Disclaimer crap: I don't own Éomer or any of the characters from Tolkien's books. I do own Jem/Ella and this story that I am writing. For fans of Karl Urban who played Éomer in the movie, I think he's a hottie and that's who I'm pretty much basing the character in looks. As always, not fluent in Elvish, so lets not freak out cause I don't know correct Elvish okay? And as always any lines from Peter Jackson's films are all his rights. I'm not making money off of this story cause lets face it…I'm not that great:) Oh and one last thing, if you don't like my story…don't read it. Not too difficult now is it?
Chapter 6: Dreams, Fights & Questions
The rain fell hard on the plains of the Riddermark and the Rohirrim followed Éomer despite the weather. The wind blew so hard that Jem could not get her hood on her cloak to stay up. She finally wrapped her arm around Éomer's waist and held it up with her free hand. She could tell they were still in the Mark, but recognized they were in the part of the north that she entered when tracking the Orcs.
"My lord, there should be a small wooded area a mile and a half up a head. We could camp there for the night." She let out a shriek when thunder roared threw the sky. Jem wrapped both her arms around Éomer, letting her hood fall back.
He chuckled as he looked back at her. She was soaked to the bone and he knew if he didn't get her to a dry area she would grow ill. Éomer signaled for the men to go a head of him so they could set up camp.
"Do not worry they will go set up camp for us. Are you okay, my lady?" He asked concerned.
"I am fine. Do not grow concerned, I have been threw worse conditions." She said with a small smile and threw her hood up over her head again.
Éomer nodded and continued on towards the area where his men were setting up camp. When they reached the sight he dismounted Firefoot and reached out grabbing Jem by the waist helping her down. He looked at her and saw her eyes were half shut and felt her lean into him when her feet touched the ground.
"My Lord, your tent is ready." Denzil reported to him and showed him to where it was set up. It was under a large oak tree where it was sheltered from the rain.
"Thank you, Denzil. Inform the men to rest tonight and we will discuss where we are to head next in the morning." Éomer informed him.
"Yes, My Lord." Denzil replied giving a bow with his head and heading off.
"Lord Éomer, I must get some rest now." Jem said softly as she walked into the tent. She shrugged off her pack and removed her bow and arrows from her back. Jem rolled out her bedroll and crawled in going straight to sleep.
Éomer walked in to see she was sound asleep and noticed that she was shivering. Her clothes were soaking wet and her hair was dripping. He walked over to his bedroll to grab a fur that one of the men had left him and then draped it over her. He watched her as she continued to sleep and turn on her side. It was then he found that he was very tired as well and removed his armor along with his rain soaked shirt. Éomer then eased himself down on to his bedroll and went straight to sleep.
Éomer's Dream:
"Éomer!" a young voice called out to him. He recognized where he was, he was back home in Edoras outside by the stables. No one was around that he could see but he heard his name being called again and he looked over his shoulder. It was a child, a child who he automatically recognized. It was his cousin, Théodred.
"Théodred?" He asked softly lowering himself to his knees as the child approached him. He wanted to make sure he was correct about who he saw in front of him. The little boy smiled and threw his arms around his neck and hugged him. "Théodred, you are a child…" He trailed off amazed. How could it be that his cousin was a child when he was only 2 years older than Éomer?
The child pulled back from his hug and looked into the soft green eyes of his cousin, "Éomer, you see me as a child because the happiest times we had were when we were children. I come to you as a spirit in a dream now." The child explained to him.
"Spirit in a dream? This is not real then…none of this is real." Éomer said realizing what was going on.
"Aye Cousin, it is but a dream. But my spirit that is before you now is very real. I died this evening. The wound that I sustained from the battle in Ides was too great for me to survive." Young Théodred explained as he watched Éomer's face fall into despair.
"This is no dream…this is a nightmare." Éomer said softly bowing his head and looked at the ground. "You can not be dead! You are the next in line for the throne of Rohan!" he yelled angry and slammed his fist to the earth.
"Éomer, look at me." The young boy said putting his hands under Éomer's chin and lifted his head up. "I am now only a spirit and we do not have much time. Middle Earth is in grave danger. The ring of power has been found and now lies in the hands of a small Hobbit by the name of Frodo Baggins. You must help all those who are on the side of this Hobbit and do not let Sauran have the ring. You have already met the Man, Elf and Dwarf who are fighting for the side of good. They will become great allies to you, Éomer. A Wizard named, Gandalf the White now heads north looking for you. Go with him and help Father. For there is a great battle that Rohan will be apart of and they will need you and the rest of the Rohirrim to win."
"I understand, Théodred." Éomer said looking into his cousin's eyes, knowing that he spoke the truth.
"You are now next in line for the throne of Rohan, Éomer. I know you will honor our country and be among one of the greatest rulers of our time. Always believe in the hearts of our people, for they admire you greatly and will never doubt you." Young Théodred said with a smile. "I know about the young woman of the North who travels with you now. Lady Jem has a warrior's spirit but her heart is saddened by her past. She is on the side of good and will fight along side you to destroy the evil that haunts this world. Trust her and trust your heart."
"Trust my heart?" Éomer questioned, not understanding the true meaning behind his cousin's words.
Théodred just smiled again, "You will understand when that time comes." He leaned down and kissed Éomer's forehead. "I must leave now, Éomer. It is my time to go be with our fore fathers of Rohan. I will always be watching you." With that said, Théodred turned around and began to walk away towards a bright light that came threw the clouds and touched the earth.
"Théodred, Wait! Will we ever meet again?" The Third Marshal of the Mark asked as he rose to his feet.
Just as Théodred walked into the light, his body began to disappear slowly. He looked at his cousin one last time and smiled, "Of course we will, I shall be the one to take you home."
Éomer watched Théodred disappear and looked to the heavens where the light came from. "Until we meet again, Cousin Théodred." He said sadly.
"Théodred! NO!"Éomer cried out as he sat straight up in his bedroll. It felt as if the wind had been knocked out of him and sadness gripped at his heart. He was crying and couldn't stop.
"Éomer?" Jem asked leaping out of her bedroll and rushing to his side. She fell to her knees next to him and took his large hand and held it. "Éomer, what happened? Are you ill? Shall I call for someone?"
He looked at her and said while holding back a sob, "My cousin, he is dead." He ran his hand threw his long golden hair and let out the sob that he could no longer hold back.
Jem's brown eyes widened and she knew by the look in his eyes that he spoke the truth. She sat on the roll facing his direction and gently brought his head to her shoulder, embracing him. "Doo habba kataca Éomer, unna istal trey." (I give you my strength Éomer, I am with you) she whispered not realizing that she said it in Elvish. He wrapped his strong arms around her and held her tightly to him. She was caught off guard a little by how close their bodies were that moment. The feeling went away as fast as it had came because she knew that he was grateful she was there with him.
After a few minutes had passed, Jem realized that his crying had ceased and she looked over at his face to see he had fallen asleep. She gently eased him back down onto his roll and pulled the fur up over his chest so he would not catch cold. Jem rose to her feet and looked down at him with a small smile then returned to her bedroll.
The next morning, Éomer opened his eyes and was taken back at what he was looking at. Jem had moved her bedroll closer to him during the night. He sat up and looked at her for a moment then stretched out his upper body.
Jem felt her eyes flutter open as her nights rest came to an end. She sat up and rubbed the sleep from her eyes and looked over at Éomer. "Good morning." She said softly as she realized that even though they were in a tent, it was still broad daylight. She tried not to stair at his body and remained focused on his face.
"Good morning, Lady Jem." He replied taking a full look at her. Her clothes had dried but her hair was in a frizzy braid. He smiled at her and laughed.
She knew he laughed cause her hair was a mess. "This happens when it rains and I do not have a brush to smooth out my hair." She explained as she undid the braid and let her hair free and combed her fingers threw it.
He watched her and felt a faster beat pick up in his heart. Her hair was black when it was wet but when it dried it was very dark brown and wavy. It was about three inches longer then his but he still considered it short compared to how most women in Rohan grew their hair. Up until now, he never saw her wear it completely down. The sides were always pulled back or all of her hair was pulled back.
"Well, I guess this will have to do for now, until I can get a brush." She said with a sigh and then noticed that he was staring at her. "If this is about me being so close to your bedroll, I assure you that it's because I was worried about you and wanted to make sure you were alright." She lifted her chin up in a snobby way.
"I did wonder why you are so close. I thank you for your concern and being at my aid last night. I can tell you that will not happen again." He said reaching for his shirt. He slipped his royal dark purple shirt over his head and Jem suddenly felt her throat tighten at the sight of him dressing.
"You do not have to hide your emotions, Lord Éomer. You were grieving last night at the loss of someone you love and respect. Just because you are a man does not mean you do not have the right to cry." She said standing up and stretching her body.
"I am of noble blood, my lady. I have nearly a hundred men outside this tent who look to me for guidance and trust me with their lives. I must be able to react quickly if something is to happen. Emotions are only a distraction that can lead to death!" Éomer yelled rising to his feet.
Jem felt her blood boil, "That is the most absurd thing I have ever heard of!" she yelled at him. "If you show no emotion your heart will turn cold and make your mind crooked! I would rather be under the command of a Lord who shows some emotion, than none at all!"
She was about to leave when she felt his hand clamp down on her arm. Éomer pulled her next to him, "Why did he call you Ella?"
"I beg your pardon, My Lord?" she asked confused when he said "Ella".
"The Elf called you Ella, yesterday. Why did he call you Ella?" He asked again.
"What does this have to do with-?"
"My Lord!" A voice called out side the tent. They looked at one another and exited the tent but both stopped abruptly when they saw 150 more men had found them and joined their party.
Jem couldn't help but remain impressed at Éomer's loyal riders who would freely leave everything they had to follow him. She looked over at him and started to feel really guilty about everything she said. He had that effect on her. She was hot tempered and she knew it. "Éomer, I don't know how far we can continue with our journey with so many men. We would be spotted and attacked." She said softly.
He looked at the men who had showed up and bowed his head in thanks to them for their loyalty. But instead of bowing they returned the jester by kneeled before him. The other members of the party soon followed. It was then that Éomer realized that he was now the next in line to the throne of Rohan. His cousin was truly dead and now his duty to remain alive was going to be a greater task then he expected. Éomer looked over at Jem and smiled at her softly, "I would not worry about that, Lady Jem. I think it would be wise to stay here for a few days."
Authors Note: Thanks to all of you who have supported me on this fic! It really means the world to me that you guy's comment. I almost wanted to stop writing this after a little incident happened but I decided not to let you guys down and keep on going. Ain't no stopping me!