Immediately the Elf rushed toward the human's side. Quickly however, the guards restrained the prince, preventing him from getting too close to the beaten form.

      "Let me go!" he cried, his eyes frantically locked on the body before him. "Estel!"
      Vani stepped forward, her initial shock having melted away. "Let him go this instant."

      The guards were reluctant at first, yet they released Mirial's newest slave. Legolas knelt next to the fallen human, whispering soft Elvish words to him that the guards could not understand.

      Vani glared at the men before her. "What has been done to this poor man?" she demanded angrily.
      The captain of the guard smiled quickly. "Under Miss Mirial's orders, he was beaten and starved. Quite a different treatment than his friend there." the man's eyes fell to the Elf upon the ground.

      Legolas shook with barely controlled rage, but he dared not speak a word. He knew that with this guard, it was best to leave the talking up to Vani.

      "Mirial had no right..." Vani whispered, her voice dangerously low. "The council is supposed to rule this village,Tileng, not my sister."
      "But alas, the council has fallen under your sister's influence nonetheless." the guard said with a smile of satisfaction.
      Vani bristled with anger. "Get out. I can not overrule my sister's orders, but I can issue one of my own. As second of this house, I demand that you leave this man under my care. Is that clear?"

      Tileng visibly straightened and Legolas could tell that the man was not used to taking orders from the eldest member of the household.

      "When Miss Mirial hears of this she..."
      "She shall be furious. It would not be the first time." Vani turned her back to the guards. "Now leave us."

      Hesitantly, the guards stepped out of the room, closing the door behind them.

      Legolas looked up to Vani, tears of anger unshed in his eyes. "Hannon le... I can never repay you for this."
      Vani simply smiled. "If you can carry your friend, then do so. He shall be safer in my chambers than in here."

      Legolas nodded, hoisting Aragorn's limp form into his arms. Quickly, the two left Mirial's chambers.

      "Legolas, you need to return before Mirial get back from her ride." Vani stated, standing at a counter in her room.
      The Elf shook his head. "I cannot leave Estel. Not now. Not again."
      "But you must." the woman replied, setting a hand on the prince's shoulder.

      He looked into her eyes, his own gaze wavering as tears threatened to spill onto his cheeks.

      Vani smiled slightly, setting down the herbs and bandages she had been carrying to the bed from the counter. "I swear to you that nothing shall happen to him under my watch."
      "But if Mirial is as powerful as you say, could she not..."
      "Shhh." the woman replied, taking Legolas by the arm and leading him toward the door. "My sister is powerful, yet if you behave, I do not think she shall mind me caring for your friend. His name is Estel, correct?"

      Legolas nodded.

      "What does it mean?"
      "Hope."
      Vani smiled again, "Then hold on to Estel, to that hope. You shall see. Everything will be fine."

      There was nothing the prince could do. If he refused to leave Vani's chambers, Mirial would become furious and most likely take it out on Aragorn. It was Legolas' sworn duty to protect the young human and, even though he had failed so far, the Elf was determined not to let the man down again.

      "Hannon le. I shall return when Mirial needs me no more."
      Vani began to close the door. "Then hurry, for she should come back any time now."

      The woman watched Legolas' retreating form in the hallway before sighing and shutting the door. She turned back to the still form lying atop her bed. Blood poured from the man's various wounds, staining the white sheets beneath him.

      "Valar... I do not know if I can heal him..."

      Legolas was standing in his corner when Mirial returned. He had hastily cleaned up Aragorn's blood on the wooden floor, the entire act angering him further. The girl simply threw her cloak across the room and onto the bed, which was a signal for the prince to pick it up and put it away. How he despised each minute of his servitude. For what this child had done to Aragorn, the Elf would do fifty times over.

      "Finnelmathen. Where has my sister gone?" Mirial asked, brushing her hair out in front of a large mirror.
      Legolas, who had given her another name all together, made sure not to look at her as he spoke. "To her chambers, Miss."
      "Really?" The young woman turned, a glint of mischief in her eyes. "She did not stay to speak with you?"
      "She did, Miss." Legolas averted his eyes, staring at the floorboards beneath him. How he hated himself in such moments as this. "But she did not stay long."
      "No?... I am sure she did not." Mirial's train of thought altered as she recalled something she had requested earlier. "Did a messenger arrive for me?"

      Legolas was confused. He knew not wether to lie or to tell the woman the truth. If he lied, she would find out from Tileng. If he told the truth, she might storm into Vani's room and have Aragorn locked away again.

      "Yes, Miss."
      "Yes? Well, who was it?" she asked, standing from her place in front of the mirror and walking over to him.
      The Elf quickly calmed his frantic heart. "Captain Tileng. He brought someone for you."
      "Go on?"

      Suddenly, Legolas knew that this woman already realized the messanger's purpose. She knew who it had been all along. Had she sent for Aragorn's bruised and bloodied body just to get a rise from the Elf? Her afternoon ride had, after all, been scheduled at a very coincidental moment.

      "Captain Tileng brought," Legolas steeled himself, pushing away any emotion he might be feeling and left his face completely neutral. "He brought the human who was captured with me."

      Mirial watched the Elf for a long time after he had finished speaking. Then her face grew furious. Her knowledge of the special message had not gotten a rise from him, at least not as big a one as she had hoped for.

      "Where is the prisoner now?"
      "Miss Vani wished to care for him, Miss. Captain Tileng granted the request." Of course if had actually been an order, but Mirial did not need to know that.
      The young woman sighed, shrugging her shoulder before sitting in one of the large chairs in the room. "She has always been soft... my half sister, that is. Perhaps I should teach her a lesson about how mercy is worthless..."
      Legolas knelt in front of the chair. "Please, Miss. Let her treat him. He is badly wounded and will surely die if left uncared for."

      Mirial looked at the Elf before her, placing a hand on his head and stroking his golden tresses. Legolas inwardly cringed, though he made no outward sign of it. Her mere touch filled him with a sense of filth. To be so close to one with a heart so black, it affected him completely.

      "Then I shall leave him be... for now. However," suddenly, the young woman twisted her hand within the prince's hair, pulling his face up she could stare into his intense blue eyes. "I hate Elves, Finnelmathen. I despise your race and keep you around to show such. Your kind destroyed all that I held dear, all I once knew... and I will show you no pity. My half-sister, I can show her mercy if I desire. I can even show it to that worthless human who traveled with you. But I can not and I will not show it to you." she smiled, tightening her hold on Legolas' hair until the prince actually gasped. "That was your one and only request, servant."

      Quickly releasing her hold on the Elf, Mirial stood and walked into her connected bathing chamber. Legolas remained sitting on the floor, one hand clutching his head in pain.

      If it was his one request, the prince prayed that it would be fully granted.

      Vani sighed as she sat in the chair next to her own bed. The still form of Estel lay underneath the now changed and clean sheets. She had worked long into the night, but now it seemed that the human might live.

      The woman had not seen Legolas since she ordered him back to Mirial's rooms. She hoped he was alright. The poor Elf had been very distraught over his friend's condition, who could have blamed him? However, Legolas had not been back to check on Estel since.

      Suddenly, a moan of pain escaped the human's lips and, as Vani stood next to the bed, grey eyes met her own.

      "Welcome back, Estel." she said with a smile.