"Hey you!" I called to Legolas. He was sitting outside the smithy tying feathers to a new stack of arrows. I sat down beside him. "I need your help."

"How can I be of assistance, my lady?"

"Well, first of all you can just call me Rachel. Enough with the 'my lady' stuff."

"As you wish."

"Second, I need you to give me some lessons."

He notices my hand on the hilt of my sword. "I thought the Lady Eowyn was giving you lessons?"

"Yeah, well Theoden has her running errands all over the Hornburg. And after Aragorn, she's not really in the mood. Plus, I need someone who will push me."

"I was also was under the impression the king had asked you to look after the women and children if we were ever to go to battle."

"That's not untrue, but I'm declining. I'm not gonna be stuck in the caves when this place is attacked."

He grins. "You seem so certain that we will be attacked." He pauses before looking up into my face. "You are certain."

I consider denying it, like Gandalf told me too, but I have a feeling that the Elf will understand the bare minimum. "If I tell you something, will you promise not to ask how I know it?" He nods. "Ten thousand Uruk-hai are going to march from Isengard to here within the next few days."

"Ten thousand?" he asks. "That is too great a number."

"I promise you, it's happening. I'm exactly sure when, but they're on their way."

"I'm still not sure I understand, Rachel," Legolas says. "You have very little battle training. Surely you would rather be safe than in the thick of battle."

"I understand what you're saying, but waiting below for an army that may or may not breach the wall is not the kind of person I am. I would rather put myself into the situation than be forced into it. And trust me, I know a bit about being forced into unfortunate situations."

The Elf gives me another long, hard look before standing. "Grab your sword. It is early in the day. We should get to work."

Four hours later, I'm sore, I'm sweaty, and I'm super hungry, but I keep going. I was right about Legolas. He pushes me much harder than Eowyn, but not hard enough.

"You should take a break," he says, parrying yet another one of my thrusts.

"I'm fine," I say, setting myself up for an attack.

He attempts to disarm me, but I manage to avoid it, taking the attack stance again. "Very good," he praises. "But you are human, not Elfkind like me. You need to rest. Only with patience, as well as persistence will you become a sword-master."

I jab forward and he maneuvers. "I told you, I'm fine."

He makes to disarm me again and he actually manages it this time, my sword flying from my hand and his blade at my throat. "It you were fine, you would have been able to avoid that. Take a break, get some water." He lowers the blade. "Patience and persistence," he says again.

I sigh, going to pick up my sword and sheathing it. I make to walk over to the well of water, but a woman, maybe five years older than me stands closer to me, handing me a goblet. "For you, my lady," she says.

I smile as I take the goblet, draining the room-temperature water fast. I didn't realize how thirsty I was.

"If I may say, my lady, you are very brave to learn the ways of men."

I do a take-back. "The ways of men?" I ask. "I'm sure Eowyn would skewer you alive if she heard you say that."

"The lady Eowyn is a Noblewoman. She knows not the hardships of the common-folk…Not that Lady Eowyn is in anyway disrespectful to her people."

I smile. "What's your name?"

"Maywen, Daughter of Mayon, my lady."

"Maywen, do you want to learn how to fight?"

"I have four children, my lady, and I would do everything I could to learn how to keep them safe."

"Are there other women here who share your opinions?"

"Oh, yes. There are many."

"I've got an idea. Can you get them hear within the hour?"

"Surely, my lady."

"Awesome, I'll be right back." I make to leave before turning back to her. "And Maywen, just call me Rachel. I'm no Noblewoman."

I leave the training grounds and spot Gimli at the base. "You have quite the gathering at your practice, lass," he says to me.

"What are you talking about?"

"You must have been too engrossed with the Elf to notice. Many of the commoners came to watch you practice. They are most impressed."

"Oh, well thanks. That's nice of them. Gimli, have you seen Eowyn."

"Aye, she is in the caves. The lady mourns for Aragorn, something I've noticed you haven't been doing."

That's because I know he's not dead. But I don't say this to Gimli. "I'm going to do something I think he'd appreciate."

"And that would be?"

"Come into the training circle in an hour. You'll see."

Eowyn was indeed in the caves, slashing her sword expertly through a barrel of horse hay.

"Careful, or it'll fight back," I say, startling her. She almost drops her sword. "You alright?"

"I keep thinking he'll come through the gates any moment," she says. "Did you know him long?"

"Aragorn?" I asks. "Kind of."

"Why have you come here?"

"I have this idea, and I think you're gonna like it." As I explain, her eyes grow from sad to excited with every word.

Legolas was completely on board. I wasn't sure if he would be, but as it turns out, he loved the idea.

"Okay," I call out to the group of about fifty women in front of me. "You all know why you're here. I know most of you will want to learn sword-fighting, but it takes more than mere hours to achieve mastery. That's not what we're gonna go for. Lady Eowyn will instruct you on basic footwork and defense skills. Legolas and I will instruct you in archery. It won't help you very much in close range, but will help you long enough here at the Hornburg. Let's get going!"

There are indeed about fifty women. We divide them into sections. One for Eowyn to teach them skills with the sword and one for Legolas and myself apiece, to teach bow and arrow. A remaining fourth group works on crafting enough bows for all of these new fighters. We have the groups rotate every hour.

I'm amazed at what I've been able to do. This certainly doesn't happen in the movie or the books, but it definitely should have. I lead my rotating groups though the basics of battle archery, like Legolas had been teaching me. It reminded me so much of working at camp, I was getting a little nostalgic.

As night starts to fall, I notice Theoden enter the edge of the circle, giving me the foulest of looks. "Come here this instant!" he calls to me. I pull my bow around my body as I jog over to him. This can't be good. "Just what do you think you are doing?"

"You had fifty strong citizens who wanted to learn how to fight. So I'm supplying them with the knowledge."

"You dare do this behind my back? And you involve my niece!"

"Yes, I did. My lord, there is nothing wrong here. If these women want to fight, why would you tell them to stay behind?"

"Who will watch their children when they're in battle?"

"Not all of the women are here, only the ones who choose to be. There are plenty of elders to watch the younger children."

"We have armies, Lady Rachel. You would bring in these unpracticed armatures—,"

"But they're not unpracticed!" I yell at him. He glares me down. "All of these women have a right to do as they please and no life is more valuable than another."

"You are naive. You have not seen battle."

"But they have. These women stood by, helpless as their homes and lives were destroyed by the Wildmen. Why would you deny them that chance?"

"Uncle," Eowyn says, stepping forward. "You would not have me face my greatest fear."

"And what is that, child?"

"A cage," she answers. "To sit behind bars until use and old age accept them and all chance of valor has gone beyond call or desire."

The king looks at his niece, a sadness in his eyes. "Please, my lord," I beg. "Do not deny these women the chance to protect their children."

He looks out at his people for a long time until…"Proceed," he says. I let out a sigh of relief as the women behind me express their joy. "Come with me," the king tells me, and I follow his away from my students' ears. "This is the second time you have embarrassed me in front of my people. I can promise you there will not be a third. You may continue with your antics. I told you before that you were unwise. My opinion remains the same."

"Good thing it's just your opinion, then," I snap, earning another one of his dark looks. "Good evening, my lord."

Three days later, their reflexes are better. Their arms are stronger. They can go longer and harder without break. In the evenings, Legolas gives me private lessons of the sword. With every swing, I know I'm improving. I was worried that Eowyn would be mad that I decided to take lessons from Legolas over her, but she wasn't in the slightest. In fact, she would often watch us in the evenings, picking up her own sword and trying some of the moves he taught me.

Afterwards I would go to the chambers that Eowyn and I shared and bathe. The clothes she had given me in Edoras were not suited for fighting, which Maywen had noticed by the second day. And this morning she had supplied me with a pair of leather trousers and a loose-fitting, long sleeved shirt. I wore the brown vest Eowyn had given me over it and the boots she had also given me. I honestly didn't look that bad. But every night I would sleep in the clothes I had come here in. My khakis and purple tank-top. It was like I could go to sleep and I would be back in my apartment in a regular bed, if only just for a moment.

During training on the second day, Theoden came to visit. I had learned by now that if he wanted to speak to you, he would stare you down until you came over to where he was standing. And that is what I did that morning.

"Your band of rebels seems to be doing well," he says to me.

"They're not rebels, sire," I countered. "Just mothers and sisters who want to protect their families."

"Very well. I came here because there's someone you and your Elf friend might like to see up at the front gate."

My eyes widened. "Finally," I mumbled. "Legolas, we're taking a break!" I called over to him. He looked confused, but nodded none the less. He handed the lesson over to one of the men who had decided to help us. The Rohirim were reluctant at first to let their daughters and wives learn to fight, but as families they all had decided that it was the right thing to do.

"What is it?" Legolas asked, jogging over to me.

I smiled. "An old friend of ours is back."

He understood immediately and we moved quickly to the front gate. "You don't seem too surprised," he says to me as we walk.

"Neither do you," I counter, which shuts him up.

Luckily we didn't even have to walk all the way to the gate. Aragorn was near the smithy. Legolas reaches him first, extending his hand to his friend's shoulder and greeting him in Sindarin. Then in English, says "You look terrible,"

This was accurate. In person, Aragorn looks much more beat up than he did on a screen. There are bloody gashes all over his body that had torn through his clothes and scabbed over nastily. His hair hung from his head in sweaty locks. I figured with a good shower, he'd look much better. Legolas hands Aragorn the Evenstar necklace and Aragorn thanks him.

Aragorn notices me next. "I hear you've been busy, my friend."

"Did Theoden tell you?"

"Gimli. And he is most impressed. Though he also informs me that the king is not."

"Well, you and I both know what's marching from Isengard," I say, making his eyes widen. "So Theoden will have to get used to the idea."

"How did you know of the Uruk-hai?" he asks.

"I told her," Legolas says, surprising me. "They are not far, I can see them coming."

Instantly, Aragorn looks more at ease. "We are lucky that you are here, mellon." Then the ranger turns to me. "We should speak to the king. But after, I want to see your progress."

I nod and Legolas and I follow him to the throne room. Of course, Theoden already knew Aragorn had arrived, but he still had not heard the news of the Uruk-hai army. I stand beside Legolas as he explains. Gimli shows up too, not the least surprised at Aragorn's news. He must have already told him.

"A great host, you say?" Theoden asks.

"All of Isengard is emptied."

"How many?"

"Ten thousand strong at least."

Theoden turns to the ranger, a look of astonishment on his face. "Ten thousand?"

"It is an army bread for a single purpose. To destroy the world of men. They will be here by nightfall."

"Let them come," Theoden says. Then he turns to me. "I want to see the training you've been doing. Perhaps there is a benefit to what you have been doing."

I lead the king and my friends to the practice circle. Eowyn is still there, guiding sword lessons with a few of the other male soldiers. Then she notices Aragorn and drops her sword, running into his arms. I guess I did nothing to change that plot-line. Aragorn is freaking handsome, after all.

Theoden smiles at his niece before turning back to me. "How much have you been able to teach them?"

"More than the small boys you would have fight in their stead," I counter. "You have thirty boys who can hold swords below in the caves with the women and children if the Uruks breach the wall. All fifty of these women are ready to fight alongside your men, my lord."

"They can all handle a sword?"

"And a bow and arrow."

The king nods. "Very well." He turns to the exit, but not before saying. "You may teach me something yet, Rachel, Daughter of John."

Theoden leads Aragorn, Gimli, Legolas, and myself through to the front gate. Eowyn stayed behind to tell the women of their upcoming battle.

At the gate, Theoden tells us of his plan. "We will cover the causeway and the gate from above. No army has ever breached the deeping wall or set foot inside the Hornburg.

"This is no rabble of mindless Orcs," Gimli says from the doorway. "These are Uruk-hai. Their armor is thick and their shields broad."

"I have fought many wars, Master Dwarf," the king says. "I know how to defend my own keep."

Theoden leads us upon the top of the wall. "They will break upon this fortress like water on rock. Saruman's hordes will pillage and burn. We've seen it before. Crops can be re-sewn. Homes rebuilt. Within these walls, we will outlast them."

"They do not come to destroy Rohan's crops or villages, they come to destroy its people, down to the last child," Aragorn tells him.

"What would you have me do?" Theoden asks, pulling him closer. "Look at my men. Their courage hangs by a thread. They are depending on their wives in this battle. If this is to be out end, then I would have them make such an end as to be worthy of remembrance."

"Send out riders, my lord. You must call for aid."

"And who will come? Elves? Dwarves? Girls who train other girls against my will? The old alliances are dead. We are not so lucky in our friends as you."

"Gondor will answer."

"Gondor?" The king spits out. "Where was Gondor when the Westfold fell? Where was Gondor when our enemies closed in around us? Where was Gon—," Theoden sputters off. "No my Lord Aragorn. We are alone."

And he walks away, giving orders to his men. I look up at the sky as a massive horde of crows flows overhead. No, not crows. Crebine from Dundland.

Saruman watches us struggle to fight his armies.

A/N: Alright, a bit of a longer chapter, but it is my favorite so far! I'm absolutely loving where things are headed. As always, send me a review. Really love what you guys are saying about the story!