Eclipse of Hearts ✔

Chapter 77. [Vaughn]

Eagerly his hands glided over the linen package that was just handed to him in a remote area. The exchange of this gift was the ratification of the agreement he had made with the elven king. He found entrance into the fabric and unfolded it. In the middle were some plants with soft pink flowers. Someone else would have laughed about this gift, but Vaughn knew better. The silver blue liquid that kept the plant alive, was an elixer that extended life. It only grew in Mirkwood - and even there it was very rare, they had told him - and it would double the length of his life. 
After his eyes had entrusted him the flower was indeed in his hands, he folded the fabric back and put it away with the other valuables he had collected. He didn't know which side would win, and he didn't plan on staying here when everything was in ruins. 
He expected the elves to be here within a week and hoped Thorin and that elf would have arrived by that time too. He had heard their child had disappeared, something that made him glad. It wouldn't be hard to lure her. She undoubtedly would leave the battlefield when she thought she could get her child back. 
He smoothed his crotch while he thought about the elf, tied up in his cell. He didn't knew yet how he would take her, but there was no doubt he would do it. Above all he wanted to do it in front of Thorin and even though it was not impossible, he didn't want to take any unnecessary risks.  
The knowledge that he would touch the woman his king adored would give him enough satisfaction. The man certainly considered her as his possession and Vaughn would make sure she never wanted to be touched by a dwarf ever again. If she still had a choice, when he was done with her...

Vaughn stepped into a small dark corridor. Nobody had been here since his return to Erebor - except he. And his prisoner. 
His footsteps echoed through the dark hole while he lifted a torch. A few weeks before Thorin's departure he had found this hidden passage way and he was happily surprised when it turned out to lead to a forgotten dungeon. 
He had kept an eye on the complex for a long time, but the entrance was barely visible and even though it was connected to the other cells, the hallway was collapsed halfway. No one had ever taken the effort to clear up the stones, which perfectly fit his plan. 
He stood still before the third cell. The weak gleam of his torch hardly gave enough light to see the gaunt man in the corner. He didn't move and his eyes were so deep in his orbits that Vaughn could even look at him. He wasn't sure the man was still alive, but actually he didn't care much. This would shock her anyway and he believed it would disarm her easier than whatever object of steel.