The girl with a veil continued to watch the other people down below, their robes shimmering with silks, their hair shining brightly from the rays of the sun. They continued to carry things here and there, as they prepared for their departure to the Gray Havens.

Unfortunately, the veiled girl had no intention of going with her brethren. She merely stood there on the balcony, her veil playing against the wind. She continued to stand there, as though transfixed at the movement of the people below.

However, watching her brethren moving back and forth, their long beautiful hair fluttering against the wind, their flawless faces smiling at each other, their lithe, slender bodies moving gracefully made the veiled girl sick. She hated them… she hated them all.

She sniffed and walked towards her bureau, where her brush lay innocent and untouched for the last few hours. She took it to her hand, her warm hands feeling the coldness of its metal handle. It was a beautiful hairbrush, the type of brush many mortal beings would love to get their hands on and keep. It was beautiful. This is why she hated it.

She threw the hairbrush angrily, where it hit her full-length mirror and breaking it to thousands of pieces. They fell to the girl's feet like tiny pools of water.

The girl's breathing heaved, her eyes flaring. She watched her reflection on the bits of mirror on her feet. Then slowly, she kneeled down at the bits of mirror and removed her veil.

The other girl that stared back at her through the thousands of pieces was, in her and her father's opinion, ugly. She possessed a very round, olive-toned, chubby face, framed by wavy, midnight hair that touched her behind the ears, which was tucked behind two, pointed elven ears. Her brows were soft, like raven's wings, but under them were huge, almond shaped brown eyes that clearly reflected her hatred. Her nose was her curse, for it was big and round, and rather squashed. Her lips were red, true, but it was too full for her face. She also had a rather thick neck, which was connected to her small, very plump body. As her father once said, she looked like big brown blowfish.

The girl's brown eyes flared with anger again, as she remembered her father. Screaming in anger and frustration, she shoved the pieces of mirrors using her hands. The shards pricked and cut her skin, but she did not care. She shoved them away from her screaming her heart out.

Instantly, the door of her room opened, and before she knew it she was launched a feet through the air, before falling heavily to a pile of pillows by her bed. She used her hands to push herself up, smearing her velvet pillows with blood and causing the minute shards of the mirror into her flesh. She was breathing heavily from pain and anger, as she faced the man who threw her…

Which happened to be her father.

"Man carel le (What are you doing)!" Her father yelled furiously, "Look at what you have done! You useless creation of Eru!" He grasped her wrist furiously and turned them palms up. "Rhaich! Look at what you have done to yourself! If you have wanted to die, I could have sent you to Minas Morgul! The orcs would benefit from your flesh as food…!"

"Gwanno ereb nin!" She yelled at the man, drawing her hands away from him. She was immediately thrown again by a stinging slap to her cheek. She raised a hand to her face, and as she did, her blood smeared her cheek.

"Worthless daughter! Curse of the Valar! You dare disrespect your father!" He raised a hand again to hit her.

But before his hand descended, a beautiful, frail female elf threw herself above her. "Daro i!" She yelled, "You will not touch her! She's is my blood!"

"As is mine, which makes it a lot worse!" Her father yelled back, "A curse has befallen us… having this female orc as a daughter!"

The young girl laughed bitterly, "Orc, you say! I've never seen a scarier orc than the one before me! And guess what, Ada! Garich i dhộl goll o Orch!"

Her father would've hit her, but her mother protected her body with every available limb, so he merely shouted, "Labo vi Orodruin, Selde!" He spat bitterly, and stalked off the room.

Her mother turned to her then, and said whispered, "Gohenon nin, Meiou …" She slowly rose to her feet, and gave her hand to help her up. "I was busy with the packing… I heard your scream, but he…" She stopped as Meiou gasped in pain, "What is the matter, chi…" She looked down as her own palm and saw blood. She immediately knew. "Ai…selde…"

Meiou shook her head, "Im harnannen… but I will be fine. I just need it bandaged…"

Her mother nodded at her and brought her to her bed. She stood up and left the room, but soon she returned carrying a small box of vials and cloths.

Meiou kept the pain to herself as her mother carefully removed the shards from her wounds and cleaned them. When the lady was done, she nodded, "Gen hannon, Amil…"

"My dear, how long will you keep this up?" Her mother said, "You will die if you continue this. I fear for you. I do not wish to lose a daughter…"

"I will not stop doing this… not until he gets me out of this tower." Meiou said defiantly, "I am a prisoner of my own home, Amil! I will rot and die in this accursed tower!"

"Please, do not speak like so, Meiou." Her mother said, "We have gone over this for centuries…"

"It has been centuries? Oh dear, I have forgotten!" She said sarcastically. "I have been here all my life, mother! Ever since you bore me! Just because of… of this!" She mentioned to her face and body.

Ordinarily, when she reveals her face to her people, they flinch, as if she's the ugliest creature Eru ever created. But her mother didn't flinch. She never did. She loved Meiou because she's her daughter. She was thankful. She only wished that her father had the same thinking…

"I honestly don't know why your father is doing this to you, Meiou. I have always thought that it was because he was protecting you…"

She scoffed, "Protecting me! Killing me, you mean!" She knelt down at her mother's knees as she whispered, "Please, Amil… let me leave. Let me run away. Let me see the world… let me leave his tyranny behind…"

Her mother's gray eyes watered, "I cannot let you leave, child… As much as I love you, I fear your father too. If it means locking you up here to protect you, to keep you from the harms that Morgoth has done to Middle Earth, then I would…"

"For me, there is no greater harm than the man who I am supposed to call my father!" She exclaimed. "I want to get away. I need to get away. Away from all this…"

A fat tear rolled down the woman's eyes, "No… I will not…"

"But, Amil…"

"I SAID NO!"

Meiou looked incredulously at her mother, but soon her jaw set into a determined line. "I will leave this tower, and I'll do anything to get out of here…" She seized a large shard of the mirror and held it to her neck, "Even if it meant that I'd have to get out of here as a cold corpse!"

"Meiou! Daro i! Lau!" Her mother held out her hands to her, but she jumped away and ran to her balcony. She stood at its railing and said, "Why don't we make it easier? I could jump out here! Not only will I get out of the tower, I'll be a corpse without feeling pain! Wouldn't you like that, Amil! I'm pretty sure that my father would just love that!"

"ALRIGHT!"

Meiou stepped back to her room, laying the shard towards the railing she vacated. Her mother made a defeated gesture with her hands, "Alright, I will allow you to go, but under one condition…"

Meiou's brow lifted, "And what would that be?"

"When I call for you… when I need you… I want you to come back. I want you to return. Even if your father forbids it. Should something happen to me, I want you to return. Do I make myself clear?"

She was surprised at her mother's words, but she simply smiled. It relieved her mother quite visibly, for the woman's worried features softened and she also smiled. "Nothing will happen to you, mother."

"Maybe, we'll never know, child. Life is strange, but so is everything Eru created. Each is special and different. That is how the world works. During your travels, you will learn this." She smiled at Meiou again as she opened her arms to her daughter. She rushed to her embrace and smiled. She felt her mother take a deep sigh.

"My dear selde, Meiou …Namarie… Belain na le…"