“How is she, Lady Arwen?” Rowena asked as the Queen entered the throne room where the others were gathered.

Soon after Lienan was sent to the House of Healing, the others gathered together to discuss what the Elf had told Frodo about Saruman’s intentions.  They were all concerned with what Saruman planned to bring forth.

“She will be fine,” the Lady Arwen replied, “All she needs is a little rest.”

“Lienan, rest?” said with a laugh, “Not likely.”

“I must agree,” Rowena agreed, “She is not one to lay there while there are still dangers in the world, even with her injuries.”

“Her injuries are more serious this time so I think she will be willing to wait just this once,” Frodo interrupted as he walked in, “In the meantime, what are we to do about Saruman?”

“Lienan said that he needed her to unleash this new evil,” King Elessar pondered, “Does she know how he was going to do so or what will come forth?”

“I don’t think so,” the Hobbit replied.

“we can ask her later when she is rested,” Rowena suggested, “She has gone through enough without us adding to her worries.”

The others nodded in silent agreement before they slowly left to wander the palace in their own separate ways, each concerned with what was in store for them.  All the while, Lienan was dealing with a strange feeling that had overwhelmed her as she quietly laid in her bed.  Sitting up and getting out of bed, she made her way to the window to look out on the peaceful land.  Suddenly, before her eyes, the land plunged into darkness.  In the distances, the elf saw the fires of death and suffering.  As the illusions disappeared before her eyes, a sadness settled in her heart.  She knew that those images were not real, but in her heart she could not help but believe them.

“I must stop this,” Lienan whispered to herself, a tear escaping from her eyes as she thought about the visions she had just seen.

Rowena was also thinking about the fate of the world as she sat with Faramir on the balcony of their chambers.  She looked out into the night just as her friend did moments before.

“Lady Rowena, your thoughts seem so far away from me,” Faramir said as he held and stroked her hand.

“My heart is troubled with the people of this world,” Rowena explained as she turned to her lover, “I worry about Lienan and what she will do.”

“She will try to face Saruman alone, no doubt,” Faramir mused. Then realizing what Rowena meant to do he added, “You are not thinking of going with her are you?”

“Our child will be here in five months,” the Rohan maiden said as her hand drifted to rest on her stomach, “I cannot go out into battle like this.”

“I know,” Faramir said simply, “I was merely wondering if you knew.”

“Do no worry, I do,” Rowena assured him, “But she needs me.”

“I think she will understand if you declined to go with her,” the Prince of Ithilien said comfortingly.

“I do not know what to do,” Rowena said sadly, “I must speak to Lienan about this.”

“If that is what you wish,” Faramir said with a patient sigh, “But she will tell you the same thing that I have told you.”

But the Elf maiden had her own troubles to think about as she stood there staring out the window.  She had to make a difficult decision as well and was contemplating her choices when the Prince Imrahil knocked on her door.

“Come in,” she called, turning to him standing at the door.

“Should you not be in bed?” the Prince asked politely.

“I’ve had enough of that bed,” Lienan replied with loathing.

“I was warned of you distaste towards laying idly when there is danger in the world,” Prince Imrahil teased.

“You were informed correctly, though I think this time I needed the rest,” the elf pondered, “Saruman’s will is very powerful”

“Yes,” the prince agreed, “I have seen it to be so.”

The room grew suddenly and eerily quiet after the prince’s last remark.  As the two Elven descendants nervously and uncomfortably stood there, a strange foreboding slinked across Lienan’s heart.  It was soon brushed aside as she made an attempt to end the silence between herself and the prince.

“Was there something that you wanted Prince Imrahil?” the elf asked curiously.

“Merely the company of a friend,” the prince replied cheerfully with a smile, “And there was also a matter that I had wished to discuss with you.”

“What matter would that be?” Lienan inquired.

“Your friend, Rowena, is not like any that I have ever met before,” Prince Imrahil mused, “She seems different than other maidens.”

“I should hope so,” Lienan commented with a laugh, “It was not easy for us to raise her in the traditions of the race of men.”

“You raised her?” Prince Imrahil asked curiously.

“Yes,” Lienan replied, “I suppose you would like to hear about it?”

“If it is alright with you of course,” the Prince replied courteously.

Lienan moved towards the small table next to the door.  She was about to gesture for the Prince to come join her when a thought crossed her mind.

“Shouldn’t you be with Éowyn right now?” the half elf questioned.

“She refuses to see anyone but her brother at the moment,” Imrahil clarified.

“I see,” Lienan commented, “That’s a shame.”

With a wave of her hand, she motioned for the prince to sit down with her as she prepared to tell him the story of her dear friend.

“Are you sure you want to hear this story?” Lienan asked politely, “It’s not extremely interesting.”

“I find heritage and upbringings interesting,” Prince Imrahil said assuredly, encouraging the elf maiden with the story, “Please, begin?”

“Alright, I suppose I shall start when she was sent to us from Rohan at the age of seven,” Lienan began, “Though her family were descendants of the people they lived on the outskirts of the kingdom, as far away from their ways.”

“Why was this so?” the prince inquired with interest.

“Her family felt that one needed to possess knowledge of the world and compassion for others not like themselves,” she explained, “They felt that the race of men were closed-minded so they sent her to Mirkwood to be taught by the Elves.”

“Did she enjoy Mirkwood?” Imrahil asked.

“I would not know, Prince,” Lienan replied solemnly, “I was exiled from that place long ago, when I was but ten.”

“Exiled?” Prince Imrahil questioned, “But why?”

Lienan shifted uncomfortably at that question, being still a sore subject for her to discuss with someone she knew hardly anything about.  But her expression never faltered as she looked at the fair prince, a distant relative to her own kind.

“I‘d rather not say at the moment,” the Elven maiden replied politely, “That is a story for another time, my prince.”

“Yes, I suppose,” the Prince of Dol Amroth agreed with a nod, “Please, continue.”

“Legolas taught her the ways of a watchman and archer much like what he taught me when I still remained in Mirkwood,” Lienan continued, “When she was done there, Legolas brought her to Rivendell where I taught her in the ways of healing.”

“And her skill of fighting?” Imrahil asked eagerly.

“That, she learned from the Rangers as I did,” Lienan replied, “We both followed them along their journeys, silently watching over the lands of Middle-earth.”

“What did her family say of her travels with the Rangers?” he pondered out loud.

“Nothing,” the elf maiden replied somberly, “Her family died soon after she arrived in Mirkwood.”

“Oh…I am sorry,” Prince Imrahil apologized, “I did not know.”

“It’s quite alright, my prince,” Lienan said softly.

“If I may be bold to ask, what happened?” the Prince asked hesitantly.

For a while, the two simply sat there as Lienan took a moment to calm her beating heart as she recalled the memories that the prince was asking her to replay.  All the while, visions of these troubling events flashed through her mind.

“The Haradrim, enemies of Rohan…ever have the two been at war,” Lienan finally found the courage to say, “They attacked the villages on the outskirts of Rohan…and left none to tell of it’s horrors.”

“I am so sorry,” Imrahil said softly.

“You must understand Imrahil, everyone she has ever loved has left her,” the elf explained, “Her family when they were attacked and killed, me when I was exiled from Mirkwood, Faramir she nearly lost and still has a chance of losing, and now she may very well lose her unborn child if she insists on helping to stop Saruman.”

“How do you know that she will?” the Prince of Dol Amroth asked curiously.

“I know her well enough to understand her mind,” she explained, “She is too stubborn for her own good.”

“I suppose she takes after you, then,” the prince jested good-naturedly.

“I suppose you are right,” Lienan said with a laugh, “But I will not allow her to put her child in danger just to help me.”

“Is that your decision to make?” Imrahil pointed out.

Lienan paused for a while at his statement.  The prince watched her closely as the thought sunk into her mind.  

“Well, I must be off, ” the prince stated, “Thank you for indulging the curiosity of a prince, my lady.”

Imrahil graciously took Lienan’s hand and bent down kiss it as the Elf maiden stood there in mild shock, watching curiously.

“Forgive me if I was a burden,” the prince added.

“Nonsense,” Lienan dismissed with a smile, “I will be happy to indulge you any time, my prince.”

With a polite bow, the prince left as Lienan went back to looking out the window of her room.  Her thoughts were once again consumed with the upcoming battle.

“I cannot ask her to come with me,” she whispered to herself, “I cannot ask any of them to come with me.”

The Elf sighed with confusion as a light rain came down from the dark clouds looming over the city; the patter of the rain doing little to calm her nerves.  

“I’ve put them in too much danger already,” she continued to say to herself, “But how can I do it alone?”

The light rain slowly turned into a heavy downpour as Lienan looked on with worry; thinking that it might be a foreboding of what was to come.

“What am I to do?” she whispered with a concerned sigh.