The Wild Westfold
By: Lauthica Green Clinkenbeard
Chapter Ten: Third in Command
Legolas defeated me fifty eight to two. We both returned to Meduseld at the first crack of sunlight that morning. There was much to do this day. My arm was sore from the consistent pulling of the bowstring. It had been a long time since I used a bow and Legolas had the string drawn very tight. He was a great deal stronger than me by far. I did not go directly to Eomer's room. I stopped at the kitchen first. I was very happy to find that the servants that returned had not only cleaned it to perfection, but there were already two husky, older women hard at work for breakfast. One of them noticed me enter.
"What can I do you for? It's not yet time for breakfast." She said.
"I do not intend to dine with the rest of the hall this morning so I was hoping for a loaf of bread and maybe an apple or two." I said.
"You'll find the apples in the barrel in the drink well just over there. The bread I'm afraid I cannot do. I am far too busy to whip up a loaf just for you. Who are you anyway? I have not seen your face around here before. You're not a leftover of that snake Grima are you?" she asked.
"Absolutely not! My name is Deya." I said. The woman's eyes widened.
"Deya? That scrawny little brat they brought in half dead eleven years ago? Good lord, you have certainly blossomed indeed." She said.
"Have I met you before?" I asked.
"I am Eohides. You didn't recognize me?" she asked. I dare not answer that question. Now that she had said her name I did recognize the facial features but this Eohides looked as if she had devoured the Eohides of old.
"I am sorry. Those days were short and now far away." I said. "Would I be allowed to bake my own loaf?" I asked.
"Be my guest, child. If you think you'll have the time, give us a hand with all this while you're at it and I'll let you part with a nice big block of cheese as well." She said.
I smiled and rolled up my sleeves. I quickly found the flour and started to mix it with the rest of the ingredients. I ladled out a bit of yeast from their mother bucket sitting in the window and added that last. I kneaded the loaf and then inserted it into the oven. I also added a few more logs to the fire under the bricks.
I went to Eohides side and helped her cut slices from the salted pork hock they brought in from the pantry. She tossed them into a skillet over the fire pit and then started cracking eggs fresh from that very morning into the pork.
"The milk is in that tub by the door there. Take four goblets full and pour it into that kettle by the cutting board." She commanded. I did as she said. I knew she was making porridge when I saw the bag of meal sitting by the cutting board. I went ahead and added two goblets full of meal to the milk and I went over to hang it on the hook over the fire.
"I'm impressed. You know what you're doing. I'll give you that." She said. I checked the loaf in the oven. It was started to brown. The other woman called me over to help her take down hocks and other strips of dried, smoked meat from the pantry. We packed them up into huge baskets just outside the door and then started to pack up flour, meal, potatoes, salt, spices, and lard into crates and baskets.
Thanks to my help breakfast was finished and ready to serve within two hours. The sunlight was now much brighter and a couple of other servants had come into the kitchen as well. I took the loaf of bread, two apples, cheese, and a large slice of salted pork; Eohides had given me it in exchange for my efforts, back to Eomer's room. Freda was awake and she was sitting in a chair by the window. She had Eomer's sketchbook with the green binding in her hands and she was looking through the pictures. I smiled at her.
"Eat up, Freda." I said as I set the tray of food on the table. I took an apple for myself and a chunk of bread. Freda came over and tore into the salted pork and cheese. I gathered up all the dirty clothes from their pile by the door. I put them into a basket I found stashed in the corner that had handles on it to be able to be carried on one's back. I looked back to Freda.
"I am going to wash these quickly. Your dress is in here too. I will be back soon. When you are done go ahead and wash up and brush out your hair." I said.
"Yes, Drega." She said in between bites. I put the basket on my back and then headed back out into the hall. I nearly bumped into Gamling in the archway to the mead hall.
"Excuse me, my lady." He said bowing his head then he saw it was me, "Oh, Deya. I was just coming to talk to you." He said.
"I am sorry Gamling, but I want to get these washed before the city makes for Helm's Deep." I said. He looked over my shoulder to the basket.
"Where are you going to wash them? We have a launder room." He said.
"A launder room?" I asked. I had never heard of a launder room. Not even in my old house or the house of Lord Mekastre.
"Yes, it is on the other side of the hall through the other archway and all the way down." He said pointing to the archway.
"Thank you Gamling." I said and I started to walk toward the archway.
"Wait, my lady." He said, "Hama will begin to make the public announcement in the hour. He wanted you to join him so you may depart and travel with his wife and children."
I stopped for a moment. "Tell Hama that I appreciate his offer, but I would like to join the king and party to depart."
"Yes, my lady." He said and he nodded and walked back toward the front doors. I entered the hall through the archway and found the launder room. It wasn't as spectacular as I had thought. There was a large well in the corner by another door to the outside. There were several huge, wooden tubs that lined both walls. There were no servants in the room. They must have done all the laundry on their return and had no need to report for work today if the king was leaving Meduseld.
I separated the clothes on the table in the middle of the room. I lit a fire under one of the tubs. I found a bar of lye in a barrel in the corner and a wash pan. When the water bubbled I broke up the bar of lye and added it in. I added one bundle of clothes in and started to use the wooden mallet attached to the tub to stir them around and pound out the clothes. At the bottom of the tub. I added another bar of soap and repeated the stirring and the pounding. I lifted the clothes out one by one and tossed them into the tub of cold water. I attached the wash pan to the side of the tub and started to scrub and rinse the articles. When they were done I put them on the press by the back door and rung them out. Then I added the next batch of clothes to the boiling, soapy tub.
My arms and shoulders were on fire when I was finallys finished. I returned back to Eomer's room. Freda was now looking through the sketch book. I hung up her dress and a couple of my own things next to the fire. The rest of the clothes I hung over the rafters of the ceiling. Freda's dress dried very quickly being so small. I dressed her and took her back to the mead hall where she met up with Eothain. Théoden was standing next to the fire pit talking to Gamling and Hama. Hama saw me and motioned for me to come over.
"Have you made the announcement yet?" I asked him.
"Two of the other guards have just left to start at the houses by the main gate of the city. I will wait a bit and then start right outside of Meduseld." He said.
"How much time before Meduseld departs?" I asked. Théoden looked at me.
"Will you be departing with my party?" he asked. I was a little taken back by his answer.
"I am a resident of Meduseld am I not?" I asked him.
"Yes, but you were never my guest. You were Hama's." he said sternly.
My eyes widened in shocked. Had Théoden always seen me as such since he was freed from Saruman? Was I only a pest in his house? I looked away from him, hurt. Théoden realized that I was upset by his words and he sighed.
"Leave us a moment." He said to Gamling and Hama. They walked back to the front door. "Come Deya, walk with me." He said and he held out his arm." I took it and he led me out one of the side doors of the mead hall. The side door opened up to the tall, stone ledge that surrounded Meduseld. The ledge looked out upon the entire hill and the plains. It was windy but the fresh air was nice after being cooped up in the steamy launder room.
"Eleven years ago you could not get away fast enough from my house." He said looking out onto the plains. "Now, you don't want to leave." He said looking down at me. I took my arm from his and I got down on one knee in my most polite and respectful kneels.
"King Théoden, I was foolish and rash in my actions. I did not think of the consequences of my actions. I beg your forgiveness." I said.
Théoden laughed, "You never cease to amaze me, child. One minute you are a picture of formality and charm, and the next you stealing horses and beating my guests in the gut!"
"Did the horse not return?" I asked. Théoden's laughter deepened.
"You fret for the horse! Even now? Child…." He said and he rested his hand on my shoulder. "I think now I should tell you about the day you fled. When Eomer….."
"I don't want to hear about Eomer's despair again, Théoden King. I have already heard this story from Eowyn." I said. He raised an eyebrow.
"Eomer's despair? What do you speak of?" he asked. My eyes widened. He had not noticed as Eowyn had. He did not know about Eomer and my…whatever it was that we had…or have.
"Nothing, forgive me. I did not sleep well and my mind is playing tricks on me." I said quickly.
"When Eomer came to me and told me that you wanted to tell your mother about the events of your father yourself, I said no. I told him that I wanted you to become a shield maiden like Eowyn and become a ward of Meduseld. When he came back and said that you were gone I was furious. I thought of you as nothing more than a spoiled, ungrateful brat."
"I am so sorry Théoden King!" I said looking down.
"Will you stop apologizing for two minutes so I may finish my explanation? For goodness sake stop kneeling I am not a god!" he said and gestured me to rise to my feet. I did, but I did not look him in the eye.
"Whispers of your outburst on Aragorn have reached me. You faced many hardships and in my opinion…."
Here it comes. He is going to make me follow behind everyone and shovel the horse droppings.
"….fleeing from Edoras was one of the best things you could have done."
I stared up at him and my mouth opened in utter shock. He laughed again at my reaction.
"You may not see it, Deya, but you have grown stronger in more than just physique. You have, how did you put it? Face the consequences of your actions and you have emerged enlightened and a better person." He said.
"Can you then re-instate my title?" I asked.
"That, I cannot. The original title that you had was through blood from your great grandfather Rendwulf. Title is passed down the paternal line. Your title would have changed should you have married a nobleman. I can declare you as a royal shield maiden of Meduseld." He said. I thought for a moment. Royal shield maiden, basically a ward of the king. That would make me relation to Eomer….I couldn't have that.
"No, Théoden King." I said.
"I am confused, you asked for a title and then deny the highest honor I can give?" he asked.
"I do not want honor and glory. I want to be distinguished as a noble, nothing more." I said.
"The only way for you to do would be to marry a nobleman." He said.
"No!" I said quickly. He gave me a look and I feared he would have me arrested any moment for insanity. But I could not tell him the truth. I could not tell him of my affection toward Eomer and of my nightmare. "How does a man become a nobleman in the first place?" I asked.
"Through decorated military service, unquestioned loyalty to Rohan, and….servitude to one's lord and one's king." He said...
"Can I have your word on that, my lord?" I asked.
"Of course. Those are even the same words on the paper of the title." He said.
"I have a proposal for you then. I have already served Lord Mekastre for near ten years, I have proven my loyalty to Rohan for my heroic actions in the Westfold. I made sure Lord Mekastre escaped before I ever attempted to flee. If you would only let me participate in…."
"Absolutely not!" he said sternly. "You are a young woman! You must be protected, not thrown out into the abyss of war!"
"I am a young woman, but I have no family, no friends, no…."
"You said you had a friend! You said you had a friend named Morwen!" he said quickly.
"Morwen has no idea who I really am. All she knows is a lie. What kind of friend is that? Eleven years ago you asked me why I wanted to travel north. I didn't answer. I will answer you now. I wanted to join the elves. I have skills with a sword and spear. I have skills with a bow. I am very strong and I can hold my own. I brought a full grown and experienced ranger to his knees. Let me become a member of the Edoras guard." I said and stared him square in the eye. He knew I was serious. He sighed and thought about it for a moment. He nodded toward me.
"You win" he said. I will inform Hama and Gamling. You will be third in command of the Edoras defense under them. I will take care of the rest. Go and gather your things. We depart shortly. I am going to linger a moment. Arguing with you as exhausted me and I need fresh air." He said but he smiled as he said it. I smiled back, but instead of kneeling I gave him a great big bear hug.
"Thank you!" I said. He looked surprised at first but he hug me back. I dashed back into Meduseld. I ran through the mead hall and down the hallway nearly knocking over a servant. I took down my dresses from the fireplace and threw them into a crate. I picked up Eomer's book with the green binding and packed it as well as one of his larger shirts into the crate. I then reached for my dagger and a great wave of panic spread over me. I had no sword, and even with the gold coins Lord Mekastre gave me I could not buy a decent one. I would not settle for a rusty, old either. How could I serve and protect the king with a tiny dagger?
There was a knock at the door. I went over and opened it.
"Are you mad?" Hama asked. He had a large box under his arm. "I was about to start making my half of the announcements when Théoden came to me and told me he had appointed a third in command of the Edoras defense. I thought to myself, 'Wonderful! Now Gamling and I can ease the work load a little bit.' I asked him 'Who is he?' foolishly and when he told me it was you I felt all the blood drain from my face and I felt as if I would defecate that very moment!" he said sternly. I couldn't help but chuckle at his choice of words.
"Is it such a burden, Hama?" I asked. "To have one more good solider watch your back?" Hama rolled his eyes and sighed.
"Here" He said and held out the box that was under his arm. "Théoden told me to fetch it from his chambers and give it to you." He said. "I need to go make that announcement. When you are ready meet me outside by the stables." He said and he left. I returned to the room and opened the box. I nearly dropped it. Inside was an amazingly beautiful and intricately decorated leather breastplate. What was more shocking was that it was clearly made to be worn by a woman. I quickly took off the tan chemise and put on my clean white one. I choose the brown, wool dress to wear so it would complement the deep, brown leather of the breastplate. I braided my hair and then twisted it and wrapped it around my head and pinned it so it was all up out of my face. I untied the billowy part of the sleeves of the dress so that they would not get in my way. I put on the breastplate and secured the straps on both sides. Under the breastplate were matching shoulder guards. I quickly strapped them on as well.
I thought the box was empty, but it was still very heavy when I lifted it up. There was an indention at one end of the box that was strange. I pulled on it and revealed a false bottom. I gasped when I pulled out my father's ancient sword. I had thought he was buried with it, but traitors are burned instead. I attached the sword to the lower belt of the breastplate and grabbed my crate. I stopped at the door to look back into the room. I may never see this room again. I may never see Edoras again. I may never see Eomer again, but I am doing this for him. I must earn back my nobility. I will not tear Eomer from his destiny. I will not force him to live out his life in a barn in the middle of nowhere.