Lieth crouched behind one of the wagons parked around the encampment of Orcs, nervousness building in the pit of her stomach that she struggled to quell. She had to remind herself that she had stolen from Orcs before, and that they were truly daft creatures. Daft creatures with sharp eyes and even sharper swords a part of her mind cautioned, as she progressed into the Orc camp. Lieth was a grape farmer from Dorwinion, but she did not make much of a living from that. No, she preferred to steal and pilfer things from Easterling men and Orc armies. Often, they had stores of stolen jewels, which she would return to their rightful owner for a small fee. She might have felt guilty about stealing, were it from good-natured people, but Orcs were evil. Besides, she only kept the treasures when she could not find the original owner, which was rare.
She ducked her way around the tents, taking an Easterling woman's shawl and draping it around her shoulders. At least if one the stupid Orcs glanced at her now, she might be passed off as a wife of one of the warriors. She made her way through the camp silently, rousing very little suspicion from anyone who might be watching. She was just another girl, after all. What harm could she possibly do?
Lieth felt worried as any other person in Dorwinion of the union between the Orc and Man. When the army had approached the city where she lived, word was sent immediately to the Elves of Lothlorien. They would not protect the Dorwinions if it came to war, but someone had to know of the poisonous union between the races. It was unnatural.
She saw it then, to her surprise. The thing she had been told to look for, just lying on the ground in a pile of armour and supplies. A scroll with golden ends. Amazed by her luck, she stuffed it into her right boot, pleased that she had found it so quickly.
She turned away then, relieved that she could leave, but paused when she saw something that made a shiver go down her spine. Two men, dressed in rugged and worn clothing strode towards a makeshift prison, dragging a screaming child behind them. The Easterling men bore scowls, a menacing and evil sheen in their soulless eyes. The child that accompanied them was small, stout and fair, with blue eyes and straight yellow locks. Her eyes darted around fearfully, until they came to rest upon the Farmer, Lieth with a mixture of fear and hopefulness. Lieth felt immediately that the child was an elleth. A protective instinct, borne of her love for children, crashed upon her like a wave breaks against a rock. That could just as easily have been her own sister. She had to take the child from them. It was not a part of her plan, and she baulked at the idea of stealing a person from the fearsome warriors, who were sure to pursue them, but the girl, who could only be seven or eight, needed help, and it was her responsibility as such to help her.
Fear in her heart but her mind made up, Lieth pursued the men, taking care to avoid going near other warm bodies. She wasn't sure of how she could extract the elleth from them, until an idea popped into her head. Boldly, she grabbed a torch and set two of the tents on fire, fleeing as quickly as possible to a safe distance. The tents went up in seconds, and another screamed "Fire! There's a fire!" The Easterlings, thoroughly distracted, went to go and help put it out, and Lieth saw her chance. She forced herself not to run to the child, before placing the shawl about her. "Do not be afraid, child. I won't harm you." Lieth whispered gently, pushing her away from the tents and to the edge of the camp, where her horse waited. The child said nothing, and Lieth walked with her determinedly.
As they reached the edge of the camp, Lieth heard the cries of the men. She did not pause, continuing forward to her black mare, guiding the tiny elf child towards the horse. She took the child by the shoulders then, crouching before her to speak. "Remain silent. Do not look into their eyes. Do not look back." To the little girl's disgust, she reached into the mud and covered both of their faces with dirt. Then, without hesitation in her movements, she hoisted them both onto the horse and forced herself to make it walk away from the camp.
Her heart beating, she pondered her small charge, amazed by her luck in saving both of them and the scroll. She was thin, but not malnourished. Lieth knew that this was an elf child, and that they were rare enough in such dark times. How could an Elvish child have been taken so far away from the Elves with no one noticing? For surely when the elders of the village had informed the elves of the camp, they would have said to look out for the child? Perhaps she was not a child of Lorien, then? Then that would make her a child from the Mirkwood forest, many miles North West from the forked river Carnen. They jealously guarded the forest, and a child would not be easily taken from underneath their noses. It was a mystery as to how they could have lost her. The girl's people would be distraught to find that one of their children was taken.
Lieth knew then what must be done. The child had to be taken back to the Elves. It was a long and arduous journey, hundreds of miles away. It would take her about two weeks to make the journey on horseback, for she had to travel a great distance on an older horse. Lieth did not want to leave her home, but the child needed someone to take her back home. Lieth quickly decided that that was more important than anything. She stopped off at her farm, grabbing some supplies for their journey, before they trotted off in the North West direction, setting out on a journey that would change their fates forever.