Restless

Chapter 12

“Day 63”


Aldamir frowned. It had been too long, even for the King, to have not finished what the Chamberlain had interrupted. He turned and called for the Guard.

"Yes, My Lord?"

"Please go down to the secluded glade and fetch the King. I have it on good authority that he is there with the Queen."

"Yes, Sire. Right away." As the guard turned to leave, Aldamir added. "And be discrete. They have been enjoying one anothers’ company in private."

“Aye.” The guard bowed quickly before leaving to carry out his assigned task.

The Chamberlain poked his head around the corner after the guard had gone. "They are still not back?"

Aldamir stared.

"They were finished by the time I accidentally found them." The man huffed. "Perhaps the King has a bit more stamina than I gave him credit for." An amused smile crossed his face at the thought.

"Enough!" Aldamir grumbled. "This is a matter we will not discuss now, or ever."


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"Let her be!" Aragorn hissed as he was jerked roughly away from his wife. His vision was still blurred thanks to the blow that had rendered him unconscious for a portion of their journey. His clothing was dirty and torn where they had dragged his unconscious body through the brush. A filthy rag was shoved into his mouth and tied tightly around his head in a vain effort to silence his protests.

Arwen struggled in her captor's embrace, watching the rough treatment her husband was receiving from the others. She could see his eyes were not completely focused on her and it caused her eyes to narrow in concern.

Their leader grunted and threw Arwen into the arms of a nearby man, "Enough!" He crossed the distance between himself and Aragorn and backhanded the King hard enough to draw blood. "You will be silent or I will take your beautiful Queen right here in front of you!"

Crystal wid widened and then narrowed in spite but he ceased hiruggruggle. When the man returned to Arwen's side, he pulled her roughly against him and flattened his hands against her well-rounded backside. He leaned down and whispered, loud enough for Aragorn to hear, into her delicately tipped ear. "Mmm, what a delicious treat you must be. So warm and tender, it’s a wonder you don't drive every man in your kingdom mad with desire."

"Release me," she whispered in return, bringing her knee into contact with his groin as a warning.

Thn sun sucked in a quick breath as her knee came into light contact with his most precious organ. His eyes narrowed and he reached out and grasped her hair, tugging her face toward him. “One more move on your part and your husband will suffer a very agonizing, painful beating.” Arwen lowered her foot to the ground and gasped when he pulled her, by the hair, into his arms. When he released her hair and slid his hands down her back to cup her backside, Aragorn hissed in anger. Arwen tried to step back but his iron-clad grip forced her to remain in place. He squeezed the plumb cheeks and arched his hips against her. Leaning down, he whispered in her ear loud enough for Aragorn to hear, “You will sate me soon enough.”

Arwen trembled, feeling the physical manifestation of his lust pressed against her stomach. She was grateful for the clothing that she wore, but the uncomfortable sensation of his arousal still disgusted her.

He stepped back and laughed, then backhanded her a little gentler than he had her husband.

Aragorn launched himself with a growl out of his captor's grasp with a strength his guards had not anticipated.

"Lra'ka!" One of the men reached for Aragorn as another called out to their leader in warning.

Lra’ka quickly drew his sword and Aragorn skidded to a halt rather than be impaled on the blade. The sharp metal rested against his neck as he stared with wild eyes at his wife's captor. "I can see even the memory of a King fails. For you obviously do not remember my previous instructions. Now," he licked his lips as he cast a quick look back at Arwen, " you and your wife, will pay for your disobedience."

The other two men grasped Aragorn and bound him even more tightly as Lra'ka sheathed the weapon and wrapped his hands around Arwen's neck. "Hold her legs!" He ordered the other remaining man who stood behind her, "and part them when I command." He snickered at the horrified look that flashed in Arwen’s eyes.

Aragorn's struggle at his words did not go unnoticed and Lra'ka smiled. "Perhaps he will not watch this time. Just knowing it has happened, that I have defiled his precious Queen, will be enough." He turned and nodded to his men, who immediately brought the hilt of a blade down on Aragorn's head. The King crumpled to the ground, unconscious, as Arwen cried out in elvish to her husband.

"Carry him!" Lra'ka ordered as he pulled Arwen into his arms and pushed her through the dense underbrush. "We will travel a bit farther before we stop to take pleasure from this fair one's flesh."


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"My Lord!" The captain of the guard rushed into the castle, skidding to a halt as Aldamir and the Chamberlain turned curious glances toward the sweat-soaked man.

"What is it?" Aldamir's eyes narrowed in concern.

"I didn't not find the King, or Queen, but I found signs of a struggle."

"What?!" Aldamir demanded, his voice echoing off the stone walls. "Gather a guard to search for them and set up a parameter around the city. I want no one to leave or enter until they are found."

The Chamberlain's eyes widened. " I shouldn't have left them!"

Aldamir turned toward the Chamberlain. "Go with the captain, show them where the King and Queen were last seen." As the Chamberlain hurried after the guard, Aldamir waved to his personal escort. "Come, we must find the newly arrived 'traders'. I sensed a nervousness about them during their audience. I believe they may have something to do with ting’ing’s disappearance."

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Arwen struggled in Lra'ka's grasp, biting back the tears as his iron grip bruised her arms. "Enough!" he threw her to the ground and straddled her waist before she could regain her feet. "I know how to stop your struggles!" Dirty fingers ripped at her clothing, tearing the elven silk from her shoulders and bearing her pale skin to his hungry gaze.

"Mmmm," he crooned. "I've never had an elf wench."

"And you will not - " She hissed before dirty hands covered her mouth. Lra'ka nodded in appreciation to his man as he ripped the dress away from her body. To his utter delight, she wore nothing beneath - evidence of earlier relations with her husband.

"Ohh, what a lovely surprise," Lra'ka licked his lips. His hands roughly cupped and kneaded her breasts as he leaned over and whispered against her ear. "I see your husband has alretasttasted your flesh this eve."

She struggled but Lra'ka was too large to be moved and his friend held arms so tightly she was sure there would be bruises. Her eyes widened in horror over the hand that covered her mouth as she watched him pull away to unfasten his breeches.

Arwen gasped and turned her head away as he pulled his swollen organ out of the confining material and leaned over her. He roughly gripped her legs and pried them apart, kneeling between her thighs so she could not easily clamp them back together. She struggled but his grip became painful as his hands closed around the soft flesh of her upper thighs. As he positioned himself to enter her, she heard a strangled cry to her left. Arwen turned sad eyes on the blurred eyes of her husband, who had just regained consciousness. He was bound and gagged but continued to struggle when he noticed what was taking place a few feet away.

Lra'ka sneered at Aragorn and taunted, " Lets see how she responds to my touch, King Elessar!"

Aragorn's cries drown out the whirl of the arrow as it sailed through the air and into Lra'ka's back. The man's eyes widened in shock mere moments before he fell lifeless onto Arwen. His weight pressed her into the ground, knocking the wind from her lungs. The man holding Arwen's hands stood quickly and turned to run, as did the two who had stood guard over Aragorn's bound body. Another arrow caught the first man in the chest, dropping him immediately, while two other's sailed into the leg and thigh of the men closest to Aragorn. One limped away into the brush and Aragorn's elven-trained senses could see Legolas trail the injured man from the trees above. The other dropped to the ground, gripping at his leg.

The Chamberlain clawed through the thick underbrush and ran past the King, ripping his cloak from his neck. He pulled Lra'ka's lifeless body off the Queen and helped her to sit, immediately wrapping his cloak about her shoulders to cover her nakedness. The Captain of Arnor's guard ordered his men to surrounded the area, securing it from any other hostile men possibly lurking in the shadows.

"You are unhurt?" The Chamberlain asked his Queen, concerned eyes searching for an answer that came only in the form of a nod. With this affirmation, the Chamberlain quickly moved to the Aragorn's side, hands shaking as he ripped the gag from his King's mouth. He quickly cut the bonds that held the man apart from his wife. "My Lord, we came as soon as we could!"

Aragorn ignored the Chamberlain and crawled to Arwen, drawing her quickly into his arms. He rocked her tenderly, whispering soothing words in her native tongue, before turning to the Chamberlain. "Thank you." Aragorn favored the man, who had been the bane of his existence on the entire trip to Arnor, with a kind and grateful stare. "Thank you." He breathed again, as he stood, Arwen comfortably ensconced in his arms.

Moments later, Legolas stepped out of the trees and surveyed the area before his eyes settled on Aragorn and Arwen. "He will trouble you no more."

Aragorn nodded to Legolas, exhaling a sigh of relief that those who had dare attack the King and his wife had been dealt with in the severest way. "Thank you, my friend." Glancing down at the man who had nearly raped his wife, Aragorn resisted the urge to take the nearest blade and plunge it into the dead man's still heart.

"We must return, Sire," The Chamberlain said slowly. "Aldamir went in search of the new trade envoy that arrived today."

"Is it they who did this?" Aragorn asked as they began to walk back toward the city.

"Aye, Aldamir believes it to be so."

"Then it is so." Aragorn said. "Aldamir is rarely wrong in these circumstances." After a few moments of silence, he added. "And he'd better save their treasonous hides to me."

They walked quickly through the dense brush and back to the trail from which they had been abducted. Arwen nestled into Aragorn's protective embrace, shivering slightly in the night cold.

"I will escort Arwen bac our our rooms and then-"

"I am coming with you." Ebony eyes sparkled in the moonlight.

"Arwen - "

"Do not try to stop me, husband." Arwen squared her shoulders and stared hard at Aragorn. "These men wronged me as much as they did you. Justice will be swift, and I will be there to witness it."

The Chamberlain cast an amused look at Aragorn and made no effort to mask it when the King cast an exasperated look in his direction.

"As you wish."


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"Wha-what can we do for you, sire?" Pak'na smiled at Aldamir. "Has the King returned?" He glanced nervously at the guards that spilled into the chamber behind the Regent of Arnor. They fanned into every room and escorted three other men from various rooms in the spacious suite.

"Where are the rest of your men?" Aldamir asked, his tone leaving no room for hesitation or argument.

Pak'na blinked. "I don't know what you mean, my Lord."

Aldamir paced in small circles before Pak'na. He glanced at the three men who stood silently against the wall, surrounded by Kings guards. "You arrived with at least ten in your party. There are four of you here now."

Pak'na nodded for forced a small smile. "Ah, yes. We were all assigned chambers down this wing. Have you checked-"

"The rooms are empty." Aldamir said and waited for a response. When he received none, he continued. "Where are your men, ambassador?"

"I know not!" Pak'na's eyes widened. "If you have an accusation to make, Lord Regent, make it and be done!" He glanced at his men before searching the room, and the King's guards that stood at every conceivable exit.

Aldamir regarded the man with a curious stare. "What accusation might that be?"

Silence.

"Speak up."

"I, too, am eager to hear this explanation," Aragorn stared at the man from the vicinity of the door.

Aldamir bowed to Aragorn. "It is good to see you well." His eyes flicked over Arwen as she stepped in behind her husband. The Regent's eyes narrowed as he noticed her mussed hair and the Chamberlain's cloak wrapped tightly around her shoulders. He fought the urge to launch himself at Pak'na. "What has happened?" Aldamir glanced from Aragorn, to the Chamberlain to Pak'na.

Aragorn stepped further into the room, his guards following. The Chamberlain stood beside Arwen to offer his strength and support as the King strode slowly, carefully toward Pak’na.

"Was it your plan to have my wife and I abducted?" Aragorn stopped before the trader, crystal eyes hardening as he took in the stranger's aloof stance. "Or was there another whose orders you followed?"

"I do not know of what you speak," Pak'na's eyes widened and he took a step back, regaining the personal space the King had stepped into in an effort to catch the stranger off-guard. He bowed deeply, hoping that the gesture would temper the King’s rage.

Aragorn turned to the men being held against the wall. "What say you? Speak! I will give you only this chance before I stretch your necks from these castle walls."

The men glanced at the floor, wary of disobeying their superior but even more frightened of the King of the West.

Aragorn took a step toward them. "Did you work alone?"

Silence.

“My Liege,” The Captain of Arnor’s Royal guard, who had been with the group that had rescued the King and Queen, stepped forward. In his hand was a bloodstained bag, heavy with unknown contents. “Perhaps this,” he tossed the bag at Pak’na’s feet, “ will loosen their tongues.”

Pak’na’s gazed down in horror at the bag as it rolled to a stop at his feet.

“This is what we do to those who violate our laws and our people.” The Captain’s dark eyes narrowed and Aragorn smiled at the barely restrained rage in his Numenorean Captain’s stance. “We will not tolerate such a blatant disregard for the safety of our King and Queen, nor will we sit idly by as you attempt to tear apart this kingdom.”

Pak’na pulled open the bloodied strings and tipped the contents onto the marble floor. A collective gasp echoed from the lips of the men being held against the wall as the contents spilled out of the bag.

"No one lays a violent hand on our Queen and lives to tell the tale," The Captain's eyes narrowed and he did not need to look at the reactions of his men to see that they echoed their Captain's statement.

Arwen’s eyes immediately darted to her husband as a look of disgust crossed his face, quickly masked by a satisfied smile and a nod of approval to his Captain.

Pak’na swallowed nervously and backed away from the bloodied body parts that lay at his feet. “I – I.”

“You will confess or you will be put to death in a most unbecoming way.” The Captain’s harsh tone left no room for argument.

“Do not test the soldiers of Arnor,” Aragorn stepped toward Pak’na. “They have been battle hardened by trials of fire and more pain and heartache than you can possibly imagine. Do not think you can dissuade or distract them.”

Aldamir stepped next to his King and asked. “Did you give the order?”

A moment’s hesitation followed the question before Pa’kna lowered his head and whispered, “No.”

Aragorn blinked and reached behind him as Arwen slid her hand into his. He was certain Pak’na had orchestrated this feeble attempt to capture him and had simply failed. The trader’s admission caused every soldier of Arnor to stiffen, raising the tension in the room to a thickness that could not be cut with the sharpest elven blade.

His admission meant that someone else had orchestrated this attack on the King and Queen. Someone who was clever enough not to reveal his identity to those he had hired to make this first attempt - This meant that there would be another.

Aldamir quickly barked orders for more guards to be brought into the castle and for the guard to be fortified and strengthened along the walls.

The gates were ordered shut and no strangers would be allowed in or out until the persons responsible for coordinating the attack on the King’s life was found.

END

TBC in 'Revenge'