A/N: Yay! A quick update! My teachers actually didn't pile homework on for once, *gasp*, so I decided to update.
A/N 2: I'm trying the section breaks. If they disappear, please let me know!
Melannen's eyes fluttered open. Instead of the loving faces of her parents or her brother, she gazed up into the ugly faces of orcs. It was no wonder that she screamed.
"We won't hurt you." The orc leader said, in an attempt to be reassuring. It didn't work. The sweet he produced, however, had a much more positive effect on the young Elfling. The orc hated to be kind to the child of its enemies, but it had been told to calm any fears the child might have. It remained to be seen if it would work.
"You are going to teach her."
"But...why me, Master?" Sauron asked. "I have no experience with children."
"Because I'm too busy and I don't trust the Orcs to do a good job of it." Morgoth replied. "Now go."
Beren and Luthien turned quickly and ran out the doorway. Following the droplets of blood, they ran to a clearing in the woods. There, they discovered the carefully set-up scene. Their eyes widened in joint horror as they quickly jumped to the logical (but wrong) conclusion.
"She is dead. You were right, Beren." Luthien murmured softly.
"They aren't safe enough." Beren said, a few weeks after the twins were born. "Any enemy could easily get through that window."
"But there is no way Sauron and Morgoth would know of them" Luthien had responded. "We only told Thingol and Melian."
"Sauron has spies everywhere." Beren responded. "Nobody thought he would find my father's hideout, either."
"And that brought you to me." Luthien responded, smiling. "Besides, what else would you do? They cannot be with us forever. When they grow older, they will want their freedom. Would you have your children grow up as birds in a cage?"
And so it had proven. Melannen and Dior had clamoured for their freedom, and Beren had relented. It had proved safe enough...until now.
"Yes, I was right." Beren responded. "I wish I had not been."
"Ada! Nana!" A frantic little voice called from their once-peaceful house.
A/N: Very Beren-and-Luthien focused chapter. The next one will have more Melannen in it, and it will also be the last B & L one. It probably won't be up so fast, either. At least this one was longer?