I looked up just in time for my father's attack.
I leapt lightly to my feet, in front of Legolas, who I knew would carry the brunt of the attack if I couldn't stop it. My father tried to glare me down, but I did not flinch, and returned his intense gaze.
"Lien get out the way." He ordered, and I shook my head.
"No." I murmured defiantly.
What came next, I did not expect. My father, all nobility forgotten, struck me swiftly across my face, sending me sprawling to the ground. He worked my distraction to his advantage, and tackled Legolas to the ground, using his knees to pin down his arms. Legolas did not fight back, perhaps overwhelmed by guilt, or perhaps not wanting to hurt my father, his friend.
I managed to regain some sense of balance, and fury. My father had his hands around Legolas' throat, and was slowly strangling him, and Legolas made small choking sounds of protest. My father's sword lay on the ground forgotten, and I picked it up deftly, standing behind my father and pressing the blade against his throat.
"Release him or you shall taste your own blood." I spat coldly. He promptly removed his hands from Legolas' throat, but I did not remove the blade from his throat.
"What madness has driven the jewel of my heart to this?" He asked, his heart broken.
"It is not madness. It is love." I replied, finally removing the blade. I shoved my father from Legolas, and helped Legolas up, tenderly checking him for wounds. There was a couple of slashes across his ribs that my father must have issued before deciding to strangle him, and a cut under his eye, but apart from that, he looked well.
"You do not know love. For if you did you would not so simply throw aside your loyalties." My father spoke, his voice cold and hard as a bitter winter morning.
"My loyalties are with my heart. And my heart belongs to Legolas." I replied, but added with a tone of regret. "I am sorry you do not approve Father, but this is the path I have chosen."
He regarded me for a moment, taking in my ripped dress, my bruised cheekbone. He also noticed my hand, holding Legolas'. This caused him the most displeasure.
"This is the path you have chosen?" He asked.
"It is the path laid before my feet." I answered calmly.
"Then you have chosen exile. You shall not return to the lands of Gondor or you shall meet your death."
My stomach lurched inside me, and my breath left my lungs. I knew my mouth was open in surprise, but I could not find the words to make it speak. I could feel Legolas' shock behind me also, but I could not react.
"Gondor is her home!" Legolas yelled, and my father smiled almost softly.
"Her home is where her heart belongs. And she says that is with you. If you believe she is old enough for you to take her to bed, then I am giving her to you. But if either of you enter Gondor again I shall have your hearts on plates."
He turned and walked off, talking his sword with him. Tears began caressing my cheeks, and when he was out of earshot, I broke down completely. Legolas held me in his arms as sobs racked my body, tearing me apart from the inside out. I thought of my mother, and wondered if she would miss me, but that only upset me more.
"Do not worry Lien, all is not lost." He whispered to me, although I could hear the hopelessness in his voice.
"What are we going to do Legolas?" I asked, afraid of being alone. He stroked my hair as he tried in vain to comfort me.
"I know not."
Legolas escorted Lien to her chamber, and spent the rest of the day in his own, thinking hard about what future he could possibly offer his young love.
He loved her, he was sure of that. But her heart, as much as it belonged to him, was still young, her mind still not fulfilled to its potential. To force her away from her family in Gondor, from her learning, would be selfish of him.
By dusk, Legolas knew what course of action he must take, but it pained him greatly to admit to himself what he must do.
He made his way to Aragorn's chambers, and knocked softly on the door. Aragorn yelled out for him to enter, and he did, although uneasily. Aragorn looked up, as if expecting him.
"Aragorn, I did not come here to fight." Legolas held up his hands, almost in a gesture of surrender, as he was surrendering the greatest thing of all.
"I know why you are here. You are here because you have made the right decision." Aragorn replied.
"This is what I want to happen. I'm leaving for Mirkwood this evening, and I will no longer see Lien, if that is what you want."
"It is."
"Then I will no longer be a part of her life." Legolas murmured, his baby blue eyes pained beyond measure. "But you will allow her to return to Gondor with you, and stay there if she so wishes."
"Of course."
"I am sorry Aragorn that things had to end this way. I want you to know that I love Lien very much, more than I can understand. I always will."
"Your body loves her. Nothing more." Aragorn said dismissively, and Legolas, knowing the conversation was over, left, closing the door behind him.
He made his way to Lien's chamber, dragging his feet, reluctant to break her heart. Deciding that he couldn't do it, he returned to his own room, and packed his belongings quickly.
From there he went to the stables, and untied his horse Galad. He mounted her swiftly, his belongings and bow slung over his back. From the stables, he rode out of the stables, into the moonlight, and into the horizon.
Back in Rivendell, I awoke, suddenly knowing Legolas was gone. I lay back down on my pillow, and sobbed my broken heart out. In the darkness, I made a vow. I would get him back, whether my father liked it or not.