Lúthien reaches out to her a while later, offering a picnic dinner outside Menegroth's gates.

My parents?

Yes.

They wouldn't do that. They exile people for serious crimes. They think you should stay here, and they might not give you leave to go if they thought you were going off to do something silly, but if you left anyway they'd hardly stop you.

So what, practically, does it mean if I do or do not have leave to go?

When my father gives someone leave to do something, he doesn't mean 'I'll have you shot if you do otherwise.' We're not kinslayers. He means that that's what he asks of you as the King of Beleriand, and his assessment of you would be affected if you did things all the time without leave.

I'm not kin, Loki points out.

He doesn't just rule our people, he rules this continent.

There are orcs on the continent. They are more closely related to you than I am. Even the Men were created as part of the same plan, on the same planet. I have not been assuming that the taboo on kinslaying would apply to me if anyone had a serious problem with me.

No. It wouldn't.

So. He's not a kinslayer. But if I find it necessary to do things without his leave...

He doesn't even usually kill Dwarves, and you're much closer to kin than they are.

No I am not. I look like it. But I don't even look like this, this is a seeming Odin placed on me; under it I'm blue and I have red eyes and I may or may not have ice magic that I can't get to work and I'm probably supposed to be twice this tall but that didn't come off even in the presence of a Balrog. My species is from a place more like the Ice the newcomers crossed than the caves where the Dwarves live, let alone a forest. Even Asgard, which is more like places that would be familiar and comfortable to Quendi, none of the history comes to a point with yours. We did not branch off from any of Eru's creations, and your mother is confident that you would have to traverse more than just space to get to where I grew up, you'd have to go to a completely other reality. The Dwarves do not look much like you and they have different customs and interests but they are more kin than I am. If the factor is kin, and not personhood, not common goals, then I will stop being close enough to kin the moment someone wants me dead and cannot consider me kin at the same time.

Did Gorthaur say this to you?

No, my heritage didn't come up with him at all except for his interest in my possession of free will. Since I found out I was blue after I killed his Balrog he probably doesn't even know I'm a kidnapped frost giant.

I don't mean that bit, I mean did he tell you that you needed to be afraid we'd kill you if you disobeyed my father.

No, that didn't come up either. I'm not strongly paranoid about this, but I do not think I can rely on a taboo with the word 'kin' in it.

I don't want you to leave Doriath and not come back.

I'm not thrilled about the prospect either. It's nice to have somewhere safe to go. It's not safe if I can't leave.

I'll ask my father for his word that he won't ever hurt you unless you're attacking people.

You don't need to do that, and it's not an attack I'm worried about so much as strategic protective custody without my cooperation.

They're terrified you're going to get captured. Or killed. Or a better offer. But I don't think they can take you into custody without your cooperation and I really really don't think they'd be willing to have other people get hurt over it.

I don't think they can keep me, but if I have to actually escape, I can't very well come back.

So you can not worry about it and keeping coming back until it gets to that point, at least, and I don't think it will.