Story Summary:
Set before, during, and after the War of the Ring.
During the War of the Ring, Legolas has left his wife Vanelossë and
their children in Mirkwood in the care of his father, King Thranduil.
When Mirkwood and Lothlorien are attacked, she is taken along with
other ellith from the two elven realms. Legolas must band together with
both elves and men to find them. Will he be able to save her and bring
her home to their children?
Warning - Deviation from the book and movies.
PLEASE NOTE - A COUPLE OF CHAPTERS (Chapter 3 and 5) HAVE STRONG
VIOLENCE/RAPE IN IT. IT IS PERTINENT TO THE STORY OR I WOULD NOT HAVE
IT IN THE STORY AT ALL.
Rated - NC17
**2005 Mithril Quarter Finalist for Het Romance and New Author**
**2005 Mithril Semi-Finalist for Drama**
Chapter 7
Elladan and Aragorn sat back, tired from tending to Vanelossë’s wounds
for so long. Legolas held her hand and watched her for the slightest
sign that she was awake. All were silent, lost in their own thoughts.
The heat of the day had turned to an almost chilly and windy night.
“Legolas,” Elrohir said, his soft voice breaking through the silence as
he walked to them. “Maybe now would be a good time for all of you to go
for a walk and perhaps have some food.”
“I do not wish to leave her,” Legolas replied simply, not even looking at the Peredhel. “If she wakes, I want to be here.”
“Perhaps Elrohir is right, Legolas. Vanelossë will be sleeping for a
while and Elrohir can find you if she wakes up. If you leave her now
for a little while, you would be able to stay with her during the time
she is most likely to wake up,” Aragorn suggested quietly.
Elladan rose to stand with his brother sharing a look of concern both
for Legolas and Vanelossë. Aragorn also stood hoping that Legolas would
as well. After a few moments, Legolas kissed her hand and followed the
others, looking at Elrohir.
“Come find me if she wakes,” Legolas said and Elrohir nodded. As the
three were leaving, Elrohir sat on the ground beside Vanelossë, lightly
stroking her hair, wondering how this could have happened.
As he was walking towards the fire with Elladan and Aragorn, Legolas
realized that someone had erected a semi tent around her to prevent the
others from seeing her. Legolas smiled sadly at the thoughtfulness of
the gesture knowing that Vanelossë was not in any condition to worry
about modesty. Gimli and Éomer approached Legolas, hearing the laughter
of several Easterlings as they moved. Legolas had not noticed them
before, for they were far enough from the fire that they were to be
cloaked in near complete darkness.
Legolas walked toward them, intent on making one of them, he knew not
which one, pay for what they had done to Vanelossë. As Aragorn,
Elladan, Gimli and Éomer followed quickly after Legolas, one of the
Easterlings spoke.
“You must be the fair Prince of Mirkwood? You look like even less of a
man than I had imagined you would. No wonder your woman was so eager
and willing. She was glad to be with a real man.”
When Legolas charged forward, it took the combined strength of Gimli,
Aragorn, Elladan, and Éomer to hold him back. Aragorn had never seen
him in this state, but he could not fault Legolas. He wanted to do the
same to every one of the filthy Easterlings.
Legolas was so enraged he could think of nothing other than tearing
apart the man who had done this to Vanelossë: nothing else mattered at
this point other than making him pay. His blood was boiling and he
could feel a throbbing in his head caused by the need to destroy this
man. He wanted him dead. Even more than the death of Sauron, Legolas
wanted this evil destroyed. Flashes of Vanelossë, happy and playing
with their children collided continuously with the images of her lying
there covered in blood. Those images took his breath away with the
sheer anger and pain that they evoked in him. He no longer recognized
the friends restraining him; he only knew that something stood between
himself and those men.
Every one of the elves, men, and rangers there watched the men struggle
with Legolas. Most of them wished that they would just let him go and
allow him to take his revenge. Word had spread through the camp of
Vanelossë’s condition. Those who had seen her personally wished for the
horrible death of these men. Everyone there wanted these men to suffer,
just as their captives had.
“Silence, you worthless swine!” said one of the rangers, unable to
fathom how he would react if this had been done to his own wife,
looking at the leader of the Easterlings.
Larin looked over at the group of rangers standing guard over his men.
When he sneered at the ranger, the other Easterlings laughed.
The ranger looked at Legolas with the deepest sympathy then back at the
Easterlings in disgust. Walking over he punched the leader in the
mouth, simply to wipe the sneer off his face.
“It is not your place to punish this man,” one of the ranger’s
companions pulled him away and the two rangers returned to their
position nearby.
The Easterling laughed again as he wiped the blood from his mouth and
said, “I guess you need your friends here to do your dirty work, just
as you need another man to assist you in satisfying your wife.”
The four friends had to struggle once again to hold Legolas back. The
angrier he became, the harder he fought against their restraint.
Several times, Legolas broke free only to be grabbed by all of them
again. Each of his friends wrestled with their own desire to let him
go, let him extract his revenge, but Aragorn was not going to let
Legolas forget Vanelossë for the sake of revenge.
As Aragorn struggled to restrain his friend, he yelled, “Legolas, this
is not the time for this! Vanelossë needs you now. Do not worry about
making this animal pay for what he has done. There will be time for
that and it will happen, I assure you. This man’s punishment can wait
until Vanelossë is well. Vanelossë needs you Legolas more than she
needs you to avenge her. Do not do this!”
Aragorn felt as if the elf before him was someone he did not know. He
had seen Legolas in battle but this was nothing like that. Even in
battle, Legolas had a calm demeanor. He was so in control with the same
mannerisms whether he was facing one or one hundred enemies. Legolas
was crazed at this point and Aragorn had no idea if he would back down
or manage to rip away from his friends long enough to kill the
Easterling. Aragorn felt a sense of desperation in restraining Legolas.
Legolas heard Aragorn’s words but his rage was such that he could not
seem to calm himself. Everything in him felt the burning desire to kill
this Easterling. Finally, Legolas was able to draw a few breaths trying
to clear his mind of his murderous thoughts. Aragorn was right, now was
not the time but it would be soon.
Aragorn could feel Legolas calm slightly. He looked into the elf’s eyes
and could see the flame of his anger still burning bright. Aragorn knew
he had to draw Legolas’ thoughts back to what mattered and keep him
collected, for Vanelossë’s sake. Nothing else mattered at this moment
beyond helping his friend back away from the edge of his fury before it
was too late.
Legolas relaxed his body but everyone of his friends remained alert,
prepared to act should the rage to begin again. Legolas was breathing
heavily; he felt sick as all of his emotions overwhelmed him to the
point of madness. He knew Aragorn was right but his rage could not be
ignored, and he would burn before he would let that man sit there
gloating while Vanelossë was in agony. She was to the point where she
could not even stay conscious while this vile animal sat laughing with
his friends.
Flashes of what had happened tonight tore through his brain, but those
thoughts came to rest on one person. That person was Orophin. This man
had tormented him as well. He had been forced to violate Vanelossë. He
was wrapped in guilt and wished for his own death. If Legolas could not
deliver this man suffering right now, then Orophin had the right to.
“Orophin!” Legolas called loudly.
Orophin had been sitting beside the fire, watching Legolas being
restrained by his friends, all the while hoping Legolas broke free and
killed Larin. When Legolas called out to him, he was shocked. Glancing
at Rumil and Mehtar sitting near by, Orophin rose and walked quickly
over to Legolas. Mehtar, who was concerned about Legolas having never
seen him like this, followed Orophin to aid his prince if need be.
When Orophin reached Legolas, who was still being held by his four
friends, Legolas looked at him with fury and Orophin’s guilt burned
again.
In a cold voice, Legolas said, “I want each of those dogs whipped and
beaten. And the one that did this to my wife? I want you personally to
assure that the filth is beaten as badly as she was.”
Orophin nodded and Legolas grabbed his arm. “Orophin, do not hold back,
do not let anything stop you from putting him in the same condition she
is in. Do not forget what he did to her and to you, what he did to
every one of you. Remember how you felt as you watched her savagely
whipped and make him pay, Orophin, make him pay. You are owed this
vengeance. Make him suffer as she has, as she suffers still. But do not
kill him. That right is mine. When Vanelossë is well, I will claim that
right. Until then, you must do this for me. Do this for her, Orophin.”
Elladan and Gimli watched Legolas carefully; looking for signs that he
might need restraining. Aragorn took Mehtar’s arm, and said, “Take the
Easterlings away from this area. These women have been through enough
as captives of this filth. They do not need to see what you do to them.
Then make sure that the Easterlings’ leader is gagged when he returns
back to the camp area. Éomer, please have some of your men make sure
that none of them escape.”
Mehtar and Orophin nodded then walked to the Easterlings. They both grabbed Larin and jerked him to his feet.
“Well, if it is not my old friends Orophin and Mehtar. I guess it is
time for a little reunion,” Looking at Orophin, he laughed. “I suspect
you never told the prince how much you enjoyed his wife. How you
savored every second of being buried deep within her? I think you
enjoyed her more than I did.”
For a long moment, no one said a word. Orophin felt sick and he looked
toward Legolas. The two elves stared at each other. Orophin’s guilt was
reflected in his eyes as much as Legolas’ pain was mirrored in his own.
Orophin’s shame was overwhelming before he saw the rage return to
Legolas’ eyes.
“Orophin. Make him suffer, you owe me this,” Legolas said.
Elladan and Aragorn pulled a reluctant Legolas away from the crowd and
out of sight of the Easterlings. Without a word, both Rumil and Tauro
left the fire and went to assist Mehtar and Orophin in this gruesome
task. Coming up beside his younger brother, Rumil grabbed Orophin’s arm
gently pulling him out of hearing of the others.
“Orophin let this vengeance assuage your guilt as well. You cannot live
with this rage. It will destroy you. Legolas knows all that happened
now and he wants you to have your absolution as well as your revenge.
Do not deny him the dignity of forgiving you for what you had no choice
in doing.”
Orophin, Rumil, and their companions dragged Larin deep into the woods
as he struggled against them, a look of stark fear in the Easterling’s
eyes. The elves took their time lashing the man to a tree, tightening
the ropes until they cut his skin and blood oozed over the rough cord.
Orophin took up the whip, winding it slowly as he approached the filthy
Easterling and looked at him with pure hatred in his eyes. Larin, in
one last act of defiance, gave him a look of scorn and spat at his feet.
“For every second we have suffered, you shall suffer an hour,” Orophin
said angrily to Larin, tugging the leather of the whip as he stepped
away.
Standing at a distance, Orophin cracked the whip one time and the
Easterling winced in anticipation. Then Orophin drew his arm back and
began to beat the man who had been the cause of so much suffering and
humiliation. With each pass of the whip, Orophin’s guilt and pain
diminished. He would never eradicate it completely, but he would be
vindicated and the anguish would become a dull ache that he could
tolerate. Orophin continued to beat his tormentor until he was
exhausted, making sure that for every mark on Vanelossë’s body, Larin
bore four in the exact same place. When he could no longer lift his arm
to raise the whip, Orophin fell to his knees and wept.
As Orophin dealt with his own anguish, Aragorn pulled Legolas back to
Vanelossë knowing he needed to be with her, to calm and sooth her.
Nothing would ease Legolas’ wrath more than the need to care for his
wife. His anger was consuming him and he needed to pull away from it
for a while and concentrate on Vanelossë. Elrohir looked up at the two
of them and nodded silently as he walked away. Passing by Legolas, he
touched him on the arm.
“Legolas, she will recover. We will not allow anything else,” Elrohir said softly.
Elrohir and Elladan were both tormented, every bit as much as Aragorn.
The two brothers had known Vanelossë all her life and to see her like
this was sickening. Elrohir pushed the thoughts of his own mother’s
torment out of his mind as best he could. This was Legolas’ vengeance,
not his own.
When the other two had walked away, Aragorn looked at Legolas for a moment before Legolas looked at him.
“Aragorn, I have never felt such rage as I do now. I never knew I was
even capable of these feelings, I…” Legolas grew quiet again.
Putting his hand on Legolas’ shoulder, Aragorn said, “What has happened
here would cause anyone, man or elf, to go beyond their normal capacity
of anger. Everyone there understood your reaction, knowing they would
feel the same as well. Now, take some time alone with Vanelossë. I will
return when I need to check on her wounds but if she needs me, I will
be nearby.”
Legolas nodded and as Aragorn left, he sat down beside his wife. He
struggled against the tears of sorrow threatening to fall. He gently
pulled her hair away then stroked her brow, the only part of her face
not bruised. He knew the subtle difference in her breathing caused by
her pain for he had listened to that sound for many years and knew it
as well as he knew the beat of his own heart. He kissed her forehead, a
single tear falling on his face.
“Vanelossë, forgive me for leaving you. My love, if I could change
things now, I would. I never would have left you and our children if I
had thought there was danger to any of you. You cannot leave me now. I
know you are strong but you must be stronger now than you ever have
been. You must fight this darkness that now shrouds your dreams. Do not
let those animals take you away from me, away from our children who
need you so much.”
Legolas had become to weep as he pleaded with her. “Melethrilen, I
cannot go on without you. It took me a lifetime to find you but now
that I have, I cannot let you go so soon. I will not let you go. If you
fade, I will as well. Without you, I cannot go on. Our children need us
both. I cannot do this alone. Alasse and Illisse need you to teach them
to see the beauty in others as you always have. They need to learn so
many things from you that I cannot teach them, only you can. They will
be lost without you. Who will comfort Illisse when she cries because I
am not there, if you are gone? When Alasse is too serious, who will
remind her how to have fun and be a child? You are the one who can do
this, only you. For they look at you as the wisest and most beautiful
in all of Arda. No one could ever take your place in their hearts, nor
in mine.”
“Séro would be lost without you. You always understand his thinking
when I cannot. With a simple glance in his direction, you seem to know
when he is about to do something unexpected. I know that even though he
has done many unpredictable deeds, I also know how many times you have
stopped him before he had a chance. Only you have the patience to
handle all of the turmoil he causes everywhere he goes. Plus you
understand how he thinks and his wildness while I grow impatient with
him. His free spirit would be crushed without you, Vanelossë.”
“Anarion has not known you long enough to lose you forever. He will
grow up never knowing you. Not remembering the small things that our
other children know by heart now. You cannot leave our baby without
knowing you.”
“Sauron has been destroyed and Middle Earth will begin to heal but that
means nothing to me without you. I will have aided in saving Middle
Earth, only to lose the reason I was fighting. All of Middle Earth
could fall into darkness if I could change the past and protect you.
Even if we had to leave Arda forever, I would have taken you and the
children away from all of this.”
“Please, my love, do not leave me. You must fight hard to recover so we
can be together. So we can watch our children grow and once again have
a peaceful life that we cherish so much as it was before I left. I
yearn for the days of waking up to you, feeling your body next to mine,
hearing your laughter, seeing your smile. Do not take that away from
me. I could not bear the pain of losing you.”
Legolas noticed that the more he talked, the more her breathing seemed
to settle. Looking down at her, he saw her eyelids flutter and she
opened them for a brief moment. When she saw him, a spark lit in her
eyes and a shadow of a smile crossed her bruised and swollen lips.
Legolas felt the stabbing ache of regret and anger in his heart once
more, relieved only by the more powerful love that consumed him for her.
“Meleth i guilen,” she whispered before she closed her eyes and fell back asleep. (Love of my life)
Legolas took her hand gently and held it to his cheek. He lay his head
down beside her so he could be as close to her as possible. Taking a
deep breath as he fought back the tears that threatened to overpower
his control, he whispered back into the night.
“Goheno nin, Seron.” (Forgive me, beloved)
The exhaustion of the previous days overtook him and he fell asleep beside her.
Aragorn waited for a long time before he checked on Vanelossë. He saw
Legolas sleeping beside her and felt his heart tighten. The thought of
the two of them going through this was hard to swallow. Carefully, he
checked on her fever then lay on the other side of her in case she
worsened during the night.
Vanelossë stirred and moaned in a feverish state throughout the night.
Aragorn checked on her periodically as Legolas looked on nervously.
After the first time she woke him, Legolas was unable to fall back
asleep so consumed with concern for her. Towards dawn, her fever still
raged and she was in agony. Legolas and Aragorn began to work in shifts
with Elladan relieving Aragorn at times, trying to cool her fever.
Aragorn would check her wounds frequently and try to give her something
to ease her pain but he had nothing strong enough to battle what she
was suffering. Legolas would not leave her side often, wanting to be
there for her if she woke up. Their friends suffered along with them,
each dealing with his own heartache over the physical pain of Vanelossë
and the mental anguish of Legolas.
Trying to distract himself and maintain some control of the situation,
Elrohir had groups of elves sent to Mirkwood, Imladris, and Lothlórien
to give word that the elves had been found and were in safe hands.
After a few days, some of the ellith were well enough to travel. Each
of them came to Legolas and told him how brave his wife had been and
how grateful they were that she had been there for them. They promised
to pray for her recovery.
The Lothlórien ellyn took their ellith back to their home. Orophin
refused to go until Vanelossë had recovered and Rumil stayed with his
brother. The four ellith as well as the ellyn from Mirkwood insisted on
staying, as did the rangers. Éomer had sent word to Gandalf, sending
some of the Rohirrim and Gondorian soldiers with the message. Only a
few remained to guard the Easterlings and provide safe passage back to
Edoras and Minas Tirith for their kings.
One day, when Vanelossë was sleeping, finally free from the fever that
had raged through her for days, Legolas approached Orophin.
“Come with me,” Legolas replied shortly and walked to towards the Easterlings.
Orophin followed without question as his brother looked nervously at Legolas’ friends.
Grabbing Larin by his bound hands, Legolas threw him down face first on the ground.
“Orophin, hold him down,” Legolas said with a calm voice that surprised Orophin.
Placing his knee on Larin’s wounded back, which was still raw from the
lashings; Orophin put enough weight on him to prevent him from moving.
Orophin waited patiently, watching to see what Legolas would do.
Grabbing Larkin’s bound arms and jerking them forward, Legolas pulled
out his knife. When Larin started to struggle, Orophin took his hand
and pushed down on Larin’s head so he could not move. Legolas began to
cut into Larin exactly as Larin had cut into Vanelossë while Orophin
continued to hold him down.
As the blood flowed from his new injuries, Legolas waved Orophin away.
Orophin removed his knee from the Easterlings’ back and sat back.
Grabbing Larin by the hair, Legolas pulled his head up so he could see
him as he said to the man,
“I will continue to do this every day until you bleed to death.
Everyday you will suffer as my wife has. Only you will not be violated
as she was, only an animal such as yourself could sink to that level.
You are little more than a snake. Look at you, crawling on your belly
in the filth. I will make you regret every time you put your filthy
hands on my beautiful wife, every time you defiled her with your
presence, every single time your eyes rested on her. You will pay; do
not doubt me in this. Soon, you will be begging me to kill you, to let
your suffering end, but before the time comes that I grant your
request, you will crawl in the dust at my feet like the viper that you
are. Remember this, vile curse from the east, every single thing you
have done to her, you have done to me as well. I now demand payment for
our injuries. She will be the last woman to suffer at your hands for I
will show you no mercy. Comfort yourself with the knowledge that I will
return tomorrow, if you have not bled to death by then.”
Legolas let go of Larin’s hair and looked at him with contempt. Orophin
rose and jerked Larin back to his feet, shoving him in with the rest of
the Easterlings. As Legolas walked away, Aragorn approached with Gimli.
Legolas gave Aragorn a slightly defiant look as if daring him to say
anything. Aragorn looked at Larin for a moment before he looked back at
Legolas.
“I am impressed with your ability to hold back for so long.”
“Mehtar and Orophin have kept me informed of his pain from his nightly
whippings. The other man who violated my wife was killed when the
rangers and Elrohir found them chasing after the women that had
escaped, so I do not have him to torture.” Legolas looked back at the
Easterlings then said, “Since these other men tortured and violated the
other women, they will suffer the same fate as their leader.”
“Do you feel any relief?” Gimli asked. He could not imagine what was going on in Legolas’ head.
“Not even close. I could torture him half to death every day of his
life and I will never feel relieved,” Legolas said as he walked off.
Returning to Vanelossë, Legolas lay beside her and watched her sleep.
She had improved greatly in the last few days and the bruises on her
face and neck were beginning to fade. He could now see her beauty more
than her bruises. Her back was healing quickly, thanks to Elladan and
Aragorn’s skills at healing, and though she was still gravely injured
and not recovered wholly, she had improved greatly since he had seen
her that first night.
Legolas knew that she had as many mental scars as she did physical
scars but he was ready to take her home to their children so she could
begin to recover. He could not believe that this had happened. A week
ago, he was dreaming of finally going home to her and their children,
and all he could think about then was how her hair smelled or the way
her skin felt. Now her skin was sliced into pieces so badly, they had
to keep her on her stomach at all times to prevent her from being
subjected to more pain. She had been sleeping most of the time since
they had found her, exhausted from the agony and the fever that raged
for days. He was relieved that she had a brief respite from the horror
of what happened. He felt that when she woke up the emotional pain
would overwhelm her and he was afraid that she could not handle anymore
or she would fade.
Legolas saw her stir and open her eyes slightly. Smiling at her, he
reached over and stroked her hair gently. She reached her injured arm
up and caressed his face reassuring herself that he was, in fact real
and not just a dream.
“I missed you so much. You are all I have thought of while you were gone. My nights were so empty without you,” she whispered.
Legolas kissed her hand and pulled it to rest on his chest over his
heart. Looking deep into her eyes he said, “No matter where I am,
Vanelossë, you are always close to my heart.”
“I want to see our children. I want our peaceful life back. The
children will be so happy to see you, they have missed you greatly.”
“They will be happy to see you as well, Melethen. You have been gone
for some time now. They miss you when you are gone an hour, so they
will have missed you greatly as well.”
As Vanelossë looked at him, tears filled her eyes. “Legolas, you have
no idea how close Séro came to being found by those men. I do not even
want to think what would have happened if he had been caught as well.”
Her lip trembled as she continued. “Do you think they are safe? Do you
know if they are well? I am worried about what Séro may have seen or
how Anarion is doing without me there to care for him. And you know the
girls are upset and Illisse has probably cried the whole time.”
“Everything will be right when we return home. We will leave as soon as
you are well enough. Do not worry so, or you will delay your healing.”
Vanelossë was quiet for a minute before saying softly, “Do you remember the first day we met? The day at the waterfalls?”
“I remember very fondly,” he smiled at the vision of the first time he saw her.
“I knew then that you were going to cause my life to change. And that
night when you kissed me, I knew deep down that I was going to love you
forever no matter if you loved me in return,” she said softly.
“Melethrilen, I have loved you so long and I love you so much, I could
not go on living without you. I was terrified that you were going to be
killed, and when I think of what they have done to you it makes me feel
like I am breaking inside. I am sorry that I was not here to protect
you,” Legolas said softly, as a single tear ran down his cheek to fall
on her hand. “You are such a beautiful person, something so evil should
never have touched you.”
Legolas’ eyes darkened with rage. “He will pay for what he has done. He
is paying nightly for the pain he caused you. But when you are well, I
will rip him apart,” Legolas said, unable to hide his need for justice.