All the King's Horses II

Legolas looked over at the lone woman who rode between Gandalf and Boromir as a slight frown adorned his brow.

He had awoken to see her standing a ways from their small camp around dawn just before the sun would begin its ascent into the sky with a raven perched on her left arm and its head inclined to listen to her as she had spoken to it before the scavenger had been lightly tossed into the air, giving a caw before it flew off towards the northeast. Since then he had kept the question in the back of his mind and knew she must have seen or felt something to have sent off a messenger without their knowledge of it.

He said nothing of it and only kept her in his sight as he had been doing for as far back as he could remember…

"Edoras, and the Golden Hall of Meduseld," Gandalf announced, pulling the ellon from his thoughts, as they stood yards before the tall gates of the named city that seemed to blend in to the greenish-gold covered hills of the land. "There dwells Théoden, King of Rohan, whose mind is overthrown." He added rather grimly.

Boromir briefly looked to the wizard, "If his mind is poisoned as Éomer said, then it will not be an easy task to free him." He observed.

Gandalf nodded slightly at his point and added to them all, "Do not look for welcome here."

Eäriel only scoffed at the notion of being welcomed by the folk they were obviously sent to try and help, following his lead into the city.

oO0Oo

They were let in without questioning; she refrained from wrinkling her nose at immediately sensing the hold Saruman had on Edoras as it seemed to permeate the air like the stink of death. Her ears twitched as, between Gandalf's lead with Legolas and Gimli behind her, she noted the folk that caught sight of their odd group of six were donned in black. It must've been a member of the royal house who passed on if there was this much black… She frowned softly in a measure of confusion and sympathy for the horse-folk.

"You'd find more cheer in a graveyard…" Gimli grumbled behind her.

Letting the stable hands take their horses when they at last reached the Golden Hall, the six then ascended the stairwell that led up to the grand doors of the hall with Gandalf leaning onto both Eäriel's offered arm and his staff. The doors opened for a redhead warden to greet the six when they reached the top of the steps; Gandalf sported a feigned-polite smile to the warden as if to speak on the behalf of his otherwise-quiet companions.

"I cannot allow you before Théoden-King so heavily-armed, Gandalf Greyhame… By order of Grima Wormtongue." The warden said plainly although his lip slightly curled at mention of the man who had issued his orders.

'Do not look for welcome… or courtesy', the she-elf thought with an inward scoff as, with reluctance, the six then removed their weapons from their persons to offer to the warden's men who took said belongings. She looked down at her bow for a moment before handing it to one stern-faced warden with a blasé expression on her face, and she glanced at the wizard as the warden asked for his tall staff.

Gandalf huffed slightly, "You wouldn't part an old man from his walking stick, would you?" He wondered, receiving a reluctant passage from the warden who let them enter the hall, and he held to the she-elf's arm plus his staff once again as they stepped inside.

If one didn't feel the hold the other wizard had on the Golden Hall before, then now it was certainly unbearable, but that would soon pass.

Sitting upon an ornate throne chair clad in oversized furs, grizzled white hair and wrinkles was Théoden-King. He looked to be a century at the very least, decrepit and withering like an autumn leaf, and she believed it would take a miracle for him to stand to his feet.

Her sharp eyes beheld a pasty man at his left and a bristle rose up her spine as she noted the air of a snake the apparent advisor held.

"The courtesy of your hall has lessened of late, Théoden-King." Gandalf declared.

The king stiffly lifted his head and greeted in a raspy voice, "Why should I incline a welcome to you, Gandalf Storm-crow?"

Eäriel glanced to the far right when catching movement and noted a huddled group of men as greasy as the apparent snake in the room; she itched to withdraw one of her blades but instead steeled herself to the decrepit state of the esteemed king.

"This sorcerer has chosen an inconvenient time to appear before our king." The snake in question claimed as he was the voice for the indisposed man, stepping away from the king's right side to approach the wizard. "I call you Lathspell, for ill news is an ill guest…!"

"Silence, keep your forked tongue behind your teeth." Gandalf silenced him, the niceness he had tried to extend however vainly fleeing to be replaced with a stern tone, adding, "I didn't pass through fire and death to be belittled by a witless worm." He raised his staff and caused the snake to stiffen at his threat.

The earlier tension that had been electric was nearly tangible now as Grima looked vainly past the Istari, "the staff, I told you to seize the wizard's staff!" He exclaimed as his men surged upon the five.

Two of the greasy brutes lunged at the lone woman only for the first to be kicked hard in the groin and sent reeling away.

She caught the second man's raised fist in one hand and used her free hand to slam home as she sent him to the floor with a broken nose. A bristle rose up her spine as she firstly sensed the semi-electric charge of Gandalf's magic as he stepped up to the possessed king and secondly because one tall man fisted a hand in her cloak's hood to restrain her.

A reflexive growl escaped her throat as Eäriel sharply headbutted him in the face and hooked her right leg with his right heel and jerked him to the cold floor with a muffled 'thud'. She panted slightly and caught movement from the side near one of the pillars as Grima sought to slip away into the shadows; she snarled as she threw her left dagger towards him, watching with a satisfied smirk as he was immediately pinned to the pillar by her blade caught in his cloak's lapel. She looked at Gandalf as he stopped shy of the throne and commanded the king harken to him, a slight shiver crawling down her arms when Théoden began laughing coldly at the wizard's efforts.

"You have no power here, Gandalf the Grey." The king declared.

Gandalf said nothing and instead removed the gray cloak from his shoulders as the exertion of his powers, and the elleth bit back a shiver at sensing the electric tension emanating from Gandalf and Saruman as the former's magic felt free and calming whereas the latter's magic reminded her of a thick coating of mud and grime.

"If I go, Théoden dies!" Saruman's voice reminded grimly as it came from the king's mouth.

Gandalf only raised his staff more pointedly and made the puppet recoil from his magic, "You didn't kill me, Saruman, and you won't kill him." He gave a grunt of exertion as Saruman sought to lunge at him and he sent the king back to his throne chair.

The dark hold Saruman had cast over the hall faded away less than seconds later as the king's subjects waited with baited breath for their leader to return to his senses.

Théoden gave a weary groan and fell forward, nearly hitting the floor of the throne if a blonde maiden in white didn't catch him. His decrepit and aged appearance then fell away from him, his tangled and white hair changing to a golden blonde hue and the color returned to his face, his aged eyes shifting to a blue hue; he blinked once before his gaze settled on the blonde woman before him whose green eyes held tears. "I know your face… Eowyn." He said quietly in relief and surprise, watching her pale face brighten with a smile, and he looked away from her to the wizard in white who stood before him. "Gandalf…?"

"Breathe the free air again, my friend." Gandalf smiled as well.

an: i am soo sorry for not updating this, guys! i have school going on atm and i've been dabbling here and there in different fandoms.. anyway, so what lies next for our heroes? only time will tell! :)