Thank you so much to Bill the Pony for beta'ing this chapter for me, and to Leheara for all her help on this chapter as well.

Chapter Six

Elladan closed the door to his room and headed down the hallway to his twin’s room. He hoped Elrohir was doing better; he knew that there needed to be a change for the better soon.

As he walked, he saw Arwen coming down the hallway towards him, a frown on her face.

“I heard Ada telling Glorfindel he was not sure if Elrohir would make it through the night,” she told him sadly, a tear rolling down her cheek.

Elladan returned his sister’s frown. “’Ro must be doing better,” he assured her. “Ada would not have left his side otherwise.”

Arwen nodded and looked to the floor. “Was it really your arrow that hit him?”

Elladan nodded and swallowed hard. “But I did not shoot him, Arwen, I swear to it.”

Arwen forced a smile but Elladan could see the doubt in her eyes. Shaking his head with frustration, he stepped past her, not caring to talk to her anymore.

*****

Aragorn replaced the warm cloth on his brother’s forehead with a cool one and sighed. From across the bed, Legolas shifted in his chair.

“The bleeding seems to have stopped,” Legolas said, a trace of hope in his voice.

Aragorn nodded, grateful for that much. He recalled the long ride home the previous night with Elrohir in his arms. The ranger had feared his brother would not even survive the trip home, but now hours later he still lived; he still fought to hold on. If only now his fever would break.

Aragorn turned his head at the sound of the door opening to see Elladan walk into the room. The human was hit with a pang of guilt for suspecting the older twin. Before all this, Aragorn would have sworn that Elladan would never do anything to harm Elrohir. He had been witness to the twins’ close bond to each other ever since he could remember. But the ranger simply could not dismiss that the younger twin had been shot by the older’s arrow. Elladan had not asked what had happened, nor had he been surprised to learn his brother was hurt. What struck Aragorn above everything else was that Elladan had not gone on the scouting trip because he had been angry with his twin.

Elladan said nothing to Aragorn or Legolas as he pulled a chair up to the side of the bed. Aragorn glanced at Legolas, who was avoiding looking at the dark-haired elf. Aragorn saw a trace of guilt in the blond’s eyes as well, but he knew that Legolas was more suspicious than he himself was.

A noise from the window caught the attention of the three sitting by the bed. They all turned their heads at the same time. Aragorn saw a shadow standing on the balcony, with long hair wavering slightly in the wind. Because of the curtains Aragorn could only see a silhouette. The ranger knew it was an elf, but wondered who it was and why he or she was standing on Elrohir’s balcony.

Slowly the strange elf opened the door that led into the room and stepped inside, coming into view. The strange elf had straight, long ebony hair and piercing green eyes. An icy ran down Aragorn’s spine at the cold expression on his face.

Elladan was on his feet immediately, matching the stranger’s bone chilling glare. Aragorn looked to Legolas, who had also risen to his feet with an expression of anger on his face.

“What in Illuvitar are you doing here?” Elladan demanded, his tone icier than Aragorn had ever heard from him.

“So he still lives, does he?” the dark elf stated, turning his gaze to the unconscious elf in the bed. “I always knew he was stubborn but it appears I underestimated him.”

“So it was you,” Elladan concluded, mentally kicking himself. “Only you would wish my brother dead by my arrow.”

The dark elf just smirked. “It was a perfect set up, I must admit. Though I did not expect Lord Elrond to believe it. Now that was priceless. How did it feel, realizing your own father thought you might be guilty?”

Elladan’s blood boiled. “You made a grave mistake coming here,” he seethed. “You were lucky my father merely banished you last time, don’t think he will make that mistake again.”

The older twin then turned to his human brother. “Estel, go get Ada. Tell him Celedur is here. He will know who you mean.”

Aragorn only hesitated for a moment before leaving the room to fetch his father.

*********

Elrond hurried down the hallway to his son’s room, Glorfindel on his heels and Aragorn a few paces behind. The elf-lord entered to see Celedur standing near the door to the balcony, a smirk on his face. Elladan stood, looking furious, in the middle of the room, while Legolas, though still on his feet, remained by the bed.

“You know better than to be here,” Elrond spoke to Celedur, fury lacing his voice.

Celedur just smiled. “There is no punishment you can give to me worse than what I have already suffered. I know what awaits me and at this point, death is welcome. I embrace it. I have spent the last 500 years wandering Middle Earth alone. If it weren't for your twin sons, I would not have been alone!"

“Neither of them are responsible for what happened the day your brother died; and as for your exile you brought that upon yourself.”

Celedur’s eyes became even darker, if possible. “Was it fair for me to come back from that hunt without my brother, while they still had each other?”

“That is enough,” Elrond cut the dark elf off calmly. “Glorfindel, get the guards, have them place Celedur under arrest.”

“Elrond,” Legolas called as Glorfindel rushed out of the room. “Elrohir is bleeding again.”

Elrond dashed to his son’s side and with Legolas and Aragorn’s help began to unwrap the bandage wrapped tightly around the injured elf’s chest.

“Ada, can you not stop the bleeding?” Aragorn asked as he gently pulled the bandage from underneath his brother.

Elrond frowned as he applied more herbs to his son’s wound. “I have already stitched it and given him herbs to stop the bleeding. These should help, but the wound must stop bleeding itself.”

“He has lost so much blood,” Legolas commented. “He will die soon if it does not stop.”

“Where is he?” Glorfindel exclaimed, referring to Celedur, as he rushed back into the room, two guards behind him.

Elrond grabbed a fresh bandage and looked behind him to the balcony where Celedur had been standing. He was gone.

“Where is Elladan?” Aragorn wondered aloud, for the older twin was not in the room either.

“Valar,” Elrond muttered to himself. “Find them now!” he snapped to the guards, who immediately rushed out behind Glorfindel. Legolas followed them.

Elrond finished his ministrations and wrapped the new bandage around Elrohir’s chest. Then he sighed as he dipped the cloth that had been on his son’s head in cold water and placed it back on his head.

“We must break his fever,” Elrond told his human soon calmly, although his eyes betrayed the desperation he felt.

“Ada who is Celedur?” the ranger asked, his eyes on his injured brother.

The elf-lord sighed and took his son’s hand in his. “He was once a close friend of Elladan and Elrohir’s. He is only a few weeks older than they; they grew up together, and they received their warrior training together. Celedur had a younger brother, Orodun. The four of them were once best friends. They went out on a hunt one day about 500 years ago, much like the one the three of you went on, and encountered a band of orcs. Orodun took an arrow that was meant for Elladan. To the chest, actually.” Elrond frowned at the irony and glanced back down at Elrohir, whose deathly pale face was beaded with sweat. “He was dead before they could get back here. Celedur went insane after that and blamed the twins, especially Elladan. He vowed revenge and one night even almost killed Elladan. I took pity on him because of the loss he had suffered and spared him his life; I banished him from Rivendell and the other Elvish realms. It would appear I made a mistake in doing so.”

Silence fell over the room as Elrond picked up the herbs to put them away.

“It did not occur to you that he was behind this?” Aragorn questioned finally, when Elrond sat back down.

“I thought him dead a long time ago,” Elrond answered. “But he must have been planning this for a long time. Elladan did not even notice any of his arrows were missing.”

The human thought for a minute. “Ada, there is one thing that still troubles me,” he continued. “Elladan was not surprised to see Elrohir when we arrived this morning. He did not even ask us what had happened. It was as if he already knew.”

Elrond nodded. “I would guess he did already know. Estel, you know that the bond between the twins is deep but I am not sure you understand just how deep.” At the blank look he received, the elf-lord continued. “You have not been witness to this because it has not happened in nearly 300 years, but in extreme situations, the twins can feel each other’s pain. It was a bond that I shared with my twin brother, Elros, and it is not pleasant. Elladan and Elrohir have only experienced it a few times.”

“So Elladan could feel the pain that Elrohir was in?” the young human asked, his eyes wide.

Elrond nodded again. “It also happens with extreme emotional distress,” he explained. “Elrohir has been unconscious nearly the entire time but Elladan has not. I suspect that is why he has been so quiet.”

“Does their connection mean that if Elrohir dies then Elladan will as well?”

As this the elf-lord shook his head. “No. Elladan can feel Elrohir’s injury but he himself is not injured.” The elf looked at his foster son. “If Elrohir dies it will be grief that will kill Elladan. You and I both know that neither of them would want to live without the other. If I lose them both, it would be only you and Arwen to keep me from following. But let us hope we will not have to face that.”

Aragorn nodded his agreement. “Let us also hope that Elladan will forgive us for doubting him.”

TBC