Chapter One
Five years later…Nevaeh looked up from the garment that she was mending when Andolin came up to the flet. He had taken her to the edge of Mirkwood and married her five years ago, after that awful night. He was a rich elf, and had given her parents more than enough money to take care of them for the next decade or so.
Now she couldn't have been happier. She was completely in love with her husband, and they were expecting their first child. She hoped that it would be a boy, and that he'd look just like his father. And if it were a girl, she hoped the child would look like her mother.
Andolin leaned over and kissed her brow. She smiled fondly at him and resumed mending the torn garment. This was what she had always wanted; she had a beautiful family and a beautiful home. Or at least she almost had a family now, she thought with a feeling of satisfaction. It was almost as though that night back in Lothlorien had never happened.
Mentally she scolded herself for thinking of it after she had escaped that life. There was no logical reason to think about that horrid excuse for an elf. That repulsive male that disgraced the entire Elven race! All she should think about He was all that mattered in her life.
"Daydreaming again, my dear?"
Nevaeh turned to him once again and grinned. "Maybe."
Andolin simply chuckled and covered her mouth with his. She returned the kiss and put down her mending. Regretfully, Andolin drew back to look at her.
"What is it?" asked Nevaeh, wondering what he was thinking of.
"Nothing. But we must go into the village. There is someone looking for you there. I couldn't find out what they wanted, so I didn't bring them to the flet."
"All right. Just give me a minute to get changed." What would someone in the village want with her? She was just a simple elf trying to raise a family with the perfect husband.
Fifteen minutes later, Nevaeh entered the small village with her husband's arm laid protectively around her waist. She immediately espied the elf who was looking for her. He was the only one not bartering with a vendor on the street, and obviously wasn't from anywhere nearby. He looked too self-important to be a local.
He could be called a handsome elf, but he didn't hold a candle to Andolin. He had hair the colour of burnt sienna and eyes the same shade of the midnight sky that gave him a look of power and persuasion. He was quite obviously an elf of importance. Nevaeh wondered just what he wanted with her.
"Is this the one?" He asked Andolin, barely acknowledging her presence. What the . . . Andolin only nodded and turned to her with a very serious look.
"I'm sorry to do this my dear," he whispered in her ear. "But I just can't live with myself any longer knowing that I've let a killer go free. I just had to do my civic duty."
Disbelief coursed through Nevaeh at his words. He couldn't be serious. "No! You know I didn't do it! He fell on the knife! You said that you believed me . . ." she pleaded with him. "Please don't do this to me. I thought you loved me. We have a child to think of now."
"I will not have a child with a killer. The child, male or female, will never belong to me. Not when you are its mother." Andolin's voice held to warmth, only a chill that reminded Nevaeh of ice.
Nevaeh couldn't believe it. Andolin couldn't have just said those things. He couldn't have. He was the sweetest, most gentle elf she had ever met, and he had helped her after her terrible ordeal. Now he wasn't acknowledging their unborn child! How could this happen to her? He had even brought the authorities down on her. Nevaeh could feel her world crumbling down around her feet. Denial was turning out not to be a very useful coping mechanism.
"So you brought the authorities, is that it?" He voice was somber as she asked. The only thing she could do now was accept how things really were.
"I told him how you killed Arenwen, and only Eru knows what he'll do with you. For your sake, I hope it's not too severe." A flash of temper filled Nevaeh at this statement.
"Oh, so all of a sudden you have the slightest bit of a heart now, do you?"
"I just want what is best for everyone." He turned to the guard. "You can take her away now. I am through with her."
"NO!" she started to scream, but was stopped when Andolin put a cloth over her mouth with a strange substance on it. The last thing she remembered was seeing her husband's face as she had never seen it before.
She awoke a few hours later with her wrists tied and a pounding headache. Still the world was a large blur to her. But as the minutes passed, things came a little more into focus. Finally, when she could see clearly, she realized that she was in a wagon on a bumpy road.
She looked desperately around for anything with which to cut her bonds. The only thing in the wagon was she. Carefully, she slid her wrists under her bottom and past her legs. Once her wrists were in front of her she began to chew vigorously at the rope.
When she had the rope off, she moved to the back of the wagon as quietly as possible. She couldn't believe how slowly they were moving. The driver obviously hadn't expected her to wake for a few more hours.
Quietly, she slipped out of the wagon without much difficulty. She quickly darted off into the trees and waited until she couldn't see the wagon anymore before emerging from her temporary cover.
Now what was she supposed to do? She couldn't go home. She didn't even have a home any more. She supposed she could go to her parents' flet. No. Once they found her missing, Andolin would go straight there looking for her anyway. Besides, she didn't know how to get there from here. She didn't know how the get anywhere from here, in fact. Where the hell was she anyways? None of this forest looked the slightest bit familiar to her eyes. Maybe she was in the Woodland realm. Oh whom was she kidding? She wasn't even sure that she was still in Mirkwood. For all she knew, this could be Lothlorien.
No, this was darker than Lothlorien. And it sure wasn't Fangorn. All right, so she was still in Mirkwood. That was a pretty big area. What in the name of Valar was she going to do?
She walked down the road for what seemed like hours until her legs would carry her no farther. Finally, she stopped for a minute to rest, and fatigue set in, bringing her down to her knees. Struggling not to cry in self-pity, she gave up and lay down to sleep. Who even cared about her anymore anyway?
Nevaeh was woken gently by a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the face of an elf that looked vaguely familiar. He had platinum blond hair, and big, brown, puppy-dog eyes that saw right through you. It was like he could tell exactly what you were thinking, and he pitied you for it.
"What are you doing in the middle of the Woodland realm, sleeping in the middle of the road?"
"Is that where I am?" She had been right. She was still in the Mirkwood area.
The elf looked puzzled at her reply, although who wouldn't be?
"Yes. What's your name?" He asked after a pause.
"Nevaeh. Nevaeh Rain. And you are?"
"Legolas. What, may I ask, are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at home? It's not good to be sleeping outside in your condition."
Her condition? Oh, she hadn't realized that it was that obvious that she was with a child. "I didn't really have a choice."
"What happened that your only option was sleeping on the road thirty leagues from the nearest village?" His concern for the pregnant elf was evident.
For a minute, Nevaeh considered telling him the truth. But she doubted that he would believe her. She hardly even believed it herself.
"I- My- I- My flet caught on fire in the middle of the night. My husband didn't get out quickly enough, and he is dead now. I didn't know what to do so I just ran and ran until I could go no further."
Legolas wasn't so sure that he believed her story, but what he did believe was that her husband was dead. Maybe not in actuality, but he was certainly dead to her. It showed in her eyes. He pitied her. After a few moments' debate with himself, he decided to help her as best he could. He just hoped that Cerynise wouldn't mind too much. He winced at the thought.