I woke.

I woke and Legolas was not there for the first time since the start of this adventure.

That shouldn't have bothered me, but it did.

"He'll be back around noon," Maldor said without looking down. He was packing something in his saddlebags.

"Why are you telling me?" I asked.

"You were wondering," he said, as if it were obvious.

"Can you read my thoughts?" I asked him with some curiosity.

"It doesn't take much to learn the expression one has towards a certain person," he said with a small laugh.

Well, that's awkward.

"Oh." I said with finality, not knowing what else to say.

"We'd better get onto higher ground to be able to see any possible arrivals into the city," Maldor said thoughtfully as he lightly brushed last night's ashes away with the side of his boot.

"Why would it matter?" I furrowed my brow.

"In the case the King arrives," he shrugged. "Either way, that takes us closer to the city in case there is no other alternative."

"Alternative to what?"

"Escape," he said, his tone darkening.

"Maldor, what would we possibly need to-"

"Get on your horse," he said suddenly. "I knew this would happen."

Somehow I had swung onto Eärlin and I was hurtling towards the city gates at an uncanny speed.

"Maldor!" I shouted frantically. "What is going on?!"

I looked behind me and saw him and his grey mare gaining on us.

"Nothing yet," he said through gritted teeth. "But they are coming quickly upon us."

"Who?" I said desperately, clinging onto Eärlin's mane.

"The same who attacked Gilron," he panted, looking back quickly. His green eyes narrowed and his horse slowed. I could now see a disarrayed mass of...shapes, becoming larger and larger as they moved across the area.

"Keep riding," he said, before stopping completely. I slowed Eärlin and turned to watch Maldor gallop in the opposite direction. I saw him raise his bow and a few of the creatures fell, toppling the rearguard. Eärlin turned and looked at me crossly, pawing the ground.

"Yes, I know, we have to go," I said anxiously, "I just...hold on." He flicked his ears back and neighed.

Without warning, the advance turned away from the city and the lone elf wheeled around his mount and cantered over.

"They think I'm alone," he said with relief in his voice.

"That's a good thing?" I said incredulously. "I'm surprised they didn't impale you like they did Gilron."

"They're not interested in killing," he said grimly. "We must go into the city, lest they return."

"Then why did you bother to use a few arrows?" I asked curiously.

"They know that they cannot go against an armed Ellon with so few numbers," he said. "It was a warning, nothing more."

I sighed and faced the view of Gondor.

"Why did you halt?" he asked.

"I wasn't going to just leave you there to suffer the same fate as Gilron," I said, half seriously.

"Better I than you, my Lady," he said, looking back again. "I swore to protect you."

"You don't have to--" I started, but something black hurtled at me, knocking me off my horse and sending me skating across the ground like a tossed away puppet. I dimly heard Maldor swear in elvish before an arrow embedded itself in the thing and it fell to the ground, motionless. 

It had the appearance of a winged rat, with a withered face and barbed tail.I scrambled to my feet, grasping my bow and feeling a small sense of satisfaction to see that none of my arrows had broken from the impact. Bruised and bleeding, I nocked an arrow and raised it unsteadily. Maldor had leapt from his own horse and was in a similar stance.

We both faced three riders. Torn, leathery skin was stretched over a thick skeleton, and black beady eyes filled with malice peered at us from above. They were mounted on demented wolf-like beasts, who looked as if the only thing they were concerned of was how our flesh would taste while it was still warm.

Wargs.

And Maldor said they didn't want to kill anyone, I thought faintly. Wonder how he reckoned that.

"Leave us," Maldor said in a commanding tone. "We have no business with you."

One of them laughed, a thick and guttural sound that made my skin crawl.

"We have business with anyone who could be the answer to our little...conundrum."

"Be that as it may, you are not welcome here," Maldor said. A dangerous, icy quality pierced his voice like a sword.

"We are not to be trifled with, elf," he snarled in return.

"Neither are we," I said in a low voice, steadying my hand which grasped my bow.

"We'll see about that, elfling," he grimaced, unsheathing a crude, sooty sword. Maldor stepped in front of the blade.

"Don't think to harm her, filth," he snarled, "or on your own head be it."

"Oh, I won't," he responded. "Orders are orders."

What orders?

"Not a single wrong move," hissed Maldor, circling around like an agitated lion.

I had never seen him so angry--it was rather terrifying. The lead monster stepped down with a thud and advanced. I was going to imbed an arrow in his face.

"Not yet, Gianna," Maldor cautioned softly. "Wait."

I held up my head defiantly. "Who sent you?" I inquired boldly, clenching an arrow.

"Let's say it was just...an old neighbour," one of them replied, cackling. I rolled my eyes, feeling adrenaline surge through me.

"Hurry up," I snarled. "I'd rather not waste my time here."

"Like you have a choice," the offender shot back in his strangled voice. "Pin her down," he barked.

His Warg leapt towards me, hitting my shoulders and tossing me back onto the ground. Maldor raised his sword with cold fury and plunged it into the side of the beast, who made a low whining sound before collapsing. My ears, I realised. They wanted to see if my ears were pointed.

"Mortal scum," he cursed, kicking aside the corpse of his mount. "It isn't her." The others muttered angrily.

"--he said immortal," one of them rasped, looking at his companion.

"You've gotten what you came for," Maldor said. "Although, we cannot let you go with such offences."

He nodded briskly before promptly loosing two arrows, crumpling the bodies of the last two Wargs. Their riders roared with rage and charged, but with sudden inspiration, I shot two arrows in quick succession, both of which met their mark. I was about to avenge my injuries a third time when Maldor shook his head.

"Leave him," he said. "We must make it to the city."

"He'll run back to his master," I pointed out.

"Good," Maldor said vaguely. "That is the point."

"Care to share?" I muttered, wiping my bleeding forearm on my tunic.

"Tolo, híril-nin (Come, my lady)," he said instead, striding forward through the carnage. I conveniently found a large rock and threw it at the final attacker instead. I chose a new subject.

"But the city is still miles away. We have no horses."

"We can run," he suggested. "You wouldn't be able to ride regardless of the state of our horses. They will wait for us at the city."

Then, I felt it. Slowly ebbing into a pool of liquid pain that seared into my chest.

"It's your ribs, probably a fracture," Maldor said with a sigh, in response to my expression. "Gianna, you did well, but next time I tell you to flee, you must do so. It's for your protection."

"Everyone needs to stop trying to protect me," I said through gritted teeth.

"That will never happen," he countered. "The Prince demands it."

"But why?" I said with blatant frustration.

"It is you they want," Maldor said, quickening his pace. "It's always been you."

Rather than try and divine the meaning of this vague declaration, I said nothing and trailed along behind him, continuously whimpering every time my ribs were jostled. Even though this was the only real injury I had sustained in the skirmish, I still looked terrible. The ground where I had landed after the impact had been studded with sharp stones, which had left long, claw like gouges in the back of my neck. My forearm was still bleeding rather severely and I figured that if I was supposed to be "blessed" or whatever, it would be mighty fine to have my injuries heal much quicker.

At long last, we reached the city gates, where we were met by our two noble steeds, who looked very bored as they nibbled at the sparse grass.

"You could have come and gotten us," I said irritably. Eärlin looked at me reproachfully, but I scratched his ears lightly and whispered, "I'm glad you got away."

"Who seeks to enter the King's City?" said a guard loudly.

"We are friends and allies of King Elessar and bring tidings from the last Elvenking, Thranduil Orpherion of Eryn Lasgalen." Maldor announced eloquently.

"Enter in peace," the guard said stiffly, raising the portcullis of the gate. Maldor inclined his head and I offered the guard a small smile, that he hesitantly returned.

"Our companions are already here," Maldor added, turning again to face the guard. "Could you send a message to the palace that we have arrived?"

The guard looked us over again.

"Ah, Prince Legolas' party, I presume?" he said, remembering.

"Yes," I affirmed.

"Very well, I will send word immediately," he assured us, turning to another guard nearby to cover the gate.

Maldor led both our horses to the entrance of the city, and looked around for a hitching post.

"This will do for now," he told them, rubbing their muzzles affectionately. He tied their reins onto a metal rail, and after giving them a few dry pieces of bread, we set off anew.

"Have you ever come to Gondor before?" I asked, as we walked up the stone streets of the city. Many people glanced up curiously as we passed.

"I have been to the surrounding lands but not to the White City itself, Lady," Maldor admitted.

"Then I suppose we must both work to find where Gondor's king resides." I said, looking ahead as far as I could see. I saw only more streets and winding stairs, people bustling liberally through the lanes bearing their wares and possessions.

Maldor looked calculatingly at those we passed, assessing their likelihood of current knowledge in a few glances.

"I would reckon that it's at the highest point of the city," he said.

We continued the steep ascent, and as we neared an archway, there seemed to be a minor commotion. People were excitedly whispering and occasionally a voice would rise above the swell of voices, shouting "Hail!" and "my Lord!" Convinced I was going to shortly be meeting the king himself, I hurried as best I could through the archway until someone accidentally bumped into me, jarring my injuries.

"I apologise," the person said sincerely. He turned to look us and after a moment, understanding dawned on his face. "Come with me," he said immediately.

He had dark brown hair that curled slightly above his temples, inquisitive grey eyes, and was garbed in an embroidered tunic--although I only realised he was the one who everyone was shouting about until Maldor's eyes widened.

"Prince Eldarion," he said in a hushed voice. King Aragorn's heir and son, Eldarion himself, apparently.

"Indeed," he affirmed. He still had a youthful look about him, still had some of the boyishness which rendered him in his teens. The prince continued conversationally. "One of the guards told me to watch for you both, I'm glad I caught you."

"It's a pleasure," I said, curtsying a little. We got into a wider lane and he turned to look at us.

"The Lady Gianna, I presume?" he said, looking at me.

"Yes, my lord," I said respectfully.

"You're bleeding quite heavily," he observed. "Might we take a detour to the healers?"

I winced, but shook my head.

"We bear news that must be delivered to our comrades," I said. "Thank you for receiving us."

"Legolas and I have conversed much on the subject of your quest," he added. "It is, of course, entirely my own pleasure to finally meet you both."

"When will your father return?" Maldor asked as we approached a set of marble steps.

"He left a fortnight ago and was meant to return on the morrow," he answered. "But little has been heard of him, so it is difficult to know."

"I've heard he has an heirloom of your house to show us," I commented. Eldarion laughed easily.

"He has several. I'm sure that as soon as he sees Legolas he'll invent a hundred other things to show l off ."

"Still best of friends, I see," I said with a small smile. Legolas had told me many stories of one of his closest friends, Aragorn Elessar, heir of Isildur.

"Indeed they are," Eldarion said fondly."Legolas is like my brother, he came often when I was young."

Speak of the devil, I thought, as we neared the castle. I saw a messenger leaving and Legolas hurrying towards us with Faewyn close behind.

"Why is she covered in blood?" I heard Faewyn ask Legolas as soon as he was within a few feet.

"I'm not covered in blood-," I started to protest, but Legolas interrupted me.

"Gianna." he said softly.

Everyone froze.

"Gia, what happened?" he asked hollowly.

"Nothing," I shrugged, trying to act nonchalant.

He stepped closer.

"Then why are you bleeding?" he asked, verifying his inquiry with an accusatory stare towards my arm.

"Legolas, it's just a superficial wound. One of the Warg's claws got me after they pinned me down."

"What?" he breathed incredulously. "I should have never--"

"This is not the fault of anyone, my Lord," Maldor said, stepping forward.

"It doesn't matter--if poison--why--what did they want?" he asked finally.

"Nothing more to harass us and carry out supposed orders," Maldor assured him.

Faewyn was anxiously hovering behind me.

"Wait, was it the same "things" who attacked Gilron?" she asked.

"Yes," Maldor said. "Red blood, same features. They mentioned something that Gianna was not 'the one'."

"The one what?" I asked.

"They must have misinterpreted it," Legolas said, wide-eyed.

"Misinterpreted what?" I asked, still confused.

"Whatever orders they had," Maldor said unhelpfully. "We felt it would be better to tell you right away."

Legolas suddenly closed his eyes briefly and took a deep breath.

"Thankfully nobody was hurt any more seriously," he murmured, looking at me sharply.

I nodded, but my breath hitched and my ribs throbbed unappreciatively.

I knew he saw.

He stepped closer, inches away from me.

"What?" he asked simply, crystal blue gaze boring into me like daggers.

"Nothing serious," I dared respond.

"Is that so," he said quietly. He reached out and pulled me into his gentle embrace. "Thank Eru nothing serious, then," he murmured against my ear.

"Don't get yourself covered in blood," I answered saucily.

"Trying to hide any other injuries?" he asked innocently.

I avoided looking at him.

"She has two fractured ribs on her left side and three gashes on her neck," Maldor supplemented.

I tried to shoot him a mean look but I ended up blushing, oddly.

I looked at Legolas and there was a brief spark of desperation before he said, "Gianna will have to see the healers before we do anything else."

"I promise not to get blood on anything," I insisted.

Faewyn choked behind me, and I knew she was laughing at my remark. Legolas tried to give me a stern glare but Faewyn's laughter had caught on to Eldarion, so he gave up and led us inside to the king's halls, lightly pushing me ahead.

As we entered the carved oak doors, we passed the white tree of Gondor. It was humbling to witness the significance of the tree in person, the last descendant of Nimloth, the silver tree of Númenor.

Eldarion hurried ahead, playfully nudging Legolas as he went by.

"Nana," he called into the interior, "The other two are here."

Arwen Undómiel, Queen of Gondor, gracefully walked towards us. It was easy to see where her son had gotten his looks. Prince Eldarion joined his mother and beamed at us.

"Welcome to all of you," she said, smiling. "Legolas, I think you've left your bow in the dining room again."

Legolas rolled his eyes. "I was in a hurry, Arwen," he said waspishly. Eldarion stepped forward.

"Now that we're all here, I believe Lady Gianna must see a healer before she bleeds to death," he said, only half teasing.

"Of course," Arwen said, "Faewyn, do you want to-"

"I have to go get my bow anyway," Legolas said immediately. "I shall go."

I looked at him with a sideways glance.

"We hope to see you in one piece," Eldarion quipped as we passed.

"I'm sure I will be well cared for," I said, walking up the marble staircase behind Legolas. "Hannon le, mellyn nin."