Disclaimer: I own nothing

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 8

Still No Answers

I just stared at my assailant hoping to come to some kind of revelation in my silence. Unfortunately a revelation never came, just another question.

"Are you ready to die?" Carek questioned again. "I'll take your silence as a yes."

"You are going to pay for this" I declared. "You are not going to get away with this."

"I think we already have" Kindry laughed. "No one is here to save you. Everyone that you love is against you and everyone else is dead or soon to be dead. You're all alone, Estel. It's time to face it."

"Someone is going to realize what's going on" I retorted. I suppose I was right in a sense, but in the end it was me who realized the truth. I was living in a fabricated world where fairy tale endings were a reality. It was the outcome of my sheltered upbringing. Elrond had only ever tried to give me the best of the best and I repaid him by believing the lies that were being spread about him and his family.

Carek crossed his arms in front of him. "And who is going to realize this? Elrond? He's the bad guy. Elladan? He's a bad guy too. Thandarion? He's dead. Like I said, you're all alone now."

000

"Has all of this been worth it?" I asked trying to push away from my companion and the blade she held, but having no where to go but forward.

My captor smiled at me. "Has it been worth it? Why wouldn't it be worth it? As soon as you're out of the picture, my plan will have been carried out completely. I will have the throne and no one will be able to contend me. Eventually I plan on being the most powerful ruler in Middle Earth."

"I highly doubt that will happen" I said with a sarcastic laugh. "You obviously don't have the people skills for a job like that."

"Remember, I am the one with the knife. I would be careful about what comments slip out of your mouth. One wrong word could cost you your life."

000

"Do you know where they put Adar?" Elrohir asked as he rubbed the side of his aching head.

Elladan shook his head. "No I don't."

"Do you know where we are?"

"No I don't."

"Do you know what day it is?"

"I don't know anymore than you do" Elladan snapped. "Now stop it with all of these confounded questions. I am trying to think."

"If we knew where we were we could find a way out of here?" Elrohir declared. "How did they keep us unconscious or drugged for so long?"

The older twin shrugged his shoulders. "We were unconscious and drugged like you said. We don't know how long we were out. It could have been three days or it could have been three weeks or it could have been three months. There is no way to know for sure unless we talk to somebody."

"If someone comes in here I'm asking about Adar" Elrohir professed as he pulled on the metal bars that were keeping him and his brother encased. "If they hurt him they are going to live to regret the day they were born."

Elladan couldn't help but worry about his twin brother. Elrohir always threw all caution to the wind. The older twin knew better even though he was the one with the unquenchable temper. Elrohir always took things so much worse when it came to matters about family. Elladan liked to keep things bottled up inside until they all came out in a fury of rage.

"I just wish I knew what was going on" Elrohir said. "I want to know where Ada is; I want to know where Estel is. He's too young to deal with this. He doesn't know how to handle this kind of situation."

"Don't worry" Elladan said. "We're going to find a way to get through this. We always find a way to get through things like this."

"This is different though" Elrohir pointed out. "We don't know who has us captive. We don't even know why they have us captive."

"We know Kindry and Carek have something to do with it" Elladan professed. "The only thing that worries me is that they haven't been here in a while to check up on us. It's like they're not even concerned about anything."

"We have gone over the fact that we've been unconscious" Elrohir said. "Perhaps they have been in here and we just weren't awake to notice."

"But now we've been up for four days" Elladan declared. "No one has been in here. They're not trying to keep us in darkness anymore. I don't understand that."

"I don't care what they're reasons are for that. I'm just glad I'm awake now" Elrohir proclaimed. "Maybe now we will get some answers."

000

"Just tell me one thing," I began as I looked at Carek and Kindry, "then you can beat me as much as you want. I just want one answer."

"It depends what you're asking" Kindry said as he crossed his arms in front of him.

"Are Rydel and Thranduil still alive or have they been killed too?" I questioned. I had remembered their conversation stating that Rydel was to be killed within the week and that was about a month ago.

Carek smiled at me. "Wouldn't it kill you to learn that they had been killed already? You were too late to save them."

"Just tell me" I begged.

"They haven't been killed yet" Carek said. "Yet."

"What about Legolas? Is he still alive?" I asked.

"You said one question, Estel" Kindry responded. "That would be questioned number two so I'm afraid you can't get an answer."

"Don't be like that" I said. "I'm going to die here. At least let me die in peace."

"Since when do we care about your feelings? I don't care if you die in a world of turmoil. It just makes this all the more entertaining" Carek laughed.

"You can't be that evil" I declared. "That doesn't happen to someone in a matter of months. There has to be little pieces of the people you were still buried somewhere inside."

"You always were the optimist" Kindry said with a malicious smile. "Unfortunately you are wrong. We're not going to help you out. Essentially, you're going to have to suffer through this beating wondering all the while if your best friend is still alive."

000

"We need to find out what is going on" Rydel exclaimed as he paced back and forth in his father's study.

"It does not make any sense" Glorfindel added. "Something must have happened to them. It's been four weeks. They wouldn't have just disappeared on their own."

"We've sent out countless search parties" Thranduil said. "There has been no trace found of Estel, Thianna, Elrond, Elladan, Elrohir, Carek or Kindry. No one saw any of them before they disappeared. The only thing that we have to go on is that both Estel and Thianna have things missing from their rooms."

"Estel wouldn't just leave without telling anybody" Rydel said. "Neither would Thianna. Especially with all that's going on. They would make the effort."

"If it was something of grave importance, Estel would just leave" Glorfindel said as the true nature of the human dawned on him. "If it was very important he would not want to get anyone else involved."

"This must have something to do with what happened to Legolas, Thandarion and your mother" Thranduil said. "It is too much of a coincidence otherwise. We need to find those dark elves and deal with them before they hurt our families anymore than they already have."

"But where do we start?" Glorfindel questioned. "You said it yourself. There's no trace of any of them. It is like they vanished into thin air."

Rydel crossed his arms in front of him. "I don't care about all of these things against us. I have lost too many people. I will not lose anymore. We are going to find them no matter what it takes."

I wish I could have been there at this point. As fate would have it, I was stupid enough to leave Mirkwood when that is where I should have been all along. However, because I happen to be the most gullible person in the world, everyone was left in the dark until it was far too late.

"I know you're anxious to find them, we all are, but there are certain precautions that need to be taken" Glorfindel advised. "If you're not careful you could end up being hurt as well and then no one would be around to find them."

"We are going to find them" Thranduil assured as he placed his hands on his last child's shoulders. "I promise you that we will find them. We'll bring your sister and your friends back home."

Things would have turned out much better if I could have just told them what was really going on at that point. It would have saved so much pain and suffering, not to mention blood.

"What if we find them too late?" Rydel questioned. "What if we find them and they're dead just like Thandarion and Legolas and Naneth? I will not risk that happening. I'm going to look for them myself. The search parties are obviously useless. If you want something done right, you have to do to yourself."

"The best thing for you to do is remain calm" Glorfindel said.

"Do not try to feed me that nonsense" Rydel said shaking his head. "I realize that it is your job to advise people, but do not try it on me. I have lost pretty much my entire family. I will not sit back and wait for my sister's body to turn up somewhere."

"That's not what we're asking you to do" Thranduil assured. "I need you to watch over Mirkwood. Glorfindel and I are leaving in the morning to search for them. Someone has to be here to rule over our country. I trust no one anymore. You are the only one that I would leave in control."

"You can't expect me to just wait around here" Rydel said. "I can't do it."

"You have to" Thranduil said. "Our people need someone to look up to; they need someone to turn to. You're the only person they have now."

"I don't know how to rule a country" Rydel opposed. "I'll go with Glorfindel."

Thranduil walked over to his son and pulled him into an embrace. "You can do this. I know that you can. You just have to be strong. Be strong for our people; be strong for your sister."

000

"I told you you'd come back" Elton said as he stared at my still form lying on the concrete floor of my cell. "You're stronger than you give yourself credit for."

"I feel like a brick wall has just crumbled upon me" I mumbled as I tried to pull myself up, but to no avail. I fell back down on the floor.

"What did they do to you?" Elton inquired.

"I have no idea" I responded. "Nothing that they did to me before ever hurt this much. All I know is that my best friend is probably dead and all my attempts to save him were for nothing. I couldn't rescue him and now he's dead."

"It's not your fault that we're being held captive by heartless people" Elton said. "If they want to hurt someone, they're going to hurt someone. Nothing anyone could say would change that."

"Maybe you're right" I sighed. "But that does not change that fact that Legolas is probably dead and he might never coming back."