Killing Beauty

Istha drove the donkey cart towards Minas Tirith with Menae sitting beside her. It was early in the day, and no one really paid them any mind as they passed through the gate and up the street towards the tavern area. Just another old whore and a ruined younger one. It was said that a woman in Gondor was only as safe as her men werre strong. Neither Istha nor Menae had any male family members to protect them. But Istha was determined to find out what she could for the elf, although she now realized that she hadn't gotten his name. She had teased him mercilessly but not in all her memory recall seeing a being as beautiful...except maybe Glorfindel when he saved her family that time. Wouldn't it be a coup for Istha to say elfkind were her friends.

Stopping the tired donkey in front of the Lazy Bee Tavern, she and Menae climbed out and went inside. The men of Minas Tirith were a little more picky than Osgilith, and didn't pay them any mind, but they still talked and Istha listened.

After a while the two women decided they needed to visit a tavern frequented by the soldiers of Gondor. Merchants and blacksmiths would not know if an elf was in the city, but a soldier might....and a really drunk one might talk.

The Captain's Lady was the tavern the guards of Gondor liked to visit the most. It was actually a pleasant looking place but still too early for any real costumers to be about. With time to kill, they decided to follow the street upwards towards the royal dwelling. At some point the buildings stopped being homes and businesses and turned into barracks and storage buildings. It was only reasonable to assume that a captive elf would be in this area. Right?

Menae agreed with her, and they started peeking in the windows that they passed. A Gondor horseman rode by and yelled at them to mind their own business, at which Istha and Manae promised they would and resumed their snooping once he was pass them. Of course what they could see was minimal but there was the possibility they told themselves of seeing something worthwhile.
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Kalan was higher up in the city standing at a window when he spotted the filthy women peering into every window they passed. He dispised whores of all kinds, but since they were the lowest life on Arda, he never wasted his time with them. But these two were looking for something or someone. Motioning for the man behind him to step forward, he told him to go get them. He couldn't take anything for granted, even two nasty women.
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Istha and Menae were terrified of the elegant elf who stood before them. His beauty seemed almost unreal, a cold perfection with a heart of ice. They were certain he was going to kill them.

Sitting in a high back chair with one long leg draped over the arm, he studied them for a moment and then asked, "What were you looking for?"

"Just lookin', my lord," Istha answered for the both of them. "We don't get this way very often and were sight seeing."

She was lying; Kalan could see it in her eyes. "What were you looking for?" he repeated and stood. The small woman was visibly terrified of him. She would tell him everything. "What are you names?"

"Istha and Menae," Istha answered.

Kalan smiled and circled Menae. Scrub some dirt off her and she wouldn't be too bad. "And which are you?"

"Menae, my lord," she answered nervously.

"Menae," he said and let the name roll off his tongue. "How nice."

"Thank-you, my lord."

"Menae, I am going to give you one minute to tell me what you were looking for,or I will kill you." She looked panic stricken as he took her chin in his hand. "One....two..."

"And elf, my lord. We were looking for an elf!"

"Well you found one," he mused and released her chin. "Why?"

Istha and Menae exchanged glances. "We met a Ranger and he asked about one that was missing," Istha answered quickly.

"A Ranger?" Kalan repeated.

"He was a Dunedain," Istha added.

"And what were you going to do if you found this missing elf?"

"We was to meet before sundown and tell him where we saw him."

"Interesting," REturning to his chair and draping a long leg over the arm again, he considered her words a moment and then asked, "And you were certain he was a Ranger?"

"Most certainly, my lord," Istha stressed.

Kalan smiled. He didn't believe a word she said; her eyes betrayed her. "Very well. Go back and tell the Ranger you could find no one."

"My lord?"

"You are free to go. Be gone." He waved his hand as if shooing a fly away. Motioning for the man with him to come closer, he looked up at him and said, "Follow them."
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It was early in the evening when Istha and Menae returned to the tavern. Looking around they spotted the elder brother sitting by himself with his hood hiding his face in shadow. Istha and Menae joined him at his table, where he bought them ale.

"My lord," Istha began carefully, "we did not see an injured elf, but we did see the dark one, and elf kind he is."

"I suspected as much," Haldir said as Rumil slipped in the back way and joined them.

"They are being followed," he said.

"How many?"

"One man," Rumil answered. "Orophin is watching him."

Haldir inclined his head. "We need to take him alive," he told his brother. "Think you and Orophin can capture him and get him back to the room?"

"We can do that."

"Then do it."

Rumil got up and returned the way he had come. Haldir laid some money on the table for the women and then stood up. He needed to rejoin his brothers. But just for a moment he hesitated. he kept his word to Istha and dropped the hood back so she could see his face. Then before anyone else saw him, he raised it and followed Rumil outside.

Istha smiled and then frowned. "The golden elf was one of those rare creatures who could be both beautiful and masculine at the same time. She worried about him facing the dark elf.
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Ashva jumped up when the brothers entered the room with a man dangling between Haldir and Orophin. "Who is he?" she asked anxiously.

"Kalan sent him to spy on us," Haldir said as they lowered the man into a chair and slapped his face to wake him.

"So Kalan is here," Ashva murmured in disbelief. "Haldir, I don't want you facing him alone."

"You think higher of him now than me?" he asked as the man started to come around.

"Only because I know your arm is still stiff," she answered.

"The arm is fine," he replied as the man opened his eyes and looked around the room. "What is your name?"

"Dannor," the man answered fearfully, seeing that he was in the company of at least four elves.

"Dannor," Haldir began patiently, "you have in your custody an injured elf named Elladan. Do you know where we can find him?"
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Haldir stood on the roof of the building looking out towards Minas Tirith. A stiff breeze was blowing off the river whipping at his clothes and hair as he considered their next move. Ashva climbed on the roof to be with him, and like a child seeking comfort from a parent, she folded her arms around his waist and laid her head against his breast. She feared for him.

He raised her chin so he could gaze into the eyes of love. Then wrapping her in his cloak, he held her against him and lowered them to the flat roof. If anyone had had the eyes to see, they would have seen two beautiful creatures wrapped in the mysteries of the night, seeking to slake their passions in one another.