Fan Fiction ❯ Tên Mûel ❯ Foul Play ( Chapter 17 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Title: Tên Mûel
Authors: Makiko Igami (makikoigami@yahoo.de) & My-chan (My-chan@gmx.de)
Archive: http://www.yaoi.rulestheweb.com
http://www.fire-angel.net/Seek%20Truth/ main.html
http://www.geocities.com/lirimaer8/index.html
http://www. mediaminer.org/fanfic/src.php?auth=58906
http://fanfiction.alansworld.c om/viewuser.php?uid=74
http://adultfan.nexcess.net/aff/authors.php?no=2 588
Legolas In Chains Archive
ALSlash Archive
Library of Moria, too
Category: AU, RPG
Rating: this chapter... PG-13? May go up again soon...
Pairings: Aragorn/Legolas, Elrohir/Elladan, OC/Arwen
Warnings: Slash, OOC (of Arwen mostly), slavery, angst...
Spoilers: A few... not really as I don't remember much of the book, just that Aragorn became King of Gondor in the end and that Arwen was his Queen.
Summary: After seven years of marriage, the excitement of being together has vanished from Aragorn's and Arwen's marriage... maybe a present might change this.
Disclaimer: You know the deal don't you? J.R.R. Tolkien invented them, and if we owned them, we would be related to him, but since neither I nor My-chan are... we just play around with them, toy with their minds and use them for fun only. <insert evil laughter here>
Notes&Comments: This was written by me and My-chan as a rpg and ever since Pretending And Being, a wild mix of German and English, we have this nearly "exhibitionistic" need for feedback from various places. ^^;; So please be gentle.
Now on to the story itself. I know that this may look like a serious Arwen-bashing story, but please be reassured that we don't mean to cause any harm to anybody who likes her. She is just for causes of story-telling such a bitch here. ^^;
The Sindarin we used (and transformed for ourselves) comes from a little program called Dragon Flame (which I always think that it is this game I don't want to play unless I know I am on my own), but since it didn't have all the words we needed, we had to make them up. If you have any questions feel free to send an email to any of us... and hope that we still know what we wanted to say. ^^;;;;
________________________________________________________________ _______

After they had spent some much needed time to recover in front of the King's chambers, Elladan and Elrohir decided that they had had enough excitement for one day. Nursing their aching ears and bodies, they chose that the garden would be good to spend the rest of the day in. So they made their way downstairs and outside into the green sanctuary of Minas Tirith where they soon found a nice little spot to sit down.

They spent a couple of hours just sitting or - in Elladan's case - lying there, enjoying the beautiful flowers and bushes. The sun was already setting and the feeling of their bodies was pretty much back to normal when the younger twin yawned lowly and nudged his brother gently.

"Darlin... I'm bored..."

Elrohir had leaned against the thick trunk of an old and proud tree, brushing his fingers idly through the long dark strands of his brother, both calming himself and the other with these movements in the process. Shadows of the leaves on the tree were playing with their faces, sometimes irritating him, but most of the time he simply adored the play of the shapes, losing himself in it until his brother called him.

"How can you be bored? The weather is great, the grass is soft, your head is lying in my lap, I'm caressing your hair... how can you be bored?" the brown-eyed Elf asked with an exaggerated amount of happiness, looking down into Elladan's face.

The younger one just looked up in his brother's eyes, his right eyebrow slowly rising.

Elrohir managed to withstand that look for a few moments before he looked away and laughed sheepishly.

"Alright, okay, I'm bored, too. What shall we do?"

Elladan chuckled softly and lifted his left hand to caress his brother's cheeks.

"What about a little ride?" he asked and then grinned as he saw the expression on the face of the sitting Elf. "Not THAT kind of ride!" Elladan chuckled and slightly shook his head at his brother. "I mean the one where horses are involved."

"Never thought you could mean anything else," retorted the brown-eyed Elf and smiled. "Okay, so we have to go to the stables to get the horses you mentioned... which means, we have to get up." He looked down, somehow not very edified by the idea.

"You don't look too happy, darlin", Elladan replied after he sat up. And leaning closer to the other one he whispered in his ear: "We'll continue cuddling later, okay? After we had another.... ride... as well," he husked and slightly leaned back to capture his brother's lips.

Returning the kiss softly, Elrohir looked a little disappointed when they broke it. "Why not... ride now? The horses can wait, can't they?"

Elladan's lips curled up into something that was very close to a pout and his eyes held a malignant shimmer.

"So can you, can't you?" he asked in return before he slowly got up.

The older twin almost copied his brother's expression as he followed suit.

"Not if you come this close to me... Can't we just combine both kinds of riding?"

Mentally Elrohir made note that this was still on their "to try"-list... or rather he just noticed that it was missing and he had put it there immediately as he noticed his mistake.

Once again Elladan chuckled.

"One could think that you managed to built up some self-control around me during the past 3000 years, my dear brother," he teased with a grin, before he added: "We'll see..." to answer his brother's question.

Then he turned around and headed towards the stables, certain that Elrohir would just follow him.

And that he did, although he would have rather followed him into their chambers than anywhere else. He refrained from any comment on what Elladan had said as they passed the gates of the royal stables.

There he first saw an unknown Elf with crow-black hair who seemed to take care of the horses and then their little sister approaching said Elf. Out of a sudden impulse he grabbed the arm of his brother who was walking a little ahead of him and held him back.

Elladan let out a surprised gasp as the older twin grabbed him and pulled him in an empty stable. He just wanted to protest as he saw how familiar Arwen and the stranger seemed to be.

"Yes, Naur is as headstrong as ever, and it seems I am still the only one he doesn't wish to kill when he gets the chance," Rhÿn said and caressed the soft nose of the still wild stallion. "Sîdh is fine and almost back to her normal condition." He glanced over to the mare and her little filly. "Sûl on the other hand is quite the troublemaker...just like her father..."

Silver pools returned to the queen to rest on her body, a silent question in them.

"Is she?" Arwen asked and smiled. "Well, this seems to be a strong thread of him... It's only natural for his daughter to be like that, isn't it?"

She folded her hands over her belly and caressed it softly with her thumbs. "It's good to hear that they are well..."

Rhÿn walked over to his lover, his eyes never leaving her hands on her lower abdomen. He was just about to extend his arms and hug Arwen when he noticed a disturbance in the energy around them.... Somebody was there.

So the young looking man took a step to the side instead and turned towards the saddles. "I'm glad to see that you're fine, milady..." He almost forced his lips to form those words, which were almost the opposite of what he actually wanted to say.

Arwen blinked at the words she heard and looked at the back of the black-haired Elf rather irritated. Her lips formed a "What?!" but what she actually said was, "Thank you."

She sent Rhÿn another frown and then turned to look around in the stables, searching for whoever made the rather hot-tempered boy so cold towards her.

Elrohir froze as Arwen's eyes fixed onto him.

"Damnit," he cursed and stepped out of cover. "Hi! My brother and I just... wanted to take a ride," he said and grinned widely at the other two Elves. "Any horses you would like us to tame?"

"Yeah," Elladan agreed and stood next to his brother, grinning just as wide as Elrohir.

Rhÿn just looked at them with his usual icy glare, looking them over in just a heartbeat.

"No, I'm sorry. We only have one horse to tame, and he is to my custody alone. He will try to kill anyone else." With that he turned back to the saddles, checking them for damages or dirt.

"Oh really?" Elrohir asked, his grin turning into a smirk. "Our dear sister here likes to tame wild horses sometimes... Would you let her tame him?"

Arwen's eyes widened at the statement and she fought hard not to blush any deeper than what was decent. Inwardly she was screaming why and how the twins were able to join in their secret way of conversation.

"She already has," was everything Rhÿn said before he turned towards Arwen again. "Excuse me, milady. I have to take care of some personal business." With that he left the stables without looking at the twins again. There was nothing more to say, they already knew everything...

Elladan's eyes followed the black haired Elf and he licked his lips. "Good choice..." he murmured.

"Indeed," grinned Elrohir and walked over to his brother, placing his arm around the other's shoulder. "You tamed him, huh?"

Arwen glared at them. "I tried. But he ran away from me. Rhÿn was the one who caught him for me."

The older of the twins stared at their sister open-mouthed. He had thought that she had gathered that he wasn't talking about the horse anymore and was thinking that her mental abilities were rather run-down.

The younger brother was slightly taken aback as well, but he soon realized that she was just trying to save what was already lost. To pretend that what her brothers witnessed was nothing...

"Tinu..." Elladan started and took another step towards his sister. "Stop pretending... we know... it was quite obvious. The energy flowing between the both of you can hardly be overlooked.... Only Humans or blind Elves wouldn't have noticed..."

Arwen looked quite blankly at the two Elves and then looked down again. Shame was written all over her face, and guilt. So many things were running through her mind, but one seemed most important to her.

"I know... But... Estel... He... wouldn't understand it."

Elrohir was tempted to roll his eyes and groan, but he simply shook his head. "You sound like an idiot," he voiced his thoughts. "Estel has other problems right now."

The female Elf looked back up at them. "I know... but, I still love him, you know?"

This made her older brother raise his eyebrow. "Tinu, your love died. I don't know when it happened, but it is not repairable anymore and you should know that."

"I do," Arwen said stubbornly. "But Estel is my husband, and I vowed to be with him until he died..."

This time it was Elladan who indeed did roll his eyes and groaned. The day did already have a very bad turn, and he didn't quite have the energy for such a discussion with his headstrong sister.

"Arwen," he finally said and sighed. He took the last step towards her and took her smaller hands in his. "Look, honey. It's obvious that the glow between you and Estel grew out... smaller..." he corrected himself after a little pause. "Like the flame of a candle... in the wind..."

His words slowly died out as he didn't know what to say to make his sister feel better. Whatever he could tell her to show her that they understood and didn't mind, that she didn't have to feel guilty...

Arwen looked openly at the younger one of her brothers. "I know that. And I know it is partially my fault. I drove him away from me when he didn't have time for me anymore..."

She looked down to the ground, to her feet and was thinking about what to say else.

"Tinu, we can imagine what happened. This... Rhÿn was just there at the right time and place to comfort you in your solitude," Elrohir murmured and moved to hug his sister. But she backed away from him, looking somehow terrified.

"You don't want to understand, do you?" Arwen said aggravated. "I'm not like you. I do care about the ones I give my heart to..."

"Tinu, we do as well," Elrohir interrupted.

"Like us?!" Elladan threw in before Arwen could say anymore. He let go of his sister's hands and just glared at her with all his might.

"What are you trying to say, Arwen? That we are unfeeling creatures who fuck anybody who steps in our way, and that we don't care the least? That we don't know what love is?!" The younger twin clenched his fists before he turned away.

"Let's go Elrohir, I had enough for today..."

Arwen winced visibly at her brother's harsh words. She hadn't meant to be this cruel to them.

"Wait! You know I didn't meant it that way. Please... wait."

The older one of the twins had just put his hands soothingly on his brother's shoulders, intending as well to go. Some part of his mind supplied that maybe they were just skipping the part with the horses and go back to cuddling, but he quickly shoved that away. Instead he hesitated a moment to hear what their sister wanted to tell them.

"I... didn't want to hurt you... but... it seems like a... sport or something to you... like... your afternoon workout or so. I did not say you don't care about your... you know, but do you love them? Can you imagine anyone else than yourself to spend the rest of your life with?"

Elladan wrapped his arm around his brother's waist and pulled him closer to him.

"We do this for our personal fun, for a change. And I wouldn't want to spend the rest of my life with anyone else than him." The green-eyed Elf rested his head lovingly on Elrohir's shoulder.

"Are you trying to tell us that you want to spend the rest of your life with this... gorgeous groom?", Elrohir asked, covering up his contended smile over his brother's exclamation.

The woman's eyes widened.

"No! I mean... not yet..." She looked away. "I'm not sure. I... love him... how he tends the horses..."

"Tinu..."

Arwen looked up again, this time her gaze was icy. "Have YOU ever thought about how your... toys feel when you... play with them?"

"We..." Elladan started but stopped dead in his words as he remembered Estel's outburst a few hours ago. A wave of guilt washed over his face. "Yes..... we have.... I mean... we..." Again he stopped and this time it was him who looked away.

"What we actually wanted.... to say was... that you should just follow your heart... and your heart only..." he said lowly.

Arwen looked at her brothers with wide eyes, all ice gone and replaced by shame. "I'm sorry... I am grateful you... understand what I... feel..."

"Tinu, you don't even know yourself what you feel. Just trust your heart, it will lead you the right way," Elrohir added and squeezed his brother's shoulder.

"Thank you, I will." The woman's smile was not bright or big, but at least honest.

Elladan leaned into his brother's gentle touch, not really able to flash his sister a smile. So he just nodded.

"And sorry that we.... chased your sweetheart away..."

Elrohir's eyebrow twitched and his eyes got a rather dangerous gleam, that he quickly hid from his sister though with a grin. He squeezed his brother's shoulders once again, urging him to get away from their sister.

Arwen on the other hand smiled a little more and patted the green-eyed twin's arm. "Don't be sorry about that... he flees from almost everyone. But didn't you two want to take a ride?"

Elladan noticed Elrohir's expression even though he tried to hide it and he grinned inwardly. His brother just added another point to their to-do list. Actually he wanted to follow the older Elf's silent request to leave, but then his sister addressed him again.

"Yes... we wanted to, but we changed our minds. And I am quite exhausted from the day. I prefer a quiet evening with my darlin..." he said and slightly rubbed his cheek against his brother's.

Elrohir grinned even more and couldn't quite stop himself from saying, "Maybe we'll get a ride later..."

Smiling back, Arwen answered, "Just ask Rhÿn, he knows every horse by heart in these stables."

"Oh yes, we'll ask him, Tinu," the brown-eyed Elf said in return. "But we'll leave you alone now. Do nothing we wouldn't do as well."

"I sure won't," the woman smiled and kissed them both on their cheeks. "Have fun."

"Oh, I will."

"Oh no, you won't," Elladan teased his brother before flashing a light smile and a wink to their sister.

"Let's go, Darlin. I want to spend the rest of the day just with you.... In bed that is... cuddling," he added before Elrohir could think anything wrong. "Good night, Tinu. Sleep well."

"Thank you. You too," she added and watched how the brothers went out of the stables arm in arm, the older one talking to the younger one who was sending him little playful glares. Arwen wondered if they ever grew up any time and then turned around to search for Rhÿn.

But she found him nowhere so she went back to her rooms almost reluctantly, facing the solitude of an evening with reading, writing and talking with her maidens until she finally went to bed.

Elladan and Elrohir also went back to their chambers where they spent an unusual quiet and peaceful evening in bed, cuddling. It didn't take the Elves long to fall asleep in each other's arms, sleeping a restful sleep like they didn't in quite a long time.

~~~

Rhÿn almost flew from the three Elves in the stables. Outside the fist thing he did was taking a deep breath, then he clenched his jaws and fists and cursed inwardly. All of this couldn't be true; it had to be some kind of bad dream, a nightmare. For over seven months they had hidden their relationship from anybody, and then those two men stumbled in, the queen's brothers and found out about them in just a heartbeat.

Life wasn't fair.

The black haired boy went over to a shed where his master was busy helping the blacksmith to shoe one of the horses of the royal guards. The Elf knocked against the wooden surface of the wall to make himself noticed and grinned satisfied when he could see the equerry wince frightened.

"Hey, old man. I'm taking a few days off," he said and turned around to leave.

"Hold it, boy. First of all, call me master Kargan! And secondly... you're not going anywhere! What do you think; you can't just take "a few days off" -"

He was cut short by Rhÿn who just turned around and shot him with a fiery glare. "I've been working for seven months without a single full day off. I can take a few days off, and that I will. Try to stop me, old man," he growled dangerously and his glare intensified.

"If you go now, you don't need to return!" Kargan threatened his groom.

The half-breed chuckled and only shrugged. "Do as you please, if you think you can find someone who can do my work as well as me," he replied indifferently.

Kargan clenched his jaws. He knew he had lost to the creepy half Elf once more. There was nobody who could possibly replace him. And they both knew that. The confident grin on the boy's face though made him almost freak out and he growled lowly. "Don't be all too self-confident, boy. One day you will fall. And I'll be there to laugh at you."

"You'll fall before me, Human," Rhÿn spat out and finally turned to walk away. He went to his chamber, which he didn't sleep in very often... or to get it straight, never. He was either spending the nights on the hayloft, on the roof, or outside of Minas Tirith in the woods. Mostly he used the small room to store his belongings, some food and the money he earned, which wasn't much altogether.

So now he just grabbed a little bag and stuffed as much food in it as he had, before he went back outside to look for more. It didn't take long until he spotted a loaf of bread on a windowsill which lay there to cool out. Rhÿn slowly walked over, making sure that nobody saw him and just took it, stuffing it into the bag as well.

After he had enough food the Elf left Minas Tirith and went westwards to the Grey Woods. Aside from the old man's threat the black haired boy was pretty sure that he would be thrown out of the castle if Arwen's brothers decided to tell somebody about their sister's affair. Or worse.

Rhÿn changed his pace into a fast trot and covered the first 20 miles of the distance in less than two hours. The wind blew from the south and carried his scent towards the Grey Wood, so that the Elf wasn't really surprised to see a big grey wolf approaching him from the direction of the forest.

Nevertheless the black haired boy stopped dead in his movements and just stared back into golden eyes with his silver ones. They just looked at each other for what seemed a small eternity until the wolf finally blinked and slowly closed the distance between them. Rhÿn sank to his knees with an elegant movement and set the bag aside, just to throw his arms around the soft neck of the animal as it stood in front of him.

"Naneth..." he whispered almost lovingly and buried his face into the soft hide. Now that he was kneeling, the Elf had to loll to close his arms around the strong neck, as the female wolf was almost reaching his belly button when he was standing.

"I missed you, Ayesha," Rhÿn added and slowly backed away again. The answer was a soppy lick across his face, and a low whimpering sound from Ayesha's throat that made the brooding Elf finally smile. Slowly he got up again and grabbed his bag, just to turn again and see the wolf waggling her tail.

The Elf chuckled lowly. "At least you're happy to see me," he said softly and scratched her ears gently before he climbed onto Ayesha's back. Together they continued their journey into the depth of the Grey Wood, with Rhÿn soon falling asleep on the wolf's back while she was running through the summerly forest.

~~~

Meanwhile upstairs in the king's chambers Legolas watched every movement of the stranger whom he believed to be an assassin, sent to kill Elessar. Soundlessly he moved closer to the other man who slowly approached the sleeping king.

'Cowardly Humans,' Legolas thought grimly, 'try to kill each other while they are asleep.' The disgust towards this race which the Elf believed to be faded out, boiled up again as he was now facing this scene. But by no means would he let this person kill his Human.

As the blond man was certain that the assassin was well in reach of his chain he shot forward, just when the other one lifted his arm more, ready to attack the figure in the bed. Legolas jumped on the stranger's back and wrapped the chain around his neck. Holding onto the end that was connected with his collar, Legolas grabbed the loose end, and pulled slightly.

"Let go of your weapon," he ordered in the common language of Middle-Earth, even though it sounded a bit broken, but yet a dangerous growl. The other man froze for a second, more surprised than frightened at the sudden weight on his back. But he thought the slender figure was one of the king's concubines, just a girl who tried to scare him so he would leave. He wasn't scared the least though and just let out an annoyed grunt.

Legolas noticed that the assassin wouldn't do as he told him, more likely the opposite and strained his muscles to prepare for any assault. The man then grabbed his chain and started to pull it away from his neck, but the Elf reacted between two heartbeats and pulled harder, thus forcing the man a step backwards, away from the bed.

The killer choked and cursed under his breath. But he didn't waste his time with trying to pull the chain away again. He noticed that his attacker had quite strong arms and that it wouldn't be much use to struggle like this. So instead he moved his right hand with the dagger, turned the weapon so it was now pointing towards Legolas and stabbed him.

~~~

Downstairs in the Elf-brothers' chambers Elladan sat up in his bed with a start. His eyes widened slightly as he was staring into the darkness in front of him, trying to make out what had woken him up. He felt... danger... death...

"Elrohir! Wake up!" he shook his still sleeping brother, forcing him to wake up.

The older twin groaned at the sudden attack of an earthquake and tried to roll to the other side, hide underneath his covers and hug his brother for support. But then he noticed that his brother was the cause for the earthquake and groaned once more.

"Mrahrm..."

"No, get up!" was all Elladan replied to his brother's complaining, before he crawled off the bed. Within no time he was dressed in his pants and grabbed the blanket to pull it away with one quick tug.

"Elrohir!" The younger brother pulled the half-awake twin out of the bed by his left food. "Estel's being attacked, get your lazy ass in some pants and move it!"

"Grhmhm," Elrohir murmured once again and frowned in his slumber. And then he hit the floor, glaring at the one who had pulled him out of the bed and who had disturbed his senses.

"Give me a moment please, will you?" he growled and sensed around once more, feeling a threat coming from the general direction of the King's chambers.

Abruptly he sat up and made a leap for his pants, cursing under his breath as he put them on.

Elladan waited impatiently until his brother finally finished putting on some clothes, then he grabbed his sleeve and pulled him out of their room, upstairs towards Estel's chambers.

~~~

Legolas felt a stinging pain in his side when the dagger hit him and he hissed lowly, determined to ignore it. The Elf concentrated his strength in his arms, grabbed the chain tighter and pulled with all his might. He knew he couldn't expect help from Elessar, for he was still asleep and his sleep was fast and sound thanks to the spots Legolas had pressed earlier to make him relax.

Finally he could feel the man underneath him stagger and he pulled even harder, not intending to let the chain loose before the assassin lay on the ground, defeated.

The loud rattling of the chain, the low gasps and hissing sounds finally managed to wake the man from his rather deep sleep. Aragorn stirred a little and turned around, just to frown as he felt as if something was missing. But as he was already waking up, more sounds of the chain and some choking came to his ear and he blinked his eyes open. What he saw made his eyes snap wide open though.

He was awake within a heartbeat and on his feet even faster, as he saw that Legolas was trying to suffocate somebody with his chain. The next thing he saw was that the Elf was bleeding and his heart sank as he noticed the dagger that threatened to fall down any moment now from the hand of the man whose knees just gave in at this particular moment.

"Legolas!" was all that managed to fall from the Human's lips.

As the Elf noticed that the Human underneath him was growing weaker he doubled his efforts once more just to feel him sink to his knees shortly afterwards. He heard Elessar calling him one moment later, but it was almost covered by the sound of the dagger hitting the ground.

Legolas gasped as the assassin made another attempt to get him off his back and tried to grab him. The Elf reacted in an instant and pressed his knee in the Human's back, finally sending him flat on the ground. He didn't let go though, and still held onto the chain, sweating and panting heavily.

In this particular moment, the door to the King's chambers slammed open and Elladan stormed in, still pulling his brother with him on his arm. He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw the two figures on the ground, and sucked in his breath with a hiss.

"Naur," he whispered to light the candles.

Elrohir stumbled in shortly after his brother and took in he situation a little less horrified, as sleep was still trying to get a hold of him. But seeing Legolas on the floor choking some man, who obviously didn't just want to have a little tête-à-tête with the King, and Estel, looking quite shocked and surprised at the two people on the floor, made the brown-eyed Elf a bit more awake than he was. And then he started contemplating whether the blond Elf needed their help or not.

Aragorn had shielded his eyes from the light when candles were suddenly lit in the rather dark room and when he lowered his hand again, he saw that the Elven twins had entered the room. He looked at them wide-eyed for a moment before he did what he had intended to do once he saw what was going on in his bedroom. He lunged forward, kneeled next to the man and Legolas and pushed the strangled one's head down.

"Let go..." he ordered, but didn't quite know to whom it was directed.

Legolas didn't let the arrival of the twins or the suddenly lit candles distract him in any way as he still held onto the chain tightly. Only when Elessar kneeled next to him and the assassin underneath him, he slowly looked up. Reluctantly he let go of the chain, still making sure that the man stayed down and didn't get the chance to endanger Aragorn again.

Still panting slightly he removed the steel rings from around the lying man's neck and stood up. He took a small step backwards and yet another one as he noticed the twins. Elladan on the other hand had also moved towards the assassin and picked up his dagger, now holding it to the owner's neck to keep him from any movement.

Elrohir stood in the entrance of the room, guarding the door if the intruder wanted to flee. Well, he didn't really know what else to do and this seemed to be a good idea, even though it was rather unlikely that the man would find a way to get out.

"Who are you and who sent you?" asked Aragorn, his voice now stable and not showing any of his sleepiness anymore.

"Nobody," was the spit out answer after the assassin coughed several times. He looked up at Aragorn, stabbing him with his eyes which were so full of hatred that Legolas stumbled yet another step back. Which turned out to be a mistake as he felt the piercing pain in his side again and hissed lowly. The Elf pressed his hand to the spot and staggered slightly as he was overwhelmed by a sudden dizziness.

The King's eyes narrowed and he shoved the other man's head hard onto the floor. "Who sent you?!" he demanded again, underlining his words with another hard shove.

"Fuck you," came the muttered reply as the assassin lapped away the blood that dripped from his bleeding nose on his upper lip. Elladan growled at the man and poked his throat with his dagger, indicating that he better watched his mouth.

Legolas grabbed a handful of air, trying to find something to hold onto as the world around him started to spin. Everything seemed far away, even the sounds were muffled by something like cotton wool and his sight slowly got blurry.

A silent moan slipped from the Elf's lips before he lost balance and fell forward.

"You better tell me who sent you or else...!"

Aragorn didn't get much further before he heard the moan behind him. He turned around right in time to see Legolas fall forward and jumped up, trusting Elladan to keep the obvious assassin down and under control, and caught Legolas before he could hit the ground.

His brows furrowed as he felt more liquid under his fingers than he expected. The man shifted a little so he could take a look at the source of the liquid and found a deep and rather long wound on the lighter man's side. Uncertain if he could gather enough strength to carry Legolas to the bed to tend his wounds, Aragorn did so nevertheless and then pulled a cord to call the guards.

Legolas felt Elessar's strong arms around him and simply leaned into the touch, trusting the Human to steady and hold him. The Elf lay heavily in the embrace and let himself being carried towards the bed since he wasn't able to do anything. A numb feeling was spreading out from his side, turning into a comfortable blackness, which wrapped itself around his conscience. Legolas' eyes fluttered shut and another silent moan fell from his half parted lips.

He just wanted to sleep, give in to this warm fuzzy feeling, but then he would probably sleep forever...

Elladan on the other hand was having quite a good time, poking and pricking the man with his own dagger. He was now sitting on the back of the assassin, hindering him from any movements. He turned his head towards his brother and nodded, silently telling him that he could leave his place in front of the door.

Then he turned back towards the captured killer and leaned down slightly to whisper in his ear: "If you don't want to tell us who sent you... we'll make you tell later..." The tone in his voice was somehow dangerous and dark, indicating that he wouldn't be nice to the man and that mercy and pity would be removed from his vocabulary by then.

Aragorn grabbed the by now much used blanket and pressed it against Legolas' deep wound, trying to stop the bleeding. But the red liquid was only hardly stopped and he was already fearing that the blond Elf would die in his arms, when the fabric of the blanket wasn't soaked as fast with blood anymore. He sighed and pressed the now more red than white cloth back against the pale skin and looked around.

Elrohir was assisting his brother in torturing the assassin, sitting in front of him and annoying him as he poked him now and then, always when he didn't expect it at all. All the while he was grinning like a little child that was just about to get its birthday presents.

The King was about to say something when he heard how the door to his chambers was slammed open and bulky guards marched in, looking ready to fight a war rather than arresting a simple assassin. It was their overly serious faces that made Aragorn almost chuckle.

"Greaw, arrest this man and get him down to the dungeons," he ordered coldly. "Starve him if you must, but I want to know who sent him."

"Yes, your Majesty!" the bulkiest of all the men saluted and walked over to the twins who just started to grin dangerously, which he conveniently ignored. He asked them politely to get up and leave that man to his custody. Elrohir only stood up when he promised that he would be very nice to him, sharing their kind of smile.

"Get me some cloths, I need to bandage my slave," the Kind ordered one of Greaw's men, who nodded sharply and turned on his heels to fulfill his Lord's wishes, making the older man smile once more. Some of the young men were really overly dedicated to their duties. It was a good thing, but he just hoped that they would think sometimes before they followed their commander's orders.

When Elladan heard his foster brother's order he turned towards him, concern written over his features which softened as he looked at the two men on the bed.

"Is he hurt very badly?" he asked silently, taking in the slender figure. Legolas was paler than usual and his closed eyes and sweat covered forehead made him look rather dead than alive. Actually the Elf was very close to unconsciousness, and it seemed like he would lose the struggle against the blackness any second.

Aragorn nodded and lifted the blanket to show the deep wound that Legolas got. He looked up into the blond Elf's face, just to see the pale face's features relaxing. He shoved the blanket in one of the other two Elves' hands and shook Legolas on his shoulders.

"Wake up! You are not allowed to fall asleep yet!! This is an order!!!"

Elladan turned towards the door to watch how Greaw and his men took the captured assassin with them to the cellar of the tower and glared deadly him, while Elrohir continued to press the soaked cloth against the blond's wound.

Legolas moaned lowly as he was shaken and his head rolled to the side.

"'msorry...iwon't..." came the whispered reply. "...don't...go...please..."

The younger twin clenched his jaws. They would make him tell for sure.

Aragorn had far more important problems right now than an assassin who was being dragged out of his chambers. He had to keep an Elf alive until that boy returned with the cloth. Cupping two pale cheeks in his hands as he steadied Legolas' head, the man looked determined into his fair face.

"I won't go, but you won't go anywhere right now as well, you hear me?" he pleaded with the wounded Elf. "What were you thinking, getting wounded like this? You could have at least tried to dodge it, couldn't you?"

Guilt wandered over his face, as Legolas noticed how concerned Elessar was over his condition.

"'msorry..." he murmured again and looked into steel blue eyes. "...had to keep him.. away... from you..." And actually the Elf didn't really notice that the dagger had hurt him. He had been far too busy with bringing the man down.

"And I thank you for that," the man replied with a soft smile as he caressed Legolas' cheek with a thumb. "But I wished that you would take a little bit more care of yourself."

Elrohir loosened the pressure on the wound a bit to take a look at how much it was still bleeding and was contented to see almost no blood drip out of it anymore. He looked up when he heard footsteps approaching and looked up to his brother.

"The boy comes back."

Elladan took a step aside in case not to stand in the way as a maybe 15-year-old boy entered the room heading for the king's bed, carrying a bowl with hot water, cloths and bandages. He set it down next to Aragorn on his bed, before he spun on his heals and left the room, probably as fast as he could.

Legolas closed his eyes again, since the light of the candles was stabbing them with their brightness. He trusted the Human at his side to know what he was doing. And since he also didn't know how deep the wound actually was, his only task was to stay awake for the time being.

The King dismissed the young guard and then stood to clean Legolas' wound. Elrohir jumped to his feet as Estel gently nudged his shoulder to watch how he dipped a soft cloth into the water. Frowning he somehow knew that it wouldn't be enough and tugged at his brother's arm.

"Elladan, did we take Athelas with us from home?"

"Yes we did," replied his brother. "We never travel without it..." He resumed looking at Aragorn and Legolas for a few more seconds before he turned to leave. "I'll get it," was all he said before he left the room and went downstairs to their chambers.

Elrohir nodded and watched how his brother set off to their room. He turned around and looked at the King who was still tending the blond's wounds, gently washing the blood from the cut and sniffing on it. Aragorn made a face, confirming what they all had feared.

"Poison..."

~~~

Elladan chased downstairs as fast as he could, almost flying down the stairs, past a few very surprised Humans who weren't really sure if they actually saw him or not. He slammed the door to their rooms open and jumped over the bed to his bag. Opening it within the same movement, he dug around in it for a second before his fingers found what he had been looking for.

With a satisfied nod he left the chambers again, his fist tightly closed around a tuft of little, white flowers. The younger twin hurried back upstairs and a mere minute after he left he entered the room again and stopped next to his foster brother, not a bit out of breath.

"There you go," he said and offered the plant to Aragorn.

The man stared wide-eyed at the green-eyed twin, mumbling his thanks and chewed on the herbs while he still dipped the wound and then pressed the mass in his mouth against the now clean wound, before he bandaged it and hoped that Legolas would heal soon. He stood up again and laid a hand on a pale forehead, wiping away some sweat and loose strands.

Elrohir stepped back and put his hand around his twin's shoulders, pulling him closer to stop himself from shivering. He hoped that Estel's charge wasn't hurt too badly.

Elladan wrapped his arm around his brother's waist, hugging him in return as he felt the slight shiver run through his body. Together they looked down at Legolas whose lips were pressed to a thin line as he was now finally feeling the pain from his wound.

The younger twin clenched his fists and a low dangerous growl came from his throat.

"Estel... we would like to.... interrogate... the prisoner, if you don't mind." His voice was surprisingly calm, but the tone made clear that "interrogate" could easily be replaced with "punish" or "torture".

Aragorn looked into his brothers' faces for a long moment, wondering if he could bear the responsibility of what they would do to the man, but a glance down to Legolas' face that was contorted with pain made his features harden. He nodded curtly and raised his voice in a dangerous growl.

"Do with him as you wish, but find out who is responsible for this."

"We will, Estel, we will," grinned Elrohir and squeezed his brother's shoulders for confirmation. "There will be nothing he will keep secret from us."

"I trust you in this completely," the younger man smirked back.

"You won't regret your decision, dear brother," Elladan almost purred with anticipation, but the almost soft tone was betrayed by the wicked grin on his face. The arm around his brother's waist tightened and he nudged him softly, urging him out the room.

"Take care of your Elf, we'll come back when we're finished."

"Thank you," murmured Aragorn, but was yet already too busy looking at Legolas' face.

Elrohir grinned and let himself being led out of the room, somehow looking forward to interrogating the assassin.

To be continued...
______________________________________________________ _________________

So... who draws us a picture of Legolas in Leia's slave costume? You know... when she's choking Jabba... ^^;;

Arwen: *taps her finger on her desk, frowning deeply* Why are Ellani and Elloni so supportive with my relationship with Rhÿn?
Er... Well, it's easy isn't it? They want him for themselves. ^^;;
Arwen: *raises eyebrow*
E&E: *wave Aragorn <heart> Legolas-Banners in the background*
^^;;