Hey everyone, I'm a LotR lover. My muse is coffee, English is not my mother tongue and this is my first ever attempt at writing fanfiction. Reviews would be beyond amazing!

This story is going to be some sort of Angst and a little Romance/Friendship starring Legolas, Aragorn and some original characters. There will be rather graphic violence and torture. Consider yourself warned.

All the characters and places, as well as Middleearth, belong to J.R.R. Tolkien.

I edited Chapters 1 and 2, so you might want to reread xd

WARNING: This chapter will contain some pretty graphic violence and torture. Don't like it, don't read it.

Oh and you'll be introduced to another original character ;)

Imladris/Rivendell

"Even if we ride very fast, a journey to Isengard will take several days. We can not afford to lose that much time." Legolas looked extremely worried, but Gandalf smiled at him.
"Which is why we won't ride there. At least not on horsebacks."
"You speak in riddles, dear friend. How do you suppose we can get to Saruman's tower?"
"I have told you of my friendship with Gwaihir, Lord of the Eagles of Manwë. He liberally agreed to help me once more. We will leave ere sunrise.""That is indeed good news."

Orthanc

When Lómiel awoke again, she found herself surrounded by smothering darkness. The air was cold yet stuffy. Saruman must have decided to put her into his awful dungeons. The elleth felt a stinging pain all over her body and realised that she was chained again, as she tried to move into a more comfortable position. Lómiel missed the fresh air that had environed her atop Orthanc and she longed to see the beautiful sky. All of a sudden she heard a strange noise. It sounded like someone was crying - mayhap in the cell next to her's?
"Hello?", she asked softly in the common language.
The crying seemed to stop and Lómiel heard a quiet reply: "Hello. Who's there?"
The Noldor replied in Elvish for she had noticed an Elvish accent as the other person spoke. "Mae govannen. Im Lómiel. (Hello. I am Lómiel.)
"Mae govannen, Lómiel. Im Forveneth. Which dreadful fate has made you end up here?"
After a moment of hesitation, Lómiel replied: "Saruman's orcs captured me because the wizard hopes that I'll give him some pieces of information he desires much.". She had decided to keep her explanation brief as she did not know whether the other elleth was trustworthy or not. Saruman's treason had made her wary.
"The same reason has brought me here as well.", Forveneth answered the unspoken question. A second later, she added: "Though it is indeed foolish of him to think that I would break in his claws. I'd rather die than give away what he longs to know."

Lómiel felt a sudden wave of affection for this other elleth who shared her fate as well as her conviction. The two elves stayed silent for some minutes, each of them lost in her thoughts. A strange noise ripped Lómiel out of her memories. It took her a moment to realise that it Forveneth who was coughing violently.
"Forveneth, is there anything I can do to help you?"
"Nay.", came the weak reply, "it will stop eventually.". Her soft voice was followed by another fit of coughing. Her voice was so weak that Lómiel had to concentrate on understanding her despite her elven hearing abilities when she added: "It just hurts so much. My whole body does. I have been here for too long already."
"Shh...it will be fine. Don't lose hope. There will be light." Lómiel did not believe in her own words but she tried to sooth the elleth nevertheless. She could not tell how much time had passed when she heard footsteps draw near.

A door opened and Saruman appeared, accompanied by a group of orcs as usual.
"Hello my little elleth, how are you doing today? Finally willing to tell me about your brother's whereabouts?" Lómiel realised that he was not talking to her but to Forveneth.
She heard a hiss from the neighbouring cell: "Never!".
"I'm not pleased to hear this...no, really not pleased at all. I fear I'll have to make you see reason with some rather unpleasant methods." Lómiel saw him nod to the orcs who stepped towards the door of Forveneth's prison.

She knew that her new acquaintance was is no state to endure yet another round of torture. Quickly, she made a decision.
"You are a coward, Saruman. A filthy, gutless traitor." Lómiel uttered these words as firmly and calmly as she could, hoping that Saruman would not be able to tell just how scared she was.
"Shut up, little one. It's not your turn tonight." The wizard sounded angry already. Very well.
"Come here and make me shut up if you dare to."
"Get this one instead. We can take the other one tomorrow.", Saruman gave the order to his orcs who quickly followed the commands and entered Lómiel's cell. The elleth struggled against the orcs that grabbed her roughly because she wanted to ensure that Saruman would not change his mind. However, it was useless for she clearly was outnumbered and her injuries still had not healed very well due to her captivity. Saruman's servants dragged her through the hallways until they stood in front of a huge black door. The wizard himself opened it with a swift movement of his staff.

Lómiel could hardly see anything besides a huge stone block before she was pushed inside.
"Prepare her!" Saruman all but snarled at the orcs who did not hesitate to obey.
The fair elleth soon found herself tied to the cold stone table with heavy chains. An all too familiar pain rushed through her body when Saruman's whip hit her old wounds once again. Despite those brutal actions, the elf did not let a single noise escape her lips. Lómiel clenched her jaw as the lash kissed the broken skin on her back again and again. She could feel warm blood trickle down the small of her back, but she still kept her lips shut tightly.
When the whipping finally stopped, she did not dare to feel relieved, as she was certain that Saruman was not going to give up this easily. And she was right.

Even though she could not see him, Lómiel practically heard the wizard's evil grin as he said: "This was just the foreplay, little elleth. Unless you are not willing to tell me what I want to hear, you will feel real pain very soon...hmm, you seem to remain stubborn. In that case...". He turned to the orcs again: "this one needs a brand and I will do it."

A moment later, Saruman stood in front of her. He held a piece of metal with a long handle. Its end was formed like the "S" Saruman left everywhere. "Don't you think this will look beautiful on your fair skin, my sweet one?" Lómiel jerked back as he began to stroke her face and tucked some strands of her former golden hair behind her ears. Saruman chuckled and swiftly left her field of vision.

Suddenly, Lómiel felt a burning heat right above the small of her back. It got worse with every second and then...the hot metal hit her skin. This time she could not help but cry out in agony. The whipping had felt like sweet caresses compared to this explosion of pain all over her lower back. The elleth started to trash in her chains but the pain would not lessen, let alone stop.
After what felt like an eternity, a merciful unconsciousness welcomed the broken elleth.
The last thought she had was her minds desperate command to not let Legolas feel any of her pain.

I know there wasn't much Legolas in this chapter either...he'll be back soon, I promise ;)
Also sorry for all the violence!
I'll try to update sooner next time but I'm quite busy doing pre-exams at school and stuff so yeah no promises.

Thanks for reading! I would really appreciate a review - even if it's just a short one ;)

xxx