The Forbidden Child

The Strange Man in The Woods

It had been about seventeen years since Lessien had been banished from her homeland and had been taken from her mother and father.

Eve, the name she had been given by her adoptive parents, was grown now but still a child, not yet a woman. She knew not of her true lineage as she grew up in the Gap of Rohan, in a little village called Broadacres, where she had been adopted by a kind couple. Eve knew nothing of Imladris, her birthplace, ethnicity, or biological parents.

Instead, she was a raised a commoner human, her past of no question. Gwyndolyn and Edulard Cavary had gladly taken her in. Even after Edulard had been killed in military action, Gwyndolyn had brought up Eve equitably.

Eve was just as beautiful as her birthmother and a beloved gem among her fellow villagers, while being very reserved and kindhearted. Of course, there was the occasional lustful boy and a few jealous girls, but Gwyndolyn had brought up her adopted daughter in a suitable manner, which had aided Eve to look past these minor hardships.

Now that seventeen years had passed, the villagers no longer questioned the mystery that surrounded Eve's birth.

During the extremely harsh winters in Rohan, no one ever left their homes or ventured far, so by the time winter had ended, all of the villagers had assumed Gwyn had conceived and birthed Eve. The only question asked now was why Eve looked nothing like her parents. Her mother was auburn haired with wild curls that could not be tamed and was also intensely freckled, with the body type of a jolly cook. She was curvy, stout, and rosy-cheeked. 

Edulard, though now long dead, had been blond, broad, and short, from what most remembered of him.

Eve had a slim build with girlish features, as she had not started growing yet. Her features were considered darling, with brown wavy hair, high cheekbones, light grey eyes, and full lips. No one saw the family resemblance and no one fretted over it for long except for Gwyndolyn, whom grew anxious when anyone asked about Eve's birth.

Despite having superb parentage, Eve had always been quite a lonely and misunderstood girl, ever since she was a young child. She was considered strange because she had always been very clever for her age, though she did not receive any schooling. She loved getting dirty and hated dressing up. When she was little, she played with the village boys and told secrets about the girls.

Eve made up stories and told them to any who would hear, she often slept in her yard on warm summer nights to watch the stars, and frequently disappeared off on her own. These were all qualities that made her adventurous. Girls were not supposed to be adventurous. There were a few that always tagged along for a while though.

To worsen Eve's alienation from the village children, when they all hit their growth spurts, she did not grow an inch. The boys began broadening and the girls were becoming womanly and Eve, on the other hand, stayed just the same. She grew, but she grew considerably slower than all of the other children, and for this she had been taunted. Ever since she was twelve, she had been bullied and isolated.

Now, at seventeen, although Eve was pretty, she was still considered physically immature. The disdain she received from her peers had dissipated some. The boys  no longer badgered her but rather pined after her from afar. The girls chaffed her whenever they got the chance. Although friendless she might be, many of the girls still envied Eve for her alluring features, for she attracted boys even without having large breasts.

Although Eve was ridiculed for being a late bloomer, she now faced a very different and more pressing issue. In Broadacres, it was most common for girls to be wed at the age of sixteen years old. Eve herself had just turned seventeen. She was of age and widely desired for as a wife. Her own mother wished to have her married and married soon, and the two currently argued over this very subject matter.