A/N: Hello, everyone, how's everything going? New chapter is up! Our heroes are leaving Edoras and enjoy a few moments of happiness during the journey.

SmellofRoses- Thanks a lot, my friend :) I'm glad you liked the previous chapter, no matter what the reason is :)

Gotta Dance 88- Hannon le for both of your reviews. Yep, underestimating a woman is definitely very dangerous *evil laughter* I also love girl talk, especially during school trips, there we can talk for hours. Oh, well, it's about time for Elrond to be convinced that his decision to allow Sunglee to fight was the right one.

Stella-of-the-Stars- Don't feel bad for not reviewing, it's ok :D I am really happy you enjoyed this chapter a lot. Yeah, that's one of the reason I like Eowyn as a character, she's a fighter, although Theoden doesn't agree with that. To be honest, I got the idea of the vision with Sunglee's daughter from a dream I had. By the way, don't you also agree that Legolas will be a perfect daddy?

Disclaimer: No, I don't own LOTR, only the characters I create.

After Gandalf's departure, Aragorn stayed in the stables of Meduseld, lost in his thoughts, trying to gain hope. In a sudden, two men came in, holding with ropes a beautiful horse with dark brown fur. It was rearing and was very upset. Aragorn saw Eowyn looking after her own horse, but with her eyes focused on the distressed one. He felt sorry for it and wondered what was wrong with it. He walked towards the two men, who were trying with great difficulty to calm the animal down.

'That horse is half mad, my lord' one of them said. 'There is nothing you can do. Leave him'

But Aragorn was not willing to leave this poor horse in his torment. He quietly approached it and placed his palm on the horse's nose.

'Fæste, stille nu, fæste, stille nu. Lac is drefed, gefrægon' he mumbled. To the guards' surprise, the horse calmed a little down. Aragorn, smiling, took away one of his ropes and stroke him.

'Hwæt nemnad de? Hm? Hwæt nemnad de?' he asked the horse.

'His name is Brego' Eowyn answered sharply. 'He was my cousin's horse'

Aragorn nodded to thank her and then turned towards the horse again.

'Brego' he whispered the name with pride. 'Din nama is cynglic'

The lady of Rohan walked to them, not believing what she was seeing. Since Theodred's death, Brego was not letting anyone to touch him and now he was as calm as before thanks to a stranger.

'Man le trasta, Brego?' Man cenich?' Aragorn's voice was low and kind, to not scare Brego again, and all the time he was stroking him.

Eowyn gasped. This man was talking to horses as if they were human beings and equal with them. Maybe this was the reason Brego was influenced so much by him.

'I have heard of the magic of the Elves' she said impressed 'but I did not look for it in a Ranger from the North. You speak as one of their own'

'I was raised in Rivendell for a time' Aragorn explained and his mind travelled to the carefree moments of the past, when he was playing with Arwen and Sunglee before everything changed. 'Turn this fellow free. He has seen enough of war'

He took his saddle and was about to leave, but a neigh coming from Aliyana's box stopped him. Sunglee's horse had also become restless and was moving her head around, as if she wanted to run away. Aragorn caressed the mare and she, like Brego, relaxed at once.

'Peace, Aliyana, peace. Everything will be well. You will come out of here very soon'

In the Golden Hall, people were carrying chests away. Sunglee, prepared for the journey and wearing her tunic again, was waiting for Eowyn. She had promised to show her a few things about sword fighting before their departure.

At that moment, her friend came in and the two maidens smiled at each other.

'Are you ready for the journey?' Eowyn asked. 'I have to warn you that it is very long'

'Do not worry, Eowyn, I am used to it' Sunglee laughed.

'I am happy to hear that, for there is fear that dangers are lurking for us'

Then Eowyn opened a chest, lifted out two swords, unsheathed them and gave the one to Sunglee, who felt again the determination to fight until the very end.

'So' Eowyn started 'the most vulnerable part of your body is your chest. Therefore, you should hold your sword in front of it and move it according to your enemy's intentions. If the sword is very heavy to you, do not be afraid to hold it with both of your hands'

Sunglee followed Eowyn's instructions. She smiled satisfied.

'Very good. A way to train is to imagine you have an enemy in front of you. Why do you not try to swip with it?'

Eowyn explained to her how to move and the Rivendell princess did as she was told. Although the bow was still her preference, for it was lighter and she could kill enemies from a long distance, she was grateful to Eowyn for this useful lesson. Soon, Eowyn joined her in practice, but as they turned, the blade of Eowyn's sword met Aragorn's knife. Sunglee left a small gasp.

'Aragorn!' she exclaimed. 'You scared us, we did not hear you coming! Eowyn was teaching me how to fight with a sword'

'Yes, I saw that' the Ranger replied. 'You have some skill with the blade' he added, looking to Eowyn, who returned the gaze, before swinging her sword swiftly, releasing it from the knife and putting both hers and Sunglee's away.

'Women of this country learned long ago that those without swords can still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain' she said.

'What do you fear, my lady?' Aragorn asked with concern, making Theoden's niece to turn to him, her expression being serious.

'A cage' she admitted. 'To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them. And all chase of valor has gone beyond recall or desire'

Sunglee smiled sadly, thinking that she was feeling the same. She remembered how she was begging her father to let her join the Fellowship, his negative answer and how, after days and nights of sorrow and pain, he was forced to make up his mind. She wanted to say something to comfort her, but Aragorn was faster, proving, with his words, how worthy he was for the title of king.

'You are a daughter of kings, a shieldmaiden of Rohan. I do not think that would be your fate.

One hour later, the habitants of Rohan left through the city gates, building a long line of men, women and children. They were led by Theoden and his guards, while Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Sunglee were also at the head. The day was clear, which was both positive and negative, for it was making their path easier, but the danger of being spotted by spies was bigger. They were all looking around and only Gimli was in a good mood.

Three hours later, they had reached an area with lakes. Although most of them were tired, Theoden had explained that they would soon rest, but had to move on. Sunglee had dismounted Aliyana and was holding her from the reins, as Freda, her brother Eothain and another girl were sitting on the horse's back. Legolas was walking next to the she-elf, laughing with the fact that Sunglee had taken sword fighting lessons.

'Would you be so kind to tell me why you are laughing, my Prince?' Sunglee asked, pretending to sound insulted, but with a mocking tone obvious in her voice.

'Because I had thought that nothing would step between archery and you, my lady' Legolas replied. 'Do you not remember your teacher's first instruction when you started archery training?'

'Of course I remember. Always stay focused on the weapon you can handle best. But I do not think it is bad that I wanted to learn some things. Unless...' at that point Sunglee made a dramatic pause 'unless you are jealous because you wish to be my only teacher' And with that she started laughing so hard, that Aliyana's reins almost slipped from her hands.

'Naturally I am not jealous!' now it was Legolas's turn to pretend to be offended 'I only do not want to lose you from my side during the battles, at the archers' post'

'As for that, I can promise you that you will never lose me, even if you wished to' Sunglee said seriously, caressing his shoulder. Legolas smiled to her, happy she was with him.

'Your horse is very calm, my lady' Freda told Sunglee, with her hand running through the mare's mane. 'What is her name?'

'Aliyana' Sunglee replied. 'Do you know what that name means, Freda?'

'I am afraid I do not, my lady' the little girl shook her head.

'It means "beautiful lady"'

'Oh!' laughed Freda. 'Well, she is beautiful indeed'

'As is her rider. And I am referring to both of you' Legolas added sweetly, winning a wide smile from Sunglee and Freda.

A little further, Gimli was riding Arod, who was led by Eowyn, Aragorn riding Brego next to them. The Dwarf, trying to impress the young woman, was telling her stories about the life of his kin.

'It is true, you do not see many dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance that they are often mistaken for dwarf men'

Eowyn smiled and turned towards Aragorn, who gestured to an imaginary beard on his chin. Eowyn grinned slyly and looked back to Gimli.

'This, in turn' he continued 'has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women and that Dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground…'

Eowyn, Sunglee and Legolas started laughing hysterically, so loud, that Aragorn could not hold back a smile.

'Please, Master Dwarf' he said to Gimli 'do not tell us all this at once, otherwise we will lose our ladies and our Elf from laughing before we arrive at Helms Deep'

'…which is, of course, ridiculous' Gimli went on, ignoring the interruption.

'Of course' Legolas commented sarcastically, taking deep breaths to calm down.

Suddenly Arod galloped off, throwing Gimli to the ground, which caused a new explosion of laughter from Eowyn and Sunglee. Legolas, managing to keep his temper this time, ran and caught Arod, while Eowyn was helping Gimli to stand on his feet. But then Aliyana started neighing, but it was not a neigh warning them for unpleasant surprises. It was sounding cheerful.

'You must not have a reason to complain about, Gimli' Sunglee giggled. 'Even the horses find you entertaining'

Elvish words/phrases used:

Fæste, stille nu, fæste, stille nu. Lac is drefed, gefrægon- Fast, be quiet now, fast, be quiet now. A battle is stirred up, they heard.

Hwæt nemnad de? Hm? Hwæt nemnad de?- What is your name? Hm? What is your name?

Din nama is cynglic- Your name is kingly

Man le trasta, Brego?' Man cenich?- What troubles you, Brego? What did you see?

A/N: Alright, mellon nins, that was it for now. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Tomorrow I will not update, because I'll go to the cinema with some friends, but the day after tomorrow, I promise I'll write a new chapter.