Chapter Three

She lay deep in her dreams, trying to fight a way out and to wake up. But she slept on. She saw a vision of a dark wasteland, and a tall dark tower in the distance. Another image came to her of a plain gold ring and then she saw an eye of fire. A voice whispered in the winds but she couldn't make it out. And then finally, she snapped awake….

Stupid slayer dreams. She shook them away, because she had never bothered with them before.

Looking around her for any sign of a weak point in her prison, she frowned when she looked at the wooden door in front of her. She stood up, and with all her strength aimed a kick in the middle of the door that should have shattered it to peaces. But it stayed intact. She felt something like an electric shock run through her, a very mild one though, and saw a white flash around the door.

"Improvements have been made…" she remembered Thranduil's words, but too late. By this time she'd sunk back onto the floor temporarily stumped trying to remember some of Giles's spells to unblock it, before remembering they probably wouldn't work in this dimension anyway. She winced, not from the pain in her arm, because that had lessened over night but now her wrists hurt from the chains.

Then she heard a key being turned from the lock on the outside, and the door swung open. She stood up immediately on the defence, and saw the very same elf who had escorted her last night.

"So, it's you again." she greeted him, less then happy.

"I've bought you something for the pain in your arm, like I said I would," he answered her. "You must drink this twice a day with food…I've bought you that as well. I also have herbs to apply to the wound. Now…can I see the damage?"

Faith flinched as he reached forward to clean the cut. "Its fine now," she insisted. "I don't know why you're bothering with me….aren't prisoners usually supposed to rot away in their cells or something…." she paused as an idea began to form in her mind.

"By the valar this has nearly closed!" the elf exclaimed in shock. "What magic do you possess for this to be possible? It would normally take several days to a week for it to begin the proper healing process, a cut this deep."

Faith didn't answer at first. "Let's just say I have a few…special gifts that come in real handy," was all she let on to him. "I guess I won't need any of your help today, right? You can just leave the food!"

"I will check on you later," he muttered absently, to her annoyance.

But she took comfort in the plan she'd recently thought up. It would take time and patience, things she didn't usually rely on. But she was good at mind games….and she was sure that it wouldn't take long to twist Legolas into doing whatever she wanted.

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That evening he came again to bring her food, and the next morning. Everyday at the same times, it was always him that came to check up on her.

"Aren't you getting bored of this little routine you've got going on yet?" she asked impatiently, leaning forward as he put the tray of food on the floor in front of her.

"I don't understand," he admitted to her. "I just want to know."

"Know what?" she asked, genuinely curious, despite her better judgement.

"I'd like to know about you."

Oh. "That's what all the guys say," she said lightly. "So….nice defences this place has."

For a moment he was confused by the change of topic, but then he glanced back at the door. "Yes, Gandalf was very helpful after the battle of five armies. He spent some time here in talks with my father."

"Who?" Faith felt like she was trapped in a conversation with Wesley or Giles, when they suddenly started talking about stuff she didn't know or care about.

"I keep forgetting you don't know about these things," he said. "Of course, most of middle earth doesn't know about important business we have to deal with, but…you don't know even the basics do you?"

"I'm not a kid," she said, anger flaring up. "I'm just…not from around here. And look at that…time to change conversation again! Does your father even know you come down here?"

He shook his head in slight amusement. "Things would go easier if you told the truth. Can I at least know your name?"

She sighed and nodded. "Fine. It's Faith."

"Same time tomorrow then…Faith."

As he turned his back on her, she smiled in satisfaction. This was going better then she had hoped. Of course he didn't trust her yet…she was one of his prisoners. But she was sure with the right amount of story telling and excuses, she could easily make him believe she wasn't as bad as everyone thought. Then, when she had found his weaknesses and his own defences were lowered, she was sure she could find a way out of this place.

Legolas's father did in fact know about his son's little trips to the dungeons. It had been he who had suggested it. "If anyone can break her, it will be you," Thranduil had told him. "You can get information out of most, it is one of your many strengths. But be careful….do not trust her easily."

She was more complicated then any of the other captives he had interrogated over the years… and every conversation with her made him weary. He sometimes wished that Aragorn was here to help him. But he and his friend had very different destines to fulfil, and they couldn't always be there for each other. So this he would have to handle by himself.

TBC

…if Faith could just kick the door down, it would be to easy wouldn't it? Hope you enjoyed, thanks for the reviews.