Title: Forgotten Allies By: JMac Rated: R Feedback: legolasstory@yahoo.com Notes: To Alexandra, your wish is my command. :-) ******************************** “Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most vibrant spirits are seared with scars.” ******************************** Chapter 17 A rooster crowed. The smells from the bakery caught on the wind and wafted through the air. A farmer in his truck clattered along the road, deserted at this time of the morning. Legolas paid no mind to any of these things as he walked into Belfort. A few of the town’s shops had opened, though Legolas was hesitant to go inside. He spoke no French, and knew it wouldn’t be wise to let anyone know he was a foreigner. In order to find the boarding house, Legolas would have to comb every street. The sun was high into the morning sky, when Legolas found it. He knew it was the right house the moment he laid eyes on it. For on the front porch, lounging as if they didn’t have a care in the world were Elrond and Gandalf. They were talking amongst themselves when they spotted him. And it took but once glance at Legolas to know that something had gone horrible wrong. Elrond rose to his feet at once. "Where is she?" "German soldier's intercepted us as we crossed the border," Legolas said. “I am sure they are taking her back to Paris.” Gandalf and Elrond were silent a long moment. “Bernhardi will be none to happy to see her,” Elrond commented. “You heard about what happened at his estate?” Legolas asked. Gandalf nodded. “We have heard a great deal about two jewel thieves who stabbed Bernhardi and left him for dead.” The front door to the boarding house opened and Colin rushed out. He glanced at Legolas and immediately took him for an elf. “Where is Kate?” Colin looked around expectantly. Gandalf put a hand on Colin’s back and said gently, “Kate has been arrested. In all likelihood they have taken her to Bernhardi. We will simply have to get her, when we get Elrohir and Elladan.” Gandalf’s words made it sound reasonable, but Colin was anything but. "Arrested?" Colin said. "How did this happen? I thought you said she had protection." His gaze sought out Legolas and stared at him. "You? Why aren't you behind those bars? You should be the one there not her. Some protector you turned out to be." Legolas's jaw clenched and he balled his hands into fists. “She ordered me to leave. As heir to the throne of Gondor. She knew I had to obey her.” Legolas said. “The German's were looking for us at the border, checking for Elves. Kate sacrificed herself to save me.” "Save you?" Colin said. "But they'll kill her! After what she did to Bernhardi. She's probably already dead. And it's your fault. Her death is on your hands!" In a blind rage, Colin launched himself across the room and took a swing at Legolas. Legolas stood unflinching and took the hit. When it became apparent that Legolas would do nothing to defend himself, Gandalf pulled Colin off of Legolas and lead him into the house. "He is right. I should not have let her do it," Legolas said. "I should not have let her go. I. . . " Legolas staggered under the weight of his grief. Elrond helped Legolas into a chair on the porch. He put his head in his hands. "I should have listened to the bidding of my heart." "What did your heart say?" Elrond asked, softly. "To save her," Legolas said. "To protect her." "I know this will be little consolation, but Kate was right," Elrond said, gently. "If you had stayed it would have only been a matter of time before they tracked her and captured both of you. Even at your strongest, you could not have faced an entire army alone. "I could have tried," Legolas said. "And you both would have been lost," Elrond said. "But I would not have to feel such pain," Legolas said. "Hope is not lost. You do not know for certain that Kate is dead. If she is alive, I have no doubt that you will find her.” Elrond sighed. "She insisted that I return the pendant to you," Legolas said, as he removed the pendant from his neck. Elrond looked at it a long moment but did not take it from Legolas’s outstretched hand. When last he had touched it, it was upon the neck of Arwen. He could not bear to touch it now, not after so much time had past. “Would you --- would you keep it in your protection until we return to Valinor?” Legolas was surprised at his words but simply nodded. As the emotions of the moment wore off, Legolas remembered something else. “I have news of the twins.” Elrond stared at him. "Tell me." "It will not be easy for you to hear or see." Legolas warned. "I am several thousand years older than you and I have seen more than you could imagine," Elrond said. Legolas nodded. "When Kate was in Bernhardi's office, he confronted her about us. He knows we are not mortal men. Kate found this upon his desk." Legolas reached into his pocket and pulled out the paper weight. He held it out to Elrond. One look at it and Elrond turned his face to the sky. A cry of such anguish escaped his lips that no mortal man who had lived had ever heard its equal. Thousands upon thousands of years of experiencing the horrors of life were compressed into the one question in Elvish that echoed into the sky. "Why?" Legolas bowed his head and said nothing. For he knew there was nothing he could say, and the same question had been tearing at his heart, the same anguish in his soul, since he had left Kate in the woods. Gandalf was on the porch in an instant. "What has happened?" Elrond handed him the paperweight. Inside it was the perfectly preserved Elvish ear. Gandalf looked at it but said nothing. "It is Elrohir's," Elrond said. His composure was instantly regained, as if the outburst from the moment before had never happened. "We must get them out of the prison at once." "It will take at least 2 days to get back to Paris," Gandalf gently reminded him. "Then we should leave immediately," Legolas said. Gandalf glanced at the two of them but said nothing. For he knew there was nothing he could say. No amount of words could temper the rage in Elves once stirred. And he would not even attempt to try. ******************************* Kate soon learned that fear came in waves, like the incoming tide, rising higher and higher, constantly threatening to wash her away. When the Nazi's approached her in the woods, Kate had never been more afraid in her life. Until she was thrown into the back of the car and driven to Paris. As they approach the prison, Kate realized that the fear she felt in the woods was nothing compared to the fear of seeing the prison standing before her. And that fear was even small compared to the one she felt now. Kate didn't know if she was being lead to a cell, to be tortured, or to be killed. The guard jabbed the barrel of his rifle into her back and she kept walking. In a detached sort of way she noticed the sunlight coming through the barred windows and she wondered if she'd ever have the sun on her face again. And she wondered how she could have ever taken such a thing as that for granted. Suddenly the guard stopped and unlocked a cell door. And before she could grasp what was happening she was shoved roughly inside. The door locked securely behind her. Kate hesitantly turned around. And was startled to see that the cell was already occupied. A man sat up on the cot and turned to her. Kate held back a gasp as she looked at him. His head was shaved, and his dark hair was just starting to grow back in. Both of his ears were gone and in their place were jagged scars. A shirt hung loosely from his shoulders and Kate could see a fresh incision running down the front of his chest. Her eyes rose to meet his, and there was no mistaking who he was. The light his blue eyes had not been extinguished. He was an elf. He struggled to his feet. He was tall and stared at her with amused curiosity. "Kate Elessar," he said. "You should not be here." The full force of the past few days' events finally caught up with her and Kate began to cry. The elf gathered her up in his arms. Leading her over to his cot, he held her trembling body against him. Softly he began singing to her in Elvish. What he sang of, she didn't know, but her mind was soon overcome with a peace and contentment that she hadn't felt in weeks. Once her fear and her tears were under control, she looked up at him and smiled. "Which one are you? Elladan or Elrohir?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise. "You know me? I wasn't sure if you would." "Your father has talked of little else since he and Legolas arrived," Kate said. "I knew that Legolas was bored in Valinor but I did not realize my father was afflicted with the same condition," he said, wryly. "I suppose Gandalf has you all dashing about the countryside." Then he added. "I am Elrohir." Kate looked him over. "What have they done to you?" "Atrocities that have not been spoken of since the times before the first age when Elves became orcs," Elrohir said matter of factly. "You are no orc," she said vehemently. "How many orcs have you seen, little one?" he asked, with a grin. "None," she admitted. "But if you think you look like an orc, then Legolas has seriously given me a wrong impression of them. I was told they were hideous creatures and you are anything but." "You are truly a child of Arwen," Elrohir said. "How is Elladan?" "They have not touched him," Elrohir said. "They are using him as a comparison. And the pendant?" "Should be safely in your father's hands by now," Kate said. "And you? How did you get here?" Elrohir said. "I would not think that Legolas would let a beautiful girl like you out of his sight for a moment." "Oh, that is a very long story," Kate said. "And you worry that we do not have the time?" Elrohir asked, smiling. "How much do you want to know?" Kate asked. "Tell me everything," Elrohir said. He settled back onto the cot, with Kate firmly in his embrace. She leaned back against him and began to tell the story. "Well, it started when you and your brother appeared on my rooftop in a dazzling display of dramatics. Mysterious clothes, mysterious letter, which I couldn't read, by the way. And whisk my brother away without so much as a hello in my direction." Elrohir laughed. "Elladan does have a flair for the dramatic. But I do not see how our clothes were mysterious. If you had seen us before Gandalf had let us leave Valinor, I could understand it. We had both chosen long skirts to wear and not those confining trousers that mortal men have taken to wearing." It was Kate's turn to laugh. The sound of her laughter reminded Elrohir of Colin. "Have you any news on Colin?" "He was well last I saw him," Kate said. "But I couldn't speak to him. That was. . several lifetimes ago." "I am glad to hear it. I should not wish Bernhardi's wrath on anyone," Elrohir said, mostly to himself. At his words Kate started trembling in his arms. "What is it?" Elrohir asked. "I don't think I'm going to make it out of here alive," Kate said softly. Elrohir held her tightly, "Do not think such things. You can not see all futures. No matter how bleak things may seem." "Can you?" Kate asked. "Can you tell me I will make it out of here alive?" Elrohir shook his head. "No, I do not possess that gift. But do not give up hope, little one. Why would Bernhardi want to kill you?" "I stabbed him." "Stabbed him?" "In the shoulder with Aragorn's sword, it's how I got the pendant back," Kate said. A look of delight spread across Elrohir's face, "That is a fight I would have given my ears to have seen." Kate elbowed Elrohir gently in the ribs at his remark. Elrohir grinned at her. "Now start at the beginning and tell me what happened, and do not leave out a thing," Elrohir said. **********************************