Beta: As always, the wonderfully patient Anarithilien.

So many thanks to those still reading and especially to freddie, Nako, Kim (so lovely to hear from you!) and Alanic, raider-K, firerosedreamer and earthdragon (sorry for everything that's going to happen) and nimruzir. Thank you for keeping reviewing- you keep me posting here. You were all so patient with no Legolas in the last chapter that you have lots in this chapter!

Chapter 15: The Three Hunters

Elrohir was still staring down the long road they had already travelled- the whisper echoing in his mind.

He was suddenly filled with dread and pulled Barahkir to a standstill, his long black mane pulled by the same wind that blew back Elrohir's own high tail of raven-black hair.

We are Nine….

Ravéyön.

'What are you doing?' Elladan shouted, driving Baraghur in front of his brother. The two horses nipped at each other uncharacteristically. 'Elrohir!'

Elrohir blinked slowly. Fear settled upon him now like carrion and gnawed at his gut. 'I heard…I thought…'

'What?' Elladan quietened now, and smoothed Baraghur's glossy neck. 'Elrohir?'

But Elrohir stared back across the Eastfold, along the shining river towards Minas Tirith. His eyes were wide and the pupils blown wide.

Gently, Elladan leaned across and stroked his hand over Elrohir's arm. 'What is it? What do you feel?'

Elrohir turned his head towards Elladan slowly. He blinked once and shook his head. 'I do not know…I thought…I heard…' Barakhir snorted and tossed his head, skittered sideways so that Elrohir had to shift and hold the reins in one hand.

'An echo of the Nazgûl…a whisper…'

Elladan eased Baghur close to Barakhir so both horses stilled, he soothed them with a spread of calm over the air, let it permeate so that it settled too upon Elrohir. He sighed.

'They are gone,' said Elladan. 'We saw them. Angmar was vanquished upon the Pelennor Field, Khamûl and his brethren were sucked into the Void. How could you hear them? It is surely a lingering of the Black Web perchance?'

Elrohir looked down, turning inwards and saw how there was still a slick of darkness in his blood, though the threads had been incinerated. He shook his head slightly as if to rid himself of the cobweb of dreams.

Elladan reached over and pressed his warm hand upon Elrohir's.

Mountains edged along the Eastfold, the Ered Nimrais behind them and the Hithaeglir ahead of them. Sunlight on the snow, frost in the air. Elrohir breathed in and let it cleanse him.

Elladan let out a shout of challenge and urged Baraghur onwards so his feet kicked up the turf. Barakhir snorted and pulled and Elrohir gave him his head. The Sons of Thunder charged through the Entwash, the sunlight sparkling through the splashing water as they cantered through the ford and surged up onto the dry banks and into the East Emmet towards Lothlorien and all that they had worked towards for so many years.

0o0o0o

Legolas leaned over the parapet of the city walls, wind through his long, long hair, yearning towards the Sea. It had him. He had never understood when in Imladris, others had spoken of the Way West, for so few from his home travelled over the sea.

But the other yearning in his heart was for Elrohir, and whilst he did not sail, nor would Legolas. Elrohir grounded him. Only a week had Elrohir been gone and already he pined.

He laughed softly at the very notion of the passionate storm that was his lover as grounding him in Middle Earth.

He was looking for Gimli when the gulls had passed overhead, he remembered, and pushed away from the wall. With surprise he saw that it was already evening and over the Pelennor Fields, long shadows reached towards the city.

By now the Dwarf would be back in the house that Aragorn had given the Fellowship, he thought. It was a comfortable house of sufficient size for them all, with nice gardens and trees. Legolas wondered if Aragorn was lonely up in the palace of the Stewards on his own with his councillors and nobles, and those high ceilings and crowded council chambers. For it was not like his own father's palace with its small chambers and homely kitchen, the apartments and pools and the river rushing through it. That was more like the woods than the Steward's palace of pale stone and smooth marble floors.

As he dropped from the city walls into one of the quieter city squares, empty at this time before evening when most folk were eating, he saw a familiar figure sitting on some shallow steps beneath the city walls. It was one of the Men who had accompanied Legolas into Minas Morgul.

'Arduin,' he called softly. 'Well met!'

Arduin looked up and there was such desolation in his eyes it made Legolas pause. He had seen that before. In the Wood. On the Pelennor Field.

Loss. Bereavement.

When he saw it was Legolas, Arduin scrambled to his feet and bowed. But Legolas shook his head in refusal of such abeyance. 'You do not need to bow to me, my friend,' he said. 'We are comrades.' Then he bent his head to look at the Man more closely and in concern. 'What has happened?'

Arduin pressed his lips together for a moment and looked down, blinking hard. Legolas leaned forwards in concern. 'It is Ioralas. You remember him? He came with us into Minas Morgul.'

Legolas nodded. Of course, that was the Man who had comforted Arduin when he had been scared of going into the ancient, haunted city. 'Yes. I remember him of course.'

'He has disappeared. Gone. And no one knows what has happened to him.' Arduin's voice splintered.

'Legolas stepped towards him and reached out. 'I am sorry. I …I would have come sooner had I known.' He paused for he might not have come. After all, he did not really know either of these Men. Then a little thought began to niggle away at him. 'What do you mean? He has disappeared? Does the King know?'

Arduin gave a strangled laugh. 'No one cares, my lord.'

Legolas blinked. 'Have you told the King?'

'My lord, the King will not listen to me, a mere lowly guard in his army.' Arduin glanced up suddenly. 'Forgive me my lord. I did not mean to speak so…Please do not report me.'

Legolas leaned down to peer at the Man, concern in his eyes. 'The King will not punish you for your concern for your friend.' He folded himself so he sank down beside the Man on the low step. The limestone was warm from the day's sun and a scent of early jasmine drifted from a garden nearby. 'Come. Tell me what happened.'

'He was supposed to have been on guard duty. In the Rath Dínen, my lord.' Arduin glanced up at Legolas as if he were expected to know the significance of this but Legolas did not and he did not wish to interrupt the Man at this moment so he stored that away to find out later. 'But he did not turn up. He left the barracks as usual but the sentry he was supposed to relieve said that he did not arrive. He has not been seen in any taverns, or any of his usual haunts. He has simply vanished.'

Arduin's chin was in his hands and his eyes downcast as he spoke. But Legolas listened intently. 'Has there been a search for him?'

'Only I have searched, my lord.' Arduin sighed heavily. 'Oh there was a cursory look round by some of the Tower Guard, but they only found that his clothes have gone and his belongings. They say he has deserted.'

Legolas winced at this; if all his belongings had disappeared, it seemed likely that Ioralas had indeed deserted. Although why he would do so now was a mystery. He glanced at Arduin and steeled himself, then said gently, 'Perhaps he has just gone home. Perhaps the War is finished and he just felt tired…It happens.'

'But he would not leave his old mother. She lives in the lower circles and only has him. He would not abandon her.' Arduin looked up at Legolas but his eyes were hopeless and despairing. 'He would not have gone without telling me.'

Arduin's mouth trembled and he looked down at his hands. 'We have been friends since our first day, lord. And then we were in the siege, and then following the King and…' His voice faltered and Legolas winced in empathy. It was not unlike his own story. 'We thought we would die and Ioralas said he could not bear it if he did not speak…'

Legolas swallowed. He had realised of course, when they walked into the shadow and fear of Minas Morgul. It was the tenderness with which Ioralas had cajoled Arduin into the Tower. It was the concern he showed at Arduin's fear.

'But my lord…Legolas,' Arduin corrected with a brief smile. 'It is one thing to declare yourself to your beloved before the Gates of the Morannon,' Arduin said in a low, anxious voice. 'It is another thing altogether in the City where the Laws are strong.'

Legolas frowned. Aragorn had said the same thing: love between two men would not be understood by the old families, those who were traditional, who held power. It was why he and Elrohir had been discrete, Legolas reminded himself, forgetting that what was discrete for a Woodelf was not quite the same for everyone else. And Elrohir had raged at the constraint for some time before Legolas reminded him that they only did so for Aragorn.

'You have not argued?' he asked Arduin very gently. 'Have things been strained or cool between you?' he added, thinking of how he and Elrohir argued and fought and how easy it would be for either of them to throw everything into a satchel and gallop away, gallop home. He tugged at his sleeve. What if Elrohir did not come back?

'No.' Arduin sounded so utterly miserable that Legolas pushed away his own fears and put his hand on Arduin's shoulder. He leaned in slightly, and half closed his eyes to listen.

Arduin's shoulders slumped under Legolas' hand, as if he gave up all pretence and allowed himself to show his fear and loss. 'We were going to finish this tour of duty and then go and set up a farm somewhere, bring along his old mum. We were going to the Lebinnin. We had saved…' Arduin's voice broke. 'He would not leave with never a word…Where would he go? Suppose he has fallen somewhere, or been attacked and is lying somewhere and no one knows…Suppose he is…'

Legolas leaned in and listened, letting the notes tease out on the wind, humming softly so there was a sense of the sunshine on the white limestone, rock flowers between the cracked pavement and gravelly soil, clear hard water, a smile, gentle hands tilling the soil….

Arduin gasped in surprise and stared at Legolas. Legolas noticed how bright blue were his eyes in his sun-weathered face. There were tears in his eyes but a different look now, not quite the despair of before.

'I will see what I can find out,' said Legolas, moved. 'I cannot believe either that he would simply leave and not tell you.' Legolas smiled kindly and Arduin's face was suddenly transformed. Tears gleamed in his eyes.

'Thank you my lord. Thank you!' He grasped Legolas' hands in his with deep gratitude. 'No one will listen to a simple solider like me but they will listen to you, the Lord Legolas of the North, hero of the War and…'

Legolas laughed, slightly embarrassed and shaking his head interrupted. 'I am naught but a simple solider too,' he said. 'But I do know Aragorn Elessar, King of Gondor and he has his uses.' He smiled. 'I will speak to him on your behalf.'

0o0o

He left Arduin at the square before the barracks. Lime trees surrounded it and in the centre was a fountain. The fountain had been repaired and water splashed companionably into the smooth basin below. There he took to the roofs as it was much quicker and he found himself a little lost in all those narrow alleys and winding streets.

Soon he stood on the sloping pink tiled roof of the house that Aragorn had given the Fellowship. He could hear through the open window below, the sound of Gimli's earth-rich voice and the hot tang of pipeweed drifted upwards. He found he quite liked the smell now; it meant fellowship to him now. The hobbits and Gimli, Aragorn. Gandalf even. He smiled to himself and thought himself fortunate indeed to have found such friends.

'I suppose I could bring more dwarves to build your city.' Gimli's voice was contented, and Legolas knew he was leaning back in a low, well-padded chair, his belly comfortably full and a pipe of Longbottom Leaf smouldering quietly. And it meant Aragorn was there too.

In the garden below Legolas could hear the hobbits' quiet chatter. Merry laughed loudly at something and Pippin's voice raised in protest.

Legolas sat on the edge of the roof, dangling his long legs over the edge and leaned his elbows on his knees and his chin in his cupped hands and thought.

Ioralas was in the Rath Dinnen, he remembered, but he did not know what that was or why a guard was needed there. Perhaps it was somewhere on the city walls, he thought. But Aragorn would know and Aragorn was just …here.

He landed lightly on the window sill and stepped through the open window onto the pale oak floorboards.

There was a stifled curse, a crash and the sound of glass breaking, axe clattering on the wooden floor.

'Legolas! By Durin's Beard and Mahal's balls! One day I will have your head off before I see you!'

Legolas blinked. 'What have I done to offend you, Gimli?' he asked wide-eyed, wondering what on earth had startled the dwarf so badly. 'What has happened?'

'YOU have happened!' Gimli shouted, scooping up the bits of glass and seizing a bit of lace that was on a table nearby. Gimli mopped up the spilt beer with the lace, cursing loudly.

Suddenly there was the sound of scampering feet and the hobbits burst through the door all at once, swords drawn and falling over themselves.

'What is it?' demanded Sam loudly, standing in front of the others and his eyes were defiant, fiery.

Legolas took a step back, holding up his hands appeasing. 'I know nothing, Samwise. But please, put down the sword.'

Sam blinked as if he were coming out of a dream and stared at the sword in his hand. He took a deep breath and turned to Frodo who stood behind him. 'I am sorry, Legolas. I…We…we thought Aragorn was being attacked.'

'We heard a crash and then Gimli's axe…'

'And breaking glass…'

'And Gimli swearing…' said Merry and Pippin at the same time.

Aragorn had not moved, he had not even taken his pipe from his mouth. He was watching them all with a look of deep, wry amusement.

'Legolas came through the window,' he said, eyes fixed upon the hobbits. Then he glanced at Gimli. 'He must have knocked over Gimli's beer.'

'I did no such thing!' Legolas protested and Gimli grinned and Aragorn lifted an eyebrow.

'But I thank you for your quick defence of me,' Aragorn said over Legolas' protests. 'I feel very well protected knowing that I have such valiant guards.' He rose to his feet and with a smile and bow, he ushered the hobbits out of the room, assuring them that he could manage Legolas and Gimli quite well but thank you.

Legolas was sitting in Aragorn's chair when he turned back, his long legs crossed and Aragorn's wine cup dangling from his hand. It was empty.

'That's what you get for taking the dwarf's side over mine,' Legolas said insouciantly and tossed the empty cup to Aragorn. 'And don't start thinking you're King when you're with us,' he added just in case.

Gimli was still muttering so Legolas took the pieces of the broken glass from him gently and as he did so, looked into the dwarf's earth-brown eyes and smiled. 'Was ever a dwarf so loved, Belasen,' he murmured.

Gimli scowled at him. 'Was ever an elf more irritating?'

Legolas disposed of the broken beer glass, wrapping it carefully in the beer-soaked lace and placed it in the coal bucket. Aragorn shook his head as he did so but Legolas ignored him for he needed to ask Aragorn serious questions.

'Aragorn, where is the Rath Dínen?' he asked without further ado.

Aragorn frowned. His pipe had gone out. 'It is the Silent Street that leads to the Hallows,' he said, striking a flame and holding it to his pipe. He sucked on the stem to light the pipeweed. It flared suddenly, casting an orange glow on his face and then lit. He leaned back and looked at Legolas. 'It is where the tombs of the Kings are. Why do you want to know that?' he asked curiously.

Legolas was puzzled. 'A Man has gone missing and he was supposed to be in this Rath Dínen.'

Aragorn looked up. 'Missing?'

'He was supposed to be on guard duty there,' Legolas explained. 'Why do you have a sentry in your tombs? Surely you do not fear desecration of Denethor's tomb?' he asked, for he could think of no reason why guards would be posted over dead men.

Aragorn twitched a little. Then he pressed his lips together as if thinking. 'Well I suppose it does not hurt that you two know. It is that Mirror that Gandalf brought back from Minas Morgul,' he said. 'He wanted somewhere secret and safe for it. I suggested the vaults but he felt there were too many reasons for household staff to be in there especially with the coronation and then the wedding. No one has reason to go to the Rath Dínen and it is easy to guard the way.' He fiddled with his pipe. 'This man…did he abandon his post? I have thought it might be a frightening posting and asked that only the bravest be posted there.'

Legolas frowned. An uneasy feeling crept down his spine.

'You set a Man to guard the Dead?' Gimli shivered. 'I will never forget the Dimholt and passing through the Mountain. Even a dwarf's blood ran cold. How much more a poor Man!'

Aragorn tapped his fingers on the arm of his chair irritably. 'He was not alone, Gimli. They were in pairs so anyone who disappeared must have done so after he was relieved.'

Legolas leapt to his feet. 'Then I must speak with the Man he was on duty with. Surely he will know what has happened?'

'Sit down, Legolas,' Aragorn said patiently. 'Do you think they will speak to you? Look at you. And elf, a hero of the War. The King's companion.' He smiled and pushed himself to his feet. 'And besides, anyone worth speaking to will be in a tavern and you do not like taverns.'

'Not true. I love taverns,' Legolas lied quickly and then added, 'Well if they will not speak to me, they will certainly not speak to Elessar, King of Many Names!'

'No. But they will speak to Strider, who came with the King's Men and is a nobody.' Aragorn grinned and rose to his feet. Only then did Legolas see that he wore not his crimson robe, but the scruffy tunic and hose that he had worn in the Wild. Cleaned and mended it was true.

'I cannot believe you have kept those,' Legolas said wryly. 'And I do not think Arwen will let you keep them.'

'Actually she likes them,' Aragorn said, a little shyly.

Gimli snorted. 'You'll not be thinking of going into any taverns on your own, laddie. I'll be coming with you.'

'Oh well that's discrete!' cried Legolas. 'A Ranger and a dwarf. How inconspicuous. No one will ever guess! You may as well take the hobbits and Gandalf!'

At last Aragorn persuaded both that he should go alone and they could wait outside, Gimli hidden amongst the rubble and Legolas at the window in case there was trouble. And there was no question that all three felt a joy in the thrill of it, the frisson of danger.

'The Three Hunters again.' Aragorn smiled and the weight of kingship slipped from his shoulders for a while.

0o0o0o