Captives

by Amber815

When Tauriel sets out to investigate suspicious activity beyond the borders of her homeland, little does she know that this is just the beginning of the greatest adventure of her life. The young Dwarf she encounters in captivity fascinates her in ways she cannot quite comprehend and she follows him on a quest that may decide over the lives of many as well as her own happiness.

24. Our Last Advantage

24: Our Last Advantage

Kíli and Tauriel shared yet another look following Nesrin's declaration. This time, however, their gazes were devoid of tenderness and shy longing. This time, they were all business.

"How?" Kíli asked, his brows pulled down to form a straight line across his forehead. They had been in this too long to put their faith in empty promises. If there was a way for them to get out, they needed to know every single detail before getting their hopes up.

Nesrin, luckily, had come prepared. "Tomorrow, at five, the change of shifts for the guards will coincide with a small fire in the kitchens, which will cause enough of a distraction for you to slip through the gates and down to the sea. A boat will be waiting for you half an hour before dawn on a beach on the northern shore. It will take you to Riavod, where you will disembark, so that the boat can return here on schedule with a delivery of grain. In Riavod's harbor, you will need to find a wagon covered with a green tarp, the symbol of a sun carved into its side. Hide on the back of the wagon–it will take you out of the city. After that, your fate will be yours alone."

"This is. . . how? How is all that possible?" Tauriel couldn't even begin to wrap her mind around the details of Nesrin's plan, which completely turned her world upside down. A powerful distraction? A boat? Freedom? After searching fruitlessly for a way to escape their captors for much longer than they had been in Rhûn, all this seemed too good to be true.

Taking in their slack-jawed surprise, Nesrin gave a smile that was more than a little smug. "You did not think that we lived here in such contentedness without at least some means to bend the rules a little from time to time, did you? If need be, there is a whole network of kitchen maids, gardeners, ferrymen, and the likes to be counted on to assist us in getting what we need. Also, said network happens to be a very reliable means for communication with the mainland, which is how I know that of late the ways in which the powerful seek to retain that power have roused disquietude amongst those forced into their service. It was not difficult to find individuals willing to help the two prisoners who saved several innocent lives during Harvest Hunt. Almost everyone had a friend or family member among the Hunted, or knows someone who did."

"If you knew about this network," Kíli threw in, apparently having recovered from his initial befuddlement over such an elaborate scheme, "why didn't you tell us about it before? You knew we did not want to be here."

"And have you ruin the relationships some of us have been cultivating for years?" Nesrin shook her head. "I think not. If the network is to be dragged into this, it will be on my terms. Terms, which I've just made plain for you. So—what do you say?"

Tauriel raised an eyebrow at Kíli, who shrugged, then smirked. They had little to lose, hadn't they?

"When do we leave?"

Tauriel's question was met with a slight grimace from Nesrin. "Ah, there is but one small hiccup with the plan. You see, the guard whom my liaison among the laundry maids was supposed to seduce into borrowing her the key to this contraption—" she knocked a fist against the rectangular box set into the wall behind her, "succumbed to an ill-timed bout of food poisoning this afternoon. His replacement is immune to her charms, I'm afraid. If the others have not come up with an alternative plan when I get back, we have no other way to obtain the key but through bodily violence."

Nesrin's grim expression left no doubt as to who would have to be the one to exert this violence. This, at last, was something with which Tauriel could help even from behind bars. She shot another glance at Kíli. "That won't be necessary, I believe."

Kíli matched her triumphant grin and produced the key he had found before they had left for the Harvest Hunt from one of his pockets. "Sometimes we do have luck on our side, as unlikely as that may sound." He handed the key over to Nesrin, who was gaping at it in stunned silence. "Do you think it'll fit?"

A couple more seconds of mute staring, then Nesrin jumped into action. Opening the panel on the wall, she fitted the key into a cavity in its center, almost invisible among the cogs and wheels surrounding it. "It fits."

Kíli gave a small whoop. "What are you waiting for, then? Open the cells!"

Calmly, Nesrin withdrew the key and shut the little panel. The key went into the pocket on the apron she wore over her servant's uniform. "Not yet. If your absence is discovered before it is time to head to the beach, the whole endeavor will be at risk." When she received a murderous glower from Kíli, she added, sternly, "A lot of people are risking their heads to break you out of here. Don't make them regret it by acting too rashly."

"She is right." Tauriel reached through the bars to squeeze Kíli's arm, noticing how rigid his muscles had gone. "Besides, a few more hours in here will give us at least a small window of time to rest, gather our strength for what lies ahead. Nesrin, is there any chance you might get a little bit of food down to us? And some water, perhaps? I wouldn't ask, normally, but we have already gone too long without either."

Nesrin's mouth formed a hard line as she studied them both, noticing, no doubt, the evidence which the lack of sustenance and rest had left on them. She nodded, once. "I will see what can be done about that. Be ready to leave anytime after the night watch calls the fourth hour."

And with that, she was gone.

Tauriel realized she was still holding onto Kíli and loosened her grip, running her hand down the length of his arm to entwine their fingers. "If everything works out, we might be free tomorrow morning. That almost sounds too good to be true."

Kíli gave a huff of agreement. He glanced towards the stairs, where Nesrin had just vanished from sight. "I don't like that she took that key with her. Do you think we can trust her?"

"Yes," Tauriel said firmly. "Besides, it is not as if we could have done much with that key from in here. Without someone to help from the outside, we could never fit it into that lock on the wall."

"Still, it was our last advantage in all this," Kíli grumbled.

"You're wrong."

At her words, he looked up in surprise. "I am?"

She smiled, squeezing his hand in hers. "Our last advantage is that there are people out there who still care whether we live or die. People who want to help us. Everything we have done really wasn't for nothing—it is going to be the reason we finally gain our freedom."

A spark of hope lit up his eyes, too tentative yet to burn as a bright flame, but stubborn nonetheless. He returned the pressure of her fingers. "It might just be."

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

The wait until the appointed hour seemed endless. Not long after Nesrin had left, Tara, one of the servants they had met on their very first day on the island, had tiptoed down the stairs, a small satchel slung over her shoulder. Nervously, she had handed them a canteen filled with water as well as a small loaf of bread, a chunk of cheese, and two apples before hurrying back up the stairs. It hadn't been much, but even with Tauriel being bullied into eating her own share, it had sufficed to return Kíli to his full strength. Or enough strength, at least, for him to restlessly pace the length of his cell for the remainder of the night.

When the night watchman on duty signaled the fourth hour, Kíli stopped in his tracks. He caught Tauriel's gaze where she was sitting on the floor to give her injured leg as much chance to rest as she could. Neither of the wounds she had sustained during the Hunt was giving her much trouble, but it couldn't hurt to be cautious. Now, though, she rose to her feet, her heart thrumming an anxious rhythm. And then. . .

Nothing.

For an agonizing half hour, nothing happened.

"If this is just a ruse, a cruel trick of some sort, I swear on my mother's beard, I will break out of here just so that I can come for them in their sleep, when they least expect it, and—"

Kíli's passionate rant was cut off by a low bang sounding from somewhere above, followed by the clamor of agitated voices. They both froze in their cells, eyes fixed on the ceiling. Another minute ticked by, then two, and then hurried steps clattered down the stairs.

Nesrin skidded to a halt at the bottom of the stairs, her dark hair plastered to her forehead with sweat, a streak of soot across her cheek. She wasted no time to yank open the panel on the wall, and, with the most satisfying creak of metal Tauriel had ever heard, their cells opened.

"Quickly, now." Nesrin cast a harried glance over her shoulder. From above, screams drifted down to them. "Our distraction may have worked a little better than we anticipated. If we don't get out now, all paths might be blocked by smoke."

They did not need to be told twice. Tauriel merely paused to wrench the key back out of the contraption inside the wall, then she was on Kíli's heels as he followed Nesrin up the stairs. The air was considerably thicker up here, the unmistakable smell of fire greeting them as soon as they stepped over the threshold.

"You are not burning the entire place to the ground, are you?"

Even if Gansukh would have deserved nothing less, Tauriel's concern for those who would be losing their homes alongside him stung as sharply as the smoke filling her lungs.

"It's all under control," Nesrin assured her, but quickened her steps as she led them down a narrow corridor. At a tug from Kíli, Tauriel followed as well. This was not the time to play the hero.

The corridor was so dark that Nesrin was merely a vague shade ahead of them, and Tauriel was glad for Kíli's hold onto her hand. This way, if they got lost down here, they would at least be together. Their journey did not take long, and before Tauriel had the time to begin feeling properly claustrophobic about their surroundings, they burst out of the tunnel and into the frigid air of the hour before dawn. Only when she gulped down a greedy lung full of the much fresher air, did she realize she had been holding her breath for far too long.

Nesrin did not stop, hurrying down the narrow alleyway they had ended up in. A glance over her shoulder revealed to Tauriel that the tunnel which had just spat them out into the night was indeed part of the squat building which housed the kitchens, located at a short distance from the main house. While they crouched low in the shadows at the mouth of the alley, they watched several guards rush towards the kitchens, lugging large buckets filled with water.

"This is our chance," Nesrin shot over her shoulder. "Keep to the shadows wherever you can. And try not to do something idiotic that gets us all killed."

Without giving them a chance to reply, she darted into the courtyard, but kept close to the walls of the buildings as she navigated her way through the maze of alleys. They encountered no one as they drew closer to the main gate of Gansukh's fortress, taking a longer, less direct path to remain out of sight should any members of the guard not have followed the call to the kitchens. The gate itself, however, was manned by a single soldier, who was nervously shifting from foot to foot as he stared out into the darkness.

Nesrin gave a whispered curse and began digging around inside her cloak. She withdrew a slingshot and stared at it, her face pale in the gray pre-dawn light. Looking over Nesrin's shoulder, Tauriel recognized the slingshot as one which Timon had managed to sneak past the guards after one of their training sessions on the beach and which he had used for all kinds of mischief up in their loft. She reached around Nesrin's frozen body and gently took the slingshot from her hands.

"Here, let me."

She pretended not to see Nesrin wipe her sleeve across her eyes while she lined up her shot, keeping her gaze trained on the guard. Exhale. Release.

The guard's right hand shot up to a spot on the side of his neck, just below his jaw, before his eyes rolled back in their sockets and he slumped to the ground.

"Nice shot," Kíli commented from beside her.

Tauriel acknowledged his praise with a small grimace. Wielding the slingshot had put more strain on the injury on her shoulder than she had anticipated. Still, it had been worth it.

"When he wakes up, he will have an awful headache. Other than that, he should be fine, though, and none the wiser as to how he got incapacitated." She handed the slingshot back to Nesrin, who pocketed it carefully.

"Come on, then," she said, her voice betraying none of her emotional turmoil from a few moments ago. "The boat will leave at the appointed time, with or without you, and we are already a little behind schedule."

They slipped through the gate without further ado and clambered down the rocky slope Kíli and Tauriel had been led up on their first day on the island. They did, however, not make their way to the beach they had arrived on, but followed Nesrin down a narrower, less well-trodden path along the cliff-side that took them to a smaller beach a little further north. The final part of their journey required them to climb down a set of large, sharp-edged boulders and Tauriel would have been lying had she denied that the climb did not cause her a certain amount of difficulty.

"Are you alright?" Kíli's gaze was full of concern as he helped her down the last of the rocks and onto the beach, her bad leg giving away slightly as she landed on the uneven ground.

"I will be once we leave this place behind," she returned through clenched teeth and allowed him to support her on the short walk to the water, where Nesrin was already speaking in hushed tones to a nervous looking young man.

When Tauriel had claimed that she trusted Nesrin and her plan, she had not been lying. Still, the sight of the small boat lying on the shore just behind the young man made her heart pound fiercely inside her chest. They really were getting out of here.

Nesrin turned her head over her shoulder to look at them as they approached. "Time to go. Try to stay down on your way over to Riavod—I don't believe your absence has been discovered yet, but it would still be better if it looks as if no one but Batu is on the boat."

Acknowledging those words of caution with a nod, Tauriel climbed into the boat. Inside, there wasn't much to see. A couple of wooden benches and a stack of empty flour sacks. She turned to look back at Nesrin. "You could come with us. Find a new place for yourself in this world. Your own place."

Nesrin looked back up to where the walls of Gansukh's estate loomed above them. She shook her head. "No, I'm not done here yet. But don't worry —I shall not fall into the trap of thinking myself safe here ever again."

Her voice was tinged with bitterness at those last words and Tauriel could not prevent a hint of regret from taking hold of her heart. She had wanted Nesrin to see the truth, but now that she had gotten her wish, the careful construct of happiness which this strong woman had built for herself had collapsed, leaving her with grief and a thirst for revenge.

And a family to look out for, Tauriel reminded herself, as her thoughts turned to Olev, Oleg, Naima, and the others. Whatever fate held in store for Nesrin, even after Timon's death, she would not need to face it alone.

Accepting her friend's choice, Tauriel nodded and reached over the side of the boat to clasp Nesrin's hand in farewell. She was surprised when she was pulled into a short yet firm embrace.

"Good luck." Pulling back, Nesrin nodded at Kíli, who inclined his head in farewell. "I hope you will find what you are looking for at the end of your journey."

Tauriel kept her gaze on Nesrin as Kíli and Batu pushed the boat further into the water before jumping in themselves. She doubted that she would ever see her or any of the others again—still, it lifted her heart somewhat to have friends this far away from home. After all, without their help, she and Kíli would not currently be on their way to freedom.

Once Nesrin had disappeared among the rocks encircling the small beach, Tauriel took what she hoped would be her last look at the island of Nurtha and turned to face the mainland. It was time to begin a new chapter.

xXxXxXxXxXxXxXx

When they approached the harbor of Riavod, the sun was just beginning to paint the hills rising into the sky beyond the clutter of the city in faintest hues of pink and purple. Most of the city appeared to be asleep this early in the day. Not so the harbor—even from a distance, Tauriel could see people milling about the docks, unloading goods which would be sold at the markets and loading those which would be shipped across the sea to other harbors.

Batu shifted in his seat, briefly interrupting his rowing to glance down at Tauriel and Kíli. Following Nesrin's advice, they had spent the crossing seated on the floor of the small boat, leaning their backs against the railing. There had been no signs that they were being followed. Now that they were about to row into the harbor, though, Batu looked more anxious than ever.

"When we get closer, you must hide under there," he said, indicating the empty flour sacks with a nod of his head. "I need to moor the boat and go in search of the trader I am to buy the grain from. Stay out of sight until the coast is clear—there are lots of folk in the harbor at this time of the day, so it should not be too difficult for you to blend in." He looked at the flour sacks again, an unhappy frown on his forehead. This was the most he had spoken to them throughout the whole journey, and he was not quite done yet, it seemed. "I'm sorry that I cannot do more to help you."

Across from Tauriel, Kíli shook his head. "You've already done plenty."

"And we are very grateful," Tauriel agreed. "It will be better, though, if we part ways now. We would never be able to forgive ourselves if you got in trouble on our behalf."

Batu did not look entirely convinced, but nodded. His eyes scanned the harbor again. "Hide, now. There's a dock that's mostly empty ahead, I'll steer us there."

"Thank you," Tauriel said again, before crawling under the sacks. The space on the floor of the boat wasn't exactly wide, and her limbs ended up entwined rather awkwardly with Kíli's. Remnants of flour still clinging to the sacks from previous use tickled her nose and she fervently hoped that she would not end up giving them both away by something as silly as a sneeze attack.

Getting into the harbor seemed to take a long time—or perhaps the fact that she couldn't see a thing paired with her mounting nausea from the constant rocking of the boat was distorting her perception on that account. Eventually, though, the boat stopped moving and the sounds of steps on wooden planks drifted down to them.

"Goodbye," Batu's voice suddenly sounded through the layers of fabric covering them. "And good luck."

Tauriel dared not respond, her breath held in the cramped space. Of Nesrin's plan, this next step was the riskiest bit. She and Kíli would need to navigate a foreign city on their own, in search of the wagon that would, hopefully, get them somewhere safe. A lot might go wrong with that, beginning with them not even making it off the boat before they were discovered. However, the vagueness of this particular stage of the plan also might offer them an opportunity to somehow make contact with either Suri, Ruari, or Ingolf, for Tauriel had no intention of simply leaving them behind unless there really was no other way.

The boat rocked to and fro as Batu climbed onto the pier, leaving them alone in the small vessel. Kíli made to move, but Tauriel quickly stilled him with a hand wrapped around his ankle. Not yet.

They heard Batu greet someone in his native tongue, and a few words were exchanged before both voices began to fade, accompanied by the sound of steps. Tauriel listened for signs of another presence on the pier, but all she heard was the gentle lapping of the water against the side of the boat.

"Now," she whispered to Kíli and slowly crawled out from underneath the flour sacks, keeping her head down. On the other side of the boat, Kíli's head emerged from the pile of fabric, his eyes blinking rapidly to accommodate the brightness of the early morning. His dark curls were dusted with flour, and a white streak across his forehead drew a smile from Tauriel before she refocused her attention to scan what she could see of the harbor.

The pier Batu had brought them to was in worse repair than the ones surrounding it and, hence, less populated. A few other small boats bobbed in the water around them, all of them, thankfully, empty. Next to the hull of Batu's boat, a rope ladder dangled from the pier above them, swaying lightly in the cool morning breeze. Tauriel followed the ladder with her eyes up to the wooden planks of the pier. They were already rather close to the wharf, only a couple dozen yards separating them from the busiest part of the harbor. There, it would be easy to disappear among the crowd. However, Tauriel could not think of a way how they would be able to travel down the length of a narrow, empty pier without drawing at least some amount of attention to themselves. Her gaze dipped.

"Since we never got the chance back on the island, how do you feel about going for a swim?"

Kíli followed her gaze towards the water, which looked much darker here than it had on their little beach back on Gansukh's island and considerably less clean. He grimaced. "Well, I suppose here we at least won't have to worry about any tentacled company."

"I certainly hope not." Still, she eyed the water with renewed skepticism.

With a shrug Kíli threw one leg over his side of the boat, holding onto the gunwale as he let himself glide into the water. His slow exhale was punctuated by a shudder. "It is bloody cold, though."

Forcing herself not to think too hard about it, Tauriel followed suit and submerged her body up to her shoulders in the murky water. Kíli had been right–it was colder than she would have expected. Keeping her hands on the boat for now, she made her way over to Kíli's side, since he was closer to the pier. If they stayed right underneath it, they would be least likely to be discovered.

She clenched her teeth to stop them from chattering and began to swim towards the wharf slowly enough that the water wouldn't be disturbed all that much. Kíli followed close behind, his even strokes sending soft ripples across the water. Whenever someone passed on the pier above their heads, they stopped, clinging to the pillars protruding from the water while they submerged themselves up to their chins in its turbid depths. Thankfully, there were only a few of those occasions, and they made swift progress.

Luck was on their side when they reached the wharf, for at the top of the first ladder they tried, a large pile of cargo had recently been unloaded, crates of all sizes piled high and chaotically enough for them to hide behind as they emerged from the water. With their backs pressed against one such crate, they took a moment to catch their breath and to still the tremors which being exposed to the cool morning air after an unplanned swim in the port had evoked.

"Do you think we'll just be able to blend in?" Kíli asked. His lips had acquired a tint of blue, and Tauriel wished she could have kissed them warm again. Instead, she leaned out far enough from behind the crate to survey a small portion of the wharf.

"There are all sorts of people here from what I can see. One Elf and one Dwarf should not stand out all that much." She turned back to Kíli and lifted her arm, water from her drenched tunic immediately dripping into a small puddle on the ground beside her. "A soaking wet Dwarf and Elf, however, might draw more curious gazes than we are comfortable with."

Kíli contemplated this for a moment. "Wait here," he then said, and, before Tauriel was able to stop him, disappeared around the side of the crate, crawling on all fours.

"Kíli!"

Her strained whisper yielded no reply. Her heart beating frantically against the base of her throat, she risked another glance towards the crowd of merchants and sailors. No one seemed to be moving in their direction, but that did not mean that they would be able to stay here indefinitely. Blasted Dwarves and their recklessness, she cursed silently, her fingernails digging into her palms in an effort to force herself to stay in place.

An anxious minute passed, then two, and just when Tauriel was on the verge of going after Kíli, he reappeared with a broad grin plastered across his face and his arms clutching an assortment of fabrics.

No, not just fabrics, Tauriel realized as he placed them on the ground at her feet. Clothes.

"Figured there had to be something to wear amidst all this junk," Kíli explained and lightly knocked against the crate at their backs. "Take your pick, milady."

Tauriel tried to look at least a little bit annoyed at the fact that he had just gone off on his own and left her to worry about him, but in the end she was too grateful for an opportunity to change out of her wet clothes to put a lot of conviction behind her frown. Her leggings and boots she kept, since they fit reasonably well and because she did not feel inclined to expose quite that much of herself in such a public place. She did, however, shrug out of her green tunic and replaced it with a maroon one from the selection Kíli had brought and added a light gray cloak over it, which came down to her knees and had the added benefit of a hood under which she would be able to conceal her distinctive hair.

Satisfied with her choice, she looked up and found Kíli studying her with indisputable heat in his gaze. She rolled her eyes and swatted at his chest, more to hide her own blush than to actually reprimand him. "Go on," she said, gesturing towards the pile of clothes. "Your turn."

His mind obviously elsewhere, Kíli picked up a blue tunic and pulled it over his head after discarding his old one. The first cloak he tried was far too long for him and would have been a tripping hazard rather than anything else. Which was a bit of a shame, since its midnight blue color suited him really well, so much so that this time, it was Tauriel who found her thoughts begin to wander to places not entirely appropriate given their current situation. Reminding herself that this was not about fashion but survival, Tauriel tugged on a brown patch of wool peeking out from under the pile of clothes and was happy to discover that it was in fact a cloak and one that would fit Kíli much better than the other one.

"Alright then." Kíli pulled the hood of his cloak as far into his face as it would go and peered around the crate. "What's next?"

Tauriel squeezed the water from the lengths of her hair before pulling up her own hood. The tangles would once again be a nightmare to comb out after their spontaneous swim, but if there was one thing she had given up during her captivity, then it was vanity about something as inconsequential as hair. Leaning over Kíli, she assessed what she could see of the port from there. "The cart we are supposed to stow away on will most likely be one which is normally used to transport goods to a market stall, and I do not see any of those here."

Kíli craned his neck. "What about over there?"

He was pointing towards the opposite end of the wharf, where the larger ships were docked. From the distance, all Tauriel could tell with certainty was that there were even more people milling about than on their end of the port. Their slow movement suggested that they might very well be visiting a market of some sort.

"It is worth a try."

She cast another cursory glance at the portion of the wharf surrounding them. After participating in the Harvest Hunt a mere few days ago, they were both more likely to be recognized than she would have preferred. There was nothing to be done about that, however. And they had Kíli to thank for at least a little bit of a disguise, so there wasn't really anything that seemed worth waiting for.

Nodding to Kíli, she made her way out from behind the crates, straightening up as casually as if she had merely been tying her shoelaces. At a brisk walk, she set out down the length of the wharf, half her attention focused on listening to Kíli's steps behind her while searching for potential threats with her remaining senses.

Kíli had been right, there really was a market set up on the other end of the wharf, traders displaying their offerings to those who were about to embark on a sea journey (or just returning from one) on barrels, small tables or directly off the backs of their carts. Most of those offerings were edibles, their clashing scents nearly causing Tauriel's already nervous stomach to turn. She forced a slow, controlled exhale and tried her best to blend in with the potential customers as she scanned the improvised stalls for a cart with a green tarp and the symbol of a sun painted on it while pretending to look at the goods on sale.

The market was crowded enough that Kíli was able to slide his hand into hers without drawing attention. His touch soothed her high strung nerves and, judging by the way his fingers squeezed hers to a point where they were beginning to grow slightly numb, was needed by him just as much. It was through this link by touch that Tauriel knew something was not right before Kíli had even had time for a muttered warning.

"We've got some admirers."

And indeed, a group of young men had gathered in front of a stall selling some sort of particularly foul smelling pickled fish, their heads turned towards Kíli and Tauriel. One of the lads was outright pointing at the two of them, speaking to his companions in urgent tones while they looked on in varying stages of disbelief and curiosity.

Now it was Tauriel's turn to squeeze Kili's fingers within an inch of breaking them. "We need to get out of their sight. Now."

Kíli took charge then, pulling her into a dense throng of people clustered in front of a vendor who praised the elixir he was selling as the ultimate cure for seasickness. They wove their way deep into the crowd, Tauriel's grip on Kíli's hand iron while she kept glancing over her shoulder to assess whether they were being followed. Stumbling out of the crowd on the other side, they immediately ducked behind yet another stack of crates, both of them breathing hard by now.

Inching forward in an awkward half crouch, they ventured forth into the maze of goods until they felt secure enough to stop and catch their breath. Tauriel leaned against a large wooden wheel and stretched her aching legs out in front of herself while she ran through their current options inside her head. Kíli was on the ground beside her, his head tilted back as he watched the clouds drift by in the sky above. Dusty pink had turned into a pale blue, morning having caught up with them at last. Nesrin had not specified how long their ally would wait for them, but surely it would not be indefinitely.

"We need to find that wagon," she said, more to herself than to Kíli. It was not as if he didn't know that already. "But if we cannot move through the market freely, I have no idea how we are supposed to do that."

It was frustrating. They were so close, and yet there seemed to be neither a way forward nor one back. They were stuck. In a bout of anger Tauriel was not proud of, she knocked her head against the wheel at her back, as if that might jostle her trapped thoughts into revealing the right path to her.

Kíli tore his eyes away from the sky at her small outburst and caught her gaze. He opened his mouth to speak, but then his eyes skittered away from hers to the wheel behind her and upwards from there. He quirked an eyebrow. "The answer to our little problem might be a lot closer than you think."

That could not be—

But indeed, as Tauriel whipped her head around to look—really look—at the structure they had both been leaning against, she saw that it was a wooden cart, the edges of a green covering peeking over the back. And there, just above the wheel Tauriel had been sitting in front of, a palm-sized sun had been carved into the wood, the sharp edges of the carving suggesting that it had been done more recently.

Her breath caught in her throat, Tauriel's eyes immediately went to the seat at the front of the cart. It was currently unoccupied and the two ponies tied to the cart were munching peacefully on a couple of carrots which whoever was supposed to be driving it must have left behind.

"So we just get on?"

Kíli's breath tickled her neck from where he had leaned forward to be able to get a look at the front of the cart as well.

"I suppose we do." Tauriel sat back on her haunches, looking up at the cart again. It had to be the right one; there was no way that another, random cart could match Nesrin's description quite so accurately. And still. . . "If his is somehow a big misunderstanding, we might be about to deliver ourselves unto the hands of a complete stranger who knows nothing of escape plans and might be less than inclined to help us."

"We don't have much of a choice, though, do we? If we wait around to see who climbs onto that seat up there, Nesrin's whole plan will be endangered. Not even to speak of the poor sod who somehow got roped into helping two captives escape."

Kíli was right, of course. This was not the time to start second guessing the whole scheme. Besides, Tauriel trusted Nesrin. She nodded to herself. "Fine, then. We'll get on."

Together they made their way to the back of the cart, where Kíli lifted the tarp for Tauriel to crawl underneath while he kept an eye out for any potential witnesses. Under the tarp the air was warm and close, but, thankfully, devoid of the smell of dead fish. Being confined to the cart of a fishmonger for an indefinite period of time was an experience Tauriel could definitely do without. As it was, there were currently no goods on the cart and merely a thin layer of straw covered the floor. With not many other options available, Tauriel stretched out on top of it.

Kíli joined her a few seconds later. For a while, their breaths sounded loud in the confined darkness. Once her heartbeat had slowed down to its normal pace, Tauriel turned onto her side, facing Kíli. The tarp did not allow much light to pass and she could only make out his general features in the murky gray which remained. She wished she could have seen his eyes.

He was mirroring her position, his head pillowed on his right arm. His other hand came to rest lightly on her hip and he gave a gentle squeeze. "Nothing left to do but wait, I suppose."

So wait they did. . Without the sun as her aide and nothing to do except stare into the darkness, it seemed as if they were stuck on the back of that wagon for a long time without any significant changes around them. At each excited shout, Tauriel flinched, fear that this would be when they were discovered slicing through her gut. But nothing ever happened; the tarp covering them remained undisturbed and no approaching footsteps were to be heard. Kíli was quiet, and Tauriel almost thought he might have drifted off to sleep by the time heavy boots thumped up the ladder on the side of the cart.

Kíli's fingers dug into the soft flesh just above her hipbone as the ponies gave a soft whinny and the cart lurched into motion. Not asleep then, but just as tense with anticipation as she felt herself. Their progress was slow at first, which Tauriel ascribed to the cluster of people and market stalls which whoever was driving the cart would need to navigate in order to leave the harbor. Once they gained in speed, she risked pulling back the tarp just above her head to create a tiny sliver though which she might attempt a peek at their conductor. All she could see over the rim of the cart, however, was the back of a brown hood. She let the tarp fall back to its original position. There was nothing she could see from here that was worth the risk of being discovered.

The ride turned rather rocky soon after, and Tauriel guessed that they must be traveling through the narrow, cobbled streets of Riavod now. This went on for long enough that she started to have some serious concerns over how much longer she would be able to hold onto the meager late supper they had shared back in their cells. Just when the impulse to pull back the tarp once more just to see a fragment of the sky (or anything else, other than the darkness surrounding her) became almost impossible to resist, they stopped for a moment while somewhere ahead of them, the sound of a gate being opened could be heard. Even before the panic that they were being taken into a trap had time to settle in properly, they were moving again, but only for a few yards. Then the cart stopped for good and whatever gate had been opened before groaned ominously as it was closed again. They were somewhere inside.

Out in the streets, only a small amount of daylight had filtered through the tarp covering their bodies. Now, they were enveloped in blackness. Tauriel wished she had a weapon, a small knife, at least, or even a nice, heavy rock she might launch at an aggressor to defend herself. As it was, her empty hands clenched into fists in the split second before the tarp was suddenly yanked away.

Cool, slightly musty air greeted her. A lamp was dangling from a wooden beam above their heads, casting a weak orange glow over the interior of what had to be a barn or a warehouse of some sort. Even in the low light, she immediately recognized the face of the person who was leaning over the side of the cart, clutching the tarp in one hand, a vaguely amused expression on his face.

"Ruari!"