Hey guys so I tried to add a bit more Aragorn and Peyson stuff here for you as I know there wasn't much in the last chapter and I know I have left you on a cliff hanger here but I promise to update as soon as possible and well lets just say whatever happens it will be an ending I hope you are all happy with.
Three hours later I find myself by the tree of Gondor, I had grown up hearing stories about this place this tree and for a moment I am transported back to being a child, sitting on the hill behind my house with my mother and father after a day's training and listening to them tell me tales of Gondor and the great city of Minis Tirith and the heir that would make the tree bloom again. I give a little giggle out loud as I think about how much my life has changed. I was fighting for real, in a war that would decide the fate of the entire world and standing beside me in that fight was the man whom I loved and he loved me too. The future king of Gondor loved me and I him, a village girl, it was absurd. For a moment I feel panic overcome me as I wonder how the people would react to me, whether Aragorn would leave me to become king and chose another queen but then I smile again, in all likelihood we would not survive our trip to Mordor so there was not much point in worrying about it really.
"Hello little one I have been looking for you," I turn and smile up at Aragorn as he comes to stand beside me.
"Hello," I reply before looking at him more closely, "you look worried," I add and he sighs heavily before sitting down beside me.
"I wish you would not go," he says in barely a whisper and it is my own turn to sigh slightly as I get that familiar feeling of de ja vu over this conversation.
"It is unlikely that we shall survive this trip indeed we go merely to offer ourselves as a distraction," I start before he cuts in.
"Exactly, you should stay here where you shall be safe," he says turning to face me and his eyes are so tormented that I rest my hand against his cheek without thinking, withdrawing it a moment later when I hear people rushing past us.
"Aragorn…" I break off for a moment while I try to formulate my thoughts into words that make sense, "If we win this war and I have stayed behind and you do not come back I would not want to live, if we lose the war and I had stayed behind I would soon be killed anyway, or far worse. I have chosen to stand by you and fight by your side since the beginning, I vowed to protect Frodo and I will stand by that vow, both of them. Do not push me away when I need you so much, if I am to die I shall do it by your side," I finish and he stares at me for a long time before offering me a wry smile.
"I knew you would say something like that and I am glad you have for I would not go through this without you either, does that make me a terrible person?" he replies.
"No," I say smiling at him, "it makes you human and I am glad you want me with you as I want you with me all the time and I sometimes feel that you would be perfectly fine without me whilst I would cease to function,"
"Never underestimate how much I need you, I love you Peyson please do not forget that," he says almost severely as he turns to face me and I nod not really knowing how to respond.
"My lord it is time for us to leave," the soldier says as he clears his throat uncomfortably and I stand up slowly trying my best to hide my stinging back from either of them, the last thing I need is to be forced to stay because of an old injury. Which yes okay may be becoming slightly infected but that is hardly important when we stand on the edge of the battle of our lives is it?
It is less than two days ride later and we are on the outskirts of Mordor, it is funny how every stretch of this journey has seemed to last forever and yet when we are on our way to almost certain death it takes us no time at all to reach our destination.
"Do you think we will die here Peyson?" Pippin asks from beside me and I look down into his wide terrified eyes where he sits behind Gandalf and smile despite my own anticipation.
"No I do not think so but I know that we will be helping Frodo and that is a thought that warms my heart," I reply.
"Well spoken my friend you will make a truly great Queen," Haldir's voice sounds from beside me and I feel myself blush a little as I look over at him.
"I do not think that will ever come to pass," I whisper to him and he just stares back at me an expression that terrifies me and fills me with pride that he respects me enough not to lie to me at the same time.
"Come," Gandalf commands when we have stood a while with nothing happening and Aragorn, Pippin, Merry, Gandalf, Legolas, Gimli, Haldir, Eomer and myself urge our steeds into a canter and soon find ourselves gazing up at the black gates of Mordor from just metres away. I busied myself appraising the gates so that I would not have to think about what lay behind them, or the fact that Frodo and Sam were facing it alone.
"At last," a voice grows softly beside me and I glance at Gimli in confusion before the noise of the gate opening alerts me to what he had been speaking of.
I shall never forget the creature that walked slowly towards us atop a black, snorting and dangerous looking horse. I have never before seen anything so ugly or evil looking. A great mouth, if it could be called that, more a rip across flesh that revealed sharp and jagged teeth. Skin sallow and grey and no other feature visible for they were hidden beneath the helmet it wore.
"Gandalf Greyhame," it hisses and the sound causes my blood to run cold in my veins visions of fire, and the eye filling my mind. Waves of pain and darkness wash over me as I somehow manage to sit still and silent during the exchange and I am vaguely aware of what is being said, of Frodo's Mithreil vest being presented but I can't seem to formulate a thought or voice to comment. Just when Aragorn beheads the creature and I see Merry and Pippin's face's screwed up in anguish the pounding in my head becomes so strong that I close my eyes for a second and when I open them I am on the other side of the gates and there are thousands of orc's everywhere. Stretching out in every direction is a sea of black evil and I can feel fear but it is not my own. I stare wildly around in search of any sign and suddenly I see two very small Orc's crawling away from the crowd towards the mountain and my heart sings for joy, they are alive still. I blink again to clear the tears in my eyes and I am back in front of the gates with the fellowship looking at me strangely.
"They are alive," I breathe and Merry and Pippin smile,
"I knew it," they both say.
"I did not believe he could be dead," Aragorn says quietly smiling softly at me a gesture I quickly return as he offers me a comfort I could not afford to dismiss in this moment.
"It is true then," Haldir says in a voice that is full of an emotion I would almost call wonder and I look at him in confusion.
"What?" I ask and Legolas suddenly laughs which makes me stare it him in open concern.
"You have the sight my friend, it is a gift from the Valar that few receive and even fewer who are not of the Eldar receive," he explains and I am about to ask him to explain what he means and how he knows when the gates begin to open again and we are racing back to our army.
"Hold your ground! Hold your ground! Sons of Gondor, of Rohan, my brothers, I see in your eyes the same fear that would take the heart of me. A day may come when the courage of men fails, when we forsake our friends and break all bonds of fellowship, but it is not this day. An hour of wolves and shattered shields, when the age of men comes crashing down, but it is not this day! This day we fight! By all that you hold dear on this good Earth, I bid you stand, Men of the West! This day does not belong to one Man, But to All. Let us together rebuild this World. That we may share in the Days of Peace…" As Aragorn finishes speaking he is breathing heavily and so am I, I have never felt prouder of him and I have never been more in love with him that I am right now and as he catches my eye I know that he reads it in my expression and I very nearly start laughing as I see a tiny blush stain his cheeks.
"I love you," I murmur as he steps nearer and we both ready our weapons, him his sword and me my bow.
"Be careful my love I will not survive this without you," he replies and I nod at him willing myself not to show him how afraid I am.
"I'll see you when it's over," I reply instead and he looks almost alarmed at this.
"You do not leave our sight," he says so fiercely I almost flinch and I just nod before I hear the crunch of thousands of footsteps the ground trembling beneath my feet and looking up I see that our army looks pitiful in comparison to this onslaught we would not live of that I was certain and so I close my eyes and pray to the Valar that our deaths would be quick and painless, that Frodo would complete his mission that if anyone had to die I would not outlive my fellowship… my family.
"For Frodo," The cry comes from Aragorn and by the time I open my eyes he is already nearly one hundred metres ahead of me and now Merry and Pippin and crying out and charging too so I take a deep breath, latch my bow to my back again and draw out my sword, trying not to think about the pain in my back as I do so and I charge too.
As soon as I clash swords with the first enemy I meet I know I am in trouble. It takes seconds for us to be surrounded and for me to lose sight of the other members of the fellowship and I am already exhausted. A sudden blow to my right side knocks me clean off my feet and I crash to the ground unable to prevent a cry of pain escaping me as I hit my back, which I am by now certain is opened again and probably infected. Scrambling to my feet I see the Orc crash to the floor in front of me a very familiar arrow in its head but before I can find and thank Legolas I am forced to deflect another blow and am back in battle. I fight for what feels like ever, everything becomes numb as I concentrate on survival and despite the chaos around me I feel almost calm as I go through the motions. Block, parry, kill, parry, block, attack, kill, behead, sidestep, block… I am just feeling like I have found my rhythm and may survive this yet when a great roar echoes in my ears and I pause for long enough to look up, see the enormous troll with Aragorn about to be crushed by its foot and then I am hit so hard by something that my helmet is torn clean off my head and I am thrown at least ten feet to the side. For a moment everything is hazy and then a fiery pain spreads through me so quickly that I can do nothing other than scream as I flail uselessly about trying to move my right arm which has suddenly become immobile.
"The master wants you alive," a voice snarls and a cold panic unlike anything I have ever felt before grips me. The pain in my back and my shoulder is so intense that I could not move if I had wanted to and when it leans down and picks me up I feel my entire world go black around the edges for a second and shift completely out of focus.
I have no idea what is going on as I hear the thunderous crash, the creature carrying me pausing even as we stand in the middle of my army, the cheering, the screaming the pain.
"Help… Aragorn… Somebody help me please," I have never been more desperate, never felt more out of control as the monster grips me tighter forcing another yelp of pain from me and then he is on the ground and I am being pulled away and oh Valar the pain.
"Peyson, Peyson talk to me," I would recognise that voice anywhere and I want to sob with relief that he is okay but I am struggling to form a single word.
"What is happening?" I manage eventually,
"It is over my love, it is over and we have won," he says and I can feel his fingers are trembling as they brush against my skin.
"I love you," I say, my voice sounding thick to my own ears and I can feel something sticky on my face.
"I love you, my beautiful, brave warrior, my little one," he whispers back to me and I try to smile but can't quite manage it.
"What of the others?" I ask,
"They are all well, Gandalf has taken the eagles to get Frodo and Sam," and I do manage a tiny smile at this despite the pain I feel as it pulls at wounds I did not know I had.
"That is good, we helped then," I say and I can feel the tiredness creeping over me, a bone aching tiredness that makes it nearly impossible to keep my eyes open despite my longing to look into his beautiful grey eyes.
"We shall meet them back at Rivendell," he replies shifting my weight slightly and I am surprised to see that he is carrying me and that I am too tired to even scream at the pain this movement causes.
"I am not sure I will make it there my love I think this time I am done," I say in a voice so thin I am not sure he will hear it but my eyes are already closed and I clan feel the darkness creeping over me like a warm blanket on a cold night. I have a vague notion of a scream but I am not sure whose it is and of wetness on my face but the darkness is everywhere now and I can't shut it out any longer.