The Forbidden Child

The Council That Was Not Permitted

Exploring the halls of the fortress sent a strange sensation throughout Lessien. She could not help but think of the way things could have been. There was not much longing for this potential life she had been robbed of, for Lessien was not much a sentimental person, so she did not feel even a twinge of sadness or sorrow. She did not wallow in self-pity as some would. All she could be was curious. 

She walked the corridors and wondered if she would have been seen playing in them or perhaps even taking her first steps on the marble floor. She imagined her immature, gangling teenage self stealing meat pies and apples from the kitchen. She passed rooms decorated with detailed statues of past ancestors and heroes as well as rich tapestries depicting battles and moments of sweet triumph. Lessien pictured herself jousting in these rooms, learning to fight beside the masters themselves.

It was then that Lessien realized that perhaps she would never have learned to fight. At least, she would not have been trained as diligently as she had in the past. She would not have been raised a warrior by any means but rather a lady who wore pretty dresses and read important books. That was what she thought being a lady meant, anyway. For, in the past, when times were dire and it was hard to pass enemy lines, Lessien had been able to breech borders, using her sex as an advantage. 

She had been a lady whenever times called for it and though in those times Lessien had always been on edge, her daily routine had been rather boring. The only entertaining part was observing the court and all of the subjects going about their sly business.

But even elves had hardly any conflict in their courts. What would Lessien be doing now if she had been raised here? Perhaps it would be a question unanswered. Maybe for the better, in fact, for none of it really mattered after all.

Not only was Lessien wondering about this potential life, she also thought of her father and her last encounter with him. She loved the man, of course, and had served as a daughter and a friend to him for many years. Before all of this, before her and Aragorn had gone to escort the hobbits, she had not seen him for many months and he seemed changed. On edge. Lessien knew something was coming. 

It was something evil and dangerous and perhaps this thing played on a grander scale that Lessien had ever seen before. Though this tension was there, it had intensified when Aragorn had been called to Rivendell. While Lessien pictured her potential life and remembered her past as an infant, she found herself caring very little while her father seemed disturbed.

After all, Arwen had been the woman he had loved. Lessien herself had been the child that the two cherished. That past that Lessien never knew had been important to Aragorn and it had all been painfully and brutally torn away from him. 

He had been imprisoned by people he trusted. He had to abandon his wife when he was exiled and had his child literally torn away from him while he sat in a cell. Indeed, this past weighed down on him more than it did on Lessien and here he was facing it all again.

Lessien felt deeply for her father. Though his absence these past few days had pained her, she decided he needed time to himself. 

It was now that Aragorn decided to come and walk beside Lessien, though there wasn't a single word said.

Without much notice, the man responsible for Aragorn's exile, Lord Elrond, was walking down the corridor and approaching the two people he held so much distaste for and requested to speak to Aragorn himself. The confidence he had in himself was incomprehensible. How much she disliked, perhaps hated, Lord Elrond for tearing her father away yet again in the midst of a precious reunion which, though small, had had immense importance to Lessien.

Lessien wondered what the two spoke of. What if Elrond was sending him away yet again? After all, he was a man exiled from this territory. If this was the case, why would he not be approaching Lessien too? She herself had been banned alongside her father.