"Your Majesty?" There were some days when Verilas hated his job fiercely.

After waiting in the silence of the hall for a moment, he just entered Aragorn's still darkened living chambers against all of his usual habits and knocked on the bedroom door. Though there again was no answer, he went in there as well and loudly cleared his throat. There were things that didn't allow delay.

He had expected to find the ruler asleep, but he was sitting by the window facing the garden behind the King's House, absently looking outside at this part of his private area in the Citadel laying in the dusk. "I didn't invite you in."

"I know, Your Majesty." The advisor hurried to show a bow though his ruler didn't even turn to look at him. His hand clenched around the parchment that he'd kept in a pocket of his robe on his way here, so it wouldn't be seen by people immediately. "Please, begging your pardon for the disturbance, but … Lady Arwen."

The squeaking, almost panicked tone in Verilas' voice now alarming him after all, Aragorn got up and opened the curtains to let in what little light there was. Verilas' pale face upset him visibly, just like his crumbled position.

"Here." From how the King's startled at the sight of the parchment and how he downright tore it from his hand, Verilas suspected, Aragorn had recognized the necklace around it immediately.

"Your horse had it. It strayed the streets of the first ring, abandoned. One of the guards saw it and informed us immediately. Lady Arwen's mount is outside the city gate and won't let anyone catch it."

As Aragorn still stayed silent, Verilas cautiously stepped closer. "Your Majesty? What do you intend to do?"

Aragorn blankly stared at the paper that described in dark red words all that would happen to Lady Arwen if he kept on wearing the crown. His hand turned into a fist around it.

"Have all of the city guard gather in the yard. I want to know how by all the Valar this could have happened. In the meantime, have my council report for duty in the White Tower. Let Faramir summon the most capable men of his old troops. I want to see this realm's best Rangers in the Tower immediately!"

"As you command." Verilas took a quick bow.

"If you allow the question, what will you do until everyone arrives?" He couldn't hide his worry.

He instantly saw some anger on him, too, flash in Aragorn's piercing grey eyes and had to do his best to withstand that look. Now, at the latest, he understood how this man could have stared the Dark Lord in the face. Such unconditional determination could become a disadvantage for the whole realm though if Aragorn was possibly to act rashly, guided only by his feelings.

But the King's fingers were surprisingly calm when he unfastened the necklace from the parchment and slipped it in the inside pocket of his vest. "Making sure, the most precious horse of Lord Elrond's breed stops dashing about the fields in madness. Afterward, I will find out how they could kidnap a she-elf right outside my city gates in spite of our security precautions." His voice sounded like bursting ice.

Without waiting for another reaction, Aragorn left his chambers. In passing, he tore his sword from the holder on the wall and girded it.

Verilas watched him leave with a heavy heart and then got moving, too.

Apparently, he could finally kiss the illusion good-bye that under the King's reign, things in these halls would be slightly more peaceful than under Denethor's before.

One his quick run through the city's rings, Aragorn was occasionally being recognized by citizens, but nobody dared to approach him, to even look at him for longer than a few seconds.

The soldiers on the other hand probably wished for a hole to swallow them when they bowed to him and his enraged eyes met theirs.

Only when Aragorn spotted Alagas' strong, dark brown silhouette prowling about in the distance, so confused that the animal repeatedly almost stumbled over the rope on his halter, his position relaxed a little. He whistled through his teeth several times until the animal noticed him and then approached the young stallion that immediately reared up and kicked at him though.

Only when Aragorn addressed it in Sindarin, the animal let him come closer and nudged his chest with its head as if seeking his comfort – or as if it wanted to push him towards a certain direction.

"I know, my friend." His expression empty, Aragorn caressed Alagas' thin flank and took him by his halter. "I feel the same way."

How easy it would have been, getting on the horse immediately to search for the attackers' tracks that only waited to be found! How quickly he would have known where to ride! With a fast horse, one who wasn't still compromised by the fire, he could even have caught up with the men.

But things weren't that easy anymore. He wasn't a Dúnadan anymore who could go wherever he wanted. No matter how loudly everything in him was screaming that Arwen would need exactly that part of him today, he turned away with a jerk. Not to mention that even with all of his fighting experience, he might not be able to defeat a whole group of enemies alone, and even if he would, far too many of them would be able to get away and keep posing a threat to his folk … The King of Gondor couldn't just vanish of the face of the earth. Others would have to do that for him.

It was the first but it certainly wouldn't be the last time, he had to make a decision in favor of his duties that he hated with all of his heart.

"Hey, sleepyhead! Get up!"

"Go away." Arwen buried her face in her pillow and squeezed her eyes shut.

"Arwen! Nana is waiting for us! Get up!"

"Dontwanttowanttosleep." Arwen pulled her blanket up over her head, trying to ignore her brothers' annoying voices, to slip back into that exciting dream from before in which she had gone to battle by Glorfindel's and Thondrar's side, a proud warrior on her way to becoming a hero …

She sat up with a keen yelp when something disgustingly cold and wet splashed at her feet that jutted out vulnerably from under the slightly too short covers. "I hate you!"

"You're the one who insisted on accompanying nana to the mountains. So get yourself together." Elladan made a move to give her another round from the bowl in his hand. "You know she hates it to wait for us."

"Nobody said we were starting so early, Elli!" Arwen managed to shield her face with her blanket just in time before it could be hit by a big torrent.

"I told you not to call me that. You're really getting too old for that." He sulkily put the bowl aside, crossing his arms in an attempt of radiating authority like their father so easily could. Thanks to his untidy braid and the pollen all over his tunic, that didn't quite work for him just yet though.

"Elli! Elli!" Arwen hurled the cover at him and bounced on her bed, gleefully laughing as his expression grew more irritated by the second, especially because Elrohir now could hardly stifle a grin either.

"Oh, that's it. You're really going to get it now!" Losing his temper, Elladan threw the cover to the ground and started to lunge at her.

Arwen quickly jumped out of reach. "Catch me then! You're too slow!"

With a small screech, she backed away when her brother reached out his much longer arms to her to torture her with one of his tickle attacks and ran outside to the kitchen. She almost bumped into her father who was standing in front of a pot with hot water, chopping vegetables. Arwen decided to ignore his scolding.

Before Elladan could get hold of her after all, she fled to her mother who was sitting at the table, watching her family's ado with one eyebrow raised.

"Nana, help me!" Arwen wrapped her arms around her neck and climbed her lap.

Laughing, Celebrían hugged her close and ruffled her messy hair. "Did you annoy one of your brothers again, starlet?"

"Not at all!" She shook her head so wildly that her curls whirled around it. "Elladan was mean!"

"I was not! You told me to wake her up!" Her brother voiced a loud protest immediately.

Celebrían regarded them with a lenient headshake, then she started to tickle Arwen without a warning until she writhed, giggling, and almost fell to the floor. "You're both a hazard, all three of you. You're worse than your ada's young horses."

Laughing, she put Arwen down and pushed her towards her room. "Now go, quickly. The sun is coming up soon. If you want to watch the big cats with their kittens, we have to hurry."

"Animal babies?" Arwen beamed. Now she started to tug on her nightgown all by herself.

"It's the right time of the year. If we're lucky, we might see a few fawns too. But for that, you'll all have to get ready first." Celebrían watched them in amusement as they stormed off to get dressed, suddenly all of them determined to be the first who was ready to leave.

"Hey, you! Wake up!"

Arwen was torn from her sleep by a voice not half as pleasant as her brothers' and the one so dearly missed, of her mother, that she would never hear outside her memory again. A rude kick in her side followed that made her painfully remember a certain sprained rib that hadn't fully healed yet.

Still quite dizzy, she opened her eyes. For seconds she tried in vain to remember why she was laying on hard, uneven ground that had left her arms with some abrasions already, and especially why she could hardly see anything. When she felt the rough bonds around her wrists, it came back to her in a flash. The men outside the gate … They must have brought her to their base. Where that was, she wouldn't learn anytime soon though, as her eyes were covered by a thick black cloth. At least she wasn't being gagged anymore; her mouth now was so dry though that she could still hardly mutter a word, and her stomach growled audibly.

"Get up, she-elf." The same man who had woken her up so immensely gently, yanked her up by her bound arms. "Get going."

Arwen had no interest whatsoever in any more wounds, provided she could prevent them. Besides, she finally wanted to know now whom exactly she was dealing with here. So she obeyed for now.

Punches hitting between her shoulder blades pushed her further and further down a cool hall, so narrow that rock was scraping her arms that was awfully slick on top. A cave, then. Thanks to her thin summer dress, she soon started to freeze. Whatever this place was, it was ice-cold for this time of the year. Besides, there was a fell smell in the air. Maybe there were predators living here. The prospect did nothing to calm her.

When she was being pushed to the ground once more, at least she ended up on a blanket this time.

For minutes, silence prevailed, safe for the too-quick breathing of the man who had brought her here and who kept standing behind her, and the one of a second guy not too far away from her.

"Such a shame," the second man sighed in mock concern at last. It was the same leader who'd been at the kidnapping. "Such a beautiful elf. How did you get yourself in so much trouble, Lady Arwen?"

"Why don't you tell me, man? Are you proud to create a new conflict between our folks? Have you learned nothing from the war? You are no better than the scum in Sauron's army."

Arwen tried to make out where the voice was coming from exactly, but thanks to the cave, the echo was distorted. Immobilized like this and basically blind on top, she wouldn't have a chance to defend herself properly if the men attacked her; no amount of received defense teachings by certain Balrog slayers in her valley would help with that. She could only hope that the man would keep to interrogations.

"Now, now." The man clicked his tongue chidingly. "No need to get impolite. After all, you're the one making herself at home at a court you don't belong to. Provoking that conflict is only on you. You should just go back to your own and leave this stiff life of a woman in the Citadel behind. Is that what you want, Lady Arwen? Do you want to be free to get back to your valley?"

"Sounds good. At least people there don't fight each other. And there are no creeps who don't even dare to show their face when they kidnap someone to enforce their shameful ambitions." With as much composure as she could possibly muster, Arwen tried to unfasten the tightly bound knots of her restraints. In her growing wrath, she was tempted to spit at the man's feet. But she could only sense that he was moving around; she still couldn't tell exactly where he was.

"Necessary discretion to protect our people from your precious King's quick sword hand. No matter what you might think of us: Unlike your partner, Stewardaides despise violence. Honestly."

A sweaty hand grabbed Arwen's chin so she was forced to look up as if she could make out anything in spite of her blindfold. "One of the reasons why our association exists in the first place. Somebody has to make sure, peace and quiet will find Gondor again, and that the right man holds the leadership position. But isn't that much too complicated business for a she-elf? After all, your folk has never cared about this world. Don't worry your pretty little head about the politics of Men. Harming you won't do me any good. If you tell me a little bit about your life, you can leave immediately. I'm very curious by nature, you know. I'm especially interested in the last few months. You must have seen a lot on your journey to the west, especially given you've been in such noble company."

"King Elessar will track down every single one of you. He will punish you severely for the stable fire, the little boy's injuries, and for this, right here, too. You will be wishing, you'd never raised your voice against him!" Arwen tried to break away in disgust. If these people really thought she would tell them anything, they knew even less about elves than suspected.

"Your beloved King will get you back in pieces if you keep on resisting, birdy. Maybe then he'll understand how serious we are." The grip on Arwen's jaw tightened.

"Then he'll have even more reasons to hunt every last one of you." At least now she knew where the guy was and spit thickly, right in his face, so he let go of her in surprise. "The King will never give in to demands of cowards like you."

Her kidnapper yanked her up by her hair so brutally that a short moan came from her lips. "You should pray that he does because we have no problem sacrificing even a she-elf for the good of Men."

A blow to her still battered side shoved Arwen to the ground again, whereupon she hit her head. The last thing she could remember was the leader ordering harshly to take her away.