Marion's face contorted into a mask of shock and fury. The air in the room seemed to whirl with the intensity of his rage, sending waves of destruction over the furniture and walls.

"What is the meaning of this?" he roared, his voice shaking the very foundations of the room, his eyes turning into the black voids.

Ithriel and Salmar sprang apart, horror etched on their faces. Ithriel scrambled to cover herself, while Salmar stood, placing himself between her and her father. "Mairon, I can explain—"

"Explain?" Mairon roared, the full force of his anger unleashed. "Explain how you've betrayed my trust? How you've defiled my daughter? Oh, that's better be good! I can't hear what sort of explanation you could possibly come up with to save your puny life from my hands!"

"Father, please!" Ithriel cried, looking in horror from behind Salmar. "This isn't what it looks like! Nothing happened!"

But Mairon was beyond reason. His eyes blazed with an otherworldly fury as he advanced into the room. The space seemed to darken around him, crackling with malevolent energy.

"How dare you?" he snarled at Salmar, grabbing him by his neck in a grip akin to the iron vice. "I trusted you, treated you as a friend, a brother! And this is how you repay me? I ride to the ends of the world hunting the enemy, while the real threat is here, in my house!" Unable to finish what he started, he released his hold.

Salmar stood his ground, though his heart raced and he was trying to catch a breath. "Mairon, please. This is not what it seems. I am so sorry you had to find out this way. I truly meant to talk to you."

Ithriel scrambled off the bed, wrapping herself in a sheet. "Father, stop! This isn't Salmar's fault. I came to him. He tried to stop me, truly, he did! I initiated this. If you want to blame someone, blame me!"

"You will be silent!" Mairon snapped. "You think this is a game? You wish for him to pay with his life for your rebellion?"

"But I love him!" she cried, tears falling down her cheeks.

"Love?" he laughed. "Oh please! What you love is to drive me to the borders of madness, child!"

"Mairon please. It is all my fault. We love each other, and I wanted to wait, to talk to you…" Salmar tried to reason with him, while stepping between father and daughter.

"Oh Salmar, don't! Just shut your mouth before I shut it for you, for good! The so-called love you feel is nothing but her mind games, just to spite me. But you should have known better! You had to know to say no!"

The door burst open again, and Galadriel rushed in, followed closely by a panicked-looking Silmeriel. "Mairon, what is happening?" Galadriel demanded, taking in the scene before her.

"What's happening?" Mairon laughed bitterly. "What's happening is that this sea snake, this betrayer has seduced our daughter!"

Galadriel's eyes widened as she looked between Salmar and Ithriel. Understanding dawned on her face, followed quickly by concern. "Mairon, perhaps we should discuss this calmly—"

"Calmly?" Mairon roared. "There will be no calm discussion. There will only be justice." He turned back to Salmar, his voice dropping to a dangerous whisper. "Leave. Leave Middle-earth now, before I kill you. And never, you hear me? Never come back. If you ever set foot in my realm again, I will destroy you utterly."

"Father, please, you can't…" Ithriel sobbed uncontrollably, clinging to Salmar. "I love him. We love each other. This isn't a game!"

"Ithriel…" Salmar's voice was breaking, as he removed her hand from his arm. Tears welled in his eyes, yet he tried to smile. "It's okay. I must leave now. Please listen to your father."

Silently, he moved passed everyone present and left, his footsteps fading away in the distance.

Ithriel snapped, her fury shattering every mirror and glass in the room, sending a shockwave that cracked the walls.

"I hate you! I hate you so much!" she yelled at Mairon. "Why I am your daughter? I wish I had never been born! You truly are the Monster, just as they say about you! You treat me as a foolish child, but it is you who knows naught of love!"

The room fell into a shocked silence, broken only by Ithriel's ragged breathing and muffled sobs. Mairon stood frozen, his face a mask of conflicting emotions - anger, hurt, and a flicker of something that might have been regret. He reached out to her with his hand, but she pushed past him and run back to her room. Silmeriel rushed after her.

Ithriel run, blinded by her tears and rage she had never felt before. She burst into her chambers, slamming the door behind her. As she collapsed onto her bed, still wrapped in the sheets that smelt like him, her body wracked with sobs. Silmeriel entered moments later, rushing to her sister's side.

"Ithriel," she whispered, stroking her sister's hair. "I'm so sorry for what happened."

She raised her tear-stained face, her eyes flashing with anger and hurt. "How could he do this to me? How could he be so cruel?"

Silmeriel sighed, pulling her sister close. "He's afraid, Ithriel. Afraid of losing you, of losing control. I am sure in his mind he is protecting you, his favorite daughter."

"That doesn't excuse his actions!" Ithriel cried, her voice muffled against Silmeriel's shoulder. "He had no right to send Salmar away. No right to treat me like that! What am I to do now, sister? I can't… can't live without him!"

Silmeriel held her tightly, her own heart aching at Ithriel's pain, causing burning tears to form in her eye. The sight of her sister suffering was breaking her heart. "I know, I know," she murmured, her voice interrupted by falling tears. "But you are stronger than you think, sister. This isn't the end."

Ithriel pulled away, her eyes blazing with a newfound determination. "You're right," she said, her voice still shaky but resolute. "This isn't the end. I won't let it be. I can't just sit here and do nothing. Salmar is out there, alone and hurting. I have to find him, to tell him I still love him, that I'll wait for him. After all, this is all my fault. I should have listened to him. I should have never gone into his room…"

Silmeriel watched her sister with a mixture of admiration and concern. "What will you do?"

Ithriel paused, her gaze fixed on the horizon visible from her window. "I don't know yet, but I'll think of something. I have to," sadness grew in her eyes. "I have got most of Father's gifts, but the one I need the most…"

"What is it?"

"Salmar once told me that if I was able to shift my fana, I could join him in the sea. But this is the only thing I failed to do… It is as if the universe conspired against me!" She returned to the bed and closed her eyes, tears still dropping freely to the pillow. Her younger sister hugged her tightly, not leaving her side the whole night.

Mairon stood motionless, his rage slowly ebbing away, replaced by a hollow ache in his chest. Galadriel stepped forward, taking his trembling hands in hers. "Mairon, she didn't mean it. What she had said, she just said it in anger, without thinking. But my love, we must speak of this rationally. Surely you can see that this situation calls for a more measured response, seeing how distraught our daughter is?"

Mairon whirled on her, his eyes blazing. "Measured? You want me to be rational when I find our daughter in bed with a man I considered a friend? A trusted advisor?"

"Yes," Galadriel replied, meeting his gaze steadily. "Because that is what is needed now. Not rage, not threats, but understanding. Our daughter is in love. And you just banished the man she loves, our friend, without letting him speak and explain himself."

"You should be more upset about this!" he countered, still trying to steady his breathing. "My word, it would be so much easier if they were boys!" He immediately understood his mistake, looking at Galadriel with panic in his eyes. "That's not what…"

"I know, meleth," she did not seem bothered by his mindless comment. "But you have daughters, young women. And with Ithriel especially, the more you forbid something, the more she desires it. Restrain is not something she had inherited from either of us." Galadriel continued, her voice soft but insistent. "Just consider this, Mairon. Of all the beings in Middle-earth, can you think of anyone better suited for our daughter than Salmar? Someone you trust more? A being of power and wisdom, one who has stood by your side from the beginning; who knows her, and yours, temper, and yet chooses to remain. Is there truly could be anyone better in your eyes?"

Mairon's anger seemed to falter for a moment, uncertainty flickering across his face. But then his expression hardened once more. "Maybe in a thousand years. Or two. Or ten, better. But now she is a child," he growled in frustration. "She knows nothing of love, of commitment. She manipulates and she lies to get what she wants. And worse now, she got Silmeriel to do the same. We are raising liars!"

Galadriel's sudden outburst of laughter left him with his mouth open. "My love, the Great Deceiver. Are you truly complaining about your daughters hiding something from you? They are your blood! How does your own medicine taste like, meleth?"

For a long moment, Mairon stood silent, the struggle visible on his face. Then, slowly, the tension began to leave his body. Mairon's resolve seemed to waver, but he shook his head. "It doesn't matter. They are still just children, playing at adult games they don't understand. Because of Ithriel I had to get rid of my best soldiers. And now I had to banish the only friend I've had. And with her powers she can just continue making anyone around her do whatever she wishes."

"What do you mean?" Galadriel asked in surprise.

"Oh, you haven't noticed? She has my ability to influence minds," Mairon said, his voice a mix of pride and concern. "She can bend others to her will, just as I do. But she lacks the control, the finesse. She doesn't understand the consequences of her actions. Her emotions broadcast her desires, and those around her find themselves compelled to fulfill them."

Galadriel's eyes widened with realization. "That explains much… Is that why you're so afraid for her? You think she's using this power on Salmar?"

Mairon nodded grimly. "I've seen the way men look at her, the way they fall over themselves to please her. It's not just her beauty - it's her power. And she's only just beginning to understand it."

"I don't think this is what it was," Galadriel pondered. "The look on his face… It was a genuine feeling, not a haze of illusion."

"Worse for him then. That watery bastard!" Mairon was getting agitated again.

Galadriel took a deep breath, considering this new information. "Even if that's true, Mairon, surely you see that this is all the more reason why we must handle this situation delicately. If Ithriel's powers are growing, pushing her away will only make things worse."

Mairon sighed heavily, running a hand through his hair. "What would you have me do, then? Allowing her to act on whatever she pleases?"

"Not necessarily," Galadriel replied carefully. "But perhaps we can find a compromise. A way to guide Ithriel rather than control her."

Mairon's frustration was evident in every movement, his mind jumping from one problem to the next. "I am at a loss, truly. I am failing as a father, failing Ithriel. None of that should have happened, I had to see it sooner! And what of Silmeriel? She's already attracting attention, and she's even younger than Ithriel. And she learned to lie and hide, covering for her sister. Who's to say if she won't go find herself some… idiot tomorrow? I can't... I can't watch this happening again. This time I will make sure to avoid such disaster from ever taking place."

Galadriel wrapped her arms around his neck, trying to bring him comfort. "What do you propose?"

"Silmeriel wanted to become a healer? Fantastic. It's a high time she occupy herself with something of use. I shall send her to one place where she will be safe from Tindómë's reach, and buried in the books and studies so deep and for so long, she won't have time to think of anything foolish, like… men. She is going to Imladris," Mairon said decisively. "And I will make sure to write Peredhel that no man is allowed anywhere near her. He'll see to it."

"And Ithriel?" Galadriel prompted gently.

Mairon's jaw clenched. "I... I will speak with her. But not tonight. Tonight, I need to think. To calm down."