CHAPTER X – Edoras

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They didn't stay there after the attack. Aragorn said they couldn't follow them to Lórien, it'd be no use. The company would pursue their way to Edoras, to Emery's great sorrow. It was almost noon when they finally slowed down; they'd been riding in gallop the whole morning. Because of that, Emery was forced to focus instead of crying. It distracted her. But now that they slowed down, her mind immediately began to wander to the fight and Ava. Could she survive for two whole days with that wound? Gandalf was a wizard, why couldn't he heal her?

The formation was again broken, and Emery had slightly fallen behind. She looked at the group in front of her. It was like they didn't even know she existed. Faramir was talking with the Hobbits, and the blonde Elf was talking with the dwarf in front of him. Should she go over to him? He saved her after all. She took a deep breath and rode over to them. The Elf looked at her, surprised, when she appeared next to them. For a second she didn't know what to say and bit her lip.

"Hey," she said awkwardly, "uhm… I just wanted to- I wanted to say thank you. For what you did back there."

She waited for his response but he just blinked at her. She couldn't read his face, and the silence made her nervous.

"Well," she continued nervously and looked down at the horse's neck, "that's what I… wanted to say. I'll go, uhm bye."

The Dwarf poked in the Elf's stomach with his elbow. "No stay," the Elf suddenly said, but seemed caught off guard by what he just said himself. "I am deeply sorry for your friend."

Emery looked at the Elf, sadness was growing on her face again. "Yeah, me too", she said, "she was- is my best friend." She wasn't dead. Yet.

It was then when she realized she didn't know the Elf's and the Dwarf's name. "I'm Emery", she said, hoping they would introduce their selves to. But the Elf only nodded. "You're not going to introduce yourself?", she asked and raised an eyebrow. The Elf and the Dwarf both looked surprised.

"You do not know who I am?", the Elf asked and frowned.

Emery studied the Elf cautiously and chuckled. "What, are you famous or something?", she said as she shrugged.

The Dwarf grinned and looked up at the Elf. Certainly she had no idea who she was talking to. "Lass, have you been living under a rock?", he asked as he laughed. Emery was confused. Why didn't they just tell her who they were?

"My name is Legolas Greenleaf, my Lady," the Elf finally said, not saying anything more. Emery frowned, still having no idea what was so special about the Elf.

"Well, you should add that you're the Prince of Mirkwood, lad!", the Dwarf said. Emery widened her eyes and froze. "A prince?", she repeated. Wow, she definitely didn't see that coming. She was talking to a freaking prince. Not knowing what to say, she gazed into the distance. If she had known he was a prince, she definitely wouldn't have approached him. She was embarrassed that she didn't know him, but on the other hand, would he know who the president of the United States was? No. Which is kinda for the better.

Still, she said nothing. What would you say to a prince? Do you perhaps know Cinderella? She shook her head. Ugh, get yourself together, she thought, you're not even funny.

When Aragorn announced they'd soon speed up again, Emery grabbed her hair tie off her wrist. She'd kept it since she woke up in the Pelennor Fields, determined to never lose it, because it was probably the only rubber hairband in this whole world. She threw her hair over her head and quickly made a high pony tail. She sighed contend as she felt along her hair, no strands of hair were forgotten or out of place. She always hated it if that happened.

"Why do you do that?"

She turned her head to look at Legolas, surprised by the weird question. But then she realized she'd never seen a woman here who wore her hair like this. "Uhm," she said. She couldn't just say that it was normal in her world. "It's something I kinda found out when I was young. Your hair doesn't get in the way, you know." Legolas looked at her- well, actually just above her, studying the high pony tail. She couldn't read his face, it was blank and emotionless. Then he just shrugged his shoulders.

After riding in gallops the whole day with just a few pauses, the city of Edoras was finally visible along the horizon. Emery narrowed her eyes, but she couldn't see it clearly. She sighed in annoyance. It was weird; one moment she could she as sharp as an eagle, and the next moment it all was normal again. What was wrong with her?

The group slowed down as they approached the valley where the capital city was built. It was built on a hill and Emery could already guess where they'd ride to: the big building on the highest hill.

"This is the capital of Rohan?", she asked to herself disappointed. She had expected more, this barely looked like a city, more like village.

"You better not show that disappointed look to Éomer", Pippin said as he rode beside her on the pony.

"Is that the mayor?"

Merry chuckled. "He's the King."

When they arrived at the hill, Aragorn got of his horse and walked towards the man who was now walking of the stairs. "Lord Aragorn", the man greeted and gave him a hug. "Your arrival is the best of timing." Aragorn greeted back, but with slight concern on his face. "We will talk about that later", he followed and looked at Aragorn's company.

It was all too familiar, and he sensed that they had a new mission. His eyes fell on the Elleth, the only female in the group. Aragorn noticed his gaze and explained.

"Lady Emery travels with us until Lórien, you will not mind if she stayed here, will you?" The man shook his head and studied her. "Of course not," he said and smiled, "I will have a room ready for you, my Lady." Emery nodded and half-smiled.

He was quite handsome for a blonde. Actually, every blonde here seemed to be attractive. Emery usually didn't fall for blonde boys. Not that she had a crush on Legolas and the Éomer, but she definitely found them attractive. Oh, if only Ava was here with her, they could spend hours talking about guys. A shadow of sadness fell over her face. She worried about her, every hour, every minute and every second. She wondered if she and Gandalf were almost there. She wondered if she was even alive. "Just hold on, Ava", she whispered to herself.

"This is your room, my Lady."

The servant opened the door and led her inside, closing the door behind her. She took a moment to look around. It was a simple bedroom, with another door which probably led to the bathroom. She plumped down onto the bed, testing the softness of the matrass. Finally, she had some alone time. However, Emery wasn't capable of resting, her mind being tormented by thoughts and questions. She was in Rohan, the homeland of her real father. Yet, she didn't know his name. She didn't know anything about him; there were hundreds of Rohirrim men that had been killed during a war. Finding any information about that man would be like searching for a needle in a haystack. It'd be useless.

Not being able to find any rest, Emery stood up and walked towards the bath tub in the bathroom. She slipped out of her dress and sank down in the water. It was cold, and a depressed voice spoke in her mind, just like your heart. After her bath, she looked in the closet. To her surprise, there already were a few dresses hanging in it. She didn't know if she could wear it though, it wasn't her room after all. On the other hand, the King had seen her dress' state right? She sighed and looked at her dress. No, there was no way she could wear it in front of a king. Two kings, for God's sake. AND a prince. Emery grabbed the first dress she saw: it was a light dress, with white and green colors. She liked it, and lay it out on the bed. Even though she'd only lived here in Middle Earth for over a month, she understood the concept of simple. This dress was simple, though it definitely wouldn't be back home.

When she'd finally closed the back of the dress, she walked out of her room without knowing which way to go. She decided to just follow the hallway and she knew she was about to walk in the main hall when she heard the sound of loud chatter.

"If I had known you would come, Faramir, I would have let Éowyn know", she heard as she walked through the doors. The king looked up and smiled at the sight of Emery in the dress she was wearing. "That, in fact, is one of her dresses she had left behind." Emery blushed and looked down at the dress.

"I'm sorry," she said, "but my dress was so crippled and I saw those dresses hanging in the closet and, well, I don't have any other dresses since we had to pack lightly, so I thought maybe, perhaps, I could wear them so… I did…" she slowed down as she talked, then paused when she noticed the amusing smile of the men sitting at the table. "I'm rambling. Sorry…" Her apology was kind of a whisper and she looked away. No wonder; in this room were sitting two kings and a prince- all at one table. It made look like some nervous wreck, and maybe it was because of the fact that they were all incredibly handsome. Emery always found it hard to talk to the opposite sex. In high school, she only had girls as friends, idem ditto in college. In the 20 years of her existence, she only had one boyfriend, and their relation had lasted for a year. Cash had been the best boyfriend, but he went to Yale, and Emery stayed in Pensacola.

It was silent for a few seconds, but the King of Gondor saved her embarrassing downfall.

"Will you join us for dinner, Lady Emery?", Aragorn asked as he gestured to the table where loads of food was placed. Emery nodded and she walked to the table uncomfortably. She was suddenly very aware of the fact that she was the only girl, between Men, Hobbits, a Dwarf and an Elf.

For three days, all she had for breakfast was an apple. Now three days wasn't much, she could only imagine how the journey to Lórien would be. Gimli was the first one to grab a plate. And when the Hobbits took one as well, everyone began to eat. Emery was enjoying the pork when she felt eyes watching her eat the meat. She looked up to see Legolas diagonally across her, but he was already looking away. Normally, she didn't care if people saw her eating, but now she was incredibly self-conscious with every bite. It was annoying, all she wanted to do was eat. Not being stared at by an Elf while doing so.

Her stomach screamed for a second plate, but Emery knew better. The chatter had stopped for a brief moment as everyone was enjoying their food and wine. She cleared her throat and looked at King Éomer, sitting across her.

"My Lord," she said hesitating, not sure how to approach him, "sorry, but is there a library here?"

Éomer nodded as he took a moment to swallow the food. "Yes", he said and gave Emery the location. She thanked him, drank the last bit of her wine and excused herself. When she walked out the doors, she could hear the Dwarf saying surprised, "Did she really just drink one glass?"

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