To answer one of your questions; No, I haven't change the fic much. Perhaps some of the grammar errors, but not the storyline.
Enjoy the next chapter!
WARNING : This is angst. Pure angst. R-rated work for reasons you'll find out later, which most of you have already known. DO NOT proceed if you have strict aversion to naked elves or 'outrage'. (A big Thanks to that person who warned me to put up this warning. I totally forgot about the sensitivities of the readers of various ages.)
Legolas stared, wide-eyed. He didn't dare move even an inch.
Keldarion blinked, the blade still clasped in his steady hand and pressed uncomfortably close against his brother's throbbing jugular vein. Recognition then started to appear in his stormy gaze.
"Legolas?"
The younger prince swallowed and nodded.
"Since…since when did you start sleeping with your dagger under your pillow?" Legolas managed to ask in a shaky voice.
With a muttered oath, Keldarion jumped off his brother. He stalked away angrily, putting several yards of distance between them.
"Blast it, Legolas!" he yelled, throwing the dagger at the wall. The blade stabbed into one of the wooden structures, the hilt quivering crazily from the impact. "What are you doing in here? I could have slashed your throat just now!"
Rubbing at the said throat, Legolas rose upright. He warily eyed his brother. "What am I doing here? If you must know, this is my keep."
Keldarion slowly turned, his eyes narrowing.
"Right. Of course. This is your keep and you have rights to interfere anybody's good dreams," he sarcastically retorted.
Legolas sighed. He stepped down from the bed and approached his brother. "You know that was not what I mean."
He raised a hand to grasp Keldarion's shoulder to give comfort, but his brother whirled and strode towards the balcony, yanking the door open in one angry move.
Keldarion was impatiently swiping at the remaining tears on his cheeks when Legolas came to stand next to him. The elder prince quickly looked away, so embarrassed he was to face his brother in such a weakened state of mind.
"Kel."
Legolas' voice was gentle and kind, almost causing Keldarion to drop the reins on his emotions and sob his heart out against his brother's shoulder.
Well, almost.
"What do you want?" he curtly asked instead.
Ignoring the slight hurt caused by Keldarion's harsh reply, Legolas managed a brittle smile. "The nightmares are bothering you again, I gather. Care to share it with me?"
Keldarion's hands fisted as he turned to glare at his brother. "No, I don't think so."
Legolas' smile faltered. "But it might be a good thing if you talk about it. Remember when I had those nightmares years ago? You were always there to make it better for me—"
"Well, I'm not you!" Keldarion snapped. "This is different!"
"Why is it so much different? We suffered the same humiliation!" Legolas shouted back, his silver eyes flashing.
Silence reigned, loud and tense. The two brothers stood glaring at each other for a long moment. Both elves were trembling and breathing hard as the despicable scenes from their own horrific past played in their minds.
It was Legolas who first looked away, his shoulders slumped. "I thought we're brothers," he finally said, his voice resigned.
Keldarion had to gulp down the huge lump in his throat before he could speak, "We are brothers, Legolas. That is why I don't want to burden you with my troubles. I don't need you to worry about me."
Legolas looked up, his eyes bright with unshed angry tears.
"That's stupid and you know it. You can share my troubles but I can't share yours? What kind of a brother do you think I am?"
Without waiting for Keldarion's reply, Legolas swiftly left the room, slamming the door in his wake.
Later in the morning, when Legolas went to see his brother to apologize, he found the guest chamber empty and cold.
His weapons and entire gear missing, Keldarion was already long gone.
The fire crackled merrily as Keldarion tossed more twigs into it. He then glanced at his mount. Satisfied that the pure-white mare was still nibbling at the grass several yards away, he unrolled a blanket on the ground at the base of the big tree, but didn't immediately go to sleep. Instead, he sat there with his back against the hard bark, contemplating and brooding.
It had been two days since he left his brother's keep. Between that time, he had gone to visit the small town where he had last heard of the man he was looking for, the same town where he had also heard of Legolas' misfortune six months ago. From the information he just gathered there, he found out that Morat was still where he was expected to be. Now confirmed of the man's whereabouts, Keldarion was deciding the best plan to finally destroy him, slowly and painfully.
Just like what Morat and the other nine men had done to him.
Morat. Keldarion clenched his right fist as he stared into the fire, his eyes glinting with hatred. Morat's sneering features were taunting him in his mind as he recalled that man's hateful name.
Keldarion would never forget the tall, burly looking pirate who had led the pack of Corsairs that fateful day, taking capture of the injured elven prince and forcing him to submit to them. The moment the Corsair fleet reached dry land, he was dragged into their camp and pushed into hard labor. He had to work in the mines, chipping away at the rock with only an axe to look for gold and diamond or other valuable stones. Sometimes he had to work on board the Corsair ships, scrubbing floors or manning the oars.
Feeling highly insulted and humiliated to be treated as a slave, the noble born prince could not accept the degrading position he was in. But, bound hand and foot in shackles, he had had no chance to fight back. Already weakened by his wounds, he had not even the strength to run away. But, oh, how he had tried! Yet every time he did, his captors doubled up his punishments. He nearly succumbed to Mandos once for bleeding too much.
Keldarion could still remember the sheer agony he had suffered under the biting whip they put him under. His back had been an ugly bloody mess every time they finished flogging him, and it had taken a long time to heal. If he were not an elf, Keldarion might still sport hundreds of welts and scabs all over his body.
But the welts in his heart still bled. To this day.
Being treated like a slave was one thing. But being used as an object of twisted pleasure was another. Keldarion was still full of spirit while working in the mines or on the ships. But on the day those men violated him, he had died a thousand times over.
The horrible incident took place after he had been in the Corsairs' clutch for almost a year. Keldarion had grudgingly accepted his fate then, but still looking forward to escape or be rescued. He wasn't really sure how it started, but his insulting reply to Morat's orders one day had blown the man's fuse.
"You think elves like you are high above all us men that you dare talk back to me that way?" Morat yelled in anger as he squeezed Keldarion's throat, causing the elf to go red in the face from lack of air. "You think you are so pretty and your voice so fine we will let you say anything you want?"
Morat then turned to his fellow comrades. "What do you say, fellas? Let's show this dirty elf how low he is to us."
And the men had shown him exactly that. For three full days.
They kept him chained to the wall, completely naked, as they had their way with him, over and over. On the third day, they put him back into his sorry excuse of clothing and sent him to work in the mines as if nothing was out of the ordinary. But for Keldarion, everything had drastically changed. He no longer felt like a prince. He no longer felt like an elf. He no longer felt like a breathing soul.
He felt like a ghost.
From then on, he had slaved and worked himself to death. He had not the courage to take his own life, so he opted for other means to die, praying for the rocky wall of the mine to fall on top of him or have all energy drained completely out of his being from all the hard labor. He had stopped wishing to be rescued, but started wishing for someone to kill him instead. He barely spoke to anyone, not even a word of anger to Morat and his men.
But, strangely, a young girl in the camp seemed to be attracted to him. Ever since he had helped pull her out of a deep hole she had dropped into, the girl had been following his progress with kind and concerned eyes.
Keldarion smiled as he recalled the girl's lovely cherubic features and eager smiles, still a child at the age of about thirteen summers. If Keldarion didn't know better, he might think the girl had a silly crush on him. He wanted to dismiss her attention, but the color of her hair was so golden it reminded him of Legolas'.
Finding the effort to avoid her was impossible as she lived there with her father in the camp. Keldarion then took her presence as a source of distraction from his misery. Behind her father's back, she sometimes slipped him a fruit or bread when he went hungry for days. Her smile always ready at her lips, she would talk to him about her day and all. Well, chattered all by herself mostly because Keldarion rarely made a reply of his own.
But truthfully, she had kept him going. The gold in her hair had made him think about his own brother back home. He knew how unhappy Legolas would be if he gave up on his life. So he lived on.
The small sound of a broken twig from the darkness beyond suddenly yanked Keldarion out of his reverie.
He instantly grabbed his bow and arrow, jumping to his feet. Taking aim, his eyes narrowed in concentration as he waited for his quarry to appear. He had sensed someone following him ever since leaving the small town. He was just quite surprise that that someone would choose this moment to appear.
"Whoever you are, come out of your hiding," Keldarion called out, his aim steady and true. "I know you have been following me, so show yourself and let's get on with it."
Only the sound of the night breeze answered him. But several minutes later, a tall figure riding atop a black stallion finally came into view. The golden-haired rider nudged his mount into the make-shift camp, smiling sheepishly back at Keldarion.
"Hello, brother," the newcomer greeted as he dismounted, causing Keldarion to drop his aim and broke into a long string of cursing.
It was Legolas.
Legolas watched in mild amusement as his brother continued to rant, spewing obscenities in four different languages. The younger prince stepped closer, his arms outstretched towards the flame. "Mind if I share the fire?"
Keldarion's face was thunderous. "Yes, I do mind!" he yelled.
But Legolas was undaunted. "Tough. I still want to share," he simply replied as he sat down. "My, it's such a cold night out here, isn't it?"
His arms akimbo, Keldarion glared down at his brother.
"The stream is colder. Want me to throw you into it?" he warned, gesturing at the small river nearby. Much to his annoyance, though, his brother just laughed.
"Really, Kel. That doesn't scare me enough to make me go away," Legolas said with a grin. Then he even had the gall to pick up his brother's flask of tea sitting near to the fire and took a long swig from it. With a growl, Keldarion reached down and snatched the flask from his brother's hands.
"Hey! I'm drinking!" Legolas loudly complained.
"This bloody drink is mine!" Keldarion quickly closed the lid and put the flask in his saddlebag. "And this is my camp. And what—for Valar's sake—are you doing here?"
Legolas blinked and looked away from the wrath in his brother's eyes. He should have known Keldarion would not welcome him. The moment he found his brother missing from the guest chamber, he had grabbed anything he could in record time before leaping onto his horse and gave chase.
"Well, what do you think?" Legolas then said, smiling brightly. "I'm keeping you company."
Keldarion's frown grew deeper. "Oh, no, you're not."
"Oh, yes, I am."
The two brothers then stared at each other for a long moment—one was scowling, while the other one was grinning.
At last, Keldarion whirled away, throwing his hands up in the air. "This is insane!" he cried out in frustration. "Look, brother, I don't want you to come with me."
Legolas' raised one elegant eyebrow. "Why is that?"
"Because you will only slow me down!" came Keldarion's curt retort. "You are bound to get yourself in a mess and drag me along with it!"
Legolas slightly flinched at that, but his smile never faltered. "Don't worry. I promise not to get into any troubles. You won't even know I'm here."
"I wish." Keldarion snorted. Admitting defeat, he turned around and gazed at his brother. "I knew I was being followed. And I should have known it was you. How did you manage to find me?"
With a nonchalant shrug, Legolas replied, "You are not the only best trackers on this land, mind you. I still have my skill. That mare you ride is not elven bred. Her prints are everywhere! Even a simple-minded man can follow your tracks. You are being careless, Kel."
"I'm not being careless, dear brother," Keldarion said, his eyes glinting. "That is exactly my intention. I want to draw in the person following me before I kill him."
Legolas went still. Under his slightly nervous gaze, Keldarion stood there unflinching with the bow still in his hand. He gulped involuntarily. "Well, then. I'm glad I'm your brother. You would never kill me."
When Keldarion kept his silence, Legolas began to sweat.
"Uh…would you?" he asked, his voice timid.
Not answering, Keldarion looked away, shaking his head in disgust. With a sigh of relief, Legolas began to unbuckle the quiver and blades off his back, setting down the weapons next to his bow. He then scooted over to the blanket spread near the base of the tree and stretched fully on his back.
"Can I have this blanket? I forgot to bring any with my pack," said Legolas as he made himself comfortable on his brother's sleeping spot. His body started to grow exhausted from all that riding and tracking.
Keldarion rolled his eyes. "What else did you forget to bring, brat?"
Legolas had the grace to look embarrassed. "Extra food and water," he replied sheepishly. "Oh, and I also forgot to bring extra clothes with me."
Closing his eyes, Keldarion started counting to three. When he reopened his eyes, his brother was almost asleep. "Please don't tell me you forgot to tell Nara when you left your keep."
Stifling a yawn, Legolas mumbled, "I managed to leave her a note. She would definitely kill me when I get back, though. She expects me to take escorts whenever I go out riding."
"And like usual, you disobey her." Keldarion shook his head in exasperation.
When will Legolas ever learn?
"What do I need escorts for when you are here with me?" Legolas easily replied, yawning again. "Say, are you keeping watch? Good, then. Because I really need to catch some sleep. The twins have kept me up for many nights, and last night I had to sleep up in a tree. So…now here's my chance to…compensate…"
Keldarion frowned as his brother's voice faded away. "Legolas?"
The other prince didn't answer.
Ai! Stubborn infuriating creature! Keldarion fumed inwardly. Muttering a curse, he grabbed the overhead branch and climbed over, higher and higher into the tree. He didn't even look back down at his slumbering brother, so frustrated he was with the entire situation.
But if he did look down, he might have seen the grin of triumph playing on Legolas' lips.
Yes! Round one for me!
Keldarion's mood did not improve the next day. He looked so sullen and menacing that Legolas grew quite intimidated by him. The two brothers changed not a word when they broke camp that morning, and the silence continued on during the ride.
Legolas had no idea where Keldarion was leading them. For over two hours, they had been steadily heading south, leaving the Gondor border far behind them. Riding several paces behind, the younger prince stared with interest at the stiff spine of Keldarion's back, a proof that his elder brother was still angry. And a complete sign that Keldarion fully disapproved of his company.
Oh, well. Legolas shrugged. If he wants me to leave, he has to make me.
But the deafening silence started to grate on Legolas' nerves. Curious, as was his nature, he ignored Keldarion's obvious displeasure and asked, "Where exactly are we going?"
Keldarion swiveled his head around and scowled. "I'm going somewhere where I can complete my mission. To do that, I need all my senses intact so, please, keep your mouth shut and try to be invisible!"
Legolas had to grin at that.
Hah. He's talking finally! Round two for me!
Urging his mount forward until he was abreast with his brother, Legolas asked again, "What's the man's name again, the one that you are still hunting?"
If looks could kill, Legolas might have fallen off his horse right then. Keldarion was sending him the most ferocious glare one had ever seen. The elder prince opened his mouth to reply—and broke up yelling instead.
"Hot blast!" Keldarion cried out, quickly yanking at the reins to pull his mount away from Legolas' horse. The elven stallion was trying to bite the mare's neck!
Legolas laughed out loud.
"Well, who would have thought?" he said with a grin, patting at the stallion's regal ebony head. "Black Storm here has a hot for your white lady!"
Cursing a blue streak, Keldarion tried to control his agitated mount. "This is exactly not what I need! Two horses lusting after each other! Do me a favor, Legolas. Keep that bloody horse of yours far away from mine."
"Aw, leave them be," Legolas replied, smiling when his stallion loudly snorted. "It's mating season, after all."
"No, it's not and you…" His words trailing off, Keldarion rolled his eyes with a heavy sigh as the mare suddenly neighed, bucking and pulling against the reins. Her tail swished back and forth as she gracefully trotted, showing off her beauty for the stallion's benefit.
Legolas' grin grew wider as the stallion instantly responded by jerking forward to catch the mare.
"Come, big brother. Let's rest for a while and give these two some privacy," he suggested, leaping off his mount. He gave the stallion a proud pat on the rump and watched it amble straight for the mare's head, nuzzling her snout.
Annoyed and slightly confused that everything seemed to be quickly getting out of his hand, Keldarion had no other choice but to also dismount. Pulling his gear and packs off the mare's back, he then carried them under a rocky overhang and dump them all onto the ground.
Saying not a word to his brother, Keldarion sat down and grabbed his water skin. Legolas had looked away from the two horses' progress and now stood watching as Keldarion took a long fill, gulping down the water as if he had had not a drink for days. When he saw his younger brother standing there awkwardly, Keldarion stopped drinking and tossed the water skin at him.
"Thanks," Legolas said gratefully before he also sat down and placed his lips on the lid. Keldarion just grunted in reply and leaned his back against the rocky wall.
It was almost noon and the sun was bright and high in the sky, but the brothers were sitting comfortably under the shade. Beside the shrill cries and snorts coming from the mating horses several yards away, there was no other sound to be heard saved for the sighing breeze and whispering leaves in the trees. It was calm and peaceful in this part of Arda, the land that used to be swarmed with orcs and various kinds of horrid monsters.
Still, this land was still swarmed with bad evil men, tainted by past crimes and present cruelties. And Keldarion felt that it was his duty to destroy at least one more of them due to the pain he—and maybe, others—had suffered.
"Morat."
Legolas choked on his drink as he swiveled his head towards his brother.
"What did you say?" he asked, gasping for breath.
Keldarion leveled him a steady gaze. "The name of the man I'm hunting. The man who've ruined me. His name is Morat."
Legolas blinked. Then he put down the water skin and gripped Keldarion's stiff shoulder, glad that his brother didn't brush away the comforting touch. He understood what it took Keldarion to speak that name out loud. He deeply admired his brother's fortitude, even though Keldarion was obviously wallowing in shame and anger for the terrible deed that had been done to him.
"You never told me how you escaped those men," Legolas softly said, slightly afraid that his brother would turn and bite his head off for that remark.
Keldarion smiled without humor. "A young girl helped me."
"A girl?" Legolas was perplexed.
"Yes. I guess she was the only one in the camp who felt pity on this poor tortured elf. One night, when all the men were drunk after a very wild feast, she stole the key to my prison and released me. She even gave me food and a change of clothes, as well as a blade she stole from her father, and told me to run as far away from that place as I could. And I did exactly that, running all through the night into the woods on my bare bleeding feet. I had to jump into the river when I sensed the men looking for me the next day. But, as you can see, they never caught me and here I am, thanks to that little girl's kindness and bravery."
Keldarion said those last words with as much bitterness as he had spoken Morat's name. Legolas didn't know what to make of it. "What happened to the girl after that? Do you know?"
Instead of answering, Keldarion instantly stood and began to gather his belongings. "Looks like our mounts have finished with their business. We had better move on."
And that curt respond left Legolas with much more to contemplate.
The loud silence continued for a long time as the two brothers led their mounts by the reins through the woods. Giving the horses the chance to recover from their recent strenuous 'business', the elves decided to walk. Besides, the shrubs and bushes were so thick here that they had to be aware of hunting traps and snares. Walking on foot gave them better eye to detect those things. They had come upon two snares now, and more would surely be in their path up ahead.
Legolas wanted to ask his brother further details of the girl and the man named Morat. But, glancing at Keldarion's frown as he concentrated hard on the trail, Legolas knew that the elder prince would not appreciate it. So he just looked on as Keldarion snapped a trap with the long stick he was holding, disenabling it before it could hurt anybody—or anything—that had the misfortune to step into it.
"The hunters would not be happy to know that their traps have been disturbed," Legolas said, watching as Keldarion snapped another snare set between two large rocks.
"Such fine remark coming from you when this kind of traps killed your two beloved ferrets years ago!" Keldarion retorted in reply.
Legolas stiffened. "Will you stop it, Kel! I hate it when you go all moody and cranky on me like this."
Straightening, Keldarion turned slowly towards his younger brother. "You think I'm cranky? I have a reason for that, you know. If not for my annoying little brother hanging on to my shirt-tail all the time, I might have reached my purpose by now!"
"And what is your purpose, big brother? Getting yourself killed?" Legolas shouted angrily, losing hold on his own temper.
"I will not get killed!" Keldarion yelled in return, his face turning red. "Not if you stop following me and get yourself back to Ithilien!"
"No, I will not! Not without you!"
"GO HOME, BLAST IT!" Keldarion was screaming now. "You're only slowing me down!"
"I'm not slowing you down, you overbearing pigheaded moron!" Legolas yanked at his mount and dragged the beast past Keldarion. "You are such a fool to think that—"
Snap!
"Arghh!" Legolas cried out and crashed to the ground. Wincing in agony, he frantically took a look and was flabbergasted to see his left foot caught in a snare. Its chain attached firmly to a tree, the steel jaws with its sharp jagged teeth were tightly clamped on his calf, holding him down.
Ai Valar, how it hurts!
Feeling so stupid for not seeing it earlier, Legolas looked up sheepishly to his brother. "Guess I spoke too soon, eh?"
But Keldarion did not respond. He just stood there, staring at Legolas with a strange expression on his face.
"Hey, Kel." Legolas grew nervous as he gingerly fingered the restricting device on his leg. "Help me get out of this thing, will you?"
"Get yourself out, little brother," Keldarion softly replied and stepped away.
Legolas' eyes bulged in disbelief. "What?!"
"You heard me." Keldarion's hand fisted around the reins of his mount. "Use your head, and your dagger. You can unscrew the bolts and pull that thing apart. But it would take quite a while for you to do so. By the time you're finished, I will be long gone. And I'll make sure you can't find me."
Something akin to fear began to climb up Legolas' spine to hear those somber words coming from his brother.
Keldarion never leaves me when I'm in trouble. Never!
"Kel…"
The elder prince pulled at his horse as he started to walk away. "Goodbye, Legolas. Go back home to your wife and children, where you will be safe. We will meet again, by Elbereth's will."
"No, Kel. Don't do this," Legolas pleaded, gaping in horror at his brother's disappearing form.
"Kel! Blast you! Come back here, do you hear me?!" Legolas called out in panicked as he struggled with the snare. But Keldarion didn't even look back. The elder prince kept on walking until he vanished from sight, blending himself with the woods.
Hurt and bewildered, Legolas screamed again, "KEL!!"
TBC…