'No, it's reality.' The man said. 'Lómadia, my love, how much I have missed you. Did you miss me?'

'No, sir. I didn't miss you.' Lómadia wasn't going to admit that she has missed him. Though her knees felt weak, she tried to be strong. The man looked hurt.

'Don't you love your father?'

Lómadia shook her head, tears swelling in her eyes. 'I hate you.' She whispered.

'What?'

'I hate you!' this time, Lómadia shouted at her father. 'I don't know you. I have no father!' she ran out of the hall, tears streaming down her face. Todia followed her, all the way to her friends room, where she tried to comfort her. But Lómadia's tears kept coming, until she had finally worn herself out, she fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * * * *

When she awoke the next morning, she went straight to Todia's room, where she told her about her nights sleep.

'Didn't you sleep well?' Todia asked, kindly and gently brushing Lómadia's hair.

'No. I was haunted by the same dream, over and over again. Each time the same thing happened. I stood in the dark, all of a sudden, a knife appeared in front of me, it moved on its own, across my throat. The last thing I saw was the face of a man. The man whose supposed to be my father.' Lómadia spoke quietly.

'Lómadia, you have to see your father. His fate lies in your hands. He is being kept as a prisoner, in the cellars.' Todia put down the brush and guided Lómadia to the underground cellars.

The cellars were dark and smelly, Lómadia was cautious about where she put her feet. She walked along the dark, twisting corridors of the underground maze until she came to a cave. The King stood in the middle of the area and smiled weakly as Lómadia walked towards him.

'What news, my Lord?' Lómadia asked timidly.

'He wishes to speak with you, alone. When I give the signal, my men will shoot him.' Lómadia nodded slowly.

'I don't want to go alone. May I have a guard at the door?'

'Of course,' Thranduil beckoned to a near by elf. 'The is Pil-Galith. He will go with you.'

'Thank you, my Lord.' Pil-Galith led Lómadia to her fathers cell, where he laid a hand on her shoulder. 'If he advances, do you want me to shoot?'

Lómadia thought about this for a moment. 'Yes' she took a deep breath and stepped into the cell, where her father stood. 'What do you want?'

'To see my daughter, is that so wrong?'

'Yes. Did it ever occur to you, that maybe I'm doing fine on my own. And I don't need you?'

'Everyone needs a family, I am your only relative.'

'No, I'm alone. Your not my father. I'm an independent woman. I make my own choices, live life how I want. Not how others want me to.' Lómadia spoke bitterly, not even trying to hide the hurt and hatred in her voice.

'Whether you like it or not, Lómadia, we are blood relatives. No one can change that. We should be together. It's perfect for you. Always looked after, never hurt.'

'I don't care,' Lómadia spat at him.

'There's no fear, no pain, no hurt. You see all. It's faultless. Doesn't that sound excellent?'

Lómadia didn't answer, she wanted to say no, but it did sound perfect.

'It's wonderful, you'll love it, I know you will.' He held out a hand to her. 'Trust me, just like you used to. I promise you will be happy for the rest of your life.'

'I'm happy now. I've finally found someone who loves me, for what I am. I have friends, they support me. They will destroy the ring, which will destroy you.' Lómadia's fathers eyes widened at this news.

'You're not happy, my daughter. I can tell by the look in your eyes. Come with me to Barad-Dűr, you'll see how perfect it is.' He held his hands to Lómadia, who stepped forward, tempted to join her father.

'How do I know I can trust you?'

'I am not lying.' Soman stretched his hands out, so Lómadia's were only centimetres away from his. 'I knew you would see sense.' Suddenly, Legolas' sad face appeared in Lómadia's mind. Then Todia, her eyes swollen from crying.

'Oh, I see sense.' Lómadia replied savagely. After a moments pause, she guided her hand to her side, where she kept hidden, her knife. She whipped it out, and before Soman had time to move, or even blink, the sharp point of his daughters knife was pressed threateningly against his throat. 'Sense enough to not trust you. Sense enough to ask Pil-Galith out there to have you killed, as soon as I step out of this cell.' For the first time ever, Lómadia saw her fathers face full of fear. Seeing that satisfied her more then anything.

'You wouldn't.' Soman's voice trembled with fear.

'You just watch me. You murder mother, join the dark side, make me leave my home, then you leave me. A last of all, you have the nerve to show up here and coax me to join you, when you now full well that I wouldn't even consider joining your filthy side.'

'I never meant to hurt you. I did it for us, so our family would be respected.' With every word he spoke, his voice become more and more urgent. 'so we would be looked after.'

'No, don't lie. You didn't do it for us, you did it for yourself. You didn't a give a damn what happened to us, me. Your just selfish, Soman.' Lómadia tightened her grip on the blade. Tears of anger and hate rolled down her cheeks, sweat made her hands sticky.

'You didn't mean what you said yesterday. You're my daughter, I'm your father. I love you, Lómadia.' Sweat beads rolled down Soman's face.

'I have no father. You have no daughter.' Lómadia didn't see the shocked look on her fathers face, she was already leaving the room. Pil-Galith looked up the cell, as angry tears fell down her cheeks. King Thranduil took her in his arms and soothingly rubbed her back, until the tears subsided.

'When do you want it to be done?' The king asked kindly. Lómadia knew exactly what he was on about.

'On the midnight hour, of the next full moon.' Lómadia spoke without hesitation, as she pulled away from the kings arms.

'That will be arranged, my Lady.' The king led Lómadia away from the cellars. She didn't look back, she felt no regrets. In fact, she felt nothing. All she thought about was freedom, from evil and from Soman. Thranduil took Lómadia to his hall, where they ate lunch and spoke quietly together. 'Lómadia, are you sure about this?'

'yes. I don't want him to be my father. As I said to Soman, I want to be independent. Alone.'

'That may be what you want. But you will never be alone. Legolas will be with you, as will Todia and Aen. And, of course, I will make it my duty to look after you, for as long as you live.' Lómadia was surprised by this, and at first thought it was joke. But the stern look on the kings face, showed no signs of humour.

'I will be very grateful for that, my Lord. And I must thank you again, for allowing me to stay, even when he turned up, I could tell you still thought of me as being one of you.'

'My dear, you will always be welcome here. You are one of us.' After finishing lunch, Lómadia and Todia walked along one of the paths of Mirkwood in silence. The only noise was that of the trees, creaking and swaying in the afternoon breeze. This breeze tingled Lómadia's skin, making he think of Legolas. It reminded her of how his hands made her skin tingle when he touched her.

'Do you think he's alright?' Lómadia whispered.

'I'm sure Legolas is fine. He's probably thinking of you right now.'

'What did I do to deserve him, Todia?' Todia raised her eyebrows in confusion. 'He's just so great. Kind, caring, loving, loyal, all that besides being absolutely gorgeous. Then these me. The daughter of evil.' She sighed. 'What does he see in me?'

'Your right, Lómadia. You are the daughter of evil, but not for long. Soman will be killed in three days. Eventually, the black blood in your system will run clean, you will be rid of evil. As for Legolas, well he's a clever elf. He senses your loyalty, kindness and good heart.'

'But,' Lómadia interrupted, 'Most people run away when they find out about my family.'

'I didn't. And Legolas hasn't, and won't. He looks deep inside you, to find out what you're like, not your family. When he first met you, he would have searched your soul. For your good points, not bad. Trust me, he doesn't care that Soman is your father, he doesn't care that half the blood in you veins is black. He doesn't give an Orc's butt about pain when he's around you. All he cares about is you.'

Lómadia shot a confused look at Todia. 'How do you know that?'

'The way he looks at you, with all that love and admiration in his eyes.' Todia resisted the urge to say that Legolas once looked at her in that way. She thought that her friend needn't find out about her past relationship with Legolas. 'he loves you. It has to be said, you're a VERY lucky girl.'

Execution

Three days after the meeting with her father, Lómadia stood in the middle of the Elven Kings City, waiting for her father to be brought out of the underground cells. He had not been fed, or watered during these three days. He was kept in the darkness cell, with the rottenest smell of urine and vomit. On the stroke of midnight, the arrow will be shot, sending a shiver through his spine. Only Lómadia and Aen stood in the centre of the city, Aen would be the one shooting the arrow, that will claim her only relatives life.

'Are you sure you want to do this, Lómadia? The king will be here any minute.' Aen spoke quietly, resting a hand on Lómadia's shoulder.

'I've never been so sure of anything in my life, Aen. Once this is over, I'll have a normal life, I can get on with no worries holding me back from place's I want to see.' Smiling, she turned here eyes to the entrance to the cells. A dark figure stood and nodded, symbolising the arrival of the King and Sóman. With that nod, Lómadia began to hum, quietly at first, then louder and louder, until her voice could be heard all around the city centre. As Soman stepped into the candle light, his daughters beautiful singing voice greeted his ears, making him stop abruptly and look in her direction.

The words came uneasily at first, then as she got into it Lómadia's voice rose, and the words could be heard clearly. The words made sense, making Soman feel small and sorrowful.

Where once was life,
Now darkness falls.
Where once was love,
Love is no more

Don't say - goodbye
Don't say - I didn't try

These tears we cry,
Are falling rain,
For all the lies you told us,
The hurt, the blame

As Lómadia sung, tears rolled lightly down her cheeks, her voice became croaky as she choked back heavy sobs. Soman walked slowly, taking heed to what his only daughter was singing about. At first, he didn't know.

And we will wait to be so alone,
We are lost
And can never go home

So in the end,
I'll be what I will be.
No loyal friend,
Was ever there for me

Now we say - goodbye
We say - you didn't try

Then, he realised she was singing about him. How he betrayed her. Now Soman drew closer to Aen, who readied the lethal arrow on his bow. The old man kneeled heavy on the ground, tears pouring down his face, his eyes pleading to Lómadia to change her mind. But, deep down inside, he knew she wouldn't.

These tears you cry,
Have come too late.
Take back the lies,
The hurt, the blame

Blinded by the sack over his head, Soman felt Aen raise his bow and aim the arrow for the middle of his back. Where the arrow would hit, life would be taken from him immediately. He would never admit it, but he was scared stiff, he sobbed hard as Lómadia's voice grew weaker, he strained to catch the last few words. While his breathing became heavier and heavier, and his sobs harder and harder, he heard the last few words of his daughters song.

And you will weep,
When you face the end alone,
You are lost, and can never go home
You are lost, and can never go home

Lómadia's voice trailed off into the night. The first gong of the midnight call was heard above the kings hall and the sing of a bow. Then darkness enveloped around him. As his breathing and heart beat stopped, he fell forward onto his face, landing with a soft thud.