"Poor child!" exclaimed Elrond in horror, as Celeborn finished his recount of what the child had told them. "And she has no idea where she came from?"

"None at all," said Thranduil sadly. "She froze up when we mentioned her family. All she could tell us was that her mother was dead and she had no idea where her father was. She could remember nothing more about herself."

"That sounds like traumatic amnesia," said Elrond gravely. "Which is hardly surprising; poor mite! She's been savagely beaten and it looks as if she hasn't eaten properly for months. Really, she's lucky to be alive."

"She was terrified of you," noted Glorfindel thoughtfully. "I think, judging by how excessively nervous she is, that she is used to someone hurting her. She seemed to trust you though, Thranduil, and after a while she wasn't quite so skittish with Celeborn or I either. I think we may take that as proof she is a wood elf. The blond hair obviously was something familiar to her. She tensed up the minute she saw your dark locks, Elrond."

"It is clear she is a wood-elf, yes, but I still cannot place her," said Thranduil thoughtfully. "And there have certainly been no reports of a missing child in Greenwood!"

"The same goes for me," said Celeborn. "I can see no likeness to any elf of my acquaintance, and I'm sure I would have heard if a child of Lorien had gone astray."

At that moment, Celebrian entered the room with the elfling cradled in her arms; washed, dried and still unconscious. Now that her face was washed, they could take a proper look at her. She was still savagely bruised, but they could see that she had a dainty face with small features; it was clear that she was still very young.

"The ends of her hair were too tangled and matted to brush," said Celebrian, as she tucked the little one into the bed, careful of her broken ankle. "I've had to cut her hair a bit shorter, but I think it makes her look sweet."

The elfling's hair – now shining and blond – had been trimmed just below chin level, lending her a pixyish look, which did indeed suit her. Celebrian fussed with the covers for a moment and then kissed the elfling's forehead. The tiny visitor had already won her gentle heart.

The Lady of Imladris then took her leave to check on the slumbering Arwen, leaving the four elves seated around the bed, wondering what in Middle Earth had happened to this poor child to have left her in such a dreadful condition.

"Convincing her that she is safe and welcome here will, I believe, take some time," said Elrond. "I fear, she will have to unlearn much of what she has already learned, as whoever she was living with before has abused her gravely."

"That is evident. Look at those bruises!" said Thranduil in horror, anger gleaming in his bright eyes. "No child deserves to be hurt so brutally!"

"And when we find out who abused her so badly, I will pay them a visit!" growled Glorfindel menacingly. "They should not get away with doing that to an infant!"

"No indeed!" agreed Celeborn. "We're going to…"

Suddenly, Elrond got to his feet and made his way soundlessly towards the door. His companions watched in confusion as he cautiously reached out to grab the door handle, with a smile upon his face. In a flash, he had swung the door open and Haldir and Legolas fell forward onto the floor, while the twins stood behind, them grinning sheepishly.

"It appears we have some eavesdroppers!" remarked Elrond, raising his imposing eyebrows at the twins. "And why, pray tell, are the four of you roaming the corridors at this hour when these Haldir and Legolas should be in bed and asleep?"

"They wanted to know if she was going to be all right," Elladan explained, while Elrohir helped the two elflings back onto their feet. "I think they were both a bit unnerved, for they have both been subdued all evening. They could not go to sleep for thinking about her and, I confess, Elrohir and I were scarcely less curious to see how she was faring. So we decided to come along and find out."

"Can…can we stay here with you now?" asked Legolas, turning a pair of wide, pleading eyes on the older elves. On the receiving end of such a look, they could hardly refuse!

"Of course you can." said Elrond, with a reassuring smile, as two elflings sighed in relief and rushed to their respective adas. The twins however, crossed to stand beside the bed, in order to have their first real look at their little visitor.

"Could you not sleep, little one?" Thranduil asked sympathetically, as he lifted Legolas onto his lap, while Celeborn did likewise with Haldir.

"No. I kept thinking about how sore she must be, and how frightened," said Legolas quietly, cuddling up against his father's chest as he cast a fearful look at the sleeping Alassë. "Is she going to go to Mandos, Ada?"

"Nay, Legolas, she will not," answered Elrond, sitting back down again. "She has been hurt very badly, but I believe that she will make a full recovery. We must all be gentle with her and let her know she is safe while she is here in Imladris."

"But why would someone hurt her so badly, Ada?" asked Haldir, his face the picture of confusion. To a child who had been surrounded by unconditional love all his life, the notion of pain and cruelty was a foreign one indeed.

"I know not, ion-nin," said Celeborn softly, stroking Haldir's hair. "I'm afraid no one can answer that. But we can all help her recover, by showing patience and compassion." Haldir nodded in quiet understanding and snuggled back into his father's robes, resting his head on Celeborn's shoulder.

Reassured by the quiet words and lulled by the comfort of strong arms, it was not very long before the two elflings were both sound asleep at last.

"I suspected that seeing so much blood would frighten them." said Elrond gravely.

"Poor little thing! I'm glad you were able to help her, Ada," said Elladan, running a gentle hand over Alassë's bruised cheek. "The two of them would have been distraught, Legolas especially, if she had faded."

"Look at her poor face! She's not even as old as Arwen," said Elrohir, horrified and saddened. "And such a mass of bruises! Who in all Middle Earth could have caused her so much pain?"

"My suspicions point towards her father." said Elrond solemnly.

Simultaneously, five heads swivelled towards him in utter shock, as all the other occupants of the room began to voice their horror at once.

"What? Ada, surely you cannot mean that!"

"Aiya, that makes it even worse! That's appalling!"

"Her father? Elrond, where do you get an idea like that from?"

"Three points," said Elrond gravely. "Firstly, that she was so far from any place of habitation on her own implies that she was running away from something or someone. Secondly - she cannot tell us her father's name, where he is, and where she came from. As I said earlier, that points to traumatic amnesia. Something very hard to deal with must have happened to her at home. And thirdly, that she said it was her fault that her mother was dead. No child would get such an idea unless they were told that by someone else and I'm afraid there have been cases before where a parent blames a child for the death of their partner."

"How could anyone be so heartless and do that to their own child?" asked Thranduil, looking down at the sleeping elfling in his arms and holding him tighter. "I'd have died had I not had my love for Legolas to keep me alive. There were times where I was afraid to let him out of my sight. I count myself lucky that I will always have my little Greenleaf to remind of great love I had for his mother." The others nodded sympathetically; remembering what a hard time losing his wife had been for the King of Greenwood.

"Her father?" Elladan repeated again, his eyes dark with rage and horror. "How could anyone be so low? She's little more than a baby!"

"Then there is no question of sending her back home when her wounds heal!" said Celeborn.

"Certainly not!" agreed Elrond grimly. "She needs to be surrounded with security and kindness. But we are going to have to find out exactly what happened to her."

"She is going to have a rough path to walk," said Celeborn sadly. "It is going to take time."

"We will give her all the time she needs," said Elrond softly. "But I think having the twins, Haldir and Legolas around her might help. They can teach her what we cannot."

"You can rely on us, Ada," said Elrohir at once. "We will look after her! She deserves to know what it is to be happy, and we can help her there."

"I will go and listen to the reports from the border guards," said Glorfindel, rising to his feet. "They should be back any moment and mayhap they will have seen something of the ones she fled from. I will let you know either way." The balrog slayer rose gracefully and strode out of the room. He made it half way down the corridor and was accosted by a tall figure in grey.

"Mae govannen, Mithrandir!" he exclaimed in surprise, inclining his head to the Maia. "Lord Elrond was not expecting you until tomorrow. You're early!"

"A wizard is never early, Glorfindel!" said Mithrandir gruffly, but with a twinkle in his eye. "We all arrive precisely when we mean to! Where is everyone?"

"They are all in there," replied Glorfindel, nodding his head in the direction of the room he had just left. "There is much you need to know, but I'm afraid I can't stop Mithrandir – I'm going to meet with the border guards. Elrond will explain everything. I shall see you tomorrow." Glorfindel hurried off again, leaving a bemused wizard to proceed into the bedroom, where he burst into a grin at the sight which met his eyes.

Both Celeborn and Thranduil were sitting with a sleeping elfling curled up on their lap, while Elrond and his sons were gathered around something on the bed. The gruff old wizard chuckled, drawing everyone's attention. "Quite a family gathering!" he remarked.

"Mae Govannen my friend," said Elrond welcomingly, stepping forward. "Excuse me for not being there to welcome you, but circumstances have dictated otherwise this day."

"So I see," observed Mithrandir with a smile, before his eyes swivelled to the bed once more, spotting the sleeping elfling there. "And it seems you have a new addition lying over there too. You appear to have much to tell me, my old friends."

"We do indeed," said Celeborn. "It is a long story. Take a seat and we will endeavour to enlighten you."

"While Daerada explains, Elladan and I will take Legolas and Haldir back to their beds," said Elrohir. "They will have stiff necks in the morning if they sleep all night where they are just now." The twins left the bedside to gather up both slumbering elflings and departed the room, each with a golden head on their shoulder. Mithrandir took their place at the edge of the bed, staring intently at Alassë's battered face with shrewd and thoughtful eyes.

"By the Valar, this little one has had it hard!" he exclaimed. "How did she come by these bruises?"

Celeborn explained the situation to the grey-headed Maia – how Thranduil had come across her in the wild, how she could not remember where she lived, how she believed her mother's death to be her fault and how she had suffered at the hands of this unnamed menace.

"Elrond thinks it was her father who beat her," Celeborn concluded; his voice tight with disgust. "He believes that he blamed her for her mother's death for some reason and used her as a target for his wrath. We have no proof as yet, though. We are going to have to try and jog her memory if she cannot remember on her own."

"And if that fails, there are ways to see into the past," answered the wizard, though he did elaborate on that statement. "It will at least allow us to discover the identity of the one who treated her so badly."

"Whoever it was, they will be very sorry when Glorfindel finds them!" said Thranduil grimly. "He was…"

"No! No!" Thranduil stopped short as Alassë began to scream, thrashing about on the bed; evidently in the throes of a nightmare.

"What's the matter?" The twins ran back into the room; faces pale with alarm.

"She's dreaming," said Celeborn, as they all hurried to the bedside. "Should we wake her?"

"Not right now," said Elrond. "This might help her remember. Just make sure her leg is not too agitated."

"Please Alyan, Nithron, no! Help me! Gwador-nin I beg you! Please! I'm your sister! I'm your sister!"

With a final shriek of terror, Alassë's eyes snapped open and she began to sob hysterically, burying her face in the pillow. As the others watched in distress, Elrond stooped to gather the child up into his arms. He rocked her gently, letting her cry into his shoulder. Thranduil and Celeborn exchanged sad looks, while both twins looked almost on the verge of tears.

"You are right, my friends," said Mithrandir gravely. "We are going to have to find out what happened to her."