Disclaimer: I own nothing except my original characters and I am not making any money off of this story.
Summary: When treason is suspected in the kingdom of Mirkwood, it is up to Aragorn to save Legolas and the other royals.
The Scam
Chapter 7
On the Verge of My Beating
When the sunlight began to shine in the room it only made the throbbing pain in my head even worse. All of the physical pain, plus the emotional pain makes for on agonizing combination. At the point I was at the only thing that I had the strength to hope for was to see Legolas one more time. He was my best friend and I figured I was going to eventually be killed, I just wanted to tell him that I was sorry for not coming through for him.
"Estel" Elton called worriedly. "Estel!"
I squeezed my eyes shut and I forced myself into a seated position. I had no idea how this whole predicament could get any worse, but by the tome that he spoke to me with, I could tell that it was going to. When I looked at him, I was able to see the fear etched on his soiled face. "What's wrong?"
"They're coming."
"The guards?" I questioned.
Elton nodded his head and my eyes widened with fear. Every time they came to us it was to beat one of us. That's how it had been for the last two weeks of my captivity. I can imagine that's that how it was for Elton well before I came to be his fellow prisoner. With all of the might that I had stored in my body, I had managed to push myself up onto my feet. My companion was in no condition to be beaten, I knew that he would not survive. He had lost at least ten pounds to his slim frame and he had been the last one to get tortured. I would not let him go through it again just to save my own hide.
The door to the dungeon area then thrust open and I saw Carek and Kindry enter. I can still see the evil that was in their faces in my dreams. There was nothing in them but pure hated and maliciousness. It was a bittersweet thing when they walked up to my cell, with every intention of taking me. "Well, I'm glad to see that you're ready to come with us. Remember, if you struggle, we'll take him instead" Kindry laughed as he motioned to the other captive.
"I'm not going to struggle"
Carek raised one eyebrow as he looked at me. "You stupid human" he guffawed. "I knew it would take no time before we were able to break you in half."
There was no point in me trying to retort what he said to me, but I still couldn't help but pull myself free of their grip and run to Elton's cell. I had a feeling that this was going to be the last time that we were going to see each other and that hurt me because we had become good friends during our time in captivity. I also knew though that this was going to be especially hard on him.
"Don't worry, you're going to come back. They're going to hurt you, but that's it" he said and it seemed like he was trying to convince himself of this, but it helped me none the less.
"If I don't come back…" I started to say, but he immediately cut me off.
"You're going to come back" he said shaking his head. "Like I said, they're going to hurt you, they're not going to kill you."
"If I don't come back" I started again. I had to tell him this. There was a chance that he wouldn't survive if I didn't tell him. "You cant let them know that you're suffering because I am gone. If you do it will only make them stronger and they will hurt you so much more. Don't let them think that anything has changed. It is your only hope of surviving here."
"Well, when they are in there torturing you, trying to kill you, don't let them think that they are really hurting you. It'll only make it worse" Elton responded, and it was only then that it sunk it what they were going to do to me.
Baby cried the day the circus came to town,
'Cause she didn't want parades just passing by her.
So she painted on a smile and took up with some clown,
While she danced without a net upon the wire.
I know a lot about her, 'cause you see,
Baby, is an awful lot like me.
Don't cry out loud,
Just keep it inside,
And learn how to hide your feelings.
Fly high and proud.
And if you should fall,
Remember you almost had it all.
Baby saw that when they pulled that big top down,
They left behind her dreams among the litter.
And the different kind of love she thought she'd found,
There was nothing left but sawdust and some glitter.
But Baby can't be broken, 'cause you see,
She had the finest teacher, that was me.
I told her:
Don't cry out loud,
Just keep it inside,
And learn how to hide your feelings.
Fly high and proud.
And if you should fall,
Remember you almost had it all.
Don't cry out loud,
Just keep it inside,
And learn how to hide your feelings.
Fly high and proud.
And if you should fall,
Remember you almost made it.
Don't cry out loud,
Just keep it inside,
And learn how to hide your feelings.
Fly high and proud.
And if you should fall,
Remember you almost had it all.
"All right, get up" Kindry said as he dragged me up onto my feet.
They pulled me out of the room and down this hallway. There was one thing about this that confused me though. Every other time that I had been taken to get beaten it was to a different part of the residence. I had never been to this part of my prison before. When we got to the place that they obviously wanted to take me to, they pushed open the wooden doors and shoved me in the room. My eyes widened when I laid my eyes on the contents of the room. I thought I had seen every possible torture weapon that there was, this one instance proved me wrong to the fullest extent possible.
Like I had promised, I didn't struggle when they forced me down onto a wooden table. But of course I would have liked to when they tied down my hands and my feet with leather straps that were so tight it felt like my circulation was being cut off. I knew I couldn't do anything though. Elton's life depended on my being cooperative while they killed me.
I hated them so much, I still do. It baffles me that I once trusted Kindry with my life. He used to be one of the most praised elven warriors in all of Imladris and this is what he turned out to be. He was a back stabber. Carek was just the same. Thranduil and Riandry trusted him with their lives and the lives of their children and he helped to take the life of he queen and the crown prince. I guess that proves you can't really trust anybody, because I trusted Thianna, right up until the point I found out the truth about her, I trusted her.
"Well, it's time to begin" Carek said evilly as he took down a leather strap embedded with metal hooks. "Are you ready to die?"
Well, what do you think? I am sorry that I have taken so long to update, but I have been super-busy. I hope that this chapter lives up to your expectations, but I had a lot of writer's block so it may not be that good. By the way, the song in this chapter is called Don't Cry out Loud, by Melissa Manchester. Please review!
Judy Greenleaf