Author's note: A little note on Thranduil's absence, he has already departed for the undying lands many years before this occurrence and has left Legolas and Lasneth in charge, though neither wanted the throne. The ruling of Eryn Lasgalen is mostly left up to Legolas, and if Legolas is not there, then Lasneth reluctantly will take charge. Also, just for a time reference, at the very least, 25 years have passed by since the end of this story's prequel, "By Blood and Bond". Again to those who found the last chapter out of character for most, have faith in the story and the characters themselves. All is not what it seems. Read and Enjoy!

-Kersi-

Chapter 6: Word Travels Fast Between Kingdoms

He walked into his chamber room reluctantly, closing the door behind him, sitting down and just placing his head in his hands. His head felt like it was going to explode as he kept hearing Legolas's voice yell out that he had made a grave mistake. He knew that he had made a grave mistake, but it was not his choice. He rubbed his eyes slowly to try and ease the pain.

"You have done well." Said a malicious voice. It appeared from the shadows, it had been waiting for Eomer.

Eomer did not bother to look up. "I know Aragorn; he will soon be here in request for Princess Aurel."

The voice came nearer to him. "But he let her go so easily, surely he will assume that she is being taken care of here in Rohan." The voice that spoke almost seemed to slither around Eomer like a snake.

Eomer shook his head. "He let her go because she agreed to be taken; otherwise there would have been bloodshed. My guard has told me so. Aragorn will come for her, I know him, he is most likely already on his way here, and the Elves will not give up their prince so easily."

"Your voice is filled with doubt and fear. This is not good, have you been compromised Eomer? Are you going back on your word? You know what consequences that leads to."

"You have reminded me only too often, I have not gone back on my word."

"For the sake of your wife and son, I hope that you have not."

Eomer looked to see where the voice was coming from; he wanted to harm it. At hearing mention of his wife and son he was painfully reminded of what was happening, and what was at stake, he could not bear to think of them in harm's way.

"I do not think you need worry if the King of Gondor arrives at your doors, and as far as the Elves are concerned; they have no king, no leader, they will have no choice but to give up their youngest prince to us, or suffer the young royal couple will."

Eomer shook his head. "You are too quick to make judgements and you underestimate your enemy's skills. The Elves may have no leader, but they will not give their youngest prince to Rohan, especially now, after what you have made me do! What trust could they possibly have in us?"

"I have not made you do anything Eomer; it was all your choice."

"My choice?! Between the lives of my wife and son and the lives of my friends?! That is no choice!"

"Everything is a choice Eomer, whether you like it or not."

"And what is your choice? You realize that you not only aim to destroy the kingdom of Eryn Lasgalen, of whom I have endangered the life to the heir of the throne…but also the kingdom of Rohan, you would destroy your own home for a revenge that is understood only by you? Gondor is allied to Eryn Lasgalen, do you realize the effects you have put into place?"

The voice took pleasure in Eomer's frustration and woe, "And Rohan is allied to Gondor, what is your point? That there will be war and that people will suffer?" The voice seemed to mock him. "I believe it is you who is underestimating. Gondor will do nothing as long as we hold Aurel. Eryn Lasgalen will do anything we ask as long as we hold Aurel. As long as we have her, we have everything. You forget that Rohan is not my home Eomer, I could care less if it burns down to the very earth from whence it came." The voice began to go away from him, "And may I commend you on a fine performance King Eomer, you almost convinced me of your cruelty." The voice left closing the door behind it.

Eomer stood wanting to chase after the voice, but it was of no use, what was done was done; he only hoped that his most loyal guard had done his bidding for there was nothing else that Eomer could do but wait.

When Legolas was first put into his dark cell, he struggled with the complete helplessness of the situation. He thought of many ways that he could kill the guards before him, but then there would be no escape. Where could he ever possibly escape safely with such a heavily pregnant wife without risking her health? All he wanted to do was be with her, to make sure that she was being taken care of. The child would arrive in less than three months and he was distraught at the thought of not being there, or worse, of the child being born in such a turbulent and dark place. He rid his mind of those thoughts for it only made him angrier. At the sound of the door to his cell opening he placed himself against the wall, and one lone guard entered. It was not a guard he had seen before; by the markings on his face he could tell that this guard was one of the elite of what used to be Eomer's Royal guards. His face was sullen and a rough beard covered most of it, while rough armour covered the rest of his body. Legolas stared at this guard's eyes; there was something strange about them.

"I am to give you a message." Said the guard slowly, he approached him suddenly and hit him across the face.

The hit had not surprised Legolas, in fact, he could have stepped out of the way, such was the predictability of the guard in front of him, but he took the hit anyway. Legolas took the opportunity to tackle the guard soon after and shoved him against the wall, commotion could be heard from the outside.

"I could kill you!" muttered Legolas under his breath.

The guard's eyes looked frantic, "There is not much time, the king is compromised, he has sent for help but you must be patient." Whispered the guard.

Legolas loosened his hold of the guard. "Why should I believe you?"

"What other choice do you have?" Footsteps could be heard coming near the door. "Let me go before the others arrive."

Legolas reluctantly let him go and backed away, just as the door to his cell opened again. Two guards walked in, and one spoke, "What's going on in here?"

"Just delivering a message from King Eomer." Said the Loyal Guard.

The other two guards stood there for a while staring at both of them before departing and as the loyal guard left he looked back at Legolas and Legolas looked at him and although Legolas was reluctant to believe him something in the look of the guard's eyes told him he was telling the truth.

Legolas thought for a while about what the guard meant by Eomer being compromised. How? And by what or whom? And most importantly why? How did Aurel and himself have anything to do with the situation, was it Ene? Had she set the whole thing up? Was this all part of a plan she had in mind since the very beginning? He thought back to when Ene and Ethaen were still young, how difficult it was to get them to reveal any details of their parents. Legolas would accept their reluctance to say anything, thinking it was too painful for them, he would know. He refused to believe that a child would be behind everything; after all, Ene was not always the way she was now. He also refused to believe that Ethaen would ever say anything against the place where he was raised. Ethaen had always been so loving and affectionate, the opposite of his sister as time went on, why would Ethaen ever agree to anything vile that Ene would say, was Ethaen compromised as well? There were so many thoughts on Legolas's mind that it was exhausting. Then Legolas remembered something about Ethaen that had almost escaped his memories…Ethaen never spoke a work to Legolas or Aurel until he was nearly in his teens. Anything Ethaen needed would only ever be communicated through Ene, who always seemed to know what he wanted or needed, how curious that Legolas had almost forgotten about that. Obviously Ethaen knew how to speak, he understood everything that was said to him, and when he did begin speaking to them he had full grasp of both the common tongue and Sindarin. Ene never learned how to speak Sindarin, despite the many lessons that were given to her; she was intelligent but refused to learn. Legolas began to feel a blackness come over him, as if suddenly he understood everything that had been happening over the years in Eryn Lasgalen, he felt like he was on the brink of discovering what was really happening around him, but then another call from his child broke him from his thoughts, this time it was not a call of despair, but a call to let him know that he and his mother were well. A psychic link like this between he and his child would not have been possible if Aurel was not awake, she understood how important that single act was to Legolas, to be able to know things were well, despite being separated. He closed his eyes and smiled as he sent his wife and child a reassuring embrace of the love he held for them.

"What are you doing?" asked Eowyn as she watched Aurel smiling with her eyes closed.

"Sending a message." Said Aurel as she placed one hand over where the child was and rubbed that place back and forth.

"Is the child alright?" asked Eowyn, curiously.

Aurel opened her eyes, "Yes, of course."

Eowyn cocked her head to the side, "I do not understand fully the bond between mother and child where Elves are concerned."

"It is the same bond that human mothers and their children have." She replied simply.

Eowyn furrowed her eyebrows. "Except you can speak to your child while it is still in the womb."

"I cannot speak to it in the way you understand me too, I…can feel its emotions, and it can feel mine, and Legolas's."

"And Legolas's?"

"Yes of course, a child needs a bond with its father." Once the words had escaped her mouth, she frowned.

"Then it is very different between humans and elves."

Aurel looked at Eowyn. "Eowyn, what do you do here? How is it that you came to be here at the same time I was brought here?"

Eowyn began to ring some of the pieces of cloth she had dipped in cool water. "I told you, I heard news that you were being brought here."

"So quickly?"

Eowyn came over to her and placed the pieces of cool cloth on her forehead. "Word travels fast between kingdoms."

Aurel noted that Eowyn's tone of voice had changed slightly as she said the phrase, as if she was somehow suppose to be understanding or getting a different meaning from what Eowyn had said. Before Aurel could ask any more questions Eowyn went back to ring some more of the strips of cloths she had laid out. "There is something other than the obvious happening in Rohan, isn't there?" asked Aurel, but Eowyn said nothing and continued to ring the rags. For a while all Aurel heard was the sound of water dripping into a large bowl, she was still tired and weary from the past day's happenings. She watched as Eowyn would walk back and forth tending to her every need not saying a word and avoiding eye contact. How fortunate that Eowyn was there at all, had she not been, she would have been thrown back in a cell…Aurel thought a bit more…yes… it was very fortunate indeed.

Back in Eryn Lasgalen, Lasneth and Legolas's trusted advisors were frantic. Some of the guards that had travelled with Legolas had just returned from Rohan with the ridiculous demands from Eomer-King.

Lasneth tried to quiet everyone down but it was no use, they were all bickering with one another about what was to be done next, and not paying attention to the grave situation at hand. Rohan had the Royal Couple and the future heir and wanted Lasneth in exchange for their safety, it just did not make sense that the King would make such a forward and rash move, there were protocols to be taken and Eomer-King and Eryn Lasgalen had never had any quarrels with one another even before the War of the Ring. Lasneth left all the bickering and went outside of the hall to take a breath of fresh air. What was he going to do? All moves by Rohan indicated a bold foolishness which risked war, Rohan knew whose its alliances were, those would all be broken by these demands. Lasneth just could not understand the peculiarity of the situation before him. The guards that had come back from Rohan had mentioned the charges that were being put before Lasneth and why he was wanted in Rohan, which only convinced Legolas's advisors that in no way would there be an exchange between one royal member and the other. Handing over Lasneth would only admit guilt over a crime he had not committed, but the lives of his brother, his brother's wife, and his brother's unborn child were at stake. He almost did not want to deal with the situation, and thought of how much better Legolas would be at taking control of the situation, Legolas certainly would have never walked out of the hall, he would have made everyone listen to him.

"My lord." said a guard. It was one of the guards who had just returned from Rohan, he was a close friend of Legolas's.

"Yes Dawcuru?" replied Lasneth.

"I have been waiting to catch you on your own." He handed a piece of rolled parchment to Lasneth. "When I was about to leave Rohan, a wayward guard of Eomer's told me to hand this message to you and you only, that you would know what to do."

Lasneth looked at the rolled piece of parchment now in his hands. He looked at Dawcuru next, "How many guards stayed in Rohan?"

"Two, my lord." Replied Dawcuru.

"Why did you not stay?"

"To bring more soldiers back with me to Rohan…we are going to go back are we not?"

Lasneth said nothing, and that silence indicated that Dawcuru should leave him alone. Why was Lasneth so alarmed by the parchment in his hand? He was almost afraid to open it and read its contents. As he unrolled and read it, he began to partly understand what was happening in Rohan and why Eomer had acted so rashly, but it left a great many other things unexplained. The note was written in a very old and mostly dead Rohirrim dialect; luckily Lasneth had lived a long many years.

Among other things it read:

"…Lothiriel and Elfwine are being used to sway Eomer into doing evil's bidding, beware; all is not what it seems…

…Word travels fast between kingdoms, those who were once paupers now pretend to be kings…"

His decision on what to do next had now become more complicated, was he to believe what he had just read?