Ch. 3: Many Meetings

They rode throughout the night, not even daring to slow the horses to a trot until the forest was out of sight. Even then, the horses were unwilling to stop. It was almost as if they knew why their riders were in such a hurry to leave. They reached Edoras after the second day. It was clear that something strange was going on when Gamling practically ran out of the Golden Hall to greet them.

"Théoden King, good you arrived!" said Gamling.

"What is it Gamling? Is something amiss?"

The man opened his mouth but ended up just shrugging. "The halls are filled with visitors, all of whom arrived in our absence. The group from Gondor is particularly displeased. They have been asking for you since before we arrived!"

"Well my friends," said the King, "it appears that we are needed in the throne room! I suppose it was a bit foolish to imagine that we would find much rest here."

"I apologize my King, but…."

"No need Gamling. It is better to deal with this sooner."

They all dismounted and marched up to the Hall.

The doors opened to a very strange sight. There were two groups of men, standing on opposite ends trying their best to ignore the other. They both looked strangely similar, but it was easy to tell which group was from Gondor. They were all in matching uniforms: black with a silver tree on the front. The others wore dirty cloaks.

The men from Gondor approached before the others had a chance. "King Théoden," said one who appeared to be the leader. "I come on behalf of Lord Faramir, son of Denethor. We received an urgent message barely a week ago from Lord Boromir. He mentioned great evil in these halls and requested our presence."

"Did he?" asked Théoden.

"Boromir did send a note, my Lord. It was right before Wormtongue threw him in prison," said Kylie quietly.

"Prison? Care to elaborate?" asked the man.

Kylie shook her head. "I didn't read it."

The man did not look satisfied, but he saw that he would not get any more answers from Kylie. "We would like to take council with Lord Boromir. No offense my Lord, but we were sent under his orders and under those we remain."

"Unfortunately," said King Théoden, "you will not find Lord Boromir here. We were forced to flee to Helm's Deep and fight for our lives. He fell there, defending our women and children."

The man's face fell. All of their faces did. "He is dead then? We came too late."

"I have no doubt you came as quickly as you could," said Aragorn, stepping up. "You have done your duty admirably. Thankfully, the evil in the halls has been vanquished."

"That at least is good news," said the man solemnly. "If this truly is the case, I would wish to hold council with your Majesty. There is much we need to discuss about our own home. I see now that no aid could have come from you before; you had your own evil to face. But now… perhaps?" Kylie could tell that this man was just like Boromir: afraid to hope too much.

Théoden looked like he would rather do anything but think about war. But to his credit, he nodded. "Over dinner, we shall discuss what you request."

"Good. Thank you, my King."

"And who are these other visitors?" asked Théoden. To everybody's surprise, Aragorn gave a delighted cry and stepped forward.

"Halbarad! Of all joys this is least expected!"

"You know these men?" asked Éomer.

"These are my kinsmen from the far land where I dwelt. But why they come, Halbarad will have to tell."

"We were summoned, of course," said Halbarad, embracing Aragorn.

"Summoned? I did not summon you. Not that I am unhappy to see you, of course."

"No, Ada sent for them," said a voice in the back.

"He said something about needing your kin, although you would not know," said an identical voice.

"Elladan? Elrohir? What are you two doing here?" asked Aragorn, finally leaving Halbarad's embrace as the elves revealed themselves.

"Ada has a message for you, and a gift," said Elladan.

"The truth?" smirked Aragorn. Clearly, he thought the twins were joking. Based on Kylie's little time with them, it was not an unreasonable assumption.

"No, actually Ada does have a gift and a message."

"Although, we were getting rather bored in Rivendell."

"Well you are more than welcome here! As long as the King gives leave," said Aragorn.

Théoden nodded, smiling. "If these kinsmen be in any way like yourself, my Lord Aragorn, such knights will be a strength that cannot be counted by heads."

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Dinner was served quickly, and it was a grand feast. Kylie had never been to such a thing in her life. She once again borrowed a dress of Éowyn's, making sure to stay seated. It gave her an excuse to have Merry get everything for her. The hobbit actually obliged, mostly because he was busy getting his own fourths and fifths.

"How much do you guys eat again?" asked Kylie.

"Oh, we usually have between five and seven meals a day. Perhaps more if we can manage it."

She shook her head, smiling. "I can't even imagine eating that much."

Merry shrugged. "Big folk just eat less."

Kylie was slightly taken aback, until she remembered that term was just what hobbits called humans. "Oh, so now I'm a 'big folk'?" she teased.

Merry laughed lightly. "Technically you always have been, but now it's more obvious. You are nearly up to Strider's nose now!"

"What do you mean?"

"You're taller. Like a man. Or woman… pardon me."

Kylie contorted her face. Sure, people still grow at fourteen or fifteen… but she never thought about actually growing up here in Middle Earth. This foreign world. It almost made her wish Gandalf here to talk about his theories.

Merry laughed though. "If only you could see your face!"

"What? Merry!" she teasingly flung mashed potatoes in his direction.

He laughed and threw some peas back. They continued this until they both got hit in the face with carrots. They turned to the other side of the table to find Legolas smirking at them.

"If you do not mind…" he said. They two straightened out, although Kylie did not trust Merry to get her third helping of chicken.

"What do you think they're talking about? Strider and the elves?" asked Merry, staring at the other side of the table.

"Don't know. Probably jokes and exchanging whatever funny stories we have from the road."

"No, they are not. Look at Strider." Kylie did. His face looked dark and almost nervous. Still, he was nodding and continued to mutter to his brothers. They handed him the parcel, which he opened. Merry and Kylie could not see what it was, but Aragorn gave the twins an incredulous look.

"Maybe Helm's Deep," said Kylie sadly.

Merry nodded solemnly. "I wish I was there."

"No. You don't. It was…" Kylie trailed off. She just couldn't think of a good word.

"And now Pippin's headed toward the same sort of thing."

"He's with Gandalf. Pippin will be safe with him."

"I hope so," said Merry. "Then again… he is a Took."

A/N: I can almost guarentee this is the last chapter for a while. I drive back to school tomorrow and it's going to be a busy semester. But please keep reviewing. I do appreciate constructive criticism. Also, becasue I'm still working out the details of this one, feel free to PM ideas! :)