A/N: Okie doke, sorry it's been taking so long, guys! I been looking for a job recently and then found out I'm allergic to my hair dye- after I dyed my hair. Can anyone say chemical burns? Well, nonetheless, here's another great chapter! I'm not entirely sure if I'll start the battle in this chapter or the next one. I do have to be honest, battle scenes are not my forte- at all. So if there's anyone who is good at writing them and wants to help me out with the next chapter, just send me a PM or an email. Much appreciated!

Disclaimer: Nope!

Questions!

1. OK, now, that voice inside Valodefinitely seems to be Voldemort, but if it's inside him, thenSauron/Voldemort should know where Valo is. So, does that make the voice thehorcrux, a thing disconnected from Voldemort, even though it is part of him? -A. Yes, the voice inside Valo IS disconnected from Sauron as a whole, so while he may know that he is at Meduseld, he expects him to immediately travel straight to Mordor. He does not yet know that Valo is with the Fellowship. J

Valo real, or is he more of a wraith-identity projection? -A. That's for you to find out! ;)

3. Was it Sauron who ordered Wormtongue away in Meduseld? -A. You'll find out who it was, but it wasn't Sauron. ;3

~~Chapter Seventeen~~ Lost, Found, Discovered

In the gathering dark, the will of the Ring grows strong.

Valo clung to Legolas, unable to keep back the dam of tears. Aragorn was gone…What would he say to Lady Arwen…? Aragorn was all that was keeping her faith in their mission. He was all that was keeping her here. Aragorn had protected him, even cared for him. What was he going to do now that he was gone? Who was going to rally the peoples of Middle Earth now that Isilidur's heir had fallen? Legolas eased him down from the horse, well aware of the bone deep fatigue that his magic use had forced on his beloved. Valo only hoped that he would be recovered in time for the battle to come. His whole being raged for revenge for his fallen comrade. He wanted the Orcs to pay for what he had lost. Perhaps, in his heart of hearts, a place too dark to bare analysis, he wanted his Master to suffer for his loss as well. The civilians sent up prayers of thanks and cheers for their imagined safety throughout the Keep. Valo couldn't help but to resent them for being unaffected by his loss.

~ o ~

Théoden was walking around the fortress, issuing instructions on where various fighters and archers should be placed. Valo was watching from his position on a wall above, his heart heavy. Maybe he deserved to be destroyed along with the Urukhai. He was just as much of a monster as they were. People around him had the tendency to keep dying. First Boromir and Gandalf and now…Aragorn. Would Legolas be next? He should have been walking the fort, helping to fortify the defenses but he had been "asked" by Lord Théoden to sit and recover his strength before the battle. He was very tired from his magic expenditure but something just didn't sit well with him about the King's orders. The way the man's eyes had reflected back at him when he'd given the order unnerved and concerned the teen. What was Théoden thinking? Did…Did the King know? Did he know that he was somehow involved in the attack from Mordor, in the invasion of Middle Earth? He would need all of the powers of the Valar to help him if the Man suspected him. Théoden had just lost his son and only heir to the onslaught from the Dark Lord's forces, after all. And within his reach now…was the power to destroy something that Sauron cared about. His Consort, his Key. Valokiloren. He shuddered with the thought. Surely Valor couldn't know anything? None of the Fellowship would have revealed his existence, his true purpose to the grieving King. They all knew what was at stake. Was the King under the sway of his Master once more? Was that how he knew? Was he allied with the dark? Valo watched him whispering with Legolas below, assessing the Man's disposition. Surely the man wouldn't have been driven to assist the same people who killed his son?

Théoden looked up to catch his eye and a flash of rage and hate that did not belong to Valo filled his body. The foreign feeling took him so by surprise that he could only stare in horror when he noticed that his hand was glowing a terrifying deadly green color, familiar yet terrifying words on the tip of his tongue. He smothered the magic, terror overtaking him. For a long frantic moment he did not have control of his Fight or Flight responses and his hand was already on his flying branch when he saw the King and Legolas approaching. His beloved's eyes were filled with concern and that grief that had yet to be unleashed. He pitied whatever enemy faced that maelstrom.

"Valo, are you well?" The Mirkwood Prince asked but he got no response.

Valo tried to gather himself before he looked to the King, careful not to meet his eyes this time. Théoden was staring down at him with an expression that was unreadable from his position.

"Come young wizard. We have much to discuss before this battle begins." He said, his voice calm but serious.

Something crept beneath the surface of his voice that frightened Valo. Something revealing. Against his better judgment, Valo followed them into the war room where Gimli already waited.

The soldiers of Helm's Deep reeked of despair and fear. Valo's throat clenched tight. They would not win this battle. Nonetheless, they were not in such despair that they weren't wary of his presence. Many spared him odd sideways glances as they passed with King Theoden. The chambers the man led them to were as stone as the rest of the Keep but tapestries decorated the sparse walls here. This was the chamber of a King, after all. Gimli sat smoking his pipe, his expression pensive and closed. He watched Theoden as closely as Valo himself did. He gestured for Valo to take a seat at the nearby table. Valo obeyed. Legolas did not. He stood at his beloved's side like a stone. Hard and vigilant. Emerald eyes fell in despair to the map strewn table top, wishing he could disappear like he had with Frodo what seemed like an Age ago.

"It has come to my attention…that you are not all you pretend to be, Master Valo." Theoden's voice was like a whip cracking through dry winter air, "Tell me. Why do the orcs call you lord and not their enemy?"

So he had heard the Orc's last words. Valo looked up in time to see Legolas's eyes narrow as the elf prince took a small step in front of Valo as if to shield him from the King's questionings. It was a good idea for once Theoden presented himself as a possible threat that darkness inside the small wizard began to stir. Perhaps it was not the smartest idea then when he gestured Legolas back and stood to meet the King's accusations head on, himself. He made some considerable effort to hold that wave of hate down inside him whenever he looked at Theoden. It was not his emotion, he had no reason to hate the King.

"It is true, I have a connection to the Dark Lord but I have come to assist against him in this war. Sauron was my master and I, his Consort, but…it isn't with him that my heart belongs." Valo turned to give Legolas a heart felt, heavy look at his side, "I cannot erase my past, King Theoden, in fact much of it I can't even remember, but I can fight for a better future for Men, even if I must meet my end for the war to be won. Gandalf has cleared me, if you are uneasy about my presence. Aragorn…also had confidence in me. They both believed my intentions to be pure and sincere." He said softly, his heart jerking with a deep ache at the mention of the missing Ranger.

King Theoden mulled his words over for a long few moments. His blue eyes were filled with his pensive thoughts. The Man took a step closer to the teen and the stiff Legolas. Valo felt his beloved touch a hand to his own, trying to reassure him despite his own uncertainty.

" We shall see to your intentions then, young wizard, but make no mistake. If I believe you to be a threat to my people or to this war, then I will see the problem taken care of myself." Theoden's voice was low and gave way to his dangerous thoughts.

Valo gave him a sincere nod. If he became a danger to those he loved…then he dearly hoped that Theoden would keep his word. He would rather be dead than cause his loved ones pain. The doors to the King's chamber burst open with a bang that echoed throughout the large room. In the dim dorrway, illuminated by a window in the back hallway was an apparition that he had feared he would never see again. Valo could not stop himself from running into the bedraggled, injured Ranger's arms, desperate to reassure himself that Aragorn was indeed alive and here with them. He needed to know that he hadn't suddenly fallen into a dream. The Man's arms were warm when they wrapped around him however and a small chuckled echoed deep in the chest he found himself against. Hazel-brown eyes smiled down at him filled with amusement and softness.

"I am well, Valo. Rest easy and tell me what has happened." Aragorn demanded, turning to the suddenly joyful Fellowship and the pleased though still thoughtful King.

~ o ~

Valo was helping Eowen tend to the wounded when Legolas found him once more. Aragorn was speaking to the King about the force he had seen from Isengard on his journey to the Keep. He stood nearby, watching Valo heal with that odd power he had. He was healing a woman who scurried away from him as soon as he had cured her injury. Legolas frowned. Valo was only trying to do some good in the world, for these people. And yet he was rejected at every turn by those he tried to protect. A man jerked away from the small teen's touch with a venomous hiss of fear and anger. He yelled that he would rather suffer than take help from any "Morgul scum", loud enough for everyone in the vicinity to hear. The man rushed off elsewhere as Legolas stepped forward to make sure that Valo was alright. His little love excused himself from the whispers and the looks of the people of Rohan. He walked away with Legolas trailing frustrated behind him.

"How can you stay so kind and courteous to them when they treat you so cruelly?" The Mirkwood prince asked once they were as alone as they could get in the full fortress.

Valo sighed, stopping his walk to look back at the man he loved. His eyes were sad and yet amused as if he were being asked a simple question by a small child.

"They are scared and uncertain. They have just lost their homes, many their ways of life. Just because they don't understand something and fear it does not make them bad people. I could never be angry with someone for despairing."

Legolas's lips pursed and he placed his hands on the small, almost frail shoulders. He ran his thumb over a soft, pale cheek tracing the flesh with unwavering adoration.

"Stay in the caves, Valo…Stay with the towns people where I know you'll be safe." He plead suddenly, his voice no more than a whisper.

The teen in his arms stared at him for a long moment in surprise and astonishment. It only took another moment of processing before Valo stepped out of his grip, his face set in a frown.

"What? No! Legolas, this is my fight too and I'm going to see it through." He insisted, crossing his arms defensively and staring at his mate hard as if daring him to tell him otherwise.

Legolas, he must have realized, was just as stubborn as he was.

"Come now. Let the others fight this battle and stay where it's safe. Don't make me worry about you during this."

"I am not a child! You will not send me away like one!" Valo hissed, his words biting off with a peculiar snakelike sound that only deepened the elf's frown.

"Please just go to the caves, Valo! Listen to me for just this once! Why is it so hard for you to just do as I ask this one time?"

Emerald eyes flashed in anger as a familiar Elvish horn blew in the front of the Keep. Darkness had already descended as well as a light rain. The battle was approaching and both of them could feel it in their very beings. Legolas's desperation for Valo to remain out of the battle's eye only grew with the approaching army of Uruk's.

"So I'm still a child but I'm old enough to be your mate, is that it? I'm older than you!"

The horn blew once more and a cold dread took hold in the Mirkwood Prince, such a fear that he did something perhaps not so conducive to a long and happy life where his mate was concerned. He pulled Valo into a heartfelt embrace tightly, whispering a quick apology before he struck quickly that place on the teen's neck that had Valo slumping in his arms in unconciousness. He directed a guard to quickly deposit his beloved carefully and safely in the caves with the women and the children. Valo would be most displeased when he woke in a few moments but having him safe would be worth his anger.

R&R! And I am SO SORRY for how late this chapter is!