The Forgotten Princess

Beginning of a Heartbreak

Lessien arrived back at camp at four in the morning. She was absolutely exhausted.

She knew what she had to do to make Legolas stay away. She couldn't tell him about what happened, what she had seen, and the tears she had shed. If Lessien told him, he would never leave her. He would only stay closer to protect her.

Now, instead of sad for herself, she was very very angry with the world. After throwing a fit and screaming at the groaning trees, throwing everything and anything and screaming some more, she was returning to camp.

The things she was about to do would require rather top notch acting and the disposal of all emotion.

Lessien had made a sort of friend. Well, he had made friends with her or rather, he had made it clear he had interests in her. There was no denying it, he flirted with her every chance he got. Lessien just had had enough dignity to blush through it and pull away her hand whenever he grabbed it.

But what Lessien was to do to protect Legolas, all of her dignity would be taken away. He was a Lord of Rohan, which part of Rohan Lessien did not know. But she knew he was a rather powerful and influential man. Lord Terrance was his name, but he always insisted she call him just Terrance.

She always rejected the plea.

In reply, he insisted he would call her Lady Lessien and nothing less.

When she had come back from her terrifying experience, Legolas had bombarded her with questions on end. He had been waiting under the starlight all night.

"Where have you been? Did Gandalf answer any of your questions? Is anything wrong? Why do you look so feverish?"

All of these were replied with passive aggressive hums or murmurs or nods.

Legolas had wrapped her in an embrace, one Lessien needed, one she wished she could return and hold him close and know she would be alright. But she couldn't.

She wanted to scream and shout until the world fell down because she couldn't.

When Legolas noticed her stiffness, he began to pull back to ask her what was the matter.

"Legolas, you must stop this nonsense. I told you I don't love you. We're friends, that's all, and for you to keep assuming as much is tiresome."

Each word was like a whiplash to Legolas' heart.

Each word hurt her ten times worse. "It's over. I told you that." Her lips pursed and she ground her teeth together as she stalked to her tent, leaving Legolas behind, heartbroken and stunned in the moonlight.

What made matters worse was that this was only the beginning.

A harsh squawking and flapping interrupted her thoughts.

She paused by the army's meat supply that had been scrounged up by a few hunters in the past week or so.

It was a roughly assembled pyramid of cages containing live wild pigs and birds of so many different kinds.

Lessien paused by one cage, the cage the sound had come out of. The bird inside was a kind that was meant to sing beautiful songs but it had been singing too much and, in result, its voice had been bent into an unattractive caw.

Its wings, once clean and beautiful, were bent and bloody, due to its relentless attempts of escape. It just wanted to be free. Yet, it was condemned to an obvious fate.

Lessien stared at it for only a few moments longer and it stared back with beady eyes that had once not been suspicious. They had been beautiful.