"My lady, do you know who committed this crime?" one of the eleven wood elves asked another one. They were all on horseback, yet the lady to whom the question was addressed was the only female in the group.
Her name was Elendriel, lady of the stars, and was the niece of Lady Galadriel, lady of the light. She was young, for an elf, and sat proudly on top of her horse, her brown hair in a long, loose braid behind her sharp, pointy ears.
"I have an idea, but I hope that I am wrong," she answered. Around them it looked like a battlefield. It was one of the few cities in Lothlorien, but it had been large. Not a single person remained alive. The ground was covered in dead bodies, men, women and children, and the rubble from fallen houses. "Oh, Lúthien, what in the name of Illuvatar happened to you?" Elendriel muttered, almost inaudibly.
Lúthien, one of the daughters of King Aragorn, was also an elf, named after Lúthien the fair, who had fallen in love with a mortal. She had been Elendriel's best friend, but that had been many years back, fifty years back.
As Elendriel walked among the rubble that used to be a city, she thought back to when she and Lúthien had been so young. They had laughed together, played together and cried together. Nothing could prepare Elendriel for that realization that Lúthien had not remained as an innocent, kind girl.
"Lúthien, see those flowers?" asked a girl with brown hair and eyes, her hair tied loosely in a braid.
"Yes, Elen, I see it," the other girl answered. The other girl had deep black hair, and hazel eyes that shone in the filtered light in the forest. The two girls were standing on the edges of Lothlorien, Elendriel's home.
"Those flowers are called Elanor. They are said to be linked to the story of your parents," Elendriel answered. Lúthien bent down gently and plucked the dying flower from the ground. Elanor were winter flowers, and spring was approaching, therefore all of the Elanor were dying.
"I love this place, Lúthien," Elendriel said, dreamily, spinning in circles, and breathing in deeply the scent of spring. "The only sounds are the rushing of the river, and the birds singing. The flowers send their scent to the sky, and we can even see the city of Lothlorien from here."
"I love it here, too," agreed Lúthien. She spun in circles, her simple, navy-blue dress flowing around her. Elendriel, in her pure-white, elegant dress, copied her.
"Elendriel! Lúthien! Come in, girls!" called a voice from the direction of the city of Lothlorien.
"That's my Aunt Galadriel. We'd better go," Elendriel said, mournfully. Lúthien nodded, and followed her best friend. Their hairs flying behind them, and the bottoms of their skirts following them, they raced back to the city of Lothlorien, where the queen, Lady Galadriel, Elendriel's aunt, ruled.
"There you are, girls," Lady Galadriel said, when the girls flew to her. "Where were you today?"
"Where we usually are, Auntie. We were in the clearing near the river," Elendriel said simply. Lúthien nodded, and Lady Galadriel sighed, and ushered them into the front gates of Lothlorien. They closed at nightfall, and were about to close. "Come, children; it's time for dinner. Lúthien, your parents are waiting for you in your guest house. Elen, sweetie, wash up and meet me in the dining room." Elendriel and Lúthien hugged each other, and went their separate ways.
They knew that it was hard for them to be best friends. Elendriel would take over rule of Lothlorien once Lady Galadriel would die. Lúthien was Princess of Gondor, and was the oldest one. Her destiny was to live in Minas Tirith, miles away from Lothlorien.
