The Exile's Daughter

Dark Tidings

At that moment however, another person sat beside me, and I gasped slightly, turning to the side and relaxing a little when I saw who it was. "It's only me" Legolas said with a small smile, which turned into a frown as he saw the fear in my eyes. "No one will harm you here", he reassured softly.

"I know", I said shakily, "But I can't seem to convince myself. I don't know what's wrong with me".

"Nothing is wrong with you", Elrond reassured, "but you have survived a traumatic experience. Periods of unexplainable fear are completely normal."

I sniffed and wiped my eyes. "Is Aragorn alright?" I asked quietly, peeking up at Legolas. He nodded.

"He sustained a long but shallow cut to his wrist, and his vambrace needs repairing, but it is no worse than that."

"You know his real name", Elrond commented, raising his eyebrows at Legolas.

"I did not want to alarm Nesseldë further by hiding behind an alias", a familiar voice commented. I looked up and Aragorn sat down on my other side, settling onto the untamed grass and picking up a spider that was running towards me to set it down a few feet away. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine. My leg hurts though."

Legolas smiled. "I am hardly surprised, considering how you fought off those orcs. That was quite impressive for a first battle". He shifted, crossing his long legs.

I shrugged slightly. "It was instinctual. It was either kill or die".

"Such is the nature of the world in these dark times, I'm afraid", Aragorn muttered, "I wouldn't dwell on those you killed too deeply. They were servants of evil, and incapable of anything better"

"I do not feel guilty" I reassured. "I just don't know how I didn't get hurt".

"We were all wondering that" Elrond commented with a slight smile. "I was knocked out five minutes into my first battle and woke up a week later in bed".

I giggled slightly. "I was just lucky".

"Indeed you were, on many accounts" Lord Elrond said. "Not least picking a hiding place which Aragorn son of Arathorn himself frequently uses for shelter." He reached across to a bag on his left, taking out a leathern flask shot with silver as I answered him.

"We used to play there as children, my brother and I", I muttered, "It was the first place I thought of".

"Then you have lived in the shadow of the mountains since childhood?" Elrond questioned incredulously. "Perhaps that explains it." He muttered thoughtfully, unscrewing the flask. "You are small for an elf, especially one of Noldorin descent."

"There were many harsh winters when I was young." I answered with a slight shrug. "When food was scarce,  my parents could only do so much."

I looked up into his eyes as I spoke, studying within them all the war and pain and joy he had seen over his long years. He looked more closely at me, cocking his head to one side. In a moment, the colour had drained from his face. He set the flask down; it almost spilled, but he seemed not to notice. "Your eyes are very unusual, my lady." He commented . "Their pupils are like a reflection of stars on the sea in the dead of a cloudless night." 

"They are my father's", I whispered, eyes cast down. Next to me, Aragorn inhaled a sharp breath. I glanced at him in confusion.

"I know those eyes." Elrond breathed, almost to himself. "Who were your parents?" I took a shaky breath and Legolas reached out to squeeze my shoulder, careful not to startle me with his touch.

"My mother was Yarathiel and my father was Ionwë" I croaked, looking down at the ground and trying desperately to control myself as their final moments flashed unstoppably before my eyes.