A/N: Though no one has mentioned this, I felt the need to explain Gollum's appearance earlier in the story. Of course, according to Tolkien's timeline, Gollum is not brought to Mirkwood until the beginning of year 3017, or around that time. I did want to mention that as a part of my story I have tweaked this a bit; I felt the need to mention this because so far I have tried my best to keep with the real timeline of The Lord of the Rings, and since this bit is not quite canon, I thought I'd address it before anyone notices and asks about it. Carry on.
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For hours I was stuck pacing the foyer, awaiting Legolas and Aragorn. The sun had faded in the West and only the light from lanterns allowed me to see my own shuffling feet. Finally, I had grown so weary of pacing and worrying that I sat down very unlady-like on the carpet, crossing my legs and scowling. Why was this impromptu meeting taking so long?
"This way," a familiar voice whispered from somewhere behind a veil. I opened my eyes slowly, realizing my cheek was pressed firmly against the carpet and my back was disagreeing with me. I stretched and yawned, pushing myself up forcefully and following the voice and the quiet footsteps out of the doors and into the night air.
"Planning on giving me the slip?" I asked rather loudly. The two silhouettes in front of me stopped in their tracks and turned, one of them giving me a rather haunted smile and the other a rather tentative one.
"Of course not," Aragorn answered, clearing his throat. "You just looked so peaceful asleep on the ground." I rolled my eyes and walked up beside them.
"So where are we going?" Legolas glanced at Aragorn uncertainly, and Aragorn shrugged. I raised a skilled eyebrow. "The only thing this way is the dungeons," I said matter-of-factly, pointing out the stone staircase slightly to our left, leading down. "And the only thing in the dungeons is Gollum."
"Right," Aragorn answered almost smugly. "We need to find out now exactly how much Gollum told Sauron."
"Now?" I wondered aloud. "At this time of night?"
"Better he scream when no one can hear him," Legolas remarked. I had to give him that, though I was positive that Gollum's screams could awake some sleeping Elves that would not mind exacting revenge on him, no matter how much we needed him.
"Anything you hear you must keep to yourself," Aragorn added as we hurried down the stairs. "This is a very serious matter, Laina, and we do not want to worry anyone."
"Worry anyone?" I asked incredulously. "Orcs tear through our wood every day and you expect no one to be worried? Everyone has their suspicions, and most of them include the Dark Lord. Elves of Mirkwood are not dimwitted, Aragorn," I scolded.
"Of course not," Aragorn agreed. "But still, it is best if you kept this secret. What they don't know can't hurt them."
"Except in this case, that doesn't really make sense, does it?" I asked as we hit the bottom of the stairs and reached the iron gate on the side of the castle. Aragorn shrugged again, obviously aware that they could certainly still be hurt by what they knew nothing of.
Legolas opened his hand, revealing a brass key. He stuck it into the keyhole, turning it expectantly until a clink told us the gate had been unlocked. Legolas pushed it open carefully, but the gate did not bend to our wills and instead of opening silently, it screeched.
A wailing noise began from inside the dungeons, a high-pitched scream that could have been heard in Mordor and beyond. I grimaced, hurriedly placing both hands over my sensitive ears. The screaming continued for some time, until finally it slowly died down and Aragorn, Legolas, and I were able to move again, like we had just regained conscious thoughts.
"Well at least we know he hasn't escaped," I joked. Legolas and Aragorn both gave me sharp glares before turning their heads back in the direction of Gollum's cell. Aragorn picked a lantern off the wall, holding it out in front of him. We reached the end of a long hallway, and Aragorn thrust the lantern to the left, casting searing light over the last dungeon. Another groaning wail soared through the air.
"Gollum!" Aragorn insisted, slightly threatening. Gollum did not stop wailing. We stood there, listening to him wail for quite some time before Legolas grabbed the bars that kept Gollum in his dungeon and shook them out of frustration. The wailing stopped. "Gollum?" Aragorn asked tentatively. A hiss greeted our ears.
"What'sss it want, precious? What'sss it want?"
"Come into the light," Aragorn suggested soothingly. I noticed a shadow pressed against the stone wall at the back of the cell, lamplike eyes glowing in the dark. A shuffled footstep and Gollum appeared under the light. He was as I remembered him, bones with discolored skin stretched over them, a tuft of black hair growing from his large head, his teeth rotten and missing. My breath caught in my throat.
"They must tell us what they wants, precious, yes," Gollum replied more to himself than us.
"When Sauron captured you, what did you tell him of the Ring?" Aragorn demanded. Gollum's eyes shifted from Aragorn to me to Legolas uncertainly. He breathed so hard I could have heard him from across Arda. For a moment he looked as if he would start screaming again, but he must have thought better of it and he slumped over, scratching his head.
"Must not ask us questions, precious, must not…gollum, gollum." I thought he might cough up a hairball, but he merely scratched away at his head before placing both hands on the floor and muttering to himself.
"We need to know what you told him," Aragorn repeated, "if you tell us, we may set you free." I raised one quizzical eyebrow at Aragorn before turning back to Gollum. I did not prefer lying to this creature who had obviously had a rough time over the last few hundred years, but I guessed the fate of Middle-earth might rely on Gollum's answer, so I said nothing.
"We did not tell him anything, did we, precious?" Gollum answered, scuttling around a bit.
"We need to know, Gollum," Legolas piped up. Gollum jerked his eyes from the floor to Legolas, mumbling something about being hurt. "We know they hurt you, Gollum, but we don't intend to do so. It would be best, though, for you, if you told us exactly what you told the Dark Lord." Legolas' voice was soothing despite the deep anger that resided behind his eyes. I could even see it in the dark.
"We said only two wordsss, yes, two wordsss…"
"What were they?" Aragorn asked quickly.
"What were the two words, precious? They wants to know what words we said, yes, they wants to know…but why do they wants to know, precious?" Gollum continued, as always talking to himself rather than anyone present. Legolas and Aragorn did not answer his questions, but stared at him, clearly waiting for the answer they knew was coming. "We said, we said two words…we said…" He mumbled for what felt like ages when he finally stopped in mid-sentence, jerking his head toward us again and widening his eyes. A malicious grin spread over his bony face, and he cackled before whispering menacingly, "Shire…Baggins."
Aragorn gasped, dropping the lantern and causing Gollum to begin laughing even louder, almost maniacally. The lantern immediately blazed brighter and then diminished among the shards of glass that lay beneath our feet. My Elf eyes were still able to see the look on Legolas and Aragorn's faces, and neither of them looked very pleased. I had no idea what "Shire" or "Baggins" meant, but I could tell the two words together in the hands of Sauron was not a comforting thought.