A/N: I just wanted to thank you all for the wonderful reviews, and for the C2 add!
I also wanted to apologize for two things. The first: Sorry for taking so long to update; I was going to do it early this week, but FF acted up on me, and this is the only other day that I've been able to access the computer...
Also, the short chapters...I promise that I'm going to work in getting them longer sighs it's just that I'm so busy these days, anyways, if you guys are still interested, here's chapter five. :)
Jedi Knight247
ROGUE
Chapter Five: Taken
Legolas awakened in the middle of the night with a start. In his 'sleep', he had heard the rustling of branches; the reason why he was alerted by this was because it was not a windy night at all.
He sat up and looked all around trying to sense that was the source of the noise. He figured that it might be a wild animal—or worse, a giant spider. Sadly, it seemed that the things weren't so uncommon in the wood that these elves called their home. He gathered up his bow and quiver of arrows, easily slipping them on his back.
Much to his advantage, his fire had now burnt low, making it a bit harder for him to be sighted.
He stopped his musings as he heard the sound again. Now he saw that it was coming from a large bush directly opposite of him. He wasn't sure if he should draw his two long knives instead, but he figured that his trusty bow and quiver of arrows had gotten him far enough in life, and a spider would be no match for them.
The rustling stopped again, leaving Legolas more puzzled than alert. His blue eyes scanned the darkness. "Come out, whoever you are," he called into the darkness. "If your intentions are not evil, you will be welcome to rest and a meal within this goodly realm."
There came laughter that made the Prince's heart skip a beat. He was now anxious. "Who are you?" he called. "Come out, I order you."
As soon as the words left his mouth, he saw the tips of at least a score of arrows pointed his way. He was surrounded, this much he knew.
He noticed the silhouette of a woman as she stepped out from the shadows and made her way towards him. She was not Elven, he noticed, but simply a woman.
She stopped some ten feet away from him.
"Who are you?" he asked, though he took care to keep his bow lowered, so that he would not have a score or more of arrows raining down on him.
She was adorned in black, though it was too dark to make out the specifics of her attire, and her light brown hair hung far past her shoulders. As she surveyed him a smirk crossed her face. She gave a slight nod, one that Legolas hardly noticed—until he was seized from behind and his hands were bound behind him. No matter how he struggled to prevent this from being done, it seemed that the men behind him were stronger.
"See to it that he is not badly harmed," The woman said.
"Who are you?" Legolas asked.
"You will discover that soon enough," she said, not bothering to hide her smirk.
Legolas could only watch as his weapons were seized and he also saw elves in this band of attackers, but he could do nothing as they took his prized weapons for themselves.
The same strong men, who bound the Prince, held him in place as the woman approached him and noticed the golden chain dangling from his neck; she reached out her hand to get it but he struggled against his captors, preventing her from doing so.
He wasn't so successful the second time, for she was able to nimbly yank the thing off of his neck. She popped it open and examined the portrait within.
Satisfied, she put it back around the Prince's neck, covering the red line that she had created by yanking it off roughly.
She gave a nod to the men and they began to follow her further into the forest, but before they moved too much further, he was blindfolded and gagged, lest he should cry out. Legolas did not have the slightest idea where they were leading him. It seemed now that since he was without eyesight, he felt and heard everything a little more acutely. He did not enjoy this 'advantage' when they walked through an area thickly populated with trees, for the branches seemed to scratch him with every step that he took, and his captors did not seem to care in the least.
Eventually, they stopped, and Legolas was forced against a tree. His gag was removed, but his blindfold remained; he could hear a few muffled voices in the distance, but could not decipher what they were saying. To his limited knowledge, he was unattended—giving him a perfect opportunity to try and rub the rope off of his wrists.
He listened carefully, trying to see if he could hear anyone around him; apparently the coast was clear. Despite this, he still tried to do it inconspicuously.
Much to his pain, he knew that he was rubbing off more skin than rope on the tree, but he did not give up. And his efforts began to pay off, for he could begin to feel the rope give way…until he received a blow in the stomach; the Prince doubled over with a groan. He felt a foot hold him in place as a manly voice spoke.
"You are not to be harmed but that may be a hard order to obey."
Legolas, now facedown on the muddy ground, couldn't have responded if he wanted to.
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King Thranduil paced his private quarters anxiously; he refused to allow anyone entrance, not even the servants. As he paced, he bit his fingers nervously, a habit that he had not reverberated back to in centuries. Yet here he was this night, a nervous wreck.
He was nervous because he knew that Legolas was out in the wild where danger would no doubt find him. But one heart-wrenching thought kept on coming back to haunt him in his mind:
Why had he let him go?
Why indeed? Thranduil, much to his shame, believed that he had let his fear stop him from truly doing all that he could to keep Legolas safe…fear that the dreadful secret would be exposed. He himself had found it terrible, and he knew that Legolas would hate him forever for it.
Well better that he learns it and dies, than if I had told him and he would hate me for the rest of his no doubt long life.
"No!" Thranduil screamed, putting his hands to his ear as if that would block out his own thoughts. "It is not worth him dying!" he shouted to himself, no doubt sound like a madman.
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One servant heard him as she passed by his double doors. Avariel, the young Elven maiden could hardly believe what her ears were hearing. The King was usually so composed and collected, but here he was, apparently talking to himself!
Avariel had heard that Prince Legolas had left the palace on very short notice. Rumors were quietly spreading, but she didn't believe any of them. She wanted to hear it straight from Legolas, her love…
Perhaps, the love was one sided. Well, she eventually conceded that it was even less than that, for the Prince hardly knew that she existed, she doubted that he even knew her name, and all the while she was playing the part of the fool, her eyes glazing over dreamily whenever she was within looking distance of him. The servants teased her, no doubt, but it was something that she could not help, and it was a dream that she somehow held into, even though she had been told time and time again that it would never happen.
She was a servant girl after all.
Avariel had somewhat come to accept that a true relationship with the Prince could never be, but fantasies never hurt anyone—right?
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Estel knew that Fingolfin was probably far ahead of him, but the man still held on to hope that he might reach Rivendell before the Prince…somehow. He had to speak with Arwen, he had to tell her how he truly felt, and he had to tell her not only that he loved her, but how much he loved her.
He knew that Elrond would not approve, and probably never would, but he had to tell her the truth.
She had to know that he wanted her to be his as long as he lived.