Gwin gets stuck doing a very unpleasant job. Read on to find out what it is!

Chapter 112

I woke several hours later, but there was no telling time in this place, so it was impossible to tell if it was day or night. Candaith was shifting restlessly in his sleep, so I softly sang a lullaby my mother had always sung to us before sleep. It seemed to calm him, and his breath evened out as his face relaxed. It made me smile ruefully to see it, for I knew it would be gone once he woke.

Carefully sitting up, I drank a tiny sip of water from my waterskin and quietly made my way over to the other side of the cell, closest to Lothrandir. At first, I could not tell if he was breathing, and I felt my heart squeeze in worry. However, looking more closely revealed he still lived, although his chest moved up and down more shallowly than I was comfortable with. Suddenly, I remembered I had an athelas potion in my pack; would I be able to throw it to Lothrandir through the bars of the other cell? Luckily it was in a soft container, so there was no chance of it breaking if it hit something.

As if he knew I was considering waking him, Lothrandir moaned softly as he sat up, running a hand through his tangled, dark hair. He seemed to sense my gaze, for his bleary eyes met mine a moment later. I held up the potion, and he put his hands through the bars and caught it when I tossed it to him. I smiled and motioned he should drink it, and he did so with a nod of thanks. I hoped it would help with some of his injuries, although if they were not dressed with clean linen, he could still face infection. The potion helped stave it off, and would give him some more energy.

I was getting hungry, and briefly debated eating some of what we had in our packs, but decided against it. When we escaped, we would need provisions with us, and if we went through them all now, we would be in trouble. I found it strange they had left us with all of our belongings and weapons; did all of the prisoners have such things? It was as if Saruman was daring us to try and escape…it made me feel even less confident than I already was, and it rankled me that I still hadn't come up with a plan.

To be fair, we had only been here a short time, and I had not seen most of the caverns. Candaith and I, and Lothrandir in a smaller part, needed to put all the pieces together of the layout so we could figure out the best path to the exit. The main road went there directly, but it would be closely watched and busy with foot traffic. All of us, including Mair and whoever else we could manage to get out of here, would need to use other, more secret ways, with much stealth required.

My mind kept drifting towards Morflak's strange words; I had not seen him since he brought me here; how could I gain his trust when we weren't interacting? Perhaps word of mouth from the others of my good behavior would be enough?

A short time later, I felt Candaith's arms come around me as I stood looking out from our cell, and he dropped a kiss on my neck. "How did you sleep?"

Holding in a sigh, I turned around and kissed him properly, "Well enough; I had a nice pillow to use." His lips quirked up in a small smile at my playful response. "I am sorry I could not reciprocate."

"Ah, I think my body would be too heavy for you, meleth nin," he said with a smirk.

As much as part of me wanted to continue on with this flirtatious conversation, I knew we might not have much time to talk before our overseers showed up to take us to our various tasks. I ran a hand through his hair and told him about how I had given the athelas potion to Lothrandir. "I hope it helps; I wish I could get closer to see him for myself."

"Perhaps you will get the opportunity at some point," Candaith replied with a shrug.

The disgusting gruel appeared, and the two of us choked it down with a grimace. "Well, this might be only slightly worse than Radanir's cooking," Candaith said wryly, wiping his mouth.

I raised an eyebrow, "I have not had the…pleasure of his cooking, and it seems I should avoid it if possible."

Candaith chuckled, "I was with Halbarad when he was beginning some of his training, and part of being out in the wild includes making food. Somehow the stew ended up with the completely wrong herbs and even some sticks were floating around in it; I nearly choked! It was completely inedible, but instead of feeling dejected by his failure, he became even more determined to succeed."

"And has he improved?" I asked.

"Alas, only a bit," Candaith replied with a smirk. "Luckily none of his…culinary creations have included sticks, although Saeradan caught him before he put poisonous mushrooms in the soup he was making. To be fair, they look very similar to the edible ones, but I may not be here today if it were not for Saeradan's quick thinking."

I leaned in to kiss him lightly, "I am glad you survived such peril." He winked, and I laughed softly.

A short time later, a Dunlending prisoner appeared to take our dirty pails away, and he was much older than the others I had seen yesterday. He paused at our cell, clearly considering something. I was about to inquire, when he leaned in close. "My name is Acca, and my cell is next to yours." He motioned with his head, and I realized I had not even noticed he was there before. "I wish to speak to you more once the day is done, if you would be agreeable to it."

Unsure where this was going, I nodded slowly and said, "Very well." With that, he inclined his head and kept moving along. "I wonder what that was about," I mused to Candaith, and his lips twisted in thought. "I guess we will find out."

Ulguth interrupted our conversation, "Morflak wants to see ye, she-elf," he grumbled, and I could not tell if he was angry or not. "I'm 'ere to bring ye to him."

Squaring my shoulders, I nodded. "See you later, meleth."

"If you feel lonely, I am always here." I held in a smile; I had forgotten about our connection yesterday, as busy as I was. Perhaps I would make use of it today.

Ulguth kept a steady pace, and I almost had to jog to keep up. We passed the kitchens and mess hall, and I caught sight of Mair struggling with the heavy cleaning pail. Ulguth seemed to sense my hesitation, "Ye got your own work to do, the lass will have to make it on her own." I felt uneasy; if Mair did not complete her tasks, she would likely be punished. However, she was also a bargaining chip Saruman was using to keep Lheu Brenin in check, so she might be spared any significant harm. I sent up a quick prayer for the Valar to watch over her, but I felt little hope that they would listen. In this place, everything seemed hopeless, and I had to fight against the urge to give into it.

Eventually, we ended up at the entrance to the barracks, and I was unsurprised to see Morflak standing there. He was very tall in comparison to the already tall Ulguth, towering over me with a smirk. "Hello again, she-elf," he said. "I've got an important job for you today." He nodded to the other Uruk, and he ambled away without a word.

After a pause, I realized he expected some sort of response from me. "What would you have me do?" I asked meekly, and the humble attitude seemed to amuse him.

"My brothers sleep in the barracks when they are not working, but there are not enough beds. We sleep in shifts: when one Uruk-hai wakes, another takes his place. There is no room for laziness! Any Uruk-hai who tries to stay in bed is likely to sleep forever...with a knife in his belly!" He laughed, and it took much effort not to cringe. "It is one thing to share quarters with my fellow warriors...but the rats have become a real nuisance, gnawing and biting. Thin them out some, little Elf, and be quiet about it! There will be warriors sleeping, and you don't want to wake them up." The last words were ominous, and it made a shiver run down my spine. "Don't worry so much!" Morflak added, slapping me on the back hard enough to make me stumble forward. He handed me a knife that didn't look very sharp. "You can use this to kill the rats…or if one of the Uruks bothers you, I'll look the other way, if you know what I mean." My eyes widened despite my best efforts, and he laughed again. "Now get to it; I'll be back in a couple of hours to see what you've killed." Then he strutted away, heading towards the mess hall.

I took a shuddering breath, trying to slow my racing heart. This would be dangerous. It would only be too easy to anger one of the Uruks by getting too close and bothering them, and where would that lead me? I believed Saruman wanted me alive, but he couldn't control the behaviors of every Uruk and orc in this place. They were volatile, and found amusement in hurting or killing others, even their own kind. Perhaps if they knew I was trying to make their sleeping areas more comfortable, they would leave me be.

"Gwin? Why are you so full of fear?" Candaith asked, clearly concerned. "Where are you?"

"In the barracks, killing some rats." I eyed the long knife in my hand. At least I would have it to defend myself, should I need to. "Well, I am about to start doing so, in a moment." I had already spotted one tip-toeing near the first bunk bed in front of me. Luckily, no Uruks were sleeping in it. How was I going to be fast enough to kill the rats before they started running again? I could walk silently, but the ground was not even, and there was lots of clutter lying around. Should I throw it? If the knife had been more dagger-sized, it would be easier…alas, it was too long for that.

"Be careful," he said unnecessarily. If I wasn't careful, I would probably end up dead.

I had no intention of dying today.

Using all the skills of stealth I had learned in my life, I crept closer and closer. When I was only a foot away, I shot my arm out and the knife came down, straight through the body of the rat I was stalking. It squeaked for a moment, and then died. I felt bad about killing an innocent creature, but if I wanted to avoid my own death, there was no other way. I collected it in a bucket, wrapping a cloth around my hand so I did not have to touch it directly.

I carefully kept creeping further into the barracks, avoiding the occupied beds as much as I could, and initially keeping my attention on the rats under the empty beds. There were a few misses, as I was no expert at killing these creatures, but I managed to kill ten of them before I realized I would need to approach a bunk bed with two Uruks sleeping. I felt some exhaustion in my spirit, and wondered if it was Candaith's, or my own. I worried he was doing a difficult task, and could only hope he got through this day without injury.

"Wish me luck, meleth," I 'said', knowing I needed all I could get.

'Good luck, and be careful."

"You already said to be careful," I rolled my eyes. "But thank you, I will do my best."

I could spot a rat standing still as it was nibbling on some bread crumbs, underneath the snoring form of the Uruk. Hoping the sound of my heart pounding wasn't as loud as it seemed, I crouched down and lunged, landing with an 'oof' when I barely missed. The rat squeaked angrily as it scampered away, and there was a disgruntled grunt above my head. I slid under the bed right before the Uruk threw his legs over to sit up. "Who's there?" he mumbled, but seemed half asleep. I held my breath, and eventually he laid back down and started snoring. I let the air out slowly, barely preventing myself from sneezing due to the dust which had gathered. After a short time, I quietly slid out from beneath the bed, and cast my eyes around for another rat. I had no idea how long it had been, but it felt like ages. Hopefully Morflak would be back soon.

More rats met their ends, and I found it worked well to step on their tails to keep them in place before quickly driving my knife down. I noticed my bucket was almost full, and nearly gagged at the sight of the dead creatures; their lifeless eyes seemed to gaze up at me in betrayal. I had reached the very deepest part of the barracks, and turned around uneasily to note I could no longer see the entrance. I took care of a rat right next to me, and as I stood up and turned to make my way back up the road, two Uruk-hai were blocking my way. "Where you going, she-elf?" one of them asked.

Standing tall despite my fear, I said, "Looking for more rats to kill." I held up my bloody knife, which made it look wicked. "Trying to clean up your barracks, by order of Morflak."

"Morflak?" the smaller of the two asked. "He ordered this?" He looked nervous.

The other one grunted irritably. "That's what she just said, isn't it?"

"Well…yeah, I guess," the smaller one grumbled. Trying to brush off his discomfort, he smirked, "You look in need of a break."

Despite the nonchalance of his tone, it made me uncomfortable. "I am fine. Now, if you will let me continue with my work-" I made to go past him, but he grasped my arm firmly. "Let me go." I was proud of the evenness of my tone, while inside I was trying not to panic.

"No, I don't think I will," he replied with a laugh, and the other Uruk joined in. "Why not…relax a little? I bet Morflak doesn't come looking for you for a while." He was steering me over towards one of the crude beds, and my eyes widened. I was not going to let this happen, and I pushed aside the flashes of my assault in the Lone Lands as I focused. Looking like I was acquiescing meekly, the Uruk lessened his grip. This was all I needed to break free, and I elbowed him in the face, and felt his nose break as he fell to the ground. I ducked as the other Uruk went to grab me, and drove the knife into his thigh. He roared in pain, and I grabbed the bucket of rats and ran as fast as I could, needing it as evidence to prove I had done what Morflak had asked. Some of the sleeping Uruks were blinking at me stupidly, still groggy from sleep as I flew past.

I saw with some relief that Morflak was making his way towards me, either due to the commotion or simply because he decided it was time to fetch me. "Why you running so fast?" he asked. "Looks like you got plenty of rats; maybe tonight I won't be gnawed half to pieces by the rotten things."

"Got jumped by…by some of the Uruks," I gasped, trying to catch my breath. "Had to run for it."

Morflak raised an eyebrow…well, the skin where an eyebrow would be, if he had one. "Good on you for getting away. Let's see if they followed you."

Sure enough, both of the Uruks were staggering towards me, and did not seem to notice Morflak right away, as their yellow eyes were glaring at me. "You don't get to knife me and get away with it, she-elf!" the one with the leg wound growled. He went to make a lunge for me, but ran into Morflak instead, who had stepped in front of me. It sent the injured Uruk crashing to the ground, and some of the Uruks who had come to see the commotion laughed.

"She got away from you useless lugs," Morflak said with some amusement, and some disgust. "Get out of my sight, before I report you to Sharkû. This one is off-limits."

"How were we supposed to know that?" the one with the broken nose whined, voice muffled due to his injury.

Morflak's eyes hardened. "He told us himself yesterday. I know you were there, Ghashuk." He took the knife from my hand. "You question me one more time, and you'll find yourself like one of the rats in this bucket!" The others seemed intimidated by Morflak, for good reason, and shuffled away from me, back to where they had come from.

"Thanks," I muttered, keeping my eyes lowered. I never thought I would be thanking a Uruk for saving my life, and it made me feel uncomfortable.

"I just do as I'm told, she-elf," Morflak replied. "And so do you." He eyed me up speculatively, and I couldn't tell what he was thinking. "Leave the bucket here. I've got another job for you."

Whew, that was a close one! Luckily, despite how scary and dangerous her task was, Gwin is trying to get on Morflak's good side. By doing what he asked, it could possibly help somehow in her efforts to get more leniency, and perhaps more freedom to move around. We'll see if it does what she hopes! Thanks for reading, and leave a review!