The Exile's Daughter

The Battle of the Northmen

Three days I had been kept in a tiny alcove off the main cave. There was barely any way to see natural light, and the torches burned low, casting a red light over the faces of my captors. The cave's entrance was covered with long grass and, as an extra precaution, the men had hammered a grey blanket into the gap. From the outside, it would look like a mere part of the rocky hillside in which it was set.

Legolas occupied my thoughts most, overtaking even my terror of the last few days, and of what was to come. My last image of him was burned into my eyes. He could have survived it, perhaps, or, more likely, the fall had broken his neck. He was lost now, and no-one would ever know what had happened to me.

I had known such agony before; the agony of losing family. For that was who he was to me now – no longer were we friends. All we had done and seen together had fostered such a sense of kinship. We could have had so much more. The breaking heart inside me was tearing me in two, but I focused on him, nonetheless.

My throat burned, and my eyes stung. I closed them, trying to recall the feeling of Legolas' eyes looking into mine, of his fingers in my hair, on my cheek, his safe arms wrapped around me. His fresh, woodsy smell, the way he spoke. If he really was dead, at least I would be back with him before long. The Halls would heal us both, and perhaps we could live again one day, far beyond this cave in which I would surely meet my end.

A gulping, silent sob forced its way from my mouth. Even if Legolas had survived, how would they find me? I had no idea where we were and, though I knew Aragorn would be tracking me with all the haste his mortal body could muster, what would they do when they got here? They were so few. I would have died rather than allow my friends to die for me. In any case, they would be too late. By the time the rangers found me, wherever I was, I would be violated, murdered, burned.

They could easily have killed me, for I was utterly defenceless, but they had kept me alive with the stalest water and the most burnt meat forced under my gag at rare intervals. My weapons had been cast from me, and lay leagues away, useless.

My wrists, knees and ankles were bound in front of me, so tight the blood could barely flow through my veins. My left index finger was crushed, and its nail had been ripped out. Both deliberately, of course; a game for the men to amuse themselves with. My middle finger had also lost its nail. Even days later, the pain was exquisite. There was a bruise on my stomach, too, from a punch. The wounds I had acquired in the battle stung constantly. I thought they must be infected.

However, that was just the beginning. I knew why I was still alive, and it was not through kindness, or regret.

Someone else was coming.

He, I now knew, was the man who had killed my family, and he still led these men. Wulf, they told me he was named. Freca and many of the others had also been present that night, and they had taken great pleasure in recounting their own parts in it to me. Wulf, however, I dreaded the most. I knew what would happen when he arrived. 

The time was close now. The men had been unruly all day, and I understood precisely why. Once Wulf had had his fun, they would take what they wanted. I was a toy about to be ripped apart by a group of rowdy children.

He was here.

Someone crawled under the grey blanket covering the cave's entrance, grinning in anticipation. As best I could, I backed up against the cave wall, pushing with my heels at the rock until I could go no further. I could smell him from fifteen feet away. His face was grey, unshaven and flecked with white. His eyes were black, as was his straight greasy hair, and his lips were cracked.

"So, here we are at last, lads. Uninterruptable, I'd say."

Even in my bonds, my hands were visibly shaking. They only laughed, each standing and stretching. Wulf strode straight over. "No point beating around the bush. I get what I want, you get an easy death." He said coldly. He shrugged off his cloak.