Do not own, do not sue,

Legolas sighed and looked over at Elladan pleadingly. Legolas knew he wouldn't be able to speak of it without losing himself. Elladan clapped Legolas' shoulder and nodded. He inhaled deeply before he spoke.

"It started a long time ago, before Gilraen was even born. Taranel lived just outside of Imladris with his parents, they managed the small dam. We would play with him on occasion as elfling, he was probably half a century older than we were. He was honestly quite dull back then. He wasn't good at climbing or archery, or sparring of any kind, he was lost on horses back and he wasn't even all that intelligent. One summer though, there was a... seasonal flood. Taranel had been dropped of at our home while they went to check on the dam. They never came for him that night, so father sent out a search party, they didn't have to search long, and they found Taranel's parents floating down river after the storm had passed.

"Our mother may have been too kind for her own good. She insisted that, even though Taranel was nearly old enough to care for himself that he be taken in to the last homely house because his parents died protecting the kingdom. So they moved him into one of the bedrooms, he was still dull but now he followed our mother around like a lost pup. She allowed it, explaining all sorts of things that he would ask before patting him on the head affectionately."

Elladan sighed, not wanting to go to the next part but knowing that it was imperative that Eldarion knew precisely what they were dealing with. "The more time he spent with our mother, the sharper he became. He was getting to a very mature point in his life and should have begun courting but he didn't. Mother would question and he would simply say 'they are not good enough.' She would laugh at him, but not in a mean way, not at all. It bothered father though, he could see that Taranel was becoming enamored with mother; we all could, except for her. We heard them talking about it once. Mother had laughed it off the way she always did, saying that it was a natural thing and that he would get over it when he was good and ready, or when a young elleth caught his eye.

"Father begrudgingly allowed their continued interaction after mother teasingly asked if he was really jealous of an elfling. Another century passed, Elrohir and I were well into courting age and your mother was coming home from Lorien for the first time since Taranel moved in with our family. I think that that is when the real obsession started. We were all assembled to greet her and our grandparents. Uncharacteristically, Taranel joined us for the occasion."

Elrohir interjected then, not only noticing his twin's growing distress but knowing that he saw this part of the story play out differently than everyone else. "When they arrived, I was having my ear talked off by Taranel about some silly knitting thing he and mother had discussed. The look on his face when he saw her, suddenly he wasn't dull old Taranel anymore. Arwen was nearly three centuries younger than he was, nowhere near courting age but something about her changed him. I didn't recognize it then but it was wickedness that I saw in his eyes that day. It was out of nowhere but suddenly dull old Taranel was sharp as a new arrowhead. Most of the time that Arwen spent in Imladris was spent with mother or Elladan and me. So Taranel now not only was with mother, he was with us a lot too, but only when Arwen was with us. I know that it bothered your mother a lot to have him around all the time. She told me that one night actually. I told her that Elladan and I would both go after him if she wanted but she was like mother, she was too good. She told me that under no circumstances were either of us to hurt Taranel."

"Weird things started to happen." Elladan picked up again. "About a month after your mother came home, bouquets of wildflowers started appearing by her window in the mornings. Ada immediately posted a sentry bellow her window to watch for intruders. Then the flowers started appearing at her door. The house was on lock down. Your mother was so young to have someone after her that way. The flowers stopped then but Taranel was still spending more time with Arwen then what made the family comfortable.'

He took a deep breath, knowing that the story was going to get harder to tell from here. "After another half a century, Ada had the sentries removed. More and more of our people were sailing away and adar was not one to bind people by duty, especially when they had family waiting. Even though Taranel was old enough to be living on his own if he had chosen, he was still in our home. One night, the entire house was woken by a scream. We were all asleep in our beds but in one second the whole house was in motion. The scream had been young, and female, and in the family's quarters. It was horrifying, the few seconds of not knowing as we all went running to your mother's room. She was sitting up in bed with her knees pulled up to her chest and her hands over her mouth in shock with tears running down her face. Elrohir and I were the first to get there, her window drapes were partially torn down and her flower box had been knocked down, someone had definitely been there. We ran to the window, trying to see if their had been some intruder, we saw the rustling of the trees but our mother's voice called us back. Ada was on the bed with Arwen, he had taken her hands and was doing his best at soothing her. The room was crowded. We were by the window, Arwen and Ada on the bed, Naneth hovering close by, A trio of guards with their eyes sweeping the outside, and Erestor and Glorfindel guarding the door from further intrusion. 'Arwen.' Our father spoke in a slow and tender voice. 'Arwen, Iell Nin, you are safe now, come back to us, tithen pen.' He smoothed back her hair and carefully brushed her tears away. 'Iell nin, are you hurt, what has happened?'

"Arwen took a shuddering breath which we considered to be a good thing, it was a sign that she at least was not in shock. 'He looked like a monster.' She breathed.

"'Who looked like a monster, Iell Nin?' Ada asked her in an ever-patient and loving voice, even though a large number of us had a haunting suspicion who she spoke of.

"She looked up at us, Elrohir and I, with a horrified expression. 'Taranel' Her voice was just a breath. For a minute there was this deadly stillness. And then adar kissed your mother's forehead and stood. We hadn't seen him that angry before. He commanded for the sentries to guard Taranel's window and he went to his room with Glorfindel and Erestor. Naneth was comforting Arwen so Elrohir and I snuck out to watch.

"Taranel didn't deny watching Arwen or show any regrets so, Adar banished him from Imladris. He didn't really leave. After a while, the guards started reporting that he was appearing in the evenings after dark. He was always chased off again but they could never seem to capture him. Then he stopped appearing, they would only see him once in a fortnight and then once in a month and then a year would go by before someone caught sight of him. I don't think he ever left for real though, I think he just got good at hiding."

"He reappeared after Naneth had disappeared." Elrohir took over in a sad voice to give his brother a break. "He showed up only three days after she had been taken. He went straight to Ada's office. He was screaming about how it was his fault that our Naneth was gone and he was certain that she would die. He screamed insults at Adar until Erestor and Glorfindel discovered him and hauled him away, throwing him out of the city.

"We would see Taranel as we tracked the orcs who had taken our mother. He was so angry with us, with Ada, with all of the guards. He would tell us constantly that...he could have protected her had he not been banished...

"When Ada found our mother, Taranel tried to take her, and then he saw Gilraen. I don't know if you know this, but Gilraen was born when our mother was held in captivity by the orcs. No one had known that she was pregnant at the time. Gilraen was just older than an infant by mortal standards. Taranel saw her and zeroed in. We were lucky that Naneth said something. She kept asking 'Where is my daughter?' and Adar kept telling her that Arwen was safe and in Lorien.

"'No!' Celebrian screamed. 'Where is my daughter, where is my Gilraen?' Elladan and I saw Taranel holding her, our baby sister, and giving her these strange looks, no one should ever look at a child that way. Gilraen was crying, in fear and in pain. Her hands were pressed over her eyes and open wounds were visible.

'Taranel, give us our sister.' Elladan had ordered, holding his arms our pleadingly. I think we were both overcome with the need to help her.

"Taranel clutched Gilraen closer to himself, making her shriek in terror and opening more wounds on her tiny body , 'No, you could not protect your mother, how could you protect this one?'

"We couldn't risk fighting him, not when he held Gilraen in his arms, he knew that too. He started to back away from us; we knew he was planning to run. 'No, Taranel, please, we know how to heal her, she is hurt, she is frightened.' I was not below begging. Mother had managed to keep a child alive in the presence of orcs, we weren't going to let an elf take her away and let her die.

"'Taranel, please." Our mother had whispered, but we had all heard. Taranel looked sadly down at Gilraen before putting her into Elladan's arms. He was gentler than Taranel had been and he spoke soothingly, but still she cried, and she would not pull her hands from her eyes. We carried her over to the pyre our mother had been laid on and she smiled. 'Gilraen' She spoke softly but with a hint of a smile. 'Hush now, we're going to be safe now. Remember? I told you about your adar, and your muindyr and your théll? You must behave for them, alright?'

"Her tears stopped just like that and she looked up at Elladan curiously before looking over at me. We could tell she was going to need medical attention. It was a rushed journey back to Imladris. No one raised a fuss when Taranel entered the city, I actually don't think anyone noticed. There were more important things to worry about.

Elladan took over again. "Right before our mother sailed to Valinor, I stumbled upon her and Taranel. 'Taranel, I want you to do something.' Celebrian said, 'Actually, it is several things. First, I want you to go back to your parents' home and begin caring for the dam again. In addition, I never want you to so much as look at either of my daughters ever again.' I had never hold mothers voice so hard and cold. It wasn't her, but I suppose she somehow knew how Taranel worked.

"Taranel was never far, he did as Naneth asked and went back to his parents work, but he didn't follow her second request. He checked on Gilraen all the time. He watched Arwen too, but not as much. He took to drawing, admittedly, he got good at it,but I just wish he wouldn't have been drawing your mother and Gilraen. Close to two centuries passed with him being real quiet, and then one evening Gilraen disappeared from the gardens.

"There was panic for the first few weeks. Later we found out that, while we were all panicking, Gilraen was only being held only about half a mile from where she was taken. It was…horrifying, she was still young. By the time we realized where she was being held, that had left. Elrohir, Legolas, and myself immediately set to tracking. We followed them all the way to Mirkwood, we could feel that we were getting closer all the time.

"Then we heard a screeching of a giant spider and then something worse, Gilraen's scream. We all went running towards the commotion of course. The sight we found was strange. Taranel was standing in front of Gilraen with a crude sword held against the spider. The spider got to the sword and Taranel bolted, just leaving her there. She had a lot of really obvious injuries…

~ Elladan and Elrohir didn't know what to do, there was the spider, ready to attack their sister but Taranel was getting away! "Elladan, Elrohir!" Legolas yelled as he drew his knives. "I can stop the spider, you get Taranel!"

The twins nodded and ran towards the fleeing elf while Legolas headed with narrowed eyes to the spider. His heart was pounding in his ears, he had been worried sick about Gilraen this whole time. He could see that she was already hurt and that killed him, he would not let her be hurt again. The great beast lunged for Gilraen and Legolas lunged forward, slicing one of the spider's legs cleanly off. The beast stumbled and turned on him. Legolas, having been raised in Mirkwood, had been trained to take out whole nests of spiders. One was no problem and he made quick work of it.

When the spider fell dead, Legolas ran to Gilraen who was fading in and out of consciousness. He slid onto the ground, sheathing his blades, and lifted Gilraen's head into his lap. He gently caressed her face and hair in an effort to keep her comfortable and calm. "Leg'las." She whispered weakly. Her silver eyes slowly came into focus. "You came."

Legolas smiled worriedly and smoothed Gilraen's hair back. "Of course I came, your brothers are here too." He told her softly, gesturing over to where Elladan and Elrohir were subduing Taranel.

Elrohir had his arms wrapped around Taranel, pinning his arms and Elladan had his sword leveled with Taranel's neck. Gilraen tensed and yelled louder than Legolas would have believed possible for her in her injured state. "No, Elladan stop! Don't hurt him!" She shrieked. She thrashed in Legolas' hold and he hushed her gently.

Elladan had a moment of indecision before he glared at Taranel, turned his blade, and slammed the hilt into Taranel's temple to knock her unconscious. Gilraen started crying hysterically. With one arm still wrapped around Gilraen's shoulders, Legolas glanced around him. He set his eyes on a common plant with sedative properties. He ripped the plant out of the ground and used his teeth to rip leaves off. He spit the leaves into his hand and pressed them into Gilraen's mouth. She didn't fight it but did continue to thrash, slowly weakening. As she slipped from consciousness, Legolas kissed the top of her head gently and lifted her up. "We're not far from my home now, come on, we'll get a healer to see her." He said. ~

"It took Gilraen nearly two months to heal completely." Legolas spoke for the first time. "Taranel has this…obsession for toxins, developing them to do all sorts of things. When Lord Elrond joined the healers of Mirkwood, he found seven different toxins in her system. They were for all different things, one affected her vision, one accelerated her heart and one slowed her breathing. She couldn't walk and had symptoms as if she were sick the way mortals get sick. It was frightening to say the least.

"It was decided that Taranel would be tried by both my father and Lord Elrond because he had crossed realm boundaries…

~ Gilraen stood and ran to where King Thranduil and Lord Elrond, her father, sat. "Adar, King Thranduil, please, I beg you, do not judge him to harshly. Taranel did not understand what he was doing!" Her silver eyes were pleading as she gripped her father's hand.

Elrond looked past his youngest daughter and at Taranel who stood in chains between two of Mirkwood's finest guards. His gaze was hard and fixed on Gilraen, it did not sit well with Elrond but he could tell that his daughter was distressed. He squeezed her hand gently and turned to Thranduil. "You are in command," He said softly. "Can we call a recess?"

Thranduil nodded sympathetically and rose. "We are going to have a brief recess, please remove the prisoner, Legolas, Elrendiyn, remain please." The hall cleared in a few minutes and Legolas, Elladan, and Elrohir approached where the two leaders were seated.

"Adar?" Gilraen asked pleadingly. "Please Ada, he didn't do anything wrong."

"Really?" Elrond asked in a clearly disbelieving voice. "So, you were hospitalized for two months for what then?" He didn't like to be hard with his daughter but she was clearly not realizing the severity of her treatment.

Gilraen looked down with tears forming in her eyes. "He doesn't understand, Ada," She beseeched quietly. "It's been so long since he's been around people, he's just lonely."

Elrond didn't follow his daughter's reasoning but he did not want her upset. He embraced her gently. "We will consider what you've said, Iel Nin." He said tenderly. "But do not ask me to forgive one who hurt my child." He met her sad gaze and she nodded slowly. Elrond looked back up at the prince and his sons. "I think that it is time for you all to take your leave, we are done with your four I believe."

"But, Ada." Gilraen tried, hoping that her presence would somehow lighten Taranel's sentence.

"No Gilraen." Elrond said sternly as the twins each took one of her hands. "We will see you after the trial."

Gilraen hung her head and allowed herself to be lead out by her brothers with Legolas following them.~

"Taranel was banished from all the elvish realms that day." Legolas finished the tale with a sigh. Speaking of his beloved made him ache for his presence beside him. He shut his eyes and rested his head against the tree. "Damn it!" He cursed as he punched the bark with the side of his fist. Tears dripped from his closed eyes. "It was him this whole time!"

"We should have killed him when we had the chance." Elladan agreed in a devastated voice.

Eldarion watched as his uncles spiraled into a world of guilt and self-pity. He watched all three of them lose themselves and he stood. "Stop this, all of you!" He said firmly. "None of what happened before matters. All that matters is the here and now." He took a deep breath "And the here and now is that my aunt, your sister, your wife is in the hands of a psychopath, she's hurt and scared and who knows what else. All that matters is that we help her now."

The three elves looked up at Eldarion with a clear look of epiphany on their faces. Suddenly, despite the dire situation, Legolas laughed. As Eldarion had spoken, he had seen the young man's father before their charge on the black gates in perfect clarity. Father and son were just alike. He wiped his tears away. "Oh Eldarion," He laughed, reaching out to ruffle the young man's hair. "You truly are your fathers son, and you're right of course, we were being fools, the guilt wouldn't have helped a thing."

He laid a hand on Eldarion's shoulder and held out the other for the twins. The sons of Elrond came over and they formed a circle. "Let's get her back." Legolas said with a nod. "For good this time."

AN: I am so so sorry that this took so long. I had the chapter typed months ago but then lost it when we lost power and my computers battery failed. I was in a bit of a hole then because I didn't want to retype a chapter that I had done once. So here it is, I think the back story is interesting. I'll be working on the next chapter directly, Hopefully I'll get it done in a week and a half because if not it will be more like three weeks because of summer camp and church conference.

BTW, the plural of Elrondian is correct based on the councilofelrond websites workbook