Disclaimer: See default chapter

Chapter 9

Words of despair

Up and down. Up and down. One foot at a time. Left. Right. Left. Right. He vaguely heard voices somewhere around him, but he paid no mind. He had to get to King Thranduil.

"Jorell!"

He jerked as someone called his name and suddenly his legs gave way, but instead of landing on the hard ground, as he would expect, someone was holding him. He struggled to get up. He had to get to King Thranduil. He had to.

A flask of water was suddenly at his lips and he drank thirstily, finding his voice, he spoke. "Prince Legolas has been captured. I must get to King Thranduil." He gasped out weakly, still trying to get back to his feet.

His horse had died after the first day of pushing it past its limits. And Jorell had been forced to run for most of the way, careful of not attracting any attention from anything. Overall he had made good time, making it back to the palace in four days on foot rather than the three it would have taken had he not pushed the horse too far.

After a while, he was helped back to his feet and placed on a horse and rushed back to the palace to give the full message to King Thranduil about his son.

*~*~*

My dearest Lothgil,

     My heart longs to see you again, but since it will be a while, I just close my eyes and picture you. I can so clearly see your beautiful hair gently blowing in the wind, and your eyes full of laughter. I can see your gentle lips beckoning me to come and claim them for my own. I can see your beautiful hands, clasping mine as your angelic voice whispers to me of your love.

     I long for the day I can claim you as my very own. But I know it will take a little while longer, my love. Until then I beg you to wait for me.

                                                   I remain forever yours,
                                                          Thorinell

Lothgil blushed, delighted at the letter, yet slightly embarrassed at the flowing contents. She had grown up with three older brothers, Loriel had married and left when Lothgil was still very young. She had grown up not really knowing to fully act as a princess. Sure she knew how to cook and clean, every female did, but she knew how to handle weapons better than a male. If a male began to flirt with her, she would get flustered and try and escape quickly, not really knowing how to respond.

Thorinell had changed that. He appreciated her knowledge of weapons and didn't try to use any of the 'romantic talk' when around her. Until now. His letters had gone from plain sense to flowery words that Lothgil often had to go the library and look up words to find out what they really meant.

She was beginning to think that someone else was writing them. She shook her head as she folded the letter and placed it in her desk. She still had yet to talk to ada about her love. It would be hard for him and she wanted to make sure that she would have his full utmost attention. She sighed, throwing herself back on the bed, letting her legs dangle carelessly.

Love, it was such a strange thing. A knock on her door brought her upright. "Princess Lothgil?"

"Yes?"

"You are needed in the kitchens."

Rolling her eyes, knowing that the cook was causing problems again, she stood and headed out the door.

*~*~*

"Mae Governan." Thalion bowed to the host of Eldar before him. Not only were Mithrandir, Lord Elrond, Lord Celeborn and Lady Galadriel there, but also several march wardens, including Haldir and his two brothers, Rumil and Orophan. Thalion was keenly aware of his shortcomings, he was tired, more tired that he truly cared to admit, but all he wanted and needed was his to see his beloved wife and ada, and then he could truly rest.

"Mae Governan." Lord Celeborn acknowledged. "For the benefit of the others, please state your name and your mission."

Thalion bowed. "I am Prince Thalion Thranduillion. I am the commander of all the southern patrols. I was ordered by King Thranduil to scout the area around Dol Guldur." He paused taking a deep breath. "In the process we lost four warriors and I sent one back to King Thranduil to make a report of our progress. The closer we were to Dol Guldur the more orcs, wargs and spiders we encountered. We were often forced to make arrows without tips, because we could not retrieve them." Thalion's jaw clenched, as he forced his sorrow down, keeping up his mask. "As we approached Dol Guldur, we saw three Ulaire."

Gasps were heard all over the large flet, murmurs broke out and it was a few minutes until Thalion could continue.

"We could not get close enough to identify them, but I am sure that one of them is Angmar."

More murmurs broke out; each shocked that the leader of the Nazgul would occupy Dol Guldur. Mithrandir shook his head as he stood. "This is much worse than we have anticipated." He said. "Saruman the White must be told immediately of this new evil."

"And what then?" Thalion interrupted, rather rudely. "Will he be able to stop them? Can he draw back the shadow?" Bitterness tinged his voice. "I doubt it." He said harshly.

Galadriel studied him as more murmurs broke out at Thalion's outburst. "It is unwise to lose hope in the middle of a battle Prince Thalion." She counseled quietly.

Thalion laughed bitterly, the sound grating on the fine elvish ears. "Hope? We have no hope. Hope has forsaken us. The evil draws upon us on every side, soon we will be trapped with no way out." He faced the most powerful elves on Middle Earth. "While you sit and council what you should do."

Instantly Haldir stood. "You tread on a very dangerous path Prince Thalion." He said quietly.

Thalion smiled, a smile full of bitterness, anger and pain. "I have seen more elves die in the last year than I have in the last century." He said quietly, his voice a near whisper. "Elves that should not have died." His hands clenched. "They died defending what they loved." He whirled to face the High Elves. "We have naught but our weapons to defend us!" He cried out.

"Tread carefully Prince." The words were spoken quietly in Thalion's ear. It was Mithrandir.

Thalion took a deep breath, forcing all emotion from his face. "We live and we die, while you sit and try to decide what to do." He turned and strode to the exit, then paused and turned around to face the seated elves again. And spoke with words far into the future than he knew. "There will come a day, when all hope is lost, that elves will give others hope. And then on that day, only two will decide, not twenty."

He gave a slight, sad smile then turned and disappeared from sight, intent on getting back home.

Elrond gave his mother in law a quizzical look. "I didn't realize he knew." He said simply.

Galadriel smiled. "He doesn't, he just guessed."

Celeborn shook his head. "He is too much like Thranduil." He smiled. "Remember the White Council? Thranduil left in a burst just like Thalion did."

Galadriel laughed lightly. "Indeed I do. Your kinsmen are rather hotheaded, my love."

Celeborn looked faintly amused. "Some of them anyway."

They all looked at Mithrandir as he approached. "Hot tempered and stubborn." He chuckled.

"Who?" Celeborn asked dryly. "Thalion or the rest of his family?"

*~*~*

Thalion strode to the guest flet and collapsed on the bed, his head was aching and he longed for a soothing hot bath. A knock sounded and Thalion immediately straightened.

"Enter."

It was Telos; he wore an amused look on his face. "Not many can yell at the most powerful elves in Middle Earth and get away with it."

Thalion groaned, burying his face into the pillows.

Telos laughed. "Peace Thalion, I haven't come to scold you." He waited 'til Thalion was sitting back up. "When do we leave?"

Thalion shook his head. "We need to rest up before we can leave. As much I would like to leave, we cannot."

Telos nodded. "A wise decision."

Thalion smiled. "No other choice." He massaged his shoulder blades.

"Ache?" Telos asked simply.

Thalion nodded.

Telos stood and rummaging around in Thalion's nearby pack he pulled out some oil, often used to oil bows. "Take off your shirt."

Thalion blinked rather surprised, but did as the older elf bid.

"Turn around." Rubbing oil on his hands, Telos was rather amused to see his commanding officer and prince obey like a little elfling. "What aches?"

"Neck and shoulders." Came the tired reply.

Placing his hands on Thalion's shoulders he could immediately sense the tenseness in Thalion's body. It was no surprise. They had all been on full alert for a little over a week now, and to rest was something they all had to try hard to find. A few of the healers had offered massages to their Mirkwood kin to help find some ease. When Telos has asked the warriors later, they had each replied that the massage had helped them relax, something that Thalion needed badly.

"You are too tense, Thalion." Telos teased lightly. "You need to lighten up."

For an answer he received a sigh.

There were several moments of quiet as Telos expertly rubbed away the tension and ache in Thalion's shoulders and neck.

"Hannon le." He whispered drowsily, and soon fell asleep as Telos wiped his hands on a towel.

Telos smiled at his prince then taking off his boots, pulled the covers up and quietly left his prince in a land of dreams.

*~*~*

Tourec glared at the bound elf. He was torn and tattered and looked hardly anything what he should have had he been getting full meals to eat. His hair was already starting to grow back much to Tourec's displeasure.

He had found out that if you took a piece of their dignity you also take a piece of their identity. Something that usually worked on most newly acquired slaves, but then again the elf wasn't part of the 'most'. Tourec never had an elf for a slave and had no idea why Govi would have given Siovan this priceless treasure.

"Sleep well slave?" He gloated. He could easily see the swollen hands, from the loss of blood.

The elf looked rather bored at the conversation, something that made Tourec very angry.

"As well as can be expected." The elf's words were toneless, proving Tourec right.

He backhanded the elf, his large rings on his fingers catching and tearing off a small piece of flesh right below the elf's lip. He still looked unfazed, as though they were talking about the weather.

"You are my slave from now on." Tourec announced haughtily.

"Says who." Legolas countered.

Tourec looked shocked at the words. "You dare speak to me!" He thundered. He snapped his fingers, immediately two guards scurried beside him. "Whip him 'til he screams." He commanded.

The guards quickly tore off the rest of Legolas' shirt, one pressing down on Legolas' head to get a better angle of his back. Effectively cutting off the rest of the circulation in Legolas' legs.

"Have fun." Tourec sneered then turned and walked away.

It was a pain filled morning and afternoon for Legolas. Many times the guards would stop because they would become so tired that they would have to trade places, or slap him back into consciousness. After the fifth time of Legolas falling unconscious, they guards decided they had had enough and one of them gave a high-pitched scream that brought Tourec running in.

"He screamed?" Tourec asked gleefully.

"Yes, my lord." The guards bowed.

"Very good." Tourec dismissed them. After they left Tourec stared at the unconscious bloodied elf. Even when he was fully unconscious, he still possessed an air of royalty about him. Not knowing any other elves, he luckily, assumed that all elves carried an air of royalty. Little did he know, that Legolas was truly royalty.

*~*~*

"King Thranduil!"

Thranduil looked up from the maps, startled at the cry. He shared a quick glance at Lomion who also looked startled.

The doors burst open and three guards, two holding another elf up and the third holding a sack, entered.

With a sinking feeling, Thranduil recognized the young elf as part of Legolas' patrol. He quickly went over to the elves and caught Jorell as he collapsed to the floor.

"My King." He gasped. "Legolas has been captured. Captain Adoril ordered me to bring you this message." He gestured to the sack, before he slid into blackness.

"Bring him to the healers." Thranduil ordered, his mind already on the message within the pack. He quickly unrolled the paper and began reading, vaguely aware of Lomion leaning over his shoulder to also read.

"To King Thranduil,
        With all urgent haste I write King Thranduil, to write and tell you that Legolas has been captured by a band of Easterlings. Three others were caught but were let loose on the impression that the three were royalty. Legolas claimed he was a bodyguard and is still within their grasp. As of you reading this letter, he was whipped, not too severely, but still whipped. We are guarding the camp but cannot do anything because of their superior force. Enclosed is a map showing our exact location, as of right this moment. I will leave elves if the Easterlings happen to travel, but they would only draw closer to the palace.
                                                        Awaiting your arrival,
                                                             Captain Adoril

Thranduil felt his breath leave him. His youngest child was a prisoner. Captured. He crumpled the message up, not really knowing what he was doing. That Easterling would pay, and pay dearly for even touching his son.

He stood abruptly. "Guards!" He bellowed, already gathering up maps to locate his son.

"Ada. I am coming with you."

Thranduil stopped, startled at the fierce words. He looked at Lomion and slowly nodded, seeing the resolve in Lomion's eyes.

"We will go together to rescue him." Thranduil said quietly.

Lomion's lips slid up in a smile. "Valar help those who captured him, because I will not."

Thranduil gave a bloodthirsty smile that made the guards around him shudder. "Nor I." He clasped Lomion's shoulder. "Nor I."

Reviewer Responses:

Daw the Minstrel: Yes, it has gone from bad to worse. Quite a few people asked why I cut his hair. Here is my explanation:

Here is a whaddyacallit an idiom I think. Jesus was crucified, right? Tortured, beaten, whipped, and spit on. Whoa what a second. Spit on? So? Who cares? Sure, while being beaten and whipped does hurt physically, but being spit on hurts mentally, emotionally. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never hurt me. Ha. Ha. Whoever thought up that one must have been deaf;-) So there is my explanation to why Legolas doesn't have much hair, but don't worry, it will grow back quickly.

:-) Does that work for you? Thanks for the review!

Aly: Yes, he is very honorable. But it is rather sad. He is going to be changed for the better, but as they say you can't change unless you go through something painful. :-) Thanks for the review! P.S. Don't worry about Jorell, Thranduil won't kill him. But he might kill Adoril! lol.

Nikara: Yes, I love your name:-) Thank you! Was is a Michael W. Smith song? I know I used Steven Curtis Chapman. Hmmmm, oh well. Glad you liked it anyway. I just bought the new Plus One cd. Exodus.  Very sweet cd. Look for some upcoming lyrics from them;-) Thanks for the review!

Thanks for the reviews and I hope if you are reading this that you like it! Please, don't hesitate to point out any errors, mistakes or what-not. If you hate it, let me know. If you love it, let me know. I don't care, just let me know! lol. Thanks!