Disclaimer: I own a paperback copy of The Lord of the Ring

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8. One of Them

Someone was wiping his face with a wet cloth. He was confused; where was he? The painful throb at the back of his head soon reminded him what had happened. He shuddered remembering the terror as the falcon dug its claws into his flesh… Reality had to be faced and Legolas opened his eyes slowly, hardly wanting to know what he was about to see.

He found a pair of brown eyes staring curiously back at him. A girl was kneeling beside him with a cloth clutched in her hand. Legolas struggled to sit up as she watched him. She lifted her hand and he drew back sharply expecting a blow. He gasped at the searing pain which spread throughout his body. The girl hesitated, and let her hand fall to her side. She half-smiled as she dropped the cloth into a basin of water. "You shouldn't move that fast you know," she remarked, as she wrung the rag. "You've just 'ad a nasty knock on your 'ead." She motioned at him to lie down.

Legolas looked at her carefully, but did not move. The girl looked older than him, though younger than Leila. She did not even remotely resemble his sister, he thought critically. Her mousy-brown hair was pulled back, giving her thin and freckled face a pinched look. She did not look or sound menacing, but the elf knew now that trust was something to be given sparingly, especially to men and their kind.

She frowned and crossed her arms "When you've done looking at me…" she said sharply. He started at the angry tone in her voice. Legolas could feel the easy tears welling up in his eyes, and tried to wipe them without her noticing.

The girl sighed and her face softened slightly. "Oh go on," she said, "You can stare all you like. You're only a baby after all."

That stung. Legolas blushed as he bit his lip. "I'm not!" he said indignantly as he wiped his face furiously. She laughed, a sound which jarred with the shabbiness of their surroundings.

"So you can talk after all," she said. "What's your name?"

Before Legolas could reply, the wooden door burst open and one of Esguon's henchmen entered. His eyes fell on the girl. "You," he spat at her, "Out of the way." The girl moved back sullenly as she glared at the man. He walked to Legolas and pulled him onto his feet and dragged him out.

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"So," Agaskill said loudly, "I finally have before me the creature who caused so much trouble to my men, who think they are such good warriors." To this there was much shuffling of feet and low murmuring from those who had taken part in the hunt. Legolas looked at Agaskill. He was mesmerized by his eyes, which shone imperiously, bright as jewels in the wrinkled and flabby face. They revealed that this was no man to trifle with. The elf was somehow reminded of his father; they both had the same look in their eyes. Yet, Agaskill's gaze had none of the gentleness that Thranduil's never lacked.

"But we only took a day to find it father…" interjected a red-faced Esguon.

Agaskill turned on him angrily. "Only a day? Only? No wonder the men took so long if they had a leader who takes this view." He lowered his voice. "It merely shows incompetence from the one who lead the hunt my son, does it not?" he asked silkily. Esguon, who had been the one who lead the hunt and on whose orders they had acted, scowled angrily.

"But…"

"Enough." Agaskill motioned him to be silent. "When I want my subordinates to argue, I will tell you." His son bowed stiffly in acquiescence, but anyone who was near could see that he was furious at being slighted in this manner in front of all the men.

Legolas turned his eyes towards Esguon. Their eyes met, and Legolas was startled by the look of pure hatred which was directed at him. The elf dropped his gaze; he was not used to having so much hostility directed towards him. Legolas felt instinctively that it would be well for him to keep out of this man's way as much as possible. He watched Esguon leave the hall and wondered wearily what would come next. He was tired and his head and shoulder were throbbing. Legolas realised Agaskill was speaking to him, and he looked up.

"You have led my men into a dance, elf," Agaskill was saying. "And it's not easy to do, even though they had no good leader. I can see that we may have got a better bargain than what we expected." He paused, looking at the small bedraggled figure in front of him. Perhaps, for one of the few times in his life, Esguon had brought him a useful gift. Throughout the years, Agaskill had heard much about elves and their worth. It was no mean thing to own one of the creatures. "I think I need a new servant. What's your name elf?"

"It… It's Legolas." The elfling faltered. "But I don't want to be a servant, I want to go home." The men burst out laughing at the sound of the childish voice pleading with their leader. The elf looked around unhappily, wondering why he was the cause of so much mirth. He lowered his eyes and could feel his cheeks burning with shame.

Agaskill rested his chin on his hand as the men's laughter subsided. It had been quite sometime since someone had dared dispute his orders. "Well elf," he said softly, "I'm afraid you'll have to be a servant from now on." He smiled grimly. "I can see you'll be quite amusing. Behave, and I'll be good to you. Try to run away and… well, I think you won't like the consequences. Do you understand?" Legolas nodded miserably as he stared at the floor. "You're one of us now," the clan leader ended quietly.

Agaskill beckoned to the man who had brought the elf in front of him. "Take him and tell the girl to clean him up; he can help her in her work until I decide what to do with him." The man bowed and pulled the elf through the hall. The leader of the clan watched them leave. He was intrigued by this child, so different from the men who surrounded him. The elf seemed to be no fool, even though he was young. Agaskill was rarely wrong when evaluating human nature – he supposed elves were not that different. Perhaps one day the child would even make a good warrior; he had already proved to be agile and well versed in avoiding his enemies …

I'll just have to wait and see, he thought grimly to himself.

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I've been computer-less for quite a long time unfortunately… sigh. Then I went on holiday to England too, (just come back actually… it's a great place!) so have been neglecting my poor story for some time… by the way, the dropping of the 'h' in the girl's speech was done on purpose :)

Thank you for all your reviews! (If I've left someone out – sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry!!!! But thanks for commenting!!)

Lintered & Hiei-Rulez: Thank you! Hope that you liked this chapter too!

Chelle86: I don't usually say what's going to happen, but as this won't give anything away – yes they'll make an appearance in next chapter probably.

Irish Anor: Evil cliffie?? What's that?grin

Gil-neth: Thank you for your comments; I hope this chapter answers most of your questions. I guess I know what you mean about my use of the word 'human'... the reason why I used this word is really to vary from the continual use of 'man'. I'll keep your comment in mind though. Thanks a lot! :-)