Wherein Lillianna ventures out of Lothlorien wins the heart of a King
It was the year 3354 of the second age, and a council of high elves was seated at Lothlorien to discuss the darkness that had befallen Middle Earth after the forging of the great rings. Gil-galad, Lord Elrond, Lord Glorfindol, Lady Galadriel, and Lord Celeborn were all assembled there, trying to see how long Sauron would continue in his conquest of Middle Earth.
"He has remained silent for some time” King Gil-galad spoke slowly, "And since Verdan's departure, we have not found where he has concealed himself or when he may strike." Each of the members seated pondered this, and for a long while they did not speak, for great was their sorrow and distress. Finally, Lady Galadriel rose, and speaking with the wisdom of one who has seen this world long said, "We cannot sit frozen with fear for what may occur. Let us rather start to prepare how we may bring about the overthrow of Sauron. This task may seem unatainable, for many of us thought it was Verdan who would do this. Yet I see now that his time here should not be in vain. An alliance between all races must occur in order for Him to be conquered, and the symbol of his power must somehow be destroyed forever." They agreed to her words, yet wondered how and when it might be accomplished.
"What of his daughter, Lillianna?" Glorfindol asked, "What part must she play in this tragedy?"
Galadriel's eyes softened, and she gazed up at the heavens as she answered, "All that she must accomplish, I do not know. But I know Sauron would do all he could to destroy her if he knew an heir of Verdan with simliar powers existed. We must keep her secret, and teach her all that we can without Verdan's manuscripts Sauron took, and hopefully one day she will join us in our task of putting an end to the long reign of evil." This was agreed upon, and Galadriel decided not to tell Lillianna of her heritage at the time, for it would be too much of a sorrow to lay upon one so young.
And so Lillianna grew in loveliness and in spirit, receiving affection from all in Lothlorien, for they loved her dearly. She was a bright, intelligent little elf, with sparkling violet eyes, and wavy, silky dark hair. Both those characteristics were rare among elves, and so was an unique gift to her race. The elves there called her Moril which meant "dark radiance", for the radiance of her eyes and hair shined unceasingly into the hearts of those who knew her. She was like unto her father in appearance, yet in character she possessed more of the bold, firey spirit of her mother, than the gentle, patient serenity of her beloved father, though those characteristics she was not without. She loved to dance and sing, and also to explore and discover new things. Her hunger for knowledge was infectious, but sometimes her curiosity caused her to run into trouble. On one occasion, when she was about 12 years of age, she yearned to know what lay beyond the forest of Lothlorien and so proceeded to follow Glorfindol, one of her teachers, and a group of elves on a scouting trip. They turned and went out of the forest, and she also stepped out of the forest under cover, but turned a different way, so the elves would not find out she had escaped. She walked along happily in the bright sun, singing and talking to the butterflies and birds around her. She had not kept into account how far she had gone, and when she stopped to view her surroundings, she became frightened because they were unfamiliar.
"Hello?" she cried in her sweet elven voice, a little shaky with fear, but no one answered. She called a couple other times, and on the third call, she thought she heard voices coming farther ahead. She approached it cautiously, hoping it to be someone who could help. Instead, to her horror she ran into a group of orcs who had heard her cries, and were trying to find where it came from. One of them noticed her and with a couple other orcs, started to chase after her, because they thought she would be an easy catch. None of the orcs realized the power of a voice from one so little and when she screamed, they covered their ears in pain. Lillianna stood there for several moments screaming and then turned and fled as fast as her small legs would carry her. The orcs' leader yelled at the three orcs covering their ears to chase after her and soon all of them were close behind on her heels. Lillianna felt as if her lungs would explode by running so fast and by calling out different pleas such as "Elbereth!" or "Mother!" She turned her head while she ran to see if they were coming closer and so didn't see the elf on a horse before her. He had heard her screams, being on return from Rivendell, and went to where they were coming from. She ran senseless into the horse and landed flat on her back breathless. She looked up from the ground and saw the elf dismount and approach her. She didn't know him, but she ran behind him and clung to his legs saying "oh please my lord, please help me. Please help me. I didn't know they were there, I was just walking. Please don't let them hurt me." The elf was astounded for a moment to find the child was Lillianna, but he motioned her to be quiet as the orcs approached. The orcs upon seeing him, stopped dead in their tracks. They were not expecting to find an elven warrior ready for battle and about to slash all of them to pieces, and so without a second's hesitation, they turned and fled screeching along the way. Lillianna sat there amazed and wondered who she had chanced upon. Feeling overwhelming gratitude, she flung her arms around the elf's neck and kissed his cheek with her sweet lips,
"oh thank you sir, thank you. You must be the most noble elf on the earth. What is your name?" The elf was once again astounded by her behavior and his face was stern with reprimand as he pulled off her clinging, white arms.
"You have done a very foolish thing, young lady." he said "and if I hadn't been alerted to you, those orcs would have killed you. How did you get out here? Where are your mother and father?"
She saw his stern face and lowered hers a little with shame, "They do not know I am here. I followed Glorfindol to the edge of the wood and went the opposite direction he went."
"You were undetected by Glorfindol and others guarding the borders?" He asked increduously
"As far as I know, yes sir." She said while lifting up her face. She took his hand gently and said with the sweetest, most pleading voice possible,
"I just wanted to see the world outside. Please don't scold me, for my mother will do that as soon as I return. I am sorry I escaped, and I promise to never do it again." Her violet eyes became very sad and hopeful, and the elf could not resist her penitent gaze. The outline of a smile appeared on his stern lips and he lowered himself to her, "You are truly a very brave young lady. Foolish, but brave. No doubt you will learn from this."
She smiled and hugged him again, to which the elf grunted, but he no doubt was touched by it. He lifted her onto his horse and said,
"I will take you back home, for no doubt your mother is worried about you."
They soon reached Lothlorien and there Galadriel stood waiting, with an impassive face. Upon seeing them, her face softened and she rushed to Lillianna and took her from the horse.
"Lillianna, why have you left me? I thought you knew better than that."
"Do not scold her too much, Galadriel", the elf said, "she has had her share from me. I believe this has taught her to not repeat this incident." Other elves approached, relieved to find their Lillianna safe, and when they saw the elf on the horse, they immediately bowed.
"Thank you, Gil-galad, for rescuing her. We are grateful beyond words." Galadriel said as she too made a small bow of reverence to King Gil-galad. At this, Lillianna's eyes grew wide with astonishment.
"You, you are the king???" she said to Gil-galad with the amazement not concealed in her voice. He chuckled at her awe and said, "Yes my little lady. But I hope you will not think of me differently. It was a pleasure to be in your company." Then he approached Celeborn and discussed some issues privately while Galadriel's handmaiden, Rian cleaned up Lillianna.
"May I go visit King Gil-galad now?" she asked Galadriel after she had changed her dress.
"you probably should be serving a punishment" Galadriel answered, "but I think what you have gone through has been enough. You may do as you wish, but do not bother him."
And so Lillianna visited Gil-galad after his affairs with Celeborn had been discussed and he welcomed her gladly. To him, Lillianna was like a daughter he never had. She showed him many of her hiding places and talked to him like he was her own age and not a king. Eventually, Gil-galad said he had to leave. Lillianna was saddened by this but Gil-galad promised to visit her when he could.
"I hope to see you again, Lillianna. But without having to rescue you first." he gently teased while mounting his horse.
"Wait one moment!" she cried and she ran to pick a small, blue flower with white edges - her favorite of those that grew there. She ran up to the horse and bid Gil-galad to lean over. He did so, and she put the flower in his armor.
"Don't tell anyone our secret places, because only kindred spirits like us know of such things. I know I can trust you, because you saved my life and you are very loyal." He promised to do so and smiled as she kissed his cheek again. A warrior's heart can always be softened by a small, elven girl such as Lillianna. He rode away on his horse and looked back at the image of the child dancing in the moonlight, full of innocence and purity who loved all without reason and it burned a mark on his soul for the remainder of his life.
