Meriadoc Brandybuck was debating whether Estella would stop kissing him and try to smother him with one of Elrond's pillows if he slipped his hand inside her dress. In the back of his mind, he knew that making a move on her right now was a bad idea in general. The others could come back at any minute. They had been gone for quite some time, Merry thought, but he wasn't exactly sure since he had lost track of the time entirely when he kissed Estella.

One kiss, he noted with no small amount of pride, had not been enough for her. Once their lips had come together, there was no separating them. Estella rubbed one of her feet against Merry's and he nearly lost control right there. Experimentally her ran his hands over her breasts, the thin cloth of her dress doing little to protect them. She sighed against his lips and did not stop him.

"Estella," he whispered, "I…I want…"

"What do you want, Merry?" she purred. He didn't know if she were naïve, or teasing him. Just then Bilbo rolled over and gave a grunt in his sleep, startling Merry. He'd forgotten that the old Hobbit was there.

Another reason that they really ought to stop this, right now…but stop was a word that Merry was having trouble defining at the moment. "I want you," he said.

She smiled wistfully. "No one's ever said that to me before."

"Hmph," said Merry. "Well aren't they all a bunch of fools?"

She blushed. The pink tinge of her cheeks at the compliment reminded Merry how beautiful he found her when she was blushing, though unfortunately most of the blushing she had done was while she was lying. A devil inside of him was tempted to ask her now, while she was vulnerable, if she really had business in Gondor… but he didn't want to spoil the moment. If the story about serving Eowyn was a lie, it would come out when they got to Ithilien.

If they got to Ithilien. If they survived the invasion of Rivendell. How easy it was to forget that the palace had been taken over by Uruk-hai when they lay together in the dim splendor of this beautiful private room. And Pippin and Angelica, prisoners of the awful monsters. How frightened they must be. Merry cradled Estella against him tenderly and was glad for her sake that she was not up there with them. She was too fragile and delicate. She could never have survived it.

Estella touched his face and looked into his eyes with her own dark pools of mystery. "You're thinking about Pippin and Diamond."

"Yes."

"Maybe Frodo and Gimli and the Elves will rescue them," she whispered hopefully.

"Maybe," said Merry, but he didn't hold out much hope that the four of them could take on the entire Uruk-hai army.

Before he could think on it more, they heard a loud crashing noise and the thumping of feet, incongruous to anyone carefully sneaking back down into their haven. Merry leapt to his feet and Estella stood up beside him. He pulled out his knife and she looked around wildly.

"I've lost my weapon!"

"It's okay, just stay back," Merry said. "I'll protect you."

"What about Bilbo?" she cried.

Bilbo was still snoring loudly in the bed. Before Merry could answer, Gimli and Frodo came rushing down the stairs. Merry breathed a sigh of relief and lowered his dagger.

"Make way, make way, my boy!" Gimli hollered.

"What is it?" Merry asked, hoping there were not Uruk-hai close on their heels.

"Legolas!" Frodo gasped.

"I'm Merry. Legolas is the Elf. You know, tall, blond, fancies a princess?"

Frodo looked at him as if he'd gone mad, then laughed. "No--"

"Bilbo, wake up! Out of the bed!" Gimli shouted.

Bilbo sat straight up, his gray hair sticking out at all angles, his eyes wild. "What? What is it! Are we under attack?"

Before either Frodo or Gimli could explain their behavior, Orophin and Rúmil came in through the passage much more quietly than the Hobbit and the Dwarf who had preceded them. Between them they were carrying another Elf who did not appear to be conscious. No, not another Elf -- Legolas.

"The lad's wounded, can't you see?" Gimli thundered at Bilbo, who was scrambling out of the bed so that Haldir's brothers could lie Legolas down on it. "Beaten up by Uruk-hai, nearly killed!"

"Gimli, calm down," Frodo said sensibly, now that he had caught his breath. Merry didn't think that the Dwarf calming was likely. Everyone knew how crazy about Legolas he was.

"What happened?" Estella asked.

"A rescue," said Frodo.

"Didn't they follow you?" Merry demanded, looking into the dark passage and expecting to see a swarm of Uruks flooding the stairs at any moment. He shifted uneasily from foot to foot.

"No -- we lost them," said Frodo.

"Or killed them!" Gimli growled.

"There was a lot of blood," said Frodo. He looked tired and weak, and that reminded Merry how sick he had been lately.

Gimli had tossed the Uruk-hai ax he'd been using down onto the rug, and for the first time Merry noticed that it was dark and slick with blood. Rúmil and Orophin were making Legolas comfortable on the bed. The Elf Prince lay far too still for Merry's liking. He went to Frodo and put his arms around his cousin, urging him to sit down on one of the chairs. Frodo gratefully sank into the plush cushion and closed his eyes.

Bilbo paced the room nervously, muttering over and over, "Oh, dear. Oh dear, dear, dear, dear me."

Gimli busied himself giving orders to Orophin and Rúmil. "Another pillow, lads! Prop his head up. No, prop his feet up. Give him room to breathe!"

Haldir's brothers laid Legolas carefully down, then started searching through the contents of one of the nearby shelves.

"What are they doing?" Merry asked.

"Elrond keeps some healing herbs in here," Frodo said. He closed his eyes. Merry was tempted to let him rest, but Bilbo had already wandered over and was shaking his arm.

"Come on now, boy. Tell us what happened. What's going on up there? Did you find Master Elrond?"

Estella drew nearer and Merry reached out for her, taking her hand in his and pulling her up against him. The idyllic moment they had shared only a few minutes before had vanished like the wind, but he could still feel her warmth clinging to him in this cold moment. Frodo opened his eyes and took a deep breath.

"We went up through the passage and came out in the alcove near the banquet hall. The hallway was deserted, probably because all of the Uruk-hai were inside. We tried to listen through the door, but it was quiet in there. Obviously we could not go into the banquet hall, but we were worried. We were…"

Frodo trailed off.

"Go on," said Merry.

Frodo took a deep breath. "We were worried that the silence meant they might have killed the prisoners already."

"D-did they?" Bilbo whispered.

"Obviously not," Merry said impatiently. "They found Legolas, didn't they?"

"Quiet, lad. Let Frodo speak."

Frodo continued. "The sun began to set outside. Suddenly we heard them call out to light the torches. There was some debate as to whether we could attack them while they were doing that."

"Gimli?" Merry asked. Frodo nodded.

"Luckily we talked him out it. While we were arguing, the door opened. They threw Legolas into the hall. He fell on his knees. They had already been beating him. We had to wait for them to close the door before we could do anything. I could hear Ciendriel screaming…"

Frodo paused, his blue eyes wide and round, and Merry could almost hear the echo of the cries of the princess who loved Legolas so deeply. How she must be hurting now, not knowing that Legolas was safe.

"I hope she doesn't do anything stupid," Merry muttered. "You know she'll wind up getting herself killed if she thinks they've done in Legolas."

"Hush, Merry," said Estella. "That's no way to talk about Princess Ciendriel. I think its romantic, how deeply in love they are."

"It won't be romantic if she flings herself out the window or impales herself on a Uruk-hai spear," Merry warned.

"Really, Merry, the girl is no idiot," Bilbo said. "Do go on, Frodo."

"There were only three of them with him in the hall," Frodo said softly. "They were arguing over whether to kill him right there or bring him to their leader -- someone called Raxror. Legolas fell unconscious to the floor. Finally one of them kicked the door closed and we attacked them."

Merry saw Frodo shiver, closing his eyes at the memory. Frodo hated fighting as much as any Hobbit. He'd been through enough, lived through enough danger. He deserved his time of peace. He deserved to go to a quiet life in the Undying land of the Elves. Merry hoped he would get it.

"We killed them easily," Frodo whispered. "They did not expect us. Rúmil and Orophin picked up Legolas, and we ran."

Merry turned his head towards the bed and saw Rúmil sprinkle some sort of ground herb into Legolas' open mouth. Legolas began to moan softly, then to cough, and finally he opened his eyes. Gimli was clutching his hand. Merry, Estella and Bilbo hurried over to the bed. Frodo remained slumped in his chair, looking exhausted.

"Orophin? Rúmil?" Legolas whispered. The two excited Elves chattered excitedly at him in the language which Merry wished he had studied harder. "I am dead then…" Legolas said in the common tongue, then repeated his words in Elvish.

"No, laddie! You're not dead! Not at all!" Gimli said, clambering up on the bed beside him.

"Gimli? How did you get here? I must be dead. Orophin and Rúmil fell in battle."

"They were faking it, lad! Tricksy, clever Elves!"

"Faking it?"

"Pretending to be dead so they could help save Rivendell!" Gimli exclaimed.

Merry saw realization dawn in Legolas. Joy stamped itself over the Elf's normally expressionless features. He whispered something in Elvish and sat up, throwing and arm around each of Haldir's brothers, hugging them tightly. They hugged him back, but Legolas let out a small hiss of pain, and they let go of him, lowering him back down onto the bed.

"Are you all right, Elf?"

"I am a little sore," Legolas whispered. "The Uruk-hai…kicked me around a little bit."

Rúmil said something in Elvish and Legolas laughed.

"What did he say?" Gimli demanded. Orophin replied to him, but also in Elvish.

"Do not make me laugh -- it hurts," Legolas told them sternly. He looked at Gimli. "Rúmil said my head was harder than the boot of an Uruk-hai and that none of my injuries were fatal. Orophin said that you should practice your Elvish."

"I am perfectly fluent in Elvish!"

"Then why did you ask him to translate?" Merry teased the Dwarf.

"It's his damned Lothlorien accent," Gimli insisted. "But by thunder, I'm glad you're alive."

"So am I." Legolas smiled, but the smile faded. "Ciendriel. She must think--"

"Don't worry for the princess, lad," Gimli said soothingly. "We'll get her back for you."

But Legolas lay trembling and sad after that.

"What is happening the banquet hall?" Merry asked. "Are Pippin and Angelica there?"

"And why," Frodo asked from his chair across the room, "Were the Uruk-hai beating you up in the first place?"

"I distracted the guards while Pippin and Angelica sneaked out into the kitchens--"

"That's Pip, thinking with his stomach," Merry grumbled.

"--to get to the storage rooms where Elrond keeps extra weapons," Legolas finished. "Unfortunately my distraction went a little further than I had planned. I think they got out, but I know not if they got to the weapons."

"Can we get to those weapons from here?" Gimli asked excitedly.

Legolas shook his head. "I cannot say. I do not even know where we are."

"This is a secret room of Elrond's, beneath the palace," said Merry.

Orophin said something in Elvish and Legolas translated. "They know the way to the storage rooms. Let me rest but for a moment, and we will go in search of Pippin and Angelica."

"You should not try to get up at all," Gimli insisted.

"I wear only a few bruises, but my head aches like the cold morning after a night spent drinking warm Dwarven beer. I will be all right."

"Not if you keep insulting Dwarf beer, you won't be!"

Legolas smiled and shook his head. "Never have I been so glad to see you, my friend."

The Dwarf smiled back at him. Merry shifted his weight from foot to foot and looked at Estella. He was glad to know that Pippin had gotten out of the banquet hall, but where was he now? Only time would tell.