Title: Payment

Author: Cat2000 (sjbriggs@royalmanor.freeserve.co.uk) or 
(princessoflight@fsmail.net)

Pairings: Aragorn/Legolas, Sauron/Legolas, Orc/Legolas

Rating: R/NC17

Summary: Legolas is punished by Aragorn, and is then captured by Sauron for the evil 
one's own purposes.

Disclaimer: I don't own Lord of the Rings, and I'm not making any money out of this story 
(obviously).

Warning: BDSM, Non-con?, Rape, Torture, and Slash (obviously)

Feedback: Yes. Feedback would be extremely helpful and much welcomed. I haven't had 
any feedback for any of my stories yet *Looks sad*

Archive: Only if you ask for permission

Author's note: This is what I call a 'dark fic'. Its basically filled with torture and the like, 
and there's no guarantee of a happy ending. If you do not like the sound of this, then 
STOP READING NOW! The only reason I'm writing this is because a plot bunny's standing 
over me with a gun to my head and forcing me to write it.
Still here? Good. Let's get on with this, then.

* * *

Legolas just looked at Gimli. "I don't know what you mean," he told the dwarf.

"You know EXACTLY what I mean," Gimli replied, scowling. "Are you going to tell me 
again that you got those bruises on your face by falling down the stairs?"

"That IS how I got them." Even to the elf's ears, his excuse sounded lame. He'd been 
using it too often, that was the problem. He should have thought of different excuses to 
use that would not sound like they were. Lies.

"Rubbish," Gimli snorted. "I KNOW how you got those bruises, elf. Your lover's been 
beating you, hasn't he?"

"I deserve it." Legolas saw no point in lying. There wasn't any point if Gimli already knew. 

Besides, elves shouldn't be lying.

"Is that what he told you?" Gimli demanded. The dwarf shook his head. "Aragorn has 
been given power, and its gone straight to his head. He should be the one getting the 
beatings. NOT you!"

Legolas shook his head stubbornly, and got up, unwilling to listen to any more talk against 
the man he loved.

* * *

The minute Legolas stepped into the King's chamber, he knew he was in trouble. He could 
smell the alcohol on Aragorn's breath as the man's arm snaked out to grab him round the 
throat.

Aragorn looked at the elf with barely disguised disgust. "How DARE you?!" he shouted. "I 
heard you! Talking about me behind my back and telling that dwarf about what I've been 
doing to you!"

Legolas made no attempt to deny it or defend himself against the charges, though his 
beautiful eyes filled with tears that he knew would not move Aragorn. What had 
happened to turn the one he loved so cruel and heartless? Once upon a time, the King 
had touched him without the intent of punishing him, and had spoken to him softly with 
words filled with love.

But the elf prince could barely remember those days, though those memories were all 
that sustained him during these harsh, dark times. Aragorn was drunk almost all of the 
time now, and he was still violent when he wasn't. Legolas believed that Aragorn would 
never change back to who he had been before.

Aragorn released his hold on Legolas' neck, but took hold of the elf's pointed ear instead, 
and was rewarded by a soft cry and tears spilling onto those fair cheeks.

Aragorn dragged the prince over to the bed and bound his wrists in front of him. Legolas 
wept at the humiliation, but made no move to escape. Early on, he had sworn never to lift 
a hand against his lover, and he fully intended to keep that vow.

Aragorn pulled the elf's breeches down to his ankles after checking that Legolas was 
bound securely. He lifted the tunic over the elf's head, exposing the smooth back that was 
still covered with faint red marks from previous beatings. The prince whimpered as he felt 
the cold wood of the cane gently laid across his buttocks.

"Now I am going to teach you a lesson," Aragorn purred as he raised the cane and 
swung.

Legolas gasped and his teeth sank into his bottom lip as the first blow landed. He 
struggled against crying out, as that would only prolong the punishment further, and 
clenched his teeth tightly together as Aragorn swung again and again and again. The 
blows seemed never ending, and the pain grew so bad that he thought that it would 
never end or even fade a little bit.

By the time the punishment was over, Legolas was shaking badly, and tears streamed 
down his cheeks.

Aragorn pushed a finger into Legolas' opening, and was rewarded by a gasp. The King felt 
himself grow hard, and stripped his own breeches and tunic off. He then thrust into 
Legolas, hard, again and again until he came. And then he withdrew.

Legolas collapsed, still weeping. He hadn't wanted to be punished. He just wished that 
Aragorn would take him into his arms and tell him that everything was going to be all 
right. That he loved him and wasn't going to hurt him anymore.

Legolas' thoughts were interrupted by Aragorn's voice: "Call me Master."

Dejected and hurt beyond anything he would have thought possible, Legolas shook his 
head. "No."

Aragorn slapped him across the buttocks, hard, and Legolas gasped. "Call me Master, 
damn you!"

"No," the elf repeated. "I will call you lover and husband, Aragorn son of Arathorn, but I 
will never call you master," he vowed.

Aragorn raised the cane again, an evil smile on his lips. "I will see what I can do to 
change your mind."

* * *

Legolas knelt next to the pool, weeping bitterly. He barely had the strength to stand now. 

Aragorn's punishment had actually gone on all night. It had been when the pale rays of 
dawn had appeared when Aragorn had finally dropped the cane, and the word 'master' 
had not crossed Legolas' lips once.

"Oh, Estel," Legolas sighed. "What has happened to change you so much, my love? Was it 
what I did? Whatever I did to make you like this, I bitterly repent, and hope that it is not 
too late for you to change."

So caught up in his own thoughts was Legolas that he did not notice how late it was 
getting until the sky had turned quite dark. Then, he jumped to his feet with an oath. 
How could he not have noticed the time?! Aragorn was going to kill him! He was 
supposed to have been back hours ago!

Legolas was so terrified of what Aragorn was going to do to him that he actually ran all of 
the way back to the castle, wildly hoping that Aragorn had not decided to find him for 
something.

No such luck. Aragorn was standing in the courtyard of the palace, waiting for him, and 
tapping a cruel-looking whip against his leg.

Legolas stopped, and swallowed. "Aragorn?" he whispered.

The King sighed. "Legolas, go and stand against that pillar, facing it," he ordered.
Legolas gulped, but obeyed. Unbidden, he put his arms around the pillar when Aragorn 
came to tie him. The King tested the bonds, then grunted with satisfaction.

Legolas felt a sudden rush of cool air on his back as the king slit his tunic open. Then, he 
heard a whistle, and felt sudden pain as the whip slapped against his back.

The next hour or so was almost too much for the elf prince. He was sure that glass and 
metal had been entwined with the tails of the whip. He felt blood running down his back 
almost from the first stroke, and was in so much pain that he did not notice that the King 
had stopped whipping him until his bonds were cut. Then, he collapsed onto the ground, 
too exhausted to even attempt to stand.

* * *

Sauron stared at the crystal ball, and an evil smile curled his lips. "So," he breathed. "The 
darling elf prince is almost ready to be taken. He is already beginning to hate his King, 
and it will not take much effort to make him want him dead. The spell that was cast on 
King Elessar was VERY effective."

One of the Orcs came forward, leering. "You promised that we could have the elven 
prince for a time when you had captured him."

"So I did," Sauron murmured. "So I did."

* * *

Legolas slowly pushed himself up to his feet. He didn't know how long he had lain in a 
semiconscious state, but he thought it hadn't been that long.

All thoughts had been pushed out of the elf's mind. The only thing that was left was the 
basic instinct for survival that all creatures had.

Holding onto the wall for support, Legolas moved slowly forward, away from the castle. A 
blind, unreasoning hatred for Aragorn was welling up inside him, and the part that still 
cared dominated his footsteps so that he would not turn back and kill his King.

Legolas stopped by a stream after a moment. With some difficulty, he ripped apart his 
tunic, dipped it into the water, and managed to bind the wounds on his back. Then, he 
continued on.

Legolas grew slowly more and more tired. He only just realised that he had not brought 
any weapons with him, and he knew that if it came down to a fight, he would not survive.
And then, just as Legolas felt that he was going to drop from exhaustion, an Orc stepped 
out of the bushes, pointing an arrow at his chest. "HALT!"


* * *

Legolas stared at the Orc. "Oh, no," he groaned. Great. This was all he needed.

"You will come with me," the Orc ordered.

Legolas shook his head. "No," he replied, raising his fists. Ok, they weren't going to do 
much good. But at least he still had enough presence of mind to BE defiant.

The Orc gave an evil grin. "Oh, good," he said. "I love a good fight. And Sauron said that 
I didn't have to deliver you TOO unharmed to him."

It wasn't much of a fight. The Orc was bigger than Legolas, and the elf prince had been 
weakened from his various beatings and exhaustion. So the fight ended with Legolas lying 
on the ground stunned with the Orc standing over him.

"Resistance is futile," the Orc said, casually kicking Legolas hard in the side. The elf prince 
gritted his teeth to stop himself from crying out, but he was hard pressed to keep a moan 
from leaving his lips as the Orc's foot next kicked him in the ribs, and he felt one of them 
break.

The Orc reached down, and pulled Legolas up by his hair, arching his head back and 
exposing the elf's white throat. Legolas gasped, and was unable to stop tears coming to 
his eyes. The Orc pressed his dagger against Legolas' throat, drawing a small line of 
blood. "Do you understand me?"

"Yes," Legolas gasped out.

The Orc grunted, and let go of the elf's hair. Legolas slumped to the ground, not even 
having the energy to pull himself to his knees.

The Orc took Legolas by the elbow, and pulled him to his feet.

Legolas winced, but managed to stop himself from crying out as the Orc dragged him 
away none too gently.

* * *

Legolas was not taken straight to Sauron, as he had expected. Instead, his captor 
dragged him to what could only be one of the Orcs' dungeons.

Legolas was thrown to the ground by his captor. The elf prince felt terrified in spite of 
himself, and he did not look up at the faces of the Orcs. According to legend, Orcs were 
Elves who had been transformed by torture. Was that what was going to happen to him? 
Was he going to be stripped of his thoughts and feelings and made to want to kill his 
friends?

The Orcs were communicating in their own language, but Legolas did not listen at all. He 
was too busy remembering what everything had been like before. Before everything, 

when he and Aragorn had first fallen in love.

*** Flashback ***

The young prince of Mirkwood was practising his archery for a contest that was due to be 
held in about a week's time. Though only young by elven standards, Legolas' skill with a 
bow was almost legendary.

Just as Legolas had fired his fourth arrow and hit the target in front of him, a young 
human burst out of the trees, closely followed by a group of Orcs.

Not stopping to think, Legolas jumped in between the Orcs and their quarry. Quick as a 
flash, he had his bow up with an arrow pointed at the Orc directly in front. "You are 
trespassing in Mirkwood. Leave at once," he ordered.

One of the Orcs stepped forward. "We would be happy to go, once you give us the 
human," he leered. "He is ours."

"While in Mirkwood, he is under MY protection," Legolas replied. "If you want him, you 
will have to go through me. Besides," he continued. "There are a group of my guards near 
here. A shout from me would call them, and you would be no match for them. Leave 
before you are killed."

The Orcs hesitated, then, "You're bluffing," one of them accused.

Legolas WAS bluffing. But he wasn't going to let the Orcs know that. "Do you really want 
to risk it?" he demanded.

The Orcs hesitated, then, at a signal from their leader, slunk away. "You haven't heard 
the last of this," one of them accused. "We WILL meet again. And when we do, you will 
wish that you had never crossed us!" And then they were gone.

"You WERE bluffing," the human noted once the Orcs were gone.

Legolas glanced sideways at the man. "You are right," he conceded. "But how did you 
know I was bluffing?"

"I've been trained to recognise facial expressions," the man announced proudly. "It was 
obvious you were bluffing." He paused, then added, "My name's Aragorn."

"Legolas Greenleaf."

"Thank you for saving my life."

"It was an honour." Legolas bowed.

*** End Flashback ***

And then, as time had gone by, Legolas and Aragorn had slowly begun to fall in love with 
each other. Aragorn hadn't started to change until a little after they had been married.
Legolas was then pulled to his feet, an act which startled him from his memories.
An Orc came forward, leering. With a chill, Legolas recognised him as one of the ones he 
had protected Aragorn from so long ago.

"I told you that we would meet again." The Orc was holding a cruel-looking whip. Unlike 
the one Aragorn had used on Legolas, this whip had a good number of knotted tails. And 
Legolas could see the glass and other sharp things woven into the tails.

The Orc circled Legolas, still leering. The elf prince silently cursed his foolishness in 
leaving Aragorn's castle. But it was too late for regrets now. He would just have to do his 
best to hold onto his thoughts and memories and not lose who he really was.

The Orc swung the whip, and it hit Legolas across his chest, drawing a sharp gasp of pain 
from the elf. Blood welled up, but Legolas barely had time to register THAT pain before 
the whip was falling across other parts of his body, drawing blood each time it struck him.
Within moments, Legolas was bleeding heavily from innumerable wounds, and he couldn't 
even think. He was only barely aware of the Orc stopping, and then him being dragged 
off. And then a sharp pain as he was entered, and the elf, forgetting his brave thoughts, 
screamed.

* * *

"Where's Legolas?" Gimli demanded of Aragorn.

The King shrugged. "How should I know?" he asked.

"He's your husband!" Gimli snapped angrily.

Aragorn shrugged. "I stopped caring about what happened to that elf long ago."

Gimli frowned. This was NOT like the Aragorn who had taken the name Strider during the 
quest to destroy the One Ring of Sauron. THAT Aragorn had certainly cared about 
Legolas, and the two had never been far from each other. Gimli admitted that they had 
been embarrassing, but he had been happy for them.

"I know you beat him." Gimli said it without thinking. But Legolas was his friend as well!

"I know," Aragorn replied, shrugging. "I was very put out about the fact that he had told 
you."

Gimli stared at him. But, instead of protesting the fact that Legolas HADN'T told him, he 
had guessed, he said, "I am going to visit Lady Galadriel in Lothlorien. I would quite like 
for you to come with me." If anyone could cure Aragorn, it would be Galadriel.

"All right."

* * *

Legolas didn't know how much time had passed since his capture. He was in SO much 
pain he couldn't even feel it anymore. As well as being beaten, he had been burned and 
continually raped. He didn't want to live anymore. He just wanted the pain to end. And, 
deep in his soul, he blamed Aragorn for this.

Sauron regarded his prisoner with a pleased smile on his face. "I think that he is ready for 
what I want for him," he told the Orc. "Bring him to me."

* * *

Galadriel took one look at Aragorn and told him to come with her. Gimli stayed behind.

"Look in the water," Galadriel told Aragorn.

Aragorn shrugged, and did as he had been told. His eyes got VERY wide. "Oh, no!" he 
cried in horror.

* * *

"Oh, no," Aragorn repeated.

Galadriel watched him. "Do you see the error of your ways, King of Gondor?" she 
demanded, her voice uncharacteristically sharp.

Aragorn put both hands to his face. "What have I done? How could I have treated Legolas 
like that?!"

"It was not entirely your fault, Aragorn," Galadriel admitted, feeling concerned. "You were 
under a spell to make you act that way. So that you would drive Legolas away."

Aragorn began to weep uncontrollably. His guilt was unbearable. "No matter how you say 
it," he muttered. "I still betrayed and hurt Legolas. And I will do anything to make 
amends for what I did!"

* * *

Sauron gloated over his prize, a bloodstained knife in his hands. "Mine," he crowed. "You 
are mine. You are almost ready for my purposes!"

The bloodstained Legolas said nothing. Even his brave, defiant words were gone now. He 
was exhausted, and he just wanted this all to end. To wake up and find that it had all 
been a bad dream. And that Aragorn...

Aragorn! Legolas' heart hardened. How could he have ever believed that the human loved 
him?! He must have been blind and stupid! All men only desired power. They were weak, 
and deserved only hatred.

A part of Legolas struggled with these thoughts. But the part of him that still remembered 
and felt was weaker now. It occupied a tiny corner of his mind, and wept at the alien 
thoughts that invaded the elf.

Sauron suddenly struck Legolas. Hard. The prince bit back a gasp, though his eyes filled 
with tears.

"No, I'm not going to kill you," Sauron said coldly, reaching into his captive's mind and 
pulling out what Legolas wanted. "You'll wish that you were dead for certain, but death is 
NOT the purpose I have in mind for you."

"Then what is the purpose you have in mind for me?" Legolas asked weakly. He was 
amazed that he had a little strength left to talk with.

"You are going to kill the King of Gondor for me," Sauron told him.

-NO!- The thought came unbidden to Legolas' mind. Without thinking about it, and using 
up almost the last of his strength, the elf spat at Sauron in a last gesture of defiance.

The evil lord froze. Then, he reached up a hand to wipe the spit from his face. "You'll wish 
you hadn't done that," he said ominously.

At a signal from Sauron, the two Orcs lifted Legolas, and bound his hands to the wall of 
the chamber with chains so that the elf was hanging with the tips of his toes just touching 
the floor.

Sauron heated up his dagger, and lay it against Legolas' cheek. Then, with an evil grin, he 
stabbed.

Legolas screamed as blood ran down his face. His body arched once, and then fell still. 

Why couldn't he die?!

Sauron moved the dagger to the other cheek, and stabbed again. Not too deeply, but 
certainly deep enough to scar. Now the elf's beauty was marred. No man or woman would 
want him ever again, and that was what Sauron wanted.

Sauron caressed Legolas' forehead almost lovingly. "Would you like me to take the pain 
away?" he whispered.

"Go to hell!"

Sauron picked up the whip that had been used on Legolas before, and motioned for the 
guards to bind the prince so that he was facing the wall.

Legolas' clothes were in tatters, and there were scars on his back from previous beatings. 
Sauron raised the whip above his head, and then brought it down with a loud CRACK!
Legolas gasped as the whip landed again and again. He could feel blood pouring down his 
back, and the pain was REALLY bad. Sauron didn't even stop until the elf's back was in 
ruins.

"Now," Sauron purred. "Let's try this again, shall we? Would you like me to take the pain 
away?"

Legolas bowed his head, and sobbed quietly.

* * *

"Sauron has Legolas," Galadriel told Gimli and Aragorn.

"Then we must go and rescue him!" Aragorn cried, slamming his fist down on the table 
and making one of the elves from Lothlorien jump.

"Don't be so silly, Aragorn!" Gimli snapped. "We can't just go charging into Sauron's castle 
without a plan. I know you feel bad about what happened to Legolas, but you're not 
going to do him any good whatsoever if you go and get yourself killed. That would be the 
least helpful thing you could do."

"Do you know what Sauron wants with Legolas?" Aragorn asked Galadriel softly.

Galadriel slowly shook her head. "I'm sorry," she replied. "All I know is that Sauron has 
begun using a form of mind control on elves. But I can't tell you any more than that."

"We need a plan," Gimli muttered.

* * *

"If you move at all, you will get impaled on the knives that lie around you."

Legolas' eyes opened, and he looked up.

Sauron was bending over him, leering. Legolas realised with a tired sort of detachment 
that both he and the evil lord were naked.

"What do you want?" Legolas' voice sounded strange even to him. It sounded flat and 
emotionless.

"To be inside you, of course," Sauron leered.

Legolas shook his head. "I do not want that," he replied.

"You have no choice. And, like I said, if you move at all in any direction, you will impale 
yourself on one of the knives lying around you. I'm sure you don't want that, do you? 
After all, you're in enough pain already."

Legolas said nothing. His mind quite clearly told him that Sauron was going to rape him, 
but he was too tired to care. Besides, what would be the point of moving if he would just 
get himself stabbed?

Sauron lay on top of Legolas, and thrust hard into the elf prince. He was already aroused, 
and did not care if the elf was not ready for him. Besides, he glorified in pain.

Sauron stared into the elf's eyes, but did not see any emotion there at all. That was good. 
It was a start. The elf would make the perfect fighting machine.

Sauron smiled evilly as he thrust again and again. He admired his handiwork in cowing 
the defiance in the elf prince. After all, he was the lord. Who would have the strength to 
stand against him?

* * *

Legolas was tied to some sort of wooden thing when he awoke for the second time. He 
was confused. "What's going on?" he demanded in a thick voice.

One of the Orcs handed him a glass of water, but otherwise ignored him. Another Orc 
pushed a lever on the wooden thing up, and mental pain shot through Legolas, and he 
screamed loudly.

Images became distorted in the elf's mind. An overwhelming hatred filled him. -Kill this 
person,- a voice was saying in his mind. -Kill him.-

-Yes!- a part of Legolas cried.

-NO!- another part of him screamed. For just an instant, Legolas almost pushed away the 
mind control. But then, it returned in force, and the elf's mind finally succumbed. Just one 
thought remained for a brief moment before disappearing again: -Aragorn, I love you.-

* * *

Aragorn, Gimli, and an army made up of elves, humans, and dwarves were right next to 
Sauron's castle, hiding in the bushes.

"Why do we have to hide in the bushes like a bunch of cowards?" Gimli whispered to 
Aragorn.

"Its all part of the plan," Aragorn answered. "We wait until there are a lot of Orcs outside 
the castle, and then we attack them when they least expect it."

"Sounds like a very dangerous plan," Gimli grumbled.

Aragorn said nothing. He was too busy thinking about what Galadriel had said to him 
about Legolas. She had asked to speak with him privately after they had discussed the 
plan for attacking Sauron's castle.

"There is no guarantee that Legolas will wish to return to you once you rescue him," 
Galadriel told Aragorn bluntly. "You hurt him, whether you were in control of yourself or 
not, and Legolas may not ever forgive you for it."

"I understand," Aragorn had replied. And then he had gone off to get ready for battle.

"NOW!" one of the elves in a tree hissed.

The army took the Orcs completely by surprise. It was not much of a battle.

Aragorn was just pulling his sword out of one of the Orcs when there was a flash of light, 
and Sauron appeared. "King Aragorn, what a pleasant surprise," the dark lord sneered.

"Cut the pleasantries, Sauron!" Aragorn spat. "I've come for Legolas, and I want him 
NOW. If you don't release him to me, then so help me, I'll kill you myself!"

"Hmm." Sauron thought for a moment, and then grinned. "If you defeat my 'weapon', 
then you may have your elf prince back!" he yelled.

* * *

Aragorn frowned, and looked at Gimli, who was standing next to him. "What should I do, 
Gimli?"

"Accept his challenge," Gimli replied in a low voice. "You can't back down now. That 
would be admitting defeat before you'd even tried, and if you did that, then you would 
NEVER get any peace."

"You know me too well, Gimli," Aragorn muttered. Then, he raised his voice, and called, 

"Sauron, I accept your challenge!"

Instantly, the remaining Orcs pulled back away from Aragorn's army.

Aragorn's attention was drawn to the castle door as it slowly started to open...

Aragorn stared as Sauron's weapon slowly came into view. Beside him, Gimli was using all 
the curses he knew.

"Legolas," Aragorn whispered, the colour draining from his face.

"As I said, Aragorn!" Sauron shouted. "If you defeat my weapon, you will have your elf 
prince back! Dead... But you will still have him back."

"I'd like to kill him," Gimli mumbled. "Slowly."

Aragorn was still staring at Legolas. "I... can't fight him," he whispered.

"You have to try and break the spell on him," Celeborn told Aragorn. "Try and remind him 
of who you are." He paused, then added, "On second thoughts, don't do that."

"Call everyone away from me," Aragorn ordered.

Gimli started to protest, but one look at his friend's face silenced him. He and Celeborn 
told the army to move away from Aragorn.

Legolas walked calmly over to Aragorn. The King was horrified as he saw that the elf's 
face was devoid of any feelings, any emotions.

"Legolas..." Aragorn whispered brokenly.

Legolas' clothes were in ruins. Scars glistened on his cheeks in the moonlight. There were 
scars and bruises all over the elf's beautiful body... Aragorn felt sick, knowing that HE had 
caused a lot of the pain for the elf.

Then and there, Aragorn made a choice. No matter what happened, he would not fight 
back against Legolas. He would do his best to try and break Sauron's hold over Legolas, 
but he would not even lift a finger against the prince.

Legolas was holding a sword in one hand and a wicked-looking whip in the other. Aragorn 
felt his heart sink. There was NO way that this was going to be easy.

Legolas flicked the whip at Aragorn, and the King jumped back.

"Coward," Legolas hissed, his face not changing expression.

"Legolas, please," Aragorn begged. "Its me, Aragorn. I know that I've been cruel to you, 
but I'm sorry for it. Please forgive me." -What an understatement, saying that I was cruel 
to him,- Aragorn thought. -I was beyond cruel. I was a tyrant.-

Again, Legolas' expression did not change. "You tortured me," he said slowly. "You tried 
to break me. Break my spirit. You tried to make me your slave. Tried to force me to call 
you 'master'." The elf flicked the whip again, and this time, Aragorn wasn't quick enough 
to avoid it. It lashed across his chest, drawing blood.

Aragorn winced as he remembered that night, when he had beaten Legolas badly and 
tried to force him to call him 'master'. And Legolas had still refused, no matter how badly 
Aragorn had beaten him.

"And then you flogged me because I was late," Legolas continued, voice still devoid of all 
emotion. "You didn't want my love. You just wanted to show off your elf PET," - he spat 
the word - "to your friends."

Aragorn shook his head. "I was under a spell, Legolas," he whispered. "I would NEVER 
have done those things to you of my own free will. You HAVE to believe me, Legolas."

"I don't know what to believe any more," Legolas replied. He flicked the whip again, and 
another line of blood appeared across Aragorn's wrist.

Aragorn gasped with the pain, but he felt that he deserved it for all of the pain HE had 
caused Legolas. He still made no move to defend himself.

"Legolas, I love you."

"Liar." Another blow, another line of blood.

Aragorn shook his head. "Its not a lie. Its the truth," he said.

Legolas flicked the whip, and it coiled around Aragorn's wrist, biting deep into the skin. 

Legolas pulled back on the handle of it, and Aragorn stumbled forward and fell to his 
knees in front of Legolas.

"Get up and fight," Legolas ordered coldly.

Aragorn shook his head. "I will not fight you," he whispered.

Legolas dragged the King to his feet, and kneed him in the ribs. Hard. Aragorn groaned, 
and fell to his knees again.

Legolas knocked him onto his side, and then the whip lashed across Aragorn's chest 
again.

-I can't cope,- Aragorn thought, tears filling his eyes. -Legolas will never believe that I 
truly am sorry and want to make amends for all the horrible things I did to him.-

Legolas raised his sword, and started to bring it down to stab Aragorn with it.

The King rolled to one side, and then stumbled to his feet, coughing up blood. "Legolas," 
he whispered. "You once told me that you would never call me 'master', but that you 
would call me husband and lover. I'm begging you because I know that, somewhere deep 
inside of you, there is a part that still remembers who you really are." He dropped to his 
knees. "I'm at your mercy, Legolas. You can kill me if you want. Its no less than what I 
deserve. But I want you to know this: I love you, Legolas. I've always loved you. And the 
way I was acting was just a ploy created by Sauron so that he could capture you for his 
own purposes. But I would NEVER do anything like that of my own free will."

Legolas stared at Aragorn. And then the whip and the sword both fell from his hands.

* * *

After Legolas had fainted, destroying the rest of the Orcs had been easy. Sauron had 
been put in a dungeon, and Aragorn had been healed.

But there was still one problem.

Galadriel looked up at Aragorn from where she knelt by Legolas' bedside. "Aragorn, I'm 
going to be blunt with you," she said. "I don't know if he CAN be brought back. Sauron 
used a form of mind control on him, and he may never recover."

Aragorn clenched one fist. The other arm was bound in a sling. He had managed to break 
it when he had landed on it. "What can I do?" he demanded.

"Talk to him," Galadriel suggested. "Let him know that you're here for him. That you love 
him. And that you're REALLY sorry for what you did."

"I will."

* * *

A couple of weeks later, Aragorn was just about ready to give up on Legolas. But then, 
when he was getting up to leave, he found himself looking into blue eyes.

Legolas was awake.

* * *

"Legolas, you're awake," Aragorn whispered. -Oh, that was original,- he thought to 
himself. -Yeah, great way of greeting him.-

Legolas stared at Aragorn. "What are YOU doing here?" he demanded.

Aragorn sighed. This really wasn't going how he had hoped it was going to go. Well, he 
couldn't really blame Legolas, could he? After what he'd done...

Aragorn shook his head, and made a face.

"Go away." Legolas' voice was harsh and cold.

"But..." Aragorn started.

"Did you think that after what you did to me, you could win my forgiveness and love back 
again?" Legolas demanded. "As soon as I am well again, I will leave!"

"I don't want you to go," Aragorn whispered, lowering his head.

"Well, I'm leaving anyway!"

* * *

Legolas was true to his word. Without even saying goodbye to the man he had once 
loved, he went away forever, despite Galadriel's best efforts to stop him.

As soon as Legolas was gone, Aragorn went into his garden. Nothing mattered anymore. 
Legolas hated him. His own life was worth nothing without the one he loved by his side.
Aragorn looked dully down at the knife in his hands. He had stopped living when Legolas 
had told him that he would never love him again. Now all he had to do was make it 
official.

Without a moment's hesitation, Aragorn plunged the knife into his own chest, and 
crumpled to the ground. None witnessed the king's death, save two crows sat in the 
trees.

The End

* * *