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Ánáwyn

She stumbled slowly across the rocky hills of the rolling land, stretching as far as she could see on all sides. She had an old wound on her left shoulder and she had not eaten for many days; her memory all but gone, she had no idea where she had come from or where she was headed. All she could remember was her father's name, her mother's name and her own name and the only thing she owned to remind her of her parents were the bow and quiver of arrows, which her father had left her before he disappeared. Her strength was quickly waning and she fell several times; after her fifth fall she did not rise again, she just lay on the ground panting, her mind wandering in and out of consciousness. How long she lay there she did not know but she finally woke to painfully full consciousness as the sun's last rays fell below the horizon. She climbed to her feet grinding her teeth together to keep from crying out; over the hours that she had been unconscious on the ground her shoulder seemed to have become even more badly infected and was swollen and throbbing. When she had finally regained her feet without fainting she set out again at a slow stumbling walk. She had been traveling for what seemed like hours when she thought she saw a light in the distance, she sped up her pace a little but as she approached the shapes gathered around the source of the light she realized that there was something wrong with them. Her hazy mind could not quite tell her what the matter was and by the time she realized that these odd shapes were orcs she was completely surrounded. They began speaking to each other in their ugly language and a couple of them came forward and bound her hands and feet tightly and relieved her of her bow and quiver, then one pushed her over so she fell painfully on her injured shoulder. When she landed tears sprang to her eyes as excruciating pain lanced through her shoulder and down her arm; she bit her tongue so hard to keep from screaming that her mouth flooded with blood and she passed out for some time. When she woke she managed to roll onto the other shoulder and she lay listening to the orcs talking and howling with laughter as they discussed what they were going to do with her. As she lay listening to the orcs she became aware of a distant thunder that was gradually growing louder, when she lifted her head to hear it better the sound was gone. Thinking she was finally hallucinating after having gone without food for so long she let her head drop back to the ground; and then there it was again! She pressed her ear to the ground and finally her mind supplied her with one word: horses. Of course she thought galloping horses! How could I not have remembered? The thundering was getting louder and now when she lifted her head she could faintly hear the sound over the noise of the orcs. She lay there for perhaps another half an hour before she was able to make out the dim shapes of horses coming out of the gloom. By this time the orcs were aware of the horsemen and had leapt to their feet shouting to each other and running about. Arrows were flying everywhere and she managed to find one that had landed near her which she could use to saw through the ropes which bound her hands and feet. When she had done that she gazed around and realized that by now most of the orcs had been killed, but rather than risk meeting those who had killed them she began to crawl quietly into the darkness. As she turned to leave, however, her sensitive ears picked out footsteps behind her and she swung round to see a figure, silhouetted against the orcs' dying fire, with his sword raised, ready to bring it down on her head. At the sight of the man she fell back with a cry. Hearing her scream the man faltered in mid-swing and, dropping his sword, knelt down beside her. She scrambled away from him her eyes wide with terror and he put out his hands slowly, as one might to a frightened animal, to show that he was unarmed.

"Please, do not be afraid." He said quietly, "I could not see you in the dark; I mistook you for an orc. Will you come with me that I might introduce you to my captain?" he held out his hand as he said this and stood slowly so he could help her to her feet.

He stood there with his hand outstretched and she studied it with mistrust for a few moments before finally accepting it and allowing him to pull her to her feet. He led her through the camp to the center and he bowed slightly to a tall man, who was standing there,

"Éomer, I found this girl near the edge of the camp. I think she was a prisoner of theirs."

"Thank you, Éothain. You may leave us."

Éothain nodded and bowing his head he left the two of them alone.

"What is your name little one?" Éomer asked when Éothain was gone.

But as he spoke she swayed and began to fall. When he saw her collapsing Éomer lunged forward to catch her, bracing himself for something far heavier than what he caught. Now that he was closer to her, though, he could see just how thin she was and he gasped in horror at the bloated wound on her left shoulder. He called Éothain and another of his men, Gárulf to him and ordered them to build up the fire, dress her wound and get some food into her body. When that had been done she fell into a deep, peaceful sleep and Éomer sat with Éothain, discussing who she might be and what she was doing out in the fields of Rohan, so far from any habitation. They came up with no plausible answers and so as the dawn was beginning to break in the east they settled down to sleep. Before Éomer lay down however he went to check on the girl to see how she was. He found her curled up in a tight ball having kicked off all her coverings, so Éomer covered her again with a blanket before going to sleep himself.

When she awoke the next morning she felt far better; her shoulder no longer burned and throbbed but had improved to a dull pain. Despite her improved condition it was still some time before she gathered enough strength to sit up, and as soon as she did Éomer was by her side offering her food and drink. It was simple fare of chewy bread, hard cheese, dried meat and water, but to her it tasted like a king's feast. When she had finished eating she looked up to find the man who had taken her to Éomer sitting nearby, watching her in amazement. What was his name? She wondered. Oh yes: Éothain. She smiled at him a little and then realized that he was staring at her because of how fast and sloppily she had stuffed her food down. This embarrassed her and a faint blush crept into her hollow cheeks.

"Excuse me, my lord." She said, "I did not mean to be rude, but I have not eaten for many weeks."

"It is I who must ask you to excuse me; I should not have been staring. It is understandable that you would eat a little– aaaah– quickly." He finished awkwardly.

She smiled and almost laughed at his awkwardness but restrained herself so she would not embarrass him further. They were just beginning to get uncomfortable in the silence that followed when Éomer and sat down beside her.

"My lady, I am Éomer son of Éomund, you will be riding with me today." He paused and then asked hesitantly, "What is your name?"

"I am Ánáwyn daughter of Dángorl." They were both silent for a moment and then she ventured, "My lord, where am I? And where are we riding to?

"We are in Rohan." He replied, exchanging a surprised glance with Éothain, "and we are riding to the capital city, Edoras."

Not for the first time, Éomer wondered who this girl was and where she came from. However, instead of asking he offered her some of his extra clothing to replace her dress which was practically threadbare. She thanked him and retreated behind the horses where she replaced her rags with his over large trousers and shirt. Over these she slung his cloak which, because Éomer was so tall, dragged on the ground behind her, and she had to keep pushing it out of the way so she wouldn't trip over it. Before they set out from the camp Éothain and another young man replaced the bandages and poultices on Ánáwyn's shoulder as she bit her lip to keep from crying out.

The company left just before noon with Ánáwyn sitting before Éomer, astride his horse. He had one of his arms wrapped around her waist to keep her from falling off and she leaned against his chest when she began to feel tired and fell asleep. They rode all day, but she woke late in the afternoon and Éomer asked her about her parents and her past. She told him what she could but admitted sadly that she could not remember much.

"All I can really tell you, my lord, is that my name is Ánáwyn and I am the daughter of Éoliné and Dángorl. My mother died a long time ago when I was still small and then, maybe twenty years later, my father disappeared."

"Twenty years!" Éomer exclaimed in surprise. "I would have sworn you were no older than sixteen or seventeen! You are rather short, are you not, for an elf?"

Ánáwyn laughed, "Yes. That is because only my father was a full- blooded elf so I am only half elf myself. I am now probably nearing one hundred; although I cannot fully remember that is what I would guess. As to your second question I would assume my mother was short."

Éomer sat silent for a time, pondering what she had told him. He was surprised to say the least, but then it all fit. No human could have gone for as long as she seemingly had with a bite of food.

"Your father was an elf you say, but what of your mother?" Éomer inquired curiously. "Her name has the sound of a Rohan maiden."

I sighed, "About my mother I'm afraid I cannot tell you much save that she was human. But I believe she may have been from Rohan."

"I am sorry you have no memory of your past life or your parents Ánáwyn. We will try to make you feel as welcome as possible in Edoras."

She smiled slightly, "There is no reason for you to be sorry Éomer, for it is not your fault. But I do thank you for welcoming me with so little hesitance."

He smiled at her, "It is my pleasure, but come we shall stop here for the night and should arrive in Edoras by early afternoon tomorrow."

When they had pitched camp Áná's bandage was changed again and it seemed that her shoulder was already healing.

The company spent another night gathered around two large fires the men talking and laughing, after a little while of sitting on the outside, Ánáwyn joined in and was welcomed by the men who enjoyed her quick wit. During that evening she was able to forget her sad past and lost memories until they all decided it was time that they get some sleep. When she lay down to sleep all her sorrow came rushing back, she felt completely alone. The only things she could remember were upsetting and soon she found herself crying, tears pouring silently down her face as her whole body shook with her sobs. After everyone had settled down to sleep Éomer heard Ánáwyn crying quietly nearby, he was about to get up and go to comfort her but then he thought that she might rather be alone, so he let her be.

The next morning she was cheerful again made no mention of the night before. They mounted up and rode off earlier than they had planned and while they were riding Éomer decided to ask her why she had been crying.

"Ánáwyn?" he ventured.

"Call me Áná." She requested quietly.

"Áná." He corrected himself, "Why were you crying last night? Did someone offend you?"

She attempted a weak smile, "No, no it is not you or your men. It is just– it is just that– I felt so normal last night, sitting there, talking with you and then when I was alone again with my thoughts I realized just how different I am, how- abnormal… and how much I cannot remember. I guess I never really had time to cry before so it just all came out last night."

Éomer smiled at her, "Well no matter how much you have forgotten you will always be welcome in Edoras and the Golden Hall of Meduseld."

"Thank you." She whispered but then after an uncomfortable silence she cried, "Come Éomer son of Éomund, let us gallop!" and before he could agree or protest she cried out again, save this time in Elvish and the horse leapt into a gallop.

As soon as they began to gallop so did all the other men behind them and in a few minutes they topped a high hill from which a great city could be seen some short distance away.

"That is Edoras and the hall is Meduseld the Golden Hall now home to Théoden- King; ruler of all Rohan." Éomer cried to her.

"It is beautiful." She breathed.

"If we hurry we may be there by just after noon." Said Éomer happily.

They arrived in Edoras just as the bells were calling everyone from the midday meal back to work. They left their horses with the stable hands and Áná and Éomer hurried up to the Golden Hall while the soldiers went their separate ways home.

When they came to the top of the steps into the hall of Meduseld they were met by a handsome young man who hurried eagerly forward to greet Éomer. "We thought you had been hurt. What kept you so long?" he demanded.

Ánáwyn blushing from her unconventional ragged attire and dirty appearance stepped back slightly but in doing so caught the young man's attention. "Éomer, who is this?"

"Théodred, may I introduce Ánáwyn daughter of Dángorl? Ánáwyn this is Théodred son of Théoden King."

Ánáwyn curtsied blushing furiously while Théodred informed her politely of how nice it was to meet her. As she looked up he saw her face for the first time and, despite the dirt and grime, his breath caught in his throat when he saw how beautiful she was but his cousin was speaking to him again and he turned away.

After this encounter Éomer showed Áná to a room where she could stay and then he left to find his sister Éowyn so they could meet. Ánáwyn looked around the room which was sparsely yet elegantly furnished. There were a bed and nightstand and there was also a chest to hold her clothing. Besides this furniture there was a high backed chair and then hanging on the wall a tapestry depicting many different scenes of horses; horses in battle, horses running free over open plains and horses being led to pasture. She was standing and admiring the craftsmanship of the tapestry when there was a knock on the door.

"Come in." she called turning around as she did.

The door opened and Éomer walked in followed by a young woman of maybe sixteen years. "Áná, this is my sister, Éowyn. She will show you to a bath and provide you with clothing. It is my hope you two will become like sisters for Éowyn has few women here to keep her company."

The two women exchanged greetings and Éowyn took Ánáwyn's arm and led her out. Áná looked over her shoulder and caught sight of Éomer smiling at them before he turned and headed in the other direction. Éowyn took Áná to her room where she ordered a bath to be prepared she washed Ánáwyn's hair for her and combed it out, then when Áná had finished washing herself Éowyn lent her a dress to wear while they went to find her some of her own.

"Ánáwyn," she said, "the king will want to speak with you and hear of your life."

"Of course." She replied quietly, "And please, if we are to be friends, call me Áná. Ánáwyn is so formal."

"Of course Áná whatever you like." Éowyn said kindly.

The King did not summon Áná that day or the next but on the morning of the third day Éowyn came into Áná's room early and informed her that Théoden King desired to have an interview with her that afternoon. Áná found that although at first this had not bothered her as the time for her meeting with Théoden drew closer she became more and more nervous.

She and Éowyn were in Éowyn's apartments and she had begun pacing back and forth for at least the fifteenth time that day, "Áná!" Éowyn interrupted her thoughts, "Do not worry, it will be fine. Théoden is not going to do anything to you he just desires to learn of your life."

Áná smiled at Éowyn, "I know, I just– I do not know. I really have no idea why I am so nervous."

Éowyn pulled Áná down to sit beside her on the bed, "Come here! I promise you my uncle is not evil he will do nothing to you!" she said laughing.

"Théoden King is your uncle?" Áná asked in surprise. "I– I did not know."

"Yes he is, although now he is more of a father now, for our parents died some while ago… rather like yours Áná."

"Oh. I am so sorry Éowyn." Áná said softly.

"There is no need to feel sorry for me, it was long ago and I do not remember them for I was very young when it happened."

Just then there was a knock on the door, "Enter!" Éowyn called.

The door opened and a page stepped in, "My lord Théoden wishes to speak with lady Ánáwyn. If you will follow me my lady."

Áná stood and looked back at Éowyn, who gave her a reassuring smile as she walked out. The page led her through many long corridors until they came to a small but ornate door. The page knocked firmly three times on the door and it was opened by an older, rather tough looking guard. The page whispered with him for a minute before stepping into the room and announcing her, "The lady Ánáwyn awaits you my lord."

Áná heard a firm yet kind voice reply, "Bring her in and also bring my lady a chair."

The guard nodded to her and putting his hand on her back lightly propelled her through the door. She found that the door led into the side of a long pillared hall. The page beckoned her out into the center of it, above which, on a dais, sat the Lord of the Mark, Théoden King. Ánáwyn stepped out and curtsied low to him, when she rose he signaled her to come and sit in a chair that had been placed beside his throne, and they spoke together for many hours.