOU ARE NOT COMING!"

Keldarion son of Thranduil was fuming, his face as dark as thunderclouds.

King Elessar's only son rose to his full height—which was a head shorter compared to the six-feet-four Keldarion—and tried to match the elf's furious glare with his own. "And for the fourth time, Kel, I'M COMING WITH YOU!"

Gallard stood nearby, flicking his amused gaze back and forth between those two. The draq was certain that it was unhealthy for him to step in and break them apart, so he kept his mouth shut and just…well, enjoyed the show.

Cursing hotly under his breath, Keldarion turned away and ran a hand through his hair in pure agitation. He then faced the dark-haired youth once more, trying to reason with him, "It's highly dangerous, Darion. I can't take you along to Movrak's keep because I want to concentrate solely on getting Legolas out of there. I cannot waste my time worrying about you. Besides, Gallard and I will move faster with us just two."

"I can keep up, blast it! And I can take care of myself!" Eldarion cried out in protest. "A sword is all I need. You need not worry about protecting me."

Sighing now, Keldarion leaned forward to grip the boy's lean but strong shoulders. "Look, young one, I know you have just mastered the swordplay. And I know how capable you are with a blade in your hand. But this mission is completely out of your league. Like I said, it is dangerous and very risky. Something could go wrong and you might be taken again. I won't forgive myself if that happened."

"But I…"

"Enough, Darion. This discussion is over." Keldarion straightened, looking as forbidding as ever. "You are to stay in this room until we return. Do not show yourself to anyone, not even the chambermaid. Keep the door locked and secured behind us."

Eldarion glared in answer, but the elf paid him no heed, fiddling with the fold of his turban instead. Assured that his disguise was still in place, Keldarion picked up his pack and weapon off the bed before glancing at Gallard.

"You ready? Come, we've got to move."

Sending Eldarion an apologetic shrug, Gallard shouldered his own pack and followed the elf to the door.

To Keldarion, the entire argument might have ended right then. But, just like his father, Eldarion was never known to easily give up without a fight. Or in this case, without a bargain.

When Keldarion placed his hand on the door knob, the boy suddenly voiced out, "I know something that you don't."

The elf froze at that announcement. Calmly, he turned around and fixed his gaze on the Gondorim crown prince. "What did you just say?"

"I said, I know something…"

"Yes, I heard that but what exactly do you mean?"

Eldarion met the elf's steely gaze head on. "Before I tell you, you have to promise me that you will let me come with you."

A cloth-mask was covering the lower part of Keldarion's face, hiding most of his expression, but Eldarion knew that the elf's contained fury was reaching its dangerous peak from the way his cobalt-blue eyes narrowed to a slit.

"You are in no position to negotiate, young one," Keldarion softly said. "Stay here like I told you, or I swear I'll…"

"Movrak has the crown!"

Keldarion thought he didn't hear it right. "The crown? What the blazes are you yammering about?"

"What crown?" Gallard also sounded perplexed.

"Isildur's crown. The one that everyone thought is lost since the day he died."

Silence reigned, but afterwards Keldarion began to chuckle.

"Isildur's crown. Right." Shaking his head, the elf turned back towards the door. "Nice try, Darion. You nearly got me there."

Eldarion hastily grabbed Keldarion's arm. "I'm not joking, Kel! Movrak has the crown, I swear this!"

Keldarion impatiently shook off the boy's grip. "And how did you know that? He told you? Then he was lying because…"

"No, I saw it! With my own eyes. Movrak showed it to me."

That got the elf's complete attention. He snatched down the mask that covered his face and gave Eldarion the full density of his incredulous stare. "He showed you the crown?"

"Yes."

"When?"
"Yesterday, when he brought me to his treasure vault and offered me the position of his consort."

Keldarion's frown grew deeper, his voice went even colder. "Why didn't you tell me this earlier?"

The boy gazed down, as if he found the patterns in the floorboards highly interesting. "I…I forgot. Only now I remember."

The elf still looked doubtful but Eldarion knew nothing else to stay to convince him.

It was true, he had forgotten all about Isildur's crown in all the excitement of escaping Movrak's keep. The minute the boy was found, Keldarion had practically pushed him over and down the wall. With the elf's help, Eldarion's descent had been hair-raisingly swift. He had survived that episode totally unscathed, except for the colorful bruises he had acquired after landing ungracefully on his rump.

His mother might be a sure-footed elf, but she had never taught his son how to rock-climb.

Gallard had been waiting below. After recovering their horses, the three companions rushed back towards the city, where the elf and the draq easily managed to smuggle Eldarion into the boarding house, unnoticed. While his various cuts and wounds were being tended to, the boy told his rescuers everything that had happened since the day he had ran away from home.

Well, almost everything.

"Are you sure it was Isildur's crown that you saw?" Keldarion asked, a bit calmer now.

"I'm sure. I would not mistake the emblem of a white tree stamped on it for anything else."

Thoughtful, Keldarion exchanged quick glances with Gallard. The draq still looked a bit skeptical, his head tilted to one side as he watched the Gondorim prince.

"This is quite bizarre, Darion," he said, "Isildur had died a long, long time ago. It's hard to believe that his crown which had been lost for over a thousand years suddenly popped up somewhere in the hands of a mortal man. The thing must be incredibly old, all broken and rusty by now."

"It's still in good shape! I've seen it!" Eldarion interjected. "Movrak was showing off when he placed the crown upon his head, as if to mock me."

"Where did you say Movrak keep the crown?" The elf wanted to know.

"Inside his treasure vault," the boy quickly answered. "It is actually a tomb, his family crypt. Movrak keeps his ancestor' remains there. He has been hiding the crown in one of the…"

Keldarion and Gallard were puzzled when the young prince suddenly stopped talking.

"In one of the—well, what? What are you trying to say?" urged Keldarion, one of his eyebrows rising high in his enthusiasm to know the rest of Eldarion's explanation.

With an audible gulp, the boy took a couple steps backward, out of the elf's reaching hands. "I…I won't tell you."

Keldarion stiffened. "Excuse me?"

"I won't tell you! Not if you won't let me come with you to rescue Legolas."

There. He had said it—and almost wished he hadn't because Keldarion's temper was quickly turning for the worst.

With a mighty roar, the elf abruptly whirled around and threw a fist—right into the wall. Eldarion jumped in fright but stood firm where he was, even when Keldarion stalked straight towards him.

"You try my patience, you insufferable little human!" the elf shouted in his face. "Tell me where Movrak keeps the blasted crown!"

"Take me along with you, you arrogant domineering elf! I will tell you when we get to the keep!" Eldarion shouted back.

"No way. You are staying behind where it is safe. For heaven's sake, we've just rescued you from that bloody place!"

"Then I won't tell you where the crown is!"

"Will you stop being so stubborn!"

"Stop being so stubborn yourself!

"Son of a warg! I feel like knocking you senseless, boy!"

"Try it, Kel! And I'll kick you in the balls like I did to Movrak! You won't be able to walk properly for weeks!"

Without warning, Gallard came near and yanked Eldarion away, shoving him unceremoniously onto one of the beds. When the boy shot back to his feet, the draq pointed a finger at him and barked, "YOU! SIT!"

Eldarion sat.

The elf was opening his mouth to say something, so Gallard yelled, "AND YOU! BE QUIET!"

Keldarion shut his mouth and crossed his arms, fuming in silence.

When everything was back to order, the draq threw disgusted looks at them both. "This is ridiculous! The two of you are acting like children!"

"Yes, but I'm only fifteen. What's your excuse?" Eldarion smirked at the thousands-year-old elf.

Keldarion glared, steams seemed to be coming out of his nostrils. "How I wished to squeeze your scrawny neck between my hands…"

"Did I give you both the permission to speak?" The Tasqamaran king softly said through gritted teeth, his tawny eyes flashing dangerously with ire.

The two noble princes had the grace to look abash. They lowered their eyes and sullenly replied, "No, my lord."

"Ah, good. Now it's my turn to speak and you listen." Gallard smiled with satisfaction before turning to Eldarion. "You know where the crown is and you want to take it out of Movrak's possession, is that correct?"

The boy nodded.

"You also want to help free Legolas."

Again the nod.

"Very well. Then you shall tell us where exactly Movrak keeps the crown so that Keldarion can include this new twist to our rescue plan."

The two princes blinked at the draq.

"I beg your pardon?" Keldarion frowned, not liking this new twist one bit.

Gallard nodded. "You are smart, Kel. I know you can come out with something. Try to determine what role Eldarion would play in this plan of yours because we are bringing him along with us."

Keldarion's mouth dropped open. "Bring him along! Are you serious?"

"I'm deadly serious." Gallard's face was grim, but there was amusement in his eyes. "I'm pulling rank here, so what I say goes."

His face red, the elf stood nose to nose with the draq, hissing in a low dangerous tone, "You can shove your rank up your…"

Keldarion caught himself and stepped back. He silently moved away, raised his fist and punched another hole into the wall.

Grinning now, Gallard winked at Eldarion. "Yep. You are coming with us."

The boy managed a weak smile. "Thank you, Gallard."

"No, don't thank me yet," the king seriously said. "I might regret this later on. Promise me that you will follow all Kel's instructions. Stick to whatever plan he will come out with."

"I promise." Eldarion nodded vigorously. "I've caused Legolas to be captured, and I want to help free him."

"I understand that. But first, you need to help Kel make some changes to our original plan by providing him this latest information."

"You mean, where the crown is?" Eldarion glanced tentatively at the still seething elf. "Uh…Movrak keeps it inside one of the sarcophaguses, at the farther back of the tomb behind all his treasures."

Keldarion went still. There was a faraway look in his eyes, a sure sign that the wheels of his brain were already churning fast. "Sarcophaguses, you say? Do you remember which one?"

"Yes, I do."

Nodding absently, the elf held his chin and calmly began to pace, mumbling to himself all the while, "The tomb. Movrak's treasure vault. He will hold the only key, of course. We have to meet him personally."

Eldarion's eyes went wide at this. "Meet him? But he will recognize me instantly!"

"Not if you are in disguise, Darion." Gallard tried to reassure him. "Right, Kel?"

The elf sent him a ferocious scowl. "Be quiet! I'm trying to think."

"Oh. Sorry."

Keldarion paced some more before he suddenly paused and swiveled around to face them. "In order to do this, 'Rowan the mercenary' has to return."

Eldarion and Gallard were struck dumb at this. "What?"

"Never mind. I'll tell you all about him later," the elf said with a nonchalant wave. "I know what we need to do to make this work. So here's my plan…"

The other two listened intently as Keldarion gave them the details of their rescue mission.

"In short, after we've grabbed Legolas and the crown we will leave this city at once," the elf said at the end of his explanation. "No use to tarry here any longer."

"Kill two birds with one stone. Oh, I'm going to love this one," Gallard enthused, gleefully rubbing his hands. "Do you want to slay Movrak, or should I?"

"Leave that sick human to me. I know what to do to him for what he is doing to my brother."

"You are sure this plan will work?" Eldarion asked.

Keldarion gave the boy a sharp look. "It will, if you do everything I told you to do."

"Hey! I've already promised you that, haven't I?"

"Then make sure you remember it. Stick to the plan. Do not stray out of my sight even for a second and don't ever take matters into your own hands if something goes wrong. Just run for your life and head back to Gondor. Keep your gaze down, do not talk to anyone, do not…"

"I got it, Kel, I got it! Sheesh! You can be so overbearing it drives me to tears."

"And you can be so stubborn I feel like clobbering you," Keldarion shot back. "Stop being such a pigheaded bull. I already have one for a brother. I don't need another one to add to my long list of pains in the butt!"

Gallard was left grinning at this, and that caused Keldarion to snap at him, "You are in the list too, draq! Now cease smiling like an idiot and help Darion into his disguise."

"Where are you going?" Gallard asked when the elf strode for the door.

"The barn. I'm going to get the wagon ready for our short trip," Keldarion replied before he walked out.

Shrugging, the draq turned towards the young prince. Eldarion sat there staring at him, unsure of what to do next.

Tapping a finger against his cheek, Gallard eyed the boy's bare head. "Hmm. You need a turban."

"I do?"

The draq smiled sheepishly. "But I absolutely have no idea how to fashion one."

TBC…

'Legolas under The Rock' scene coming up!