LOVE'S CHANCE AT FATE



**AHEM** Please don't sue me for changes in plot lines, the use of Tolkien's world, or Elvish translations. Word translations made possible by:

www.uib.no/people/hnohf/wordlists.htm

So please don't sue me. I CITED!



Chapter One: Defiance



A weathered leaf fell from its branch, unheard through the dense forest. It rested silently on the forest bed. Autumn had taken effect throughout the land of Mirkwood.

Nearby, an Elf ran through the trees, hoping they wouldn't give away her secret to any other, that by chance, might pass by the same way. She ran as quick and as light through the dense wood as an Elf was capable of.

The Elf tripped over her shirts, and fell to the forest floor. She sat for a moment, pain gathering in her eyes. 'What am I doing?' She questioned herself. 'I'm running away...' But then the voice of reason stepped in. 'Because this is for them... and they want this more than I ever will.' The truth of the matter was that she was escaping this alleged 'arranged marriage' in order to preserve her own freedom... or so she thought. Her misconceptions of the visit and of marriage ran high. Bits of her Elder's conversations echoed in her mind.

"Maybe they'll remember each other..."

"Perhaps they will see each other in a new light. Like we once did..."

"This is going to work out, I know it will. Thranduil is going to encourage him..."

But another voice ran clear in her mind as well, that of her mother's, always the one of reality and optimism...

"My daughter, he has grown just as fair as you. And this is not a definite union! We cannot force you to love who you will not love..."

Unfortunately, her father was not as tender hearted as her mother. Though for his age he was notoriously wise and held high regards with the elven folk in the land, he was ambitious as well, and both Vilisse and her mother knew this.

Perhaps that was the main reason Vilisse knew she must not stay. Her father would do anything it took to achieve his own wishes. He was not an easy elf to please.

The elf stood again and hurried onwards.

She knew that her actions might lead to never seeing her family again. Her life, as it seemed to her now, had led up to this point, like it had all been planned from the beginning.

As a young elf, Vilisse had spent countless years as a Prince's play mate. Their families had been close, being that both fathers were political figures, and so she had spent a great deal of her childhood living in the palace with the Prince and his family. Neither of the two young elflings had really known why she was there. But they had been young and naive, and neither had really thought on it much. After all, they were just best friends.

Though technically, it was not an 'arranged marriage', it had given the two royal families hope that a union would suffice through the friendship and familiarity within the two elves themselves. That somehow, love would spring forth, like a budding leaf in the late winter frost.

However, due to reasonable circumstances, the Prince and the Lady had grown apart in the coming years of Elf-hood. The Lady had left the palace when she was of maturing age, and neither of them had seen, spoken, or had any contact with one another since. Long years followed, and Vilisse grew into her own self, letting her childhood friend pass out of memory and found a new life of her own. She remembered him only as that: a fond memory, and nothing more.



Royal life had never suited her, her mother had always said. Vilisse was not the average Lady, so untamed and full of spirit. It was said that it would take another hundred years for her to mature out of this untamed spirit that possessed her, even though she was bordering on four thousand years old.

The Elders had decided it would be beneficial for the two families to join together again and catch up, reunite old friendships, and (hopefully) spark new ones. But the Elven Lady who ran from these hopes feared what might come of this visit. Long years ago she had sworn to herself never to become conquered and imprisoned in her own home, as so many females had been, once they were bound in love. It was for that same reason that she fled now, believing her own fate doomed by this entrancement.






Translations:

Vilisse: A person's "spirit" meaning his/her general personality and attitude.

Arandur: King's servant/steward

Elwen: Hearted- to have heart.

Huore: Vigor of the heart

Tumna: Low lying, dark/hidden, profound, deep.