I Will Remember You
Aelin
Rating: PG-13. Violence, angst, tense moments.
Summary: Arwen is deeply wounded by an assassin.
Stricken by grief at her grave condition, Aragorn is
determined to find the perpetrator. But when Legolas
goes missing, the king finds that there is more to the puzzle
than already fits....
Disclaimer: Tolkien is not mine!
WARNING: Attempted rape and SEVERE violence at times.
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Prologue
Aragorn exited the chamber and promptly broke down. Tears streaming down his ruggedly handsome face, he leaned against the wall and then slid down it to sit on the marble floor.
"Aragorn...."
Legolas felt terrible. To see his friend in pain was too much for his sensitive elven heart to take. Crouching beside the man, he laid a hand over his and could only be there.
"Legolas....it is worse than the healers thought at first. She is....is....she is dying, Legolas. My wife is dying." More tears flooded his beautiful emerald eyes.
"My lord!"
The king leaped up and dashed into the chamber. Please, he thought as he ran. Not now, please, Illuvatar, not now....
The healer gazed at Aragorn with eyes full of unconcealed worry. "My lord, there is an unexpected twist to our lady's illness."
"Which is?"
"She is pregnant with your son, my lord."
Part One
Later that night, Aragorn sat by the fire in the Great Hall and smoked pipe-weed. Arwen hated that habit of his, but right now he needed to calm down, and this was the best way to do it.
It had all started when the Legolas, Aragorn, and Arwen had decided to make a trip to Ithilien. Legolas had been wary at first, but the green forest clamed his nerves, and soon he was singing softly.
"Aragorn," Arwen murmured.
She was curled within his right arm, playing with the soft blades of grass at her feet. "Yes, melamin?" he asked. She gazed up at him. "I love you."
"Do you now?"
His tone was teasing, and she swatted him. "Of course. Would you rather I had married Legolas?"
The prince froze in horror.
"Aiya, no! Never!"
The queen burst into laughter as sweet as her kiss to Aragorn. "I only jest. I have found my soulmate," she concluded softly, kissing him again.
"Elessar! Nurta! Sii!"
Before the king had time to think, and arrow whizzed overhead. Ducking into the brambles, he laid his cheek atop Arwen's head and whispered in Sindain, "Stay down. Do not move or speak."
"King of Gondor. Emerge."
The voice was masculine; hard and commanding. Neither of the three made any sound. The voice came again, angrily.
"I know you have the Queen. Come forth, or suffer the consequences."
Arwen shivered in fear. Aragorn stilled her with a quiet kiss.
"Come FORTH!"
Another arrow flew, this time landing in the brambles not an inch from Legolas' head. At that, the two friends looked at each other and silently knew what the plan was to be. Leaping from the thicket, Legolas and Aragorn drew their swords. "Run!" Aragorn yelled to Arwen. She obeyed, flying like a shadow in the daylight under the trees.
Howling in rage, the assassin facing them let fly a volley of arrows. In quick, rapid movments, the prince and the king deflected them with their blades. But the man ws not finished....
Arwen ran. She ran as fast as she could....but the lot of the day was not to fall to her.
In a flying tackle, another assassin knocked her to the ground. Hurting and breathless, she was flipped over roughly to see a Haradrim scowling at her.
"Foolish woman. Did you think that there were not scouts in the trees?" With that, he backhanded her viciously. Her head was snapped to the side, and she felt a small trickle of blood inch its way down her cheek. The black eyes regarding her were terrifiying, and she could not help but scream as he drew a black dagger....
With a last sweep of his blade, Aragorn dispatched the assassins gathered about them. Then, with fear in his eyes, he said one name.
"Arwen."
Running with the man, Legolas felt the fury and the despair and the worry seeping from him like water from a crack in a rock. He sincerely hoped that everything was all right....
"ARWEN!"
Beside a small stream she lay, unmoving. With a leap Aragorn was by her side. Valar, no....Arwen....
Part Two
The healer gazed at her injuries and sighed. He had never seen anything like the damage done to this fragile body before in his life.
"How is she?" was Aragorn's anxious question.
The healer sighed. "The injuries are severe, my lord. Extremely severe. There is a slim hope that she will survive, but...."
Aragorn's eyes were damp. It hurt the young healer to see his king in pain. But there was naught he could do but tell the truth.
Aragorn shook his head painfully as he remembered that night. Now....now he might still lose Arwen, and it was his fault....his fault....
Tears again flooded his eyes. Leaning forward, his head drooped, and they fell once more. Legolas noted them as he entered the chamber, and his heart twisted.
"Aragorn?"
More tears fell. Legolas felt his own eyes sting in sympathy and came over, silently giving Aragorn a hug. The touch of those arms around him made Aragorn weep all the more. Wanting only to cry, he clutched Legolas' hand and sobbed.
Legolas did the only thing that he possibly could do at that moment to comfort his friend.
He sang.
May it be
An evening star
Shines down upon you
May it be when darkness falls
Your heart will be true....
The prince's voice was soft, gentle, and soothing. Slowly, Aragorn ceased to weep. Yet it did not mean that he was free from the pain he felt; he felt very much to the contrary. All he wanted to do was sleep. Legolas seemed to know it.
"You need sleep Aragorn."
"I cannot."
"You must."
"If I sleep....will you stay with me?"
"Of course."
"Then I will sleep. Perhaps it will cure some of my grief."
Part Three
In the morning, Aragorn rose early and stood on the parapet, watching Anor rise. She is beautiful, he thought. Like Arwen....
Sighing, he turned at the touch of a hand on his shoulder. As he had supposed, it was Legolas. The prince gazed at him tenderly. "Did you sleep well?"
"No. Which I suppose you know, since you sat with me all night." Legolas nodded. "She will be all right, Aragorn."
The king sighed. If only he could believe him. "I can only hope, Legolas." He smiled faintly. "Do you remember how we met?"
Legolas smiled sadly. He did, but he let Aragorn speak.
"I was but two and twenty years old. I had returned from the wild and was visiting the Golden Wood....and there she stood, looking like a vision. I fell in love with her from that moment on." He sighed again. "How I wish that I had denied the trip to Ithilien."
"You cannot change the past, Aragorn."
"I know, mellon. I know."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ainadur smiled cruelly as he slid the knife down the side of his sheath absentmindedly. How rare, to make the king of Gondor vulnerable....
He was not a decent man. Having been captured by humans in the late Second Age, he had lost all trust of them except for those who he took into his evil service. Elves and Dwarves he hated in equal measure. Dwarves for their greediness in their search for gold, and Elves for....well, for everything. Their very bodies, their essence, aggravated him more than anything. And to wound one of the humans' kin that he hated the most....well, it certainly brightened his day.
Turning to his men, who had stood quietly, waiting for his musings to end, he said, "Come, brothers. We have another score to settle....one that will end in death."
Legolas reined in his horse at the sound of hoofbeats. Aragorn? No, it could not be. The king was at home, with his wife, where he should be. Then what-?
"Aieeeeeee!"
Suddenly he was jumped from behind. The horse reared, then bolted. A young warrior with a face that could have made the sun turn hers viciously took his knife and swiped it across Legolas' cheek. Wincing from pain, the elf shook his head and threw off his attacker. At that moment Ainadur entered the game. Upon seeing Legolas, he smiled.
"Well, well, well. What's this?"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aragorn stared at the elven page in disbelief. "Legolas is missing? Are you certain?"
"Yes, my lord." The elf's eyes never left Aragorn's face, a sign that meant he told the truth. "He was captured. The horse returned without a rider and spoke of the incident."
To others, that statement may have sounded totally irrational. But Aragorn knew from experiences with his own horse that they could, indeed, talk to their masters through actions and body movements. He speared the elf with his own eyes.
"Where was he taken?"
"The forests south of Ithilien, lord."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Legolas looked up wearily when one of Ainadur's servants came in. To his dismay, the man held a whip.
"Playtime."
CRACK!
Legolas jerked hard. That was the most vicious lash they had ever given him, and it was followed by another, and another, and yet another, until only his princely upbringing and pride held back his tears of agony. Yet when the final lash came, even they could not prevent the hot salt drops that spilled down his cheek. The torturer noticed, and smiled cruelly.
"Don't worry, little elf. You'll cry a lot more before this is over."
Aragorn gazed around at the dense foliage, then squinted as he noticed a deep crack in one of the overhanging leaf covers. Upon closer inspection, he found it was a cavern opening. Cautiously, he edged his way inside, which was....
Pleasantly warm, lit brightly, and soon decorated with the bodies of four of Ainadur's servants. Sword still unsheathed, Aragorn crept forward until he heard sounds. Listening closely, he saw red in a matter of minutes.
"Stop, please!"
"Why?"
"I beg you, in the name of the Valar, do not touch me!"
"I wish to. You are a beautiful elf."
A soft cry was heard, then what sounded suspiciously like a sob.
And it was all Aragorn could take. Bursting into the recess, he found a chained Legolas, shirtless, with ripped breeches, and a rather muscular Haradrim with a sword hanging from his belt, also shirtless. It did not take a genius to realize what the Haradrim's intent was.
"Get away from my brother."
The remark was spat in Sindarin. The astonished Haradrim had no time to think before his head was separated from his body. Aragorn knelt by Legolas' side, who looked at him, face streaked with blood and tears.
"Aragorn....do not look upon me."
Heart bleeding for the elf, Aragorn gently tilted his chin up. "Had he done anything to you?"
"No....but he was about to. Aragorn....it would have cost me my life. To be....defiled by a man....it is the worst fate that can befall one of the Firstborn."
"I know." With quick movements, Aragorn sawed through the chain links that held his friend to the wall. "I am going to get you out of here. At any cost. I swear it to you."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Arwen grew worse day by day. Without a way to reach the king, all the healers and the people could do was hope and pray.
As for the Queen, every day was like a dark dream. Eagles and visions of the Underworld crowded her sleep.
Do the Valar fight over my fate?
It certainly seemed so. It would seem that she would improve, only to worsen the next hour. The healers were beside themselves with fatigue and worry.
And where was the king?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Aragorn and Legolas stopped short in the cave as Ainadur's men surrounded them. Drawing their swords, they were treated to a visit by the dark man himself.
"Well, well. I see that our little fair one was never properly tamed." At this, Legolas bristled. "I am no one's toy," he spat. "Least of all yours, morier."
Ainadur laughed. "Thank you! I am a dark one." With that, he motioned to the four Haradrim who stood behind him. At once, the elf was attacked by two, while the others were left to deal with Aragorn.
Deflecting a combined swing from the Haradrim, Aragorn glanced at Legolas. Despite the elf's wounded heart, he fought with vehemency and fury. To be truthful, Aragorn had to choke back a laugh as the Haradrim fighting him stumbled back, eyes wide in surprise.
But there were still his own to contend with. Faking a hurt from the swing of the blade closest to him, Aragorn doubled over. At once the first Haradrim was on him, and Aragorn dispatched him with a quick thrust into the stomach. The next was tougher, but fell eventually with a strike to the jugular. He fell, red blood streaming into the dirt.
Ainadur raised his eyebrows at the two friends, standing over the bodies of his slain henchmen. "Ah....there goes my assassin. He was very good too," as he motioned to the one Aragorn had just slain. "A wonderful fighter, and good at stealth. No wonder he ws able to kill the Queen so quickly."
The color drained from Aragorn's face.
Legolas felt his heart leap. Kill the Queen? Ainadur saw both's fear and smiled. "Oh, yes, I almost forgot to mention it. That wife of yours died this morning."
With that, he ran for his life. Aragorn roared in fury and went after him, but he had already leaped on his horse and cantered off. But he was not safe from Legolas' sure aim. With a gurgling cry, he fell off his mount and lay dead, an arrow in his back.
Aragorn turned wide eyes to Legolas. "We must get back to Gondor. Come with me!"
Part Five
The sounds of weeping met the two's ears as they rode into the city. Eowyn, Arwen's lady-in-waiting, greeted them at the castle steps with tears rolling down her face.
"Oh, my lord...."
Aragorn's eyes gleamed with tears. "Then it is true? She has passed on?"
"Yes."
All of Aragorn's resolve crumbled. Turning to Legolas, he fell into his arms and wept. Legolas held him, not speaking. Meeting eyes with Faramir, Eowyn's husband, he felt his heart break.
Arwen lay in state in the Houses Of Healing. Unsure of what to do,Aragorn lingered by her side. Legolas said softly, "Put her to rest, mellon."
"Whatever for? She isn't dead, lad."
Gandalf?
Sure enough, there he stood. Legolas and Aragorn stared in utter surprise and mute hope.
"Well, shoo!" the wizard ordered gruffly. I have work to do."
Early the next morning, a sleeping Aragorn was awakened by a sweet, gentle kiss. Yelping for joy, he swept his wife into his arms and kissed her deeply. to the amusement of all who had come running at the sound of the cry.
Legolas laughed as he watched the scene. "Do not forget tonight, friend."
Aragorn eyed him mischievously. "And you as well." Then, seeing the curoius looks of those assembled, he drew a breath to speak.
The prince clapped a hand over his mouth immediately.
"Don't you even DARE!"
THE END