Chapter 7

During Aragorn's watch that night, he heard Gwedhiel begin mumbling something. He looked over and saw Legolas awake, still holding Gwedhiel, trying to calm her, gently brushing the hair from the edges of her face.

Aragorn walked over to them and crouched down beside them. He could see that she was in a great deal of pain but unfortunately he had not brought any painkilling herbs with him. He took her left hand and squeezed it gently. "Shh. Rest tithen pen. You are safe," said Aragorn.

"Ada?" said Gwedhiel shakily. Her throat was raw from the screaming earlier and so her voice was croaky. She still had not opened her eyes so Aragorn knew that she must still be in a half dream state.

"What is wrong? She is not awake, but she is not asleep. Why does she think you are her father?" asked Legolas. He was very concerned about her.

"This amount of pain can have the same effect as a fever. She is having delusions. They will pass," informed Aragorn.

"Well say something to her," urged Legolas.

Aragorn was thoughtful for a minute until he heard Gwedhiel mumble again.

"Ada?"

"Yes penneth. Ada is here," he said squeezing her hand again.

Her eyes cracked open a sliver and gazed at Aragorn though they seemed to be looking right through him.

"Help me Ada. . . hurts. . . so much," she said to Aragorn.

"I'm sorry penneth. I have nothing to give you for the pain," said Aragorn sadly. He held one of their water skins to her lips. "Drink. It is water." She complied easily feeling the need to soothe her raw throat. "You should sleep," said Aragorn gently.

"I can not. The pain is too much," she replied, her voice slightly less croaky.

"Well. Then you should tell me a story about your life. I have missed much of it," said Aragorn, still going along with the father act. He hoped this would tire her out enough so that she could sleep with the pain.

She took a few shaky breaths before speaking. "When I was nine years old, mother bought me a bow and I began taking lessons. There was only one person in our village who would teach me. I became very good at it. It was the one talent I had, the one part of myself that I could be proud of. It was everything to me," at this her voice broke and a tear slipped down her face.

Aragorn reached over to wipe the tear from her face. "Sell ion, it will be alright. Your arm will heal with time and you will still be just as talented as you were before," said Aragorn. "Please, continue with your story."

Again, she took a few moments to compose herself before continuing. "When mama died I was only twelve years old. I had always known that Hidal did not like me but that he was simply trying to hide it from mama. He was so terrible ada. I know you would have been a better father if you had the chance," another tear fell. "But when she died he stopped trying to hide it. He didn't care who knew it because he knew that no one would stop him. No one would save me," she turned her head into Legolas' chest and began to cry freely.

Legolas could have sworn he felt his heart literally being crushed inside his chest. He had come to care for this girl, this woman. He had begun to love her even. He held her tighter until her crying finally stopped and she continued speaking.

"The only thing he let me keep, after mama died, was my bow. I didn't understand why, I was just grateful for this one act of kindness. Only later did I realize that this was no act of kindness. He simply wished to use me for his own gain. About a year ago, he encouraged me to enter an archery contest. This confused me greatly but I assumed he just wanted me to win the prize so that he could have it. I entered though, thinking that it would be a way to prove my worth to the others in our village. Only after I won did I realize what I had earned. I was to be the assassin sent to kill the heir to the throne of Gondor. With him gone, Sauron's enemies would have no hope. So, I was trained and sent on my way. Before I left, Hidal told me that if I failed, I should not return because I would face the disgraceful execution, some call it scaphism (you can look that up because I'm definitely not describing it.) I knew it was wrong ada, but I was so scared. I didn't want to die that way and I knew that I could have no life on my own outside of Harad, I just knew that no one would take me in, or help me because no one had ever bothered to before. So I took the only option that I deemed available and I went through with the assassination attempt. I figured that I was going to die either way. I tried to kill him ada. He is a good man, the greatest man I have ever met and I tried to kill him," she cried some more.

Aragorn was on the brink of tears. He had heard of scaphism and it was not pretty. He did not blame her for being fearful of it.

"He took me in ada. Even after I tried to kill him. And Gimli and Legolas, his best friends, forgave me almost as soon as he did ada. And Eowyn, she is good to me as well," she said as she finally began to nod off. For this Aragorn was grateful. He began to move away when Gwedhiel mumbled one more thing. "You don't have to worry about me any more ada. Aragorn is very good to me, much better than Hidal." And then she fell into a deep restful sleep.

AN: So, I won't update again until I get at least one review. So yeah. Please review soon. Thanks.