Disclaimer: I'm just repeating myself: I don't own the LotR characters! But I really wish Éomer was mine…
Things Worth Fighting For
Chapter 3
'Follow your heart, and it will lead you to your destiny. Let it guide you and you will never be lost,' the woman said. She had beautiful dark hair and deep brown eyes. She was smiling at the girl who was sitting across from her, a girl about twelve years old, with dark hair flowing down her back, and green eyes looking directly into the woman's brown ones.
'But cannot the heart deceive one?' the girl asked.
'It can be hard to listen to and understand, but it can never deceive you," Princess Irinya told her daughter. 'Listen to what it tells you, daughter. It will never deceive you or lie to you.'
Lothíriel remembered when her mother told her that. Liriel had asked her mother why her aunt Finduilas married Steward Denethor, since he always seemed to be so angry and rude towards her and her brothers. Irinya had answered that Denethor had not always been like that, that he once had been able to love his wife and that she loved him. She told her daughter that Denethor had become the way he was now because of Finduilas' death. Liriel said she did not want to end up with someone like her uncle. Irinya had smiled and told her to follow her heart.
Her heart had told Lothíriel to leave her home, to get away from the man trying to get her as his wife. The man that with no doubt would steal her body, but he would never have her heart.
She could not go south because there was the sea, and she could not get any further. She could not go east in the direction of Mordor. That would simply be suicide. So it was west or north. No matter where she went she would have to travel a long way through Gondor. Eventually she decided to turn north-east, to take the shortest way out of Gondor, although it meant she had to take the way with most guards and patrols. She simply had to cross paths with them when it was dark, and she would be more difficult to spot.
So the next days she spent in hiding, trying to sleep and rest, before the night came and she would travel. For sure her father had sent men to look for her, and many probably knew by now that the princess of Dol Amroth had ran away from home and they had orders to stop her.
By the fifth night she passed Minas Tirith, and the chance for anyone seeing her became less every day. So she started to travel when it was light, and sleep when it was dark. It was winter now, but it was not very cold. She remembered colder winters back home.
Without knowing it, Lothíriel crossed the border to Rohan, over two weeks after she left home. She did not know Rohan held a bigger adventure for her than she would ever imagine.
When he returned to Aldburg, Éomer received word from Théodred that they had to meet as soon as possible, so Éomer left for Edoras already the day after.
Before he reached the gates of Edoras he was met by Théodred and Éowyn. The siblings gave each other a hug, and then Éomer turned at his cousin. After they had greeted each other, they slowly made their way back to Edoras.
"How fare you, cousin?" Théodred asked.
"I could have been better. War is brewing in the east, and more Orcs are spotted in the Eastmark every day," Éomer answered.
"Many Orcs are also in the Westmark. The more we kill the more seems to come," Théodred said. "And they come from the west."
"Are you certain?" Éowyn asked. "I know there are Orcs west of Rohan, but are there so many that they can attack us?"
"It seems so," Théodred said, "and some of these Orcs are different. They are larger, worse, and they seem to be better fit to travel across long distances and in the light of day. And they have a strange mark on them."
"What mark?" Éowyn asked.
"A white hand," Théodred answered.
They looked at each other and knew what the others were thinking.
"Can it be as we feared?" Éowyn asked.
Her brother nodded. "This is the proof we need. Saruman is not to be trusted, and if he gets his will, there will be nothing left of Rohan. The king must listen to this!"
"Uncle will listen to no one!" Éowyn protested. "He listens to no one except that snake."
"Not even Wormtongue can twist this evidence," Éomer argued. "He cannot make this seem any different from what it is."
"Éomer is right," Théodred said. "Father must listen to this. We cannot allow Saruman to get away with this."
"And what are you two going to do?" Éowyn asked and shot them both glares that would have killed them if looks could kill. "March to Isengard with all your forces and demand an explanation from him? Théodred, your father is not himself. He is even worse than he was. He will not listen, so stop being such fools and face reality!" She looked at both of them. "Wormtongue will manage to twist your words, make them seem different for the king. He will make it look like you are the enemy, not Saruman, and then our land will be without any leaders."
Théodred nodded, feeling sick and tired. He was annoyed that he could do nothing about this situation with Saruman. But his cousin was right; they could not act rashly and foolishly with this. They could not risk Saruman to get away.
Éomer did not feel ready not to argue about this. He wanted Saruman to pay. His Orcs burned their crops, destroyed their homes and killed their people, and was Éomer supposed to sit and watch him do it? No, he had to do something now. "What do you suggest we do then? Let Saruman kill our people?" he asked. "Shall we line them up so his Orcs can have some target practise?"
"I did not say that!" Éowyn argued. "I only said uncle will not listen to us, that he will do nothing about this. Our king is not the same. He is old and weak and only sits upon his throne all day because I must help him there. You have not seen him for weeks; you do not know how much worse he has gotten."
"But surely you understand we must do something?" Théodred asked. "We cannot sit and wait for Saruman to strike."
"We need more men," Éomer said. "Not even all our forces combined will be enough to stop Saruman shall he strike."
The crown prince of Rohan thought for a moment. "Yes, we need more men. We must train all those who wishes to fight. All those willing to die for their country, for their families."
"What are you saying? That we give weapons to farmers and stable boys?" Éowyn asked.
"We need reinforcements. We have lost too many men lately," Éomer said. He turned at his cousin. "You're right, we should train some men. But the king will not allow us to."
Théodred nodded. "We must do this without the knowledge of my father. And we must keep it hidden for people in Edoras and the servants of Wormtongue. You must cover the Eastmark, and I the Westmark."
"We must do this very carefully," the Third Marshal said. "If Wormtongue hears of it we will both be finished."
Lothíriel was not entirely sure where she was when she saw the houses down below the hill she was standing on. It was a village, but entirely different from the villages in Gondor. And the people she could see had all golden hair.
"Man car lle nautha, mellon nín?" she asked Thalion. She smiled and rode down the hill and into the village.
Not wanting anyone to see her dark hair, she pulled the hood over her head.
She placed Thalion outside a stable, and then she walked in to what looked like a tavern. And true enough, it was a tavern. It was crowded, and Liriel barely made it to the counter. She heard the people talking. Some spoke in the common tongue, some in their own tongue. She realized she had made it to Rohan, their neighbour in the north, an allied of Gondor from old times.
She looked around the crowded room, and heard two men talking at a table near by. They were both young.
"I hear the Marshal plans to train more men to defend the Mark," the one who appeared oldest of the two said.
The other one nodded. "I have heard so as well. Word is travelling fast that those interested may report at Aldburg soon as possible."
Liriel wondered who the marshal was and where Aldburg was. She was more than a little curious about all this.
"Rumour has it that the king does not know about this," the first man said.
"But you have heard word that the king is not well, have you not?" the other man asked.
"Who have not?" the other asked. "I am not deaf, Déorl."
"I didn't claim you were, did I?" Déorl said. "I'm doing it, Arling."
"What?" Arling asked.
"I'm going to Aldburg," Déorl announced.
"Have you lost your mind? We need you on the farm!" Aldburg tried to reason with his younger brother.
"I'm leaving for Aldburg tomorrow," Déorl said. "I can't sit around here waiting for something bad to happen to Rohan. I have to feel like I am doing my share in protecting our land against our enemies."
Lothíriel had no idea where Aldburg was, but curiosity had taken over her, and she too would be leaving for Aldburg tomorrow.
Author's note: Well, not my best chapter, but in the next one will be much more Éomer/Lothíriel. Already have it planned, but not written.
Thank you so much for the reviews! Keep them coming!
