Part 4

Posted: November 2003
Author: Iammes and Alex

~~~

Elladan got worried. A feeling of unease came over him. He was afraid something had happened to Haldir on his way back home. He saddled his horse and rode off in the direction of his grandparents' kingdom.

He found Haldir not far from the borders of his father's land.

The Lorien elf was still tied to the ground. He had not been there long but he was still in obvious distress. He had rubbed both wrists raw and bloody trying to free himself and his trousers were wet where he had soiled himself.

Elladan was in tears by the time he had untied Haldir. He gathered him into his arms and sat on the dry, dusty ground, rocking him.

"My poor love. Who did this to you?"

Haldir said nothing. Indeed, he couldn't say anything for he had screamed and cried so much that his voice was nothing more than a whisper. Tears leaked silently out the corners of his eyes as Elladan carried him to the nearest stream he could find and gave him water from his canteen then stripped the few rags he still wore from his body before beginning to bathe him.

He winced at the blood on his lover's bottom and the sticky stains all over his thighs and his face. Haldir had been raped repeatedly.

Haldir lay passively and very quietly, letting Elladan bathe and clothe him. He wouldn't eat but he did drink the cool water that Elladan gave him.

"Haldir, I don't know if you can sit on my horse. You're injured. Do you want to try it?"

He nodded. Elladan helped him mount and led the horse on the slow road home.

**

Elrohir was in the healing halls helping his father when Elladan brought Haldir in. Haldir's eyes widened as he saw the other twin standing there but managed to hide it from Elladan. Elrohir looked back and forth between Haldir and Elladan. "Is something wrong, gwador?"

"Yes, have you seen Ada?"

"He is in the back tending to a mortal traveler."

Elladan carried Haldir over to a bed and had him sit, taking his sudden nervousness to be an after effect of the rape.

"Could you please fetch him for me? I need to speak with him. "

Elrohir gave a curt nod and headed off to find Lord Elrond.

Haldir could not look into Elladan's eyes. He knew that Elladan was not Elrohir but they were mirror images, so much alike. He had to focus on the differences.

Elrond walked in and Elladan pulled him aside. Otherwise occupied talking with his father, he missed how Haldir jumped when Elrohir laid a hand on his shoulder, and how Elrohir gave him a warning look, warning him against saying anything about what happened, a look that said he shouldn't have tried to take Elladan away.

Haldir closed his eyes tight, willing them all to go away.

He heard Elrond's voice.

"Haldir, I need to bathe you and tend your wounds."

"No…" Haldir formed the words but he still made little sounds. He tried to slide away from Elrond, but Elladan was there to hold him, to coax him to let his father treat his wounds.

Haldir trembled as they undressed him. His naked body was black and blue. Elrond looked up at Elladan as if to ask who did it, but Elladan shrugged. When he tried to turn the Lorien elf up onto his side, Haldir screamed and tried to get away from him. He knew he'd have to sedate him to clean his torn body.

"Haldir, we're going to give you something to make you sleep for awhile."

Haldir said nothing but tried to get away again. Elladan just held and whispered to him… "It will be all right…Ada will help you… I won't leave you," while Elrond held an odd smelling cloth over his nose.

Everything went black.

**

When he awoke, he was dressed in silk pajamas and tucked into a bed in the family wing of the house. Elrond sat by his bed. He said nothing, just smiled gently at the guardian. He offered a sip from a steaming cup. It was a delicious broth and Haldir found that he was hungry. He gratefully ate the whole bowl and thanked the healer as he drifted off to sleep.

Later, Elladan came in.

"Is there anything you need, Haldir?" He sat beside the bed and pushed back a strand of hair that had come out of Haldir's braid. "I am so sorry for what has happened to you. Can you tell me who did this to you?"

Elladan knew he had made a mistake when he saw the fear return to his lover's eyes.

"Shhhh. It is all right. I won't ask again." He moved up into the bed and took the shivering blond into his arms.

**

Several days had passed and Haldir was well enough to travel. He was going home to Lothlórien and to his brothers. He had shied away from Elladan since he had been rescued, not able to look into the face that was exactly like that of his attacker. He insisted that he ride home alone. The danger was easier for him to face than looking into those gray eyes and hiding the revulsion he felt now for the one he had loved a few short days before.

"Are you sure you are leaving for good?" He whirled around and looked into the beautiful face of Elrohir. "I would not want to have to warn you again. I did not find it pleasant at all."

"If I never see either of you, it will still be too soon. I am sorry to hurt Elladan but you have made him impossible for me to love."

Haldir dug his heels into the sides of his mount and left without a backward glance. He hoped that going home would help to heal him inside.

*

Elladan was walking out to the courtyard to bid Haldir farewell when he heard Elrohir **I would not want to have to warn you again. I did not find it pleasant at all. ** His blood ran cold. Elrohir had been Haldir's rapist? He couldn't breathe. He backed away, turning finally and running back to the Last Homely House.

Nothing would ever be the same.

*****

(This story will be continued by both authors but in separate stories. Iamme will tell Haldir's tale and Alex will finish the story of the Twins.)

*****

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