A/N: I want to apologize for taking so long to update; so many personal things came up that I was forced to postpone it. But alas, here is another chapter, and I plan to pop out manymore until this fic is finished. I also want to thank you all for your reviews; they're all great.
Speaking of, I believe someone wanted to know the timeline: I believe that in the first chapter I state that this is before the war of the ring.
Anyway, to the story : )
Jedi Knight247
ROGUE
Chapter Nine: Return to Rivendell
When Avariel had knocked on one of the King's doors to bring him his breakfast, and had not even received so much as a vocal answer, she became worried; after conversing with another fellow concerned servant, they decided that it would be best if they used the emergency key to check on their King, for he would normally at least speak to them from behind the door.
When the servant returned with the key, Avariel shakily opened the door. To their shock and ultimate horror, the king lay on the ground, unmoving and pale. Avariel rushed to his immediate aid, while the other servant went to get a healer.
An unspoken question rang in the Elven maiden's mind. "What could have caused this to happen to King Thranduil?" only to be answered almost immediately.
Legolas.
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Meanwhile, Estel had finally reached Rivendell, and he knew that he had been beaten there by the haughty Prince Fingolfin.
Despite this, he was escorted into the Last Homely House by an Elven servant and was happily welcomed by King Elrond. After his welcome, Estel left to take a walk and be alone as he dwelt on what he would say to Arwen when the time finally came to speak with her alone.
His thoughts were interrupted by a familiar voice.
"I should have known that I would find you out here, Estel."
The man turned around and found himself face to face with Elladan, one of Elrond's sons.
Estel didn't respond to the remark, he simply slowed down, allowing the elf to catch up with him.
"What clouds your mind today, my friend?" Elladan asked, genuinely concerned.
Estel stopped walking. "'Tis nothing; I am fine. How has it been in Rivendell?"
"Well enough," Elladan admitted, "though someone here missed you."
Estel's gray eyes somewhat lit up; he knew that it was likely wishful thinking, but could Elladan be talking about Arwen?
"She missed me?" he asked before he could even stop himself.
Elladan nodded. "She could hardly sleep and would not eat very much either. The next time you decide to go away, you should bring her with you."
Was it true? Did Arwen truly have feelings for him? Was she as love struck as he?
Was she truly lovesick when he was gone?
Estel swallowed hard. "Where is she?"
"She should be near the stables; I thought that you had seen her already."
The man ran a hand through his black hair. "I was thinking about trying to find her, but…"
Elladan patted Estel on the shoulder. "You should go to her; perhaps she will lift that dark cloud off of you."
Estel could hardly believe what he was hearing; the Ranger was almost tempted to pinch himself. "Has she spoken to you about this?" he asked.
Elladan snorted. "I tried speaking to her, but she only wanted to see you; therefore, she was quite unfriendly, barking whenever I came near."
Estel's eyes widened. "Barking?"
Elladan nodded. "I suppose she is a dog, after all…" he cut himself off once he saw Estel's face. he caught the look of embarrassment and disappointment. Did Estel think that he was talking about someone else, and not his dog Merwen?
By the time he cut himself off, Estel was already turning a shade of red--even redder under Elladan's scrutinizing gaze. The ranger ran a hand through his dark hair. "Yes, dogs do bark," he said, trying to soind casual, "she is usually so well behaved; I hope that it wasn't too much of an inconvenience."
"No," said Elladan, thinking that he finally understood who Estel thought he was talking about. "It was not."
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Aril nodded. "Sauron indeed. Fortunately for myself, I have not met him face to face, and I fear the day that it will happen."
Legolas, still in shock, allowed the other blond elf to ramble on.
"Not many in this little band know this, but I hate him--I hate him so much that I wish him dead and curse him every day. He is the scourge of Midde-earth, the shadow that darkens our lands..."
Legolas was glad that there was someone like-minded among the rogues, but he sensed that there weren't many like Aril, or of there were, they would probably be much to frightened to voice their beliefs. "How did your father come into Sauron's service?" he asked.
Aril's face somewhat contorted to a frown, and then he shifted from one foot to the other. "It is a very long story, one that I cannot tell you right now."
Legolas frowned. "You can trust me when I tell you that I have time to spare."
The pther elf shook his head, and Legolas noted that his eyes scanned the rest of the camp, probably just for safety. "But I don't; I am very sorry, for I know that you have many questions, but I am not the one to answer them for you."
At that moment, something sank in the pit of Legolas's stomach. Just when he thought that this elf would tell him why he was here and more about Xiomar, this mysterious elf, he just cut off. Was it fear? Or was it simply alleigance to his father? Whichever one it was, Legolas could not decipher; he only wanted some light shed on his current situation.
Just as Aril was about to say something, Legolas cut him off on purpose and spoke somewhat sharply. "If you will not answer that question, you can at least tell me if this band of rogues normally takes prisoners at random."
Aril seemed to ponder on that for a moment, as if he didn't want something to slip out by accident. "They--we do what we must," he finally said, looking Legolas right in the eye.
There was something familiar about Aril--particularly his eyes, that Legolas could not quite place. He felt as though he had seen this elf before, yet he knew without a shadow of a doubt that he had not.
Frustrated with the answer that just seemed to beat around the bush, Legolas clenched his jaw. "Then I will do what I must," he said, and with that, he turned to leave.
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When Boromir was finally able to get enough time to find his brother, he found Faramir in his chamber, with, as the soldier of Gondor had already expected, a lengthy book in hand.
At the sound of footsteps, Faramir lookedup and wasn't at all surprised to see Boromir. "It is good to see that you finally managed to tear yourself away from Lady Gwendolyn so that you could come and see me," Faramir said, trying to hide a teasing smile.
A look of annoyance instantly crossed Boromir's face, but he tried to brush off the comment as a joke. Faramir alone only knew how much Boromir did not want to marry Lady Gwendolyn of Cair Andros.
It had nothing to do with the way she looked, for she was by no means ugly, it was for two reasons: the first being that she was notorious in Cair Andros for not only her temper, but unruliness, and that was not all: she had been previously to a lord whom she did not care for, and he was found dead no sooner than one week after their wedding; the casue was unknown, but it was also highly rumored that she had poisoned him.
Boromir did not want her for a bride, but Denethor had other plans. They were to be married before the year was out and the final touchings to the wedding were already being put into place.
Faramir relaxed in his chair. "Is there some reason for why you wanted to see me?" he asked.
Boromir nodded. "Father wants to see you; he was going to send a servant to fetch you, but I of all people know where to find you," he added with a grin.
Faramir stood up. "Did he say why?"
"I believe that it has something to do with the Lady Eowyn," Boromir said. "That is about all that I know."
Faramir couldn't hide his frown as he wondered what in Arda Denethor wanted to say to him that involved Eowyn. Had he heard that they were talking alone? Did he not want Faramir to associate himself with her anymore?
These questions still flooded his mind as he made his way to his father's private apartments; it was usually a delightfully rare occurance that Denethor wanted to speak with his this privately.
But outwardly, Faramir showed no signs of inward conflict or nervousness, not even as the guards granted him entry, not even as the doors opened and he found himself face to face with Denethor.