Blood Thorns

Disclaimer: I own the mini-Koi on miracle grow, a possible spy, a tootsie roll and JRR owns the good stuff!!

A/N:
“This is regular speech”
**This in mind speech**
‘’This is visions’’
“”This is thoughts “”
This is Kestrel’s written speech.

A/N 2:

To my Lovely Readers and Reviewers: THANK YOU!!

Killing Time the Hard Way


Elrond quietly entered the gray room with a small bag of healing herbs. He caught sight of his seneschal singing softly to the blanket wrapped elleth on his lap. The warrior was gently stroking her dark hair over and over; lending what comfort he could. The extremely worried expression on Glorfindel’s face made the elf lord smile. It had been some time since the elf lord had seen the re-born warrior allow anyone that close to him; other then his children and Erestor. Glorfindel cared for all those under his command and was a good friend to many in Imladris; but nothing like the slightly possessive actions the seneschal was exhibiting towards this wounded spirit he held so gently. Moving on quiet feet, Elrond reached the warrior and his unresponsive charge.

Kneeling down next to Glorfindel, the elf lord smiled softly before peeling back the covering to see his patient. Eyes the color of warm honey stared glazed and unfocused. The path of dried tears could be plainly seen along her pale cheeks. A light tremble wracked her form; not from cold but from intense fear. Elrond was amazed at how small and fragile she looked nestled in the large warrior’s embrace, but he remembered the talk that he had had with Erestor earlier and knew a strong fighting spirit laid within the frightened shell before him. Sighing at the pitiful sight, Elrond began questioning his seneschal about the prisoner’s behavior. “What brought about such fear in the young one? She is deeply trapped within her mind and I would know what triggered such an episode as this.” Elrond watched as the worried seneschal reach down and grasped a piece of parchment that had been lying next to him upon the floor. Turning it over with a grimace, Glorfindel handed the picture to the elf lord.

Elrond’s face paled considerably when he gazed at the drawing he now held. The scene was disturbing in its content, but it was the idea, such a horrendous vision could be drawn by the small sweet looking elleth that chilled his soul to the core. It was a scene of deliberate torture and most efficiently done from what the picture showed. The elf lord could not help but wonder what other dark thoughts lingered within the mind of the young female prisoner. Reaching out to place his hand upon her forehead, Elrond was somewhat relieved at the absence of dark malice that he had feared tainted her soul. She was not evil in intent, from all that he could feel. The swirling pictures that curled through Elrond’s mind from hers ran from a laughing child full of joy to a dancing elf maid just past her majority surrounded by firelight, music and friends to a dark ceremony full of uninhibited dancing and pain filled rituals. The elleth’s feelings were a mixture of brooding sorrow, intense joy and wary acceptance. Whoever she was, the elf lord was sure now that she held no loyalty to the Dark Lord. Her mind was confused and troubled by dark images, but her soul burned brightly with the light of the elves.

Without warning the elleth came to her senses and lashed out at the elf lord as he bent over her huddled form. Her small hand reached out in an unbelievably fast move and grasped Elrond’s throat in a vicious hold; choking off his air supply. Glorfindel was stunned for a moment but quickly regained his composure, as he dragged the clenched fingers off Elrond’s throat. Glorfindel was shocked by the elleth’s sudden attack on the elf lord, but was grateful that her comatose demeanor was now gone and that she was finally responding to her surroundings. The deliberate strangle hold she had taken upon the elf lord’s throat was a calculated move that spoke of hand to hand training at some point in the small prisoner’s life. The instinctive reaction was undeniably swift, while the small female seemed nearly feral in her response to Elrond’s healing magic. This elleth was more and more intriguing as time passed and the seneschal wondered just what new surprises lay in store over the coming weeks. When the small female scrambled free of his arms and the blanket, Glorfindel was worried by the very wary gaze and quick backward retreat. Realizing that the elleth had no idea when Elrond had arrived, the warrior understood her fears. She obviously did not like being taken unawares and made sure that she was in a better area to defend herself if necessary.

As he started to move closer to the elleth, Glorfindel saw her eyes widen as if in pain and then began to rub up and down along her upper arms where the strange markings lay. The seneschal watched as her wide eyes showed the beginnings of panic. As the raw look of terror increased, the elleth’s mouth moved to form words that the two ellon could not hear or decipher. Glorfindel exchanged a worried look with Elrond before turning back to the prisoner. The warrior watched as her words came to a halt and the honey colored eyes refocused with a semblance of normality. The golden haired warrior was so vastly relieved that she had not dropped back into the catatonic state, that he threw a swift prayer of thanks to the Valar.

Kestrel hunkered against the cold stone wall at her back in confusion. Moving with excruciating slowness, the elleth rose to her feet, eyes still wide and wild, teeth bared and her body trembling violently. Her chest rose and fell in heaving distress as she tried to calm her breathing. Mind whirling, the small female tried to place when the new ellon had appeared and why the strange tingle that radiated from his hand bothered her so. She reasoned it had to be some form of elven magic and that sent a chill through her body. “”They must not be allowed to use magic on her or all was lost. “” This sudden thought scared her, for she knew not where it had come from or why the thought of magic disturbed her so. Elves were known for their varying forms of magic that connected them so closely to the world of nature and to Arda itself. It was natural to elves and to her as well, but a strange pulsing beat thrummed within her head and made the elleth’s mind swim dangerously.

Pictures of elves, dancing in deliberate naked abandon around a fire, made Kestrel’s heart beat in thunderous time to the drums she could hear in her mind. A feeling of belonging swept through her soul and settled in her stomach; easing the violent swirl of butterflies that fought within. Her arms began to burn hotly and she silently moaned in distress. Grasping her upper arms she began to rub at them trying to stem the burning ache. When that did not stop the growing pain Kestrel began to panic. Memories flooded her as she slid towards the ground again totally unaware of the two very concerned ellon that had closed the distance between themselves and the prisoner. She began silently mouthing words as the pain increased in her arms to a nearly unbearable extreme. As Kestrel finished her silent speech, the memories faded as fast as they had come upon her and the pain vanished.

Gently reaching out a hand to the small female, the golden haired warrior tucked an errant strand of dark hair behind her ear. At his touch, honey brown eyes turned and looked at him fully. The seneschal was completely delighted when the frightened elleth reached out and grabbed his hand before scooting closer to him. He had wondered if the slight trust he had formed with her over the last few days would be ruined with the unbidden intrusion of the elf lord’s presence. That Kestrel would see him not as a threat, but as a protector, warmed the Balrog slayer’s heart. The prisoner’s perusal of Elrond from the more protected area next to Glorfindel was not missed by the warrior. Her eyes took in every minute detail; of the elf lord, but her facial expression gave away none of her inner thoughts; only the wary eyes told of her misgivings. Deciding he had to somehow diffuse the tense situation, the warrior smiled down into the worried eyes of his prisoner. “Kestrel I wish you to meet Lord Elrond of the realm of Imladris. He is a kind and just elf, as well as a master healer. I sent for him myself to treat you when you suddenly lapsed into shock. Will you let him examine you so we can make sure there is nothing physically wrong with you? No harm will come to you while I am near, sweet one this I promise. Will you give your consent to this exam?”

For a space of a heartbeat there was no response from the dark haired elleth. Glorfindel felt her take a deep shuddering breath just before giving a tentative nod of agreement. The seneschal squeezed the smaller hand tightly in his much larger one for a brief moment before gifting the small female with a blazing smile. Turning back to the elf lord, Glorfindel missed the shy smile that the elleth gave to him, but Elrond saw it and smirked inwardly. There was definitely more going on between these two elves then the relationship between a prisoner and her jailer.

As the elf lord began his exam of the wary female, he could not help wondering what the future held for these two unlikely combatants. It would be very amusing to see how their interactions evolved and he was going to insist that Erestor keep him informed of the entire goings on with this very unusual prisoner that had invaded their lands.