"A marriage?" I cried, staring disbelievingly at my father. Thoughts scrambled about my mind as my mother came over to me and placed a hand on my shoulder.
"For the good of Lórien, Niphredil," she said, stressing the words slightly. "Al ally between Lórien and the Men would come of great use now."
"Is that how you see me?" I asked, trying to pull away from my mother's touch. "Is that how you see me?" I repeated. "As a tool? For the good of Lórien, Niphredil," I mimicked, shaking my head. Shivers ran through my body as the realization of what was really happening dawned upon me. An arranged marriage, for the good of Lórien.
"It must be done," Celeborn said calmly. I tried to stop the tears from running down my cheeks as I searched his face for understanding. He couldn't send me away, not now. "It is a most important ally in these dark times," he continued.
Scratch that. "But I have to stay here!" I pleaded. How would Legolas find me otherwise?
"You'll feel better once you sleep on it," Galadriel said, kissing me lightly on the forehead. "You must realize that leaders of a race must make many sacrifices for their people. The people, Niphredil," she said, squeezing my shoulder for emphasis. "Protect the people at all costs and fruits will come of your labors."
"But I'm just a princess," I said. "What about my sister? What of her?"
"Niphredil," my mother said, searching my eyes with her own. I turned away. "Be strong. For Lórien."
"But a Man," I said. "Men are mortal. It wouldn't last beyond a century!"
"A century well spent is worth more than all the ages of Middle Earth wasted in falsities," my mother replied. "You could be surprised at how many things could change in the span of those years. Don't chase after dreams that are but whispers on the wind," she said softly. "They can deceive you."
The knowing look on her face irritated me, so I said, "I would rather spend eternity searching for true love, mother, in those whispers, than a lifetime condemned to shuttling from arranged marriage to arranged marriage. Isn't that also a falsity, mother?"
"Sometimes love comes after marriage, Niphredil," she said.
"You must understand the seriousness of the times, Daughter," said Celeborn from his high chair at the head of the hall. Galadriel stepped back and I faced my father alone.
"But what will an alliance with Men provide?" I said, coming to my last sprig of hope for reason and freedom. The flower died as my father uttered his next words.
"Sleep with it, Daughter, and everything will be clear to you." He stood and left the room as Galadriel stepped forward.
"I know what you are feeling, Niphredil," she said. I whirled around to face her.
"How?" I asked skeptically.
"An Elf-woman never departs from life unscathed," she murmured. But no matter how hard I pressed after that, that was all she would say.
~~~
The next morning I woke. The air in my room was humid as I peeled the sheets from my body and stepped out onto the floor. In strange contrast, the wood of the floor was cold against my feet as I went to the window and opened the curtains. Rain tapped against the sill of the window, driven by the wind whistling through the trees. I stuck my head out of the window for a moment, smelling the ivy that grew up the tree. I half expected to see Legolas and Haldir running through the trees, hunting and calling to each other like little boys. I recalled the day that Legolas and I spent together in the talan and smiled at the memory.
But Legolas was gone now, and I had no way to tell him of the impending marriage. The next time he came to Lórien, I would be a wife and a mother, most likely. Then I realized that I wouldn't be living here in Lothlórien, I would be living in Minas Tirith or wherever the Men lived.
I sighed and propped my face on my hands, my thin robe blowing about in the breeze. I didn't understand anything better than I had yesterday, as my parents had thought.
Just then there was a knock on the window. I held my breath for a moment. "Come in," I called.
It was Elanor. Her eyes were red and her cheeks were damp, and she kept sniffling and wiping her eyes. "I heard, Niphredil," she said. Then, to my surprise, she smiled. Her tears had been happy tears. "I'm so happy for you!" she cried, throwing her arms around my shoulders. "This is the most important time in a woman's life, Niphredil," she said. I wondered where she had gotten that, because Elanor had never been married herself.
"I don't want to be married," I said, shrugging from her embrace. Elanor looked shocked.
"Why not?"
"I…I just don't." I answered lamely, stepping away from her.
"There's someone else." It was a statement, not a question. I didn't answer.