Part 177 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.

A/N: Have had the basis of this idea for a long time, but wasn't quite sure how to make it work believably until this came to me. Hopefully you agree.

Shieldmaiden

(June, 29 IV)

Theodwyn's laughter was swallowed by the wind as she and Freawine raced a short distance to a tree. Their horses were neck and neck, but just as they neared it, she leaned farther forward and urged her horse enough to edge slightly ahead before the finish.

As they slowed, her husband smiled in amusement at her competitiveness, but it was one of the things he loved about her. Surprisingly, for all her assuredness, she could be incredibly uncertain at times, but in time he thought she would become more confident about who and what she was. She prided herself on being a shieldmaiden, yet often he did not think she truly understood what that actually meant. There was no question she was skilled with a sword; it was more her judgement that was flawed. Eventually, he hoped that would improve and help her gain a clearer view of things.

She drew her horse in beside his, smiling tenderly at him. Despite having bested him in the race, she was grateful he was willing to challenge her, and give it his best effort. Not everyone would do so, and she loved him all the more for it. This was the first time they had been able to get away from Edoras since their marriage a little over a year ago, and she was looking forward to focusing on nothing but him.

Both were all too aware that they were not alone, however. The king's daughter was not at liberty to travel abroad without a guard. Still, with Freawine a member of the King's Guard, that did enable them to travel with fewer other guards. At present, they were accompanied by three men, who were quite willing to maintain a comfortable distance from the couple while remaining near enough in case there was trouble.

The Great West Road between Edoras and Minas Tirith had changed a great deal during the course of the Fourth Age. With more frequent travel between the two great cities, wayside inns had been established along the way. If one traveled briskly, they could stay at one each night; otherwise, it might require camping somewhere in between. They were doing a little of both. Last night they had camped, but tonight they were looking forward to a soft bed and someone else's cooking.

They reached the inn by late dusk, and set about settling into the rooms they had taken, while the men saw their horses tended for the night. Though both Freawine and Theodwyn had worn swords during their travel, now they dispensed with them before going downstairs for supper. The whole point of a guard was their protection, and they intended to enjoy their freedom from responsibility for the next fortnight. Giggling as though they were newly wed, they held hands as they made their way down to the dining hall. The men of their guard were already there, and settled at an out of the way table enjoying some ale as they waited for their supper. No one anticipated much need of a guard whilst at the inn, so they were largely expecting a quiet evening.

Freawine and Theodwyn situated themselves near the fire at a smaller table, and the mistress of the inn soon appeared with plates of food and mugs of ale for them. Such establishments could not offer a great deal of variety in the fare they served, but it was usually hearty and welcome at the end of a long day's journey. They were the only travellers at the inn this night, so it was a quiet and relaxed atmosphere that was very enjoyable.

The couple was so blissfully wrapped up in one another, they took little notice when three men entered. Moments later, however, their pleasant evening was disrupted as the men drew swords, and four more joined them, bolting the door behind them. In the blink of an eye all the guests in the inn found themselves at sword's point, and a gap-toothed man was grinning malevolently at them.

"My lords and ladies!" he mockingly announced. "So sorry for this disruption, but we'll be relieving you of your burdensome valuables, if you please!" The other men chuckled appreciatively at this questionable humor, and then the leader's eyes fell upon Theodwyn. "Well, well! Looks like we'll have company to finish our fruitful evening!" He sauntered over and fingered a lock of Theodwyn's hair, and she angrily snatched it away from him.

Before she could speak, though, Freawine laid a hand on her arm and applied firm pressure, drawing her attention. He gave her a stern look, then said quietly, "You will not harm my wife, sir."

" 'Course not!" the man sneered. "She's no good to us damaged! This one looks to have plenty of spirit – she ought to be able to satisfy us all!"

The other men laughed leeringly, eyeing Theodwyn more closely in a way that made her feel uncomfortable, and her eyes went to meet Freawine's gaze. Why was he being so…passive? That was not like him! Surely he would not let these men make good their threat.

One of the guards half rose, starting to speak, but a hard look from Freawine silenced him. The less anyone said, the less chance these robbers would know who were their victims. Freawine felt certain it was best they not realize Theodwyn was the king's daughter or this situation could become far worse.

Getting down to business, the leader gestured with his sword toward where the innkeeper and his wife stood behind the bar, fear etched on their faces. "You two, over there. The little lady can collect the swords from these men. Don't want them getting any ideas of being heroes, now do we?'

He glanced at one of his men. "Move them over there, against the wall."

Theodwyn started to again speak in angry protest of being ordered about, but Freawine had not released her arm, and now gripped tighter, almost hurting her but drawing her attention. "Do as they say 'Wyn. Pick up the swords."

She was puzzled by his odd behavior. Never in all the time they had known each other, which was her entire life, had he ever called her 'Wyn', and the tone of his voice…it sounded almost familiar. Her eyes narrowed as she held his gaze, and then in a flash of recollection she knew where she had heard that tone before, and very similar words. "You are a shieldmaiden of Rohan. Take your sword."

That picnic outing had been four years ago, but she could never forget it. She had killed a man that day; defending herself, to be sure, but killed him all the same. And then she knew what Freawine was trying to tell her. Pick up the swords.

Nodding her understanding, her mouth tightened with determination, but he gave her a hard look of warning not to give away what they intended, and she forced herself to try and appear more meek and intimidated. Truth was, she was very frightened at what he was asking of her, but also proud that he judged her capable of it. Slowly she rose and moved over to their guards, then began to relieve them of their weapons. She was careful to take the swords in such a way that she had control over them, despite it appearing as though they were merely gathered in her arms.

When she had the third one, she moved toward the bar where the leader stood, gesturing where she should lay them. "Just place them down there, little missy! There's a good girl!"

He reached toward her to stroke her hair, but a bench scraped loudly as Freawine abruptly stood, drawing everyone's attention to him. "Don't be doing anything foolish now, boy, if you want to stay alive!" the leader warned, wheeling toward the sound, but the diversion had been sufficient. Dropping one of the swords, Theodwyn slashed the leader's arm with one of the two that she held. He let out a scream and fell to the floor. Before the others could react, she tossed the second weapon to Freawine who easily caught it.

Another man ran at Theodwyn, but she deftly stepped back and blocked his lunge. A second man joined his friend, hoping to overwhelm her while the others moved to take on Freawine. Sensing this could easily turn against her, Theodwyn feinted back, drawing the two men after her, but then suddenly lunged, swiping left and catching the first man's blade, sending it flying. She brought the steel back just in time to parry the blow of the other man, and then rammed the sword into his side. He gave a gurgle and collapsed to his knees.

At the sight of the other man bleeding, her second opponent fell back. As he did, she noticed her victim's sword had fallen at her feet. Keeping sharp watch, she swiftly scooped it up, wheeling away and slashing the man's leg as he rushed forward to prevent her gaining the second weapon. He dropped his sword that he had recovered only moments before, and as he fell, she threw the spare sword she held as hard as she could in the direction of the guards, hoping one of them would be able to obtain it.

Meanwhile, Freawine had his hands full battling three of the bandits while the fourth kept watch on their guards to prevent their entering the fray. With only one man trying to hold three of them, they began to spread out away from one another so he would have a more difficult time. He had just called to his friends for help, when one of the guards grabbed up a chair and ran at him. He hacked and slashed with his sword, but the guard was able to block his blows. When the guard got him enough off balance, another guard ran from behind and dealt him a blow, subduing him until their companion relieved him of his sword.

At that moment, the sword Theodwyn had flung in their direction hit the wall and clattered to the floor, where it was quickly scooped up. That left four of their party armed and four of the seven bandits already downed. The other three were beginning to show panic at their drastically changed situation. Without thinking about it, they moved closer together to stand as one, but that put them in the center of a circle of swords.

"You can surrender and be punished for your crimes, or we will fight you to the death," Freawine told them firmly. "The choice is yours, but you have only one minute to decide. Drop your weapons now, or die."

They did not attempt to even discuss it amongst themselves. One man immediately tossed his sword down and raised his hands in surrender. The other two nervously eyed him, but then after a hasty glance at their bleeding companions, they slowly followed suit.

It took awhile to secure the men and treat their wounds, and then to help the innkeepers tidy their establishment. The pleasant outing had become quite grim. The only bright spot was that the innkeepers assured them this was the first time anything like this had ever happened at their place, and they had not heard of it happening anywhere else. Even so, Freawine determined he would make sure the king knew of it and possibly arrange for some sort of guard at these spots. Travellers should not have to fear such attacks during the course of their journeys.

Once order was restored, the three guards joined the couple for a final drink of the evening, to settle nerves. They stood silently at the bar, and then without discussion, the trio turned to Theodwyn and raised their mugs. "Hail Theodwyn, Shieldmaiden of Rohan!" one proclaimed with a respectful grin. The others echoed him. "Hail Theodwyn!"

"Aye, Hail Theodwyn!" Freawine murmured after they had all taken a drink. He smiled warmly at his bride, who was looking mildly embarrassed, but pleased, with the acclaim. "Well done, my love!"

Without another word, the men finished their ale, said their goodnights and moved away to their beds. As Freawine and Theodwyn also drained their mugs and set them on the bar, he leaned and pressed a kiss to her temple. Grinning mischievously, he whispered, "Am I ever going to be able to go anywhere with you and not have to see swords drawn?"

THE END

8/6/08

Freawine and Theodwyn married in Dec, 27 IV. The reference to her killing a man happened in "Acceptance" before she fell in love with Freawine. At this point, he is 29 and she is 21.

Freawine's end reference about seeing swords drawn refers to the fact that in the three stories I've done about these two while outside Edoras (at Aldburg, on a picnic and now), each time a sword had to be drawn to defend Theodwyn, Freawine or both.

End note: It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content.