I felt like I was in a bad action movie. On the left and right stood masked men, almost like the ones from my dream, but instead of batons they held weapons pointed at me. They were gesturing wildly - I should get out of the car. If I did that, we would have no chance to escape. But did I have a choice?
No.
Slowly, I opened the door and got out with my hands up, careful not to move too quickly. I already knew where this was leading. As soon as I left the car, the elf stood protectively in front of me. Very noble, but unfortunately pointless.
One of the masked men roughly pushed him aside, grabbed me by the arm and dug his fingers so deep into my flesh that I cried out.
"Let her go", I heard Legolas say next to me. Instead of a reply, another masked man punched him right in the middle of his face. He staggered, but managed to catch himself and made no sound of pain. I stared at him. Where did he get the courage to resist? I felt completely numb, unable to move, and in my mind's eye I already saw us lying dead on the pavement.
"You want me, not her", he gasped again, "So leave her here, she is of no use to you at all."
The one who had just hit the elf made a scoffing noise and turned to one of his colleagues. "The idiot just won't understand that he has to keep his mouth shut. Shall we teach him some manners, boss?"
A curt nod, then two masked men pinned me against the car window so I couldn't see what was happening. I wanted to fight back, lash out and kick, but just as quickly as they turned me around, shackles closed around my wrists.
Meanwhile, I heard several dull thuds, a groan, and finally the thud of a body hitting the ground. I winced internally and closed my eyes tightly, but I could do nothing about the images that took hold of me. What had I gotten myself into here? Would I ever come home again? Alive?
I was shaking like a leaf and when I was finally grabbed and dragged to one of the vans, the elf was gone. Only a few drops of blood were silent witnesses to what had happened.
The man holding me pushed me onto a loading platform and slammed the door shut behind me. I gulped. My arm hurt like hell, I was scared, and it was pitch black.
Orders were shouted outside, someone knocked twice on the roof, then the truck moved and I was thrown around. Finally, I rolled onto something soft.
"Legolas?"
A groan came in reply, and I tried to crawl away from him as carefully as I could, towards one of the walls. At least, that's where I assumed the wall was. I managed to sit up.
"Are you okay?", I whispered into the blackness once I was no longer cheek deep in the dirt. Stupid question, after all, he had just gotten himself beat up for me. Still, I hoped for an answer that would ease my anxiety a bit.
The elf coughed and then replied, pressed: "I'll be fine."
I heard the pain from his voice, but at the same time was relieved that he said anything at all.
"Thank you", I murmured softly.
No response.
I closed my eyes and listened to the sounds of the car moving. We had to be on the highway. I wondered how long we would be on the road. And I wondered where they were taking us. I turned to the side, stretching my legs that had fallen asleep. Maybe Legolas knew an answer to that.
"What do they want from you?" I felt kind of stupid asking.
I heard him sit up as well. "My heart fails to fathom that."
"You have to have some guess!"
He took his time answering, almost so long that I thought he had passed out again. "I suppose they want my necklace and the knowledge of how to use it."
"What's so special about it?"
Silence, then a rustle of feet. "Why did you come with me?"
Now that was not the nice way - to answer a question with a counter-question. I bit my lip. Yes, why had I actually come along? Because I had instinctively felt that it was right? Because he had left me no other choice? Because I had trusted him at that crucial moment? I didn't know. "I'm in this damn car with you, isn't that enough of an answer?"
"No."
"Then what do you want to hear?" I could feel the anger building up in my stomach again.
He sighed. "Stop it."
The elf had exactly the same teaching tone, which had already upset me with my mother back then. I reacted accordingly. "With what? Perhaps with the fact that I lost my whole life because of you? That I've been stalked and kidnapped and will probably be found dead on the roadside soon?"
I had always had a sense of people's weaknesses. It obviously worked on elves as well, and I knew I had hit him with my words because he felt responsible for me. I also knew I was being unfair, but I couldn't help myself.
"No", he said quietly and something cramped inside me, "I want you to stop lashing out when you're scared."
I fell silent, wishing desperately that I could smoke a cigarette. It usually calmed me down in stressful situations and this one was highly stressful not only physically but emotionally as well. How was I supposed to react? Not at all? Deny everything? I decided on the latter. "What made you think that?"
"Just a guess."
Great. If that's how he came at me, I'd just turn the tables. "Your life experience may help you make psychological appraisals of me, but in relation to this world, it does you no good at all."
"I don't see it that way."
I laughed out loud. "So far, of course, it has worked flawlessly."
"You're doing it again."
I pinched my lips together. He was still convinced he'd done the right thing. Unbelievable.
"I admit I didn't believe you when you said they would find us so quickly."
"Oh, you admit it", I scoffed, and would have loved to jump in his face. "Of course, that puts us a long way ahead."
"Ina."
"What?"
"I promise you'll get through this thing unharmed."
I snorted. "Promise all you want."
We were silent for what felt like an eternity until he suddenly sat down next to me. "Turn around so I can cut your bonds."
How had he managed that? I frowned, but didn't ask. Not a minute later, my hands were free and I was rubbing the places where the shackles had cut into my flesh. The elf was still sitting close beside me. Too close. I moved aside.
He cleared his throat. "May I ask you a question?"
"You don't usually ask permission, do you?"
If I hadn't known better, I could have sworn I heard him laugh. "Are you an exception?"
"To what?"
He hesitated. "In behavior."
"Excuse me?"
"In my world, a woman would trust my word."
Oh, so that's where he was coming from. Did he seriously feel offended because I didn't take his all will be well talk seriously? "Even Eowyn?"
"Maybe."
That was probably as close as I would ever get to a confession of weakness. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and stared into the darkness. The wagon banked, so I had to brace myself to keep from falling into the elf's lap. God forbid, anything but that.
I would have liked to lean on something, but he was at the back of the line of potential suitors. After all, he came across to me as lecturing, arrogant, and deceitful - all character traits I generally didn't like to surround myself with. But he protected you when it mattered, whispered a small voice inside me.
"How old are you, exactly?", I asked, trying to distract myself and shush the little voice.
"Old."
I rolled my eyes. "And wise?"
This time I didn't imagine the smile in his voice. "Of course." Silence. "And you?"
"Too young for you."
"And too blatant."
"True."
The silence suddenly didn't seem hostile at all, yet I felt uncomfortable. I didn't want to know anything about this elf, I didn't want to become familiar with him. I wanted to hate him. Then why had I asked?
I would have preferred to crawl into the far corner of the car, but I was afraid of being caught by an unexpected curve of the road. I had to pull myself together. After all, it was his fault I was in here in the first place. His age didn't fucking matter. All that mattered was that he was slick and hoped to make it easier on himself with the friendly shtick. In any case, he had managed to distract me from my actual question. I took a deep breath: "I hate to repeat myself, but what's the deal with your necklace?"
