Prologue:  The Beginning

The rider came to the top of the hill and paused.  Turning slightly in his saddle, he looked behind him.

"Come along, Norusell.  We've got a long journey ahead of us."

Norusell, a tall girl of ten with long, dark hair and blue-green eyes, rode up and stopped beside her father.

"Why do we have to go to Dol Amroth?," she asked, pouting a little.

"You know why, Nori.  You do not have a mother to care for you, and you must learn a lady's ways.  You are of noble blood, and that deserves to be respected."

Nori made a face, making her father smile slightly in spite of himself.

"Hunting and fighting are respectable," she countered.  "Ladies are expected to be beautiful and graceful, and dance and sing.  I could learn to dance and sing, but you said yourself that beauty and grace are things that can't be taught.  If I don't have them now, how can I hope to gain them by moving to Dol Amroth?"

Feredin almost laughed.  Not only did his daughter listen to every word he said, she used them in arguments better than some he had heard from grown men!

"My dear, why do you say you lack beauty and grace?  Your mother had both, as did her mother before her, as did my own mother.  All women of Numenorean blood have these qualities, though they may sometimes lie hidden for many years.  You do have them, and in Dol Amroth they will blossom."

"Perhaps they will blossom just as well in Rohan," answered Nori, her mind quick as ever.  "We could stay in Rohan, where we know many people and are closer to Fangorn Forest."

"No, Norusell," said Feredin firmly. "I must return to Dol Amroth, and you must come with me.  But do not worry.  My brother will welcome us, and your cousins will be good companions for you."

Nori sighed, knowing she couldn't argue her way out of this one.  Accepting her fate (or doom, as she thought melodramatically), she was about to lead the way down the hill when something flew by her head with a whistling sound.  Turning, she saw dark figures in the distance and heard strange cries.  Orcs!

She turned back toward her father, and a chill came over her.  Feredin had fallen from his saddle and was lying on the ground, an arrow planted deep in his side.  Nori jumped off her pony and ran to him.

"What should I do?," she cried.  "I have my bow..."

"No, Nori, you can't fight them.  You are only a child, and there are too many," he gasped.  With an effort he stood and lifted her onto his horse.  Her feet wouldn't even reach the stirrups.

"I am done for, my dear.  Ride back to Rohan and don't look back!"

Nori opened her mouth to protest, but screamed when another arrow hit her father's chest.  He stumbled but managed to keep his feet.

"Do not argue, GO!," he bellowed, and struck the horse's rear flank.  With a jolt Nori was carried back toward Rohan.  She tried to look behind her but her eyes were blinded by tears.  She pulled desperately at the reins, but the animal beneath her was at a full run and could not be stopped.  The girl's screams were carried away by the wind as the sound of hooves filled the world.