Hello, this is my first ever posting, I hope that you all enjoy! (please review, but no flames!)

Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing, it all belongs to the literary genius J.R.R. Tolkien.  I did create Lian, Fëa and Galen, but that's it.  (Eldarion was actually created by Tolkien, he's mentioned in one of the appendixes in Return of the King)

Oh, by the way, this is the first story of a kind of series type thing I'm writing, The Children of Gondor.  It's all about the three children of Aragorn and Arwen.  This is the story that tells of the life of Lian, youngest daughter of Gondor's monarchs.  I hope you all enjoy it!

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The Children of Gondor:

Lian

By Hollie

Aragorn, King Elessar paced back and forth in his throne room, servants constantly coming to him asking his decisions on the decorations, the food, what he wished to wear and such.  Queen Undomiel sat on her throne and smiled, for she had never seen her husband so nervous and excited, save perhaps the day of their wedding. 

"My King, do you not worry needlessly?  I realize that this reunion is important to you, but perhaps you are taking it slightly overboard."  He stopped pacing and laughed, a laugh so joyful that all who heard it were glad, and he came and sat by her side on his chair.

"As usual, you are right.  But this meeting is a cause for joy and I want things to be perfect.  I have not seen my old companions for so many years that I have indeed lost count.  And with the special... surprise, well, I just want everyone to be joyous and comfortable.  I daresay that we will have much to celebrate these next few days, provided that the proposal goes through."  His queen smiled contently at him, thinking of the big surprise that they had planned.

"How wonderful it will be if the two kingdoms are united.  They will be perfect for each other, I don't doubt.  But it might be wise of us to forewarn her... what if she does not approve?  How then will it go over if she throws a fit in front of our guests and your dearest friends?"

"I have faith that things will turn out smoothly my dearest."  Arwen rested her head upon Aragorn's strong shoulder and closed her eyes.

"If you have faith, then so do I," She whispered softly in Elvish, "so do I."

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Lian ran swiftly along the roof of the castle, her footfalls as quiet as an elf's.  She climbed un-noticed up the uneven rock face of the tower and settled herself comfortably atop her tower.  Her tower.  Many years she had called it thus, as it was her favorite place in all of Gondor.  Climbing was the only way to reach its heights, and as far as she knew, she was the only one who dared scale its walls. This was a fact she kept secret, for she knew it would become forbidden to her if her parents found out.  They worried constantly about her, and needlessly too she thought. 

The youngest daughter of the King and Queen, Princess Lian was strong, wise, nimble and fair.  She had the mind and courage of Aragorn, the soft facial features like to Arwen's and the heart of an elf, though she was only half that race in lineage.  She had long, dark hair cascaded down to the small of her back when she would release it from the braid she usually kept it in.  Her eyes were gray to the like of her father, and they could pierce the heart with a simple glance, or be as gentle as clouds, depending on her mood.  Her skin tanned easily, and she relished the sun's rays on her limbs and face, turning them to a gentle brown colour.  She had little use for dresses and beauty, and paid almost no heed to them. 

Never the less, even covered in dirt, she was undeniably fair, but that is to be expected of a child of King Aragorn and the striking Arwen.  Men would come to Gondor hoping to glimpse the land's Queen and her two daughters, Lian and Fëa, and young ladies would constantly vie for the attention of the handsome prince, Eldarion.    As little as possible Lian interacted with the male gender, for she regarded most of them as pigs.  With the exceptions of course, of her father and brother.

She loved her parents dearly, but hated the fact that they focused almost all of their concern on her.  She shuddered to think of what they would say if they found that she skipped her lesson in Middle-Earth history to relax in her tower.  She liked to come up to the tower to think and reflect, and one of the dilemmas she pondered most often was the overprotective nature of her parents. After all, she had an older brother and sister who they could worry about.  Not that Eldarion and Fëa ever did anything that was a cause for concern.  On the contrary, they were always courteous, poised and wise, and Lian could barely remember a time where either had gotten in to trouble!  Lian did have some fleeting memories of Eldarion as a rambunctious adolescent, but time seemed to have worked that out of him, for now he was a serious, studious young adult.  Fëa, however, was the eternally perfect everything.  She never got in trouble, always completed her studies on time, was polite and reserved and altogether infuriating.    Boring was her word.  But they were good people, and despite her complaints, Lian loved them dearly.

Lian was a complete opposite of her siblings, to the surprise of all.  When the city heard of a third child of Arwen and Aragorn, they expected another perfect little angel.  They had no idea what a surprise they were in for.  Lian was adventurous, fun and curious.  She would not rest until every tree had been climbed, every passage explored and every path hiked.  She would come back to the castle at night so dirty that at first, no one would recognize her.  She constantly skipped out on her lessons of etiquette to ride her horse or practice her archery. 

Archery was one of her greatest passions.  The only problem was that no matter how many lessons she took, she could never quite grasp the fine art.  She would practice for hours each day until her arms bled and her head swam, but she could still not get the hang of it.  She did everything her instructors would tell her to the letter, but to no avail. 

But Lian was not quitter.  She sat high atop the tallest tower in Gondor and resolved then and there to practice nonstop until she finally got it right.  Never mind the fact that she had made that resolution several times prior, and failed each time, but a deep resolution (borne partly from her stubbornness) took her over once again.  She crept back down the tower, along the roof and slipped through an open window back inside.  Slinking from shadow to shadow, she slowly made her way to her bedchambers, grabbed her bow and her quiver from their perch on a chair and climbed from her window to a nearby tree, leapt onto a low wall (and just barely made it) and slipped unnoticed into the forest.

Deep in the woods, there was a tree not far off from the road that lead to Gondor that had so many holes in it that passerbys who happened to come upon it would wonder whatever had happened to it.   It was however, the practice tree of Princess Lian, and for many years she had shot into it, aiming at a small notch dead center, which she had never quite managed to hit. 

Sighing with firm resolution, she pulled an arrow from her quiver and aimed best she could at the notch.  She released and immediately cringed as the arrow flew off into the dense vegetation, missing the tree by several feet.  She began to ready herself for another shot when she heard a cry from the road.  Lian raced towards the shout and stopped dead as she found her arrow.  It was sticking into the side of a large and grandiose carriage that was at the head of a magnificently lengthy procession. 

 "Oh my!"  She began in shock, "please forgive me!  No one was hurt were they?  I am so sorry, I was practicing my archery, and well, I'm not very good at it yet, and the arrow flew off and I heard a yell and I---"  She was suddenly cut off my a deep, gentle voice from within the carriage.

"Calm yourself child, you only took us by surprise, there were no injuries suffered."  Then the owner of the voice stepped down and it was all Lian could do to keep from gasping.  He was an elf, a king of elves by the look of him.  He was neither young, nor old, his beauty was great and his wisdom seamed to radiate outwards.  He reached out a fair hand and took hers in greeting. 

"I am Legolas Greenleaf, King of Mirkwood.  Who might you be child?"  Ignoring the fact that he had just called her a child, Lian just managed to whisper "I am Princess Lian of Gondor."

"Princess, did you say?"  There was a twinkle of recognition in his eyes, "then you are Aragorn's daughter?"

"Aye sir, um, I mean, yes your highness, I am one of them."

"You mean he has more children?  Please tell,"  He looked anxiously at her, for joyous was this news of his dear old friend whom he had not seen for many long years.

"The oldest is my sister, Fëa, then my brother Eldarion, then myself."

"That is wonderful news to hear!  It pleases my heart to know that he is thrice blessed!  And what of the lady Arwen?  Do tell me everything, though I'm sure I will be hearing it all over again as soon as we reach the castle.  Here, our arrival shall be late if we delay longer.  Will you not ride with us to the fair city, for I much desire to hear news of my old comrade."  And with that he helped her up the carriage steps, and as she entered, she beheld two more elven beauties.  She was seated across from the king, and next to one who could only have been his son, for so greatly did he resemble his father. 

"Lady Lian, I am greatly pleased to introduce you to my wife, Miriel, and my son Galen."  They nodded politely to one another, and Lian could not help but be excited to be seated among such fair creatures. She looked upon the queen and for the first time in her life, she desired to be beautiful and to wear elegant clothes and makeup.  The queen was the picture of elegance and grace and Lian suddenly had the strong urge to be as poised.  She sat up as straight as possible and tried to brush the dirt away from her clothes as unobtrusively as possible. 

They were five minutes journey to the citadel by road, for the route Lian ahd taken through the trees had been direct and speedy, but in that time, the king managed to ask Lian a lot of questions about her father and mother and what they had been up to, and how their health was and such.  Lian gathered that King Legolas had greatly cared for her mother and father and that there had been a strong friendship between them.

When they arrived at the castle, there was much noise and excitement.  Indeed, Lian had never in all her life seen Gondor look as beautiful as it did when she stepped from the carriage.  She exited last and Prince Galen helped her down, as the steps were quite high for her.  The elves were of course much taller than she, and even by human standards Lian was short, just barely 5 feet.  She stared in awe as the splendor of Gondor was seen at its peak.  The towers gleamed, banners flew high and silver trumpets blared a loud and most welcoming song. 

Standing at the top of the castle's granite stair was the King and Queen of Gondor, each stately and beautiful, their splendor displayed for all to see.  Lian forgot her former awe of the monarchs of Mirkwood as she looked upon her parents and saw their full magnificence.  In her mind, it was far greater than any others alive in Middle-Earth. 

Beaming smiles stretched across both of their faces as they walked gracefully down the steps to greet their guests.  When the reached the elves, both kings embraced as brothers, thrilled to see one another after such a long parting.  Arwen and Miriel instantly began to catch up with the goings on of one another's lives.  Lian stood slightly behind, next to Galen, waiting quietly to be acknowledged.  Eldarion and Fëa came up to the two of them, and Eldarion extended a hand to the elven prince in greeting.

"Good to see you, Prince Galen."  Eldarion addressed him regally with the air of a king.  Fëa stood behind him and nodded politely. 

"As it is to finally meet you, Prince Eldarion.  A fine kingdom is Gondor."  Galen looked around, his eyes wide as he took in the land of breathtaking stone work and beautiful greenery, his eyes lingering on the trees that had been planted by elves at the beginning of Aragorn's and Arwen's reign. 

"And it is my deepest pleasure to meet such a fair princess," the charming elf continued, taking Fëa's hand and kissing it.  She blushed slightly and smiled at him, then bowed her head, trying to not look pleased.

Lian was silently amused; was this prince of a faraway land flirting with her sister?  She bit back a smile and exchanged glances with Eldarion; it seemed that similar thoughts were roaming through his mind.

The procession moved on as another carriage came to the foot of the great staircase, and another, and so on.  Soon, a band of dwarves, the royal family of Rohan, a very large collection of brilliant elves and a strange looking group of very short and furry-footed creatures stood talking happily together laughing and reliving old times.  After several minutes, Aragorn raised his hands and addressed all "Come friends!  Let us go inside where we can eat, drink and continue this wonderful reunion!"

"Might I have the pleasure of escorting you inside?" Galen asked Lian, a friendly smile etched across his face.

"Oh, well, I actually think that I'm going to freshen up first.  I wouldn't want to go into such an important dinner looking... well, like this."

"What ever do you mean, you look fine."  Lian smiled and felt her cheeks blush.

"Thank you highness, but dirt is not favorable attire on a lady here."  He smiled in return, "then I await your return to the banquet anxiously my lady."  He turned and made for the doors, then stopped and looked back at her, "Please lady, call me Galen.  Formalities bore me."

"As you wish.  If this is how we are to be, then you can call me Lian my friend."

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Lian walked as quickly as she could to her room.  She felt an excitement rising in her that she had never felt before.  The majesty of Gondor, the wonder of King Legolas, the poise of the Lady Miriel, the... her new, friendship, with Galen.  He confused and surprised her very much.  He was, friendly, to say the least, and he had a quality about him that she couldn't quite place, but was refreshing.  Perhaps it was how he so quickly seemed comfortable enough to speak plain with her, bypassing what Lian referred to as "the frivolity of formality." 

She entered her room and proceeded to tear through her closet, searching for something suitable.

"Ah!"  She cried out at last as she pulled out a long, flowing white dress that she never had even known that she owned.  She pulled it on and turned to a large mirror in the corner that she rarely used.  She was surprised to find that her figure was not all together bad.  All her climbing and running kept her thin and lean, and unnoticed to her, she had filled out nicely.  She took out a brush and began to undo the year's worth of tangles.  After finally getting it straight and clean, she took a strand from either side of her head and brought them back so they made a slight crown.  Then she took up a washcloth and scrubbed her face and hands until they shone.  Lian had never used makeup before, and had no idea what went where, so she contented herself to "natural colour."  Finally satisfied, she made her way to the banquet hall.

She stepped inside, trying to be graceful and poised.  "If only I had Fëa's composure and grace!" she thought nervously.  Thankfully, most of the guests were much to deep in conversation to notice her arrival.  In fact, Lian was beginning to wonder if she was invisible when suddenly a familiar voice spoke behind her.

"If it is possible, you look more fair than you did when we parted."  Lian turned and relief flooded into her as she let Galen lead her to the table, pull out a chair for her and then sit by her side.

Lian laughed slightly, "I should hope my appearance now would be better than it was at out parting!"  He smiled yet again, flashing perfectly white teeth at her.  "Are all elves perfect?" Lian wondered.

"Beauty is more a matter of character, than physical appearance.  That has been my opinion, at least.  But let us not trouble ourselves with pondering over the meaning of beauty to-night Lian, for this night is to be one of merriment and laughter, or so I am told,"

Galen grinned at her and at that moment the servants began bringing in the food and drinks, and for a long while Lian contented herself with stuffing her face.  In the day's excitements, she had forgotten entirely about breakfast and suddenly realized how starving she was.  The food all looked so delicious, that for a moment, Lian could not decide what she wanted.  The chefs had obviously pulled out all the stops in honor of the guests, for Lian had never in her life seen or tasted such amazing morsels, even though she had been eating food prepared by the same men and women that cooked that meal her entire life.   Maybe, she decided, the atmosphere had a bit to do with the deliciousness of it all.

After allowing sometime for his old friends to eat and relax, King Elessar stood up from his place at the head of the table, and all fell quiet. 

"My dear old friends, new friends, my family and anyone else who hears what I now say:  I have invited you all here for two purposes.  One, we have gone far too many years out of touch, and I am greatly glad that this was ended tonight," thunderous applause met his words.  "Yes, yes," Aragorn rose his voice again to calm the crowd," Yes, I am thrilled that you agree.  Secondly, I have an announcement of great happiness:  The Prince Eower of Rohan has asked for the hand of my daughter," He paused to give some dramatic effect, and Lian leaned over to Galen and whispered, "Fëa must be thrilled!"

"Lian."

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so... what did u think?  I am really nervous if u guys like this or not.... please tell me if I should continue!!!

-hollie-