I'm so very sorry that I've not updated in forever and a half! It's getting close to the end and I have had to think about how to wrap everything up. It took me quite a while to get this chapter to how it is now, and I'd love to hear what you think of it. (hint hint)
There were voices nearby, but Alarain couldn't make out what they were saying in her half conscious state. They seemed to be talking about something of importance, for their voices were rushed and worried. After they ceased, she felt a hand slip into hers and heard a whisper. She didn't dare move for fear of feeling the pain of her wounds, so instead she just enjoyed the warm hand comforting her own and tried to fall asleep again.
What felt like only moments later, she woke again at the sound of a voice. "Aragorn, will you not rest? You've not had a moment of sleep for some time."
"No. I would not be able to." he whispered.
Footsteps sounded and another voice came. "Gandalf wishes for you to join him." the man said to Aragorn. "You as well Legolas."
Aragorn and Legolas are here. Who is the third voice? Boromir! That's who it is! Alarain felt a rush of relief knowing that Boromir did not die in the battle.
"Come Aragorn. I will watch over her for a while." Boromir said gently.
Alarain heard movement and then the warmth on her hand left as Aragorn rose. She heard him walk slowly out of the room and assumed that Legolas had followed, though the sound of his footfalls were much too quiet for her to hear. Boromir sat down in the chair beside her bed and sighed.
"I do hope you wake soon." he said quietly. Alarain groaned slightly at his words, trying to tell him that she was awake. He slid off the chair and crouched on the floor by her side.
"Can you hear me?" the man asked. Groaning again, she heard him snicker. "Well then you're most likely wanting me to just get on with it and tell you how our friends are."
Alarain nodded her head as best she could, but still kept her eyes closed as they were very tired.
"As I'm guessing you know, Aragorn and Legolas are fine, as am I. Gimli suffered no major wounds either. Gandalf, to no one's surprise, is in perfect health." Boromir said with a laugh. "Pippin is here and had no injuries, but Merry..." his voice faded. "Merry was hurt but he will be fine. Eowyn has the same condition as him. It is known as the Black Breath. Aragorn treated them both, and he said that they will recover." Boromir went silent for a moment, and Alarain could feel the worry radiating off him.
Forcing her eyes open, she whispered with a strained voice. "What's wrong?"
Boromir gaze snapped to her face and he frowned. "My father is dead."
Alarain's eyes widened. "How?" she asked quietly.
"He somehow knew of my new found loyalty for Aragorn. He thought that I had betrayed him and... he went mad." Reaching over, she rested her hand on his arm in a effort to comfort him. The movement made her shoulder ache, but she tried her best to ignore it.
"Osgiliath had been overrun by Sauron's orcs and my brother was ordered to retake it." he continued. "There was no way he and his men could have ever succeeded. They were outnumbered by too many and all were killed except for Faramir. My father thought he was dead, so he ordered his body burned."
Alarain gasped, but shut her mouth again to listen. "If not for a certain courageous hobbit named Pippin, I would have no brother." Boromir smiled slightly at his own words before he kept talking. "Pippin knew that Faramir was still alive and he risked his own life to find Gandalf in the middle of the fight. He and Gandalf galloped back to Faramir just in time. My father was about to burn not only his own son, but himself as well."
Now so focused on Boromir's story, Alarain didn't even notice when a woman came in to clean her wounds. Boromir kept talking, not only because he wasn't finished, but also to keep her mind off the pain of her injuries. "They could not stop my father when he set the oil soaked wood on fire, but Pippin rolled Faramir off and saved him." His face looked pained as he spoke. "I had just made my way to the seventh level when my father shot past me, completely engulfed in flames." Boromir paused. "He ran right off the tip of the city."
The healer had left and they both fell silent. "I'm so sorry Boromir." Alarain whispered, heart clenched in sadness for him.
"Thank you." he replied.
They were both silent for a while until a sharp bark sounded outside the door. Boromir rolled his eyes and Alarain's joy grew as the man rose and let a bouncing mutt into the room.
"Brenir." she smiled. The dog ran to the bedside and began to cover her face in big, wet licks as his half-tail spiraled out of control. Her smile suddenly disappeared when she saw the bright white bandage on one of his front legs.
"Don't worry yourself Alarain." Boromir soothed. "It is only a scratch he got from his adventure into the Paths of the Dead."
Alarain calmed but still sent her hound a dirty look for running off in the first place. "I was so worried about you Brenir. You are the stupidest dog I've ever known." she said, wincing as he nudged her arm.
"That's quite enough Brenir." Boromir said as he made the exuberant dog lie down. Then he turned back to Alarain. "Unless Aragorn was lying, Brenir is actually quite smart." Alarain raised an eyebrow in disbelief which made Boromir laugh. "The tunnels had begun to collapse and that is when Brenir found our friends and lead them out to safety."
"Really?" Alarain asked in wonder, looking over at the scruffy brown dog.
"Personally, I think that Aragorn may have been exaggerating for Brenir's sake." Boromir joked. Giggling, Alarain winced again. Her shoulder was all bandaged, but after the stab she had gotten, it still hurt. "You should rest. I'll let Aragorn know that you woke and are doing well."
"That is a matter of opinion." she said, letting out a pained sigh.
Boromir smiled and narrowed his eyes. "Sleep." he ordered gently before turning to exit the room.
"Wait." she said, stopping him. He looked back with expectant eyes and Alarain took a deep breath. "Theoden?"
His face fell. "I'm sorry Alarain. He fell in battle." At that, Boromir left her to her thoughts.
Alarain lay in silence, heart hurting from grief. Theoden King is dead, she thought as a tear escaped her eye. Eomer will be the king now. Alarain laughed slightly, remembering the punch he had received from her. Thank goodness he wasn't the king then.
She looked over to see that Brenir had fallen asleep and remembered Boromir's order. Closing her weary eyes, she carefully turned on her side and after a moment, slipped into a dream.
It was not a peaceful dream as it was mostly filled with images of dead soldiers from the battlefield. The faces soon faded though, and her world was filled with darkness. She was startled when a white hand print flashed in the black. Her heart pounded and she tried to run, but there was no escape. The hand print flashed over and over again, growing closer and faster.
Alarain suddenly shot up in her bed and let out a gasp as she wrenched her shoulder. Immediately, strong arms were helping her back down and she glanced up to see Aragorn giving her a worried look.
She let out a whimper as her wound stung and Aragorn whispered some elvish words. It calmed her heart and she let him check her shoulder.
"It's alright." he said quietly.
Alarain moaned. "It doesn't feel alright." she grumbled.
"I know, but it will soon." the man soothed, smiling slightly at her attitude.
Aragorn was kneeling on the floor beside her and as she looked over to him, she spoke. "How long have you been here?"
"All night. Why?"
She ignored his question and looked to the window. It was dark, but slowly growing lighter as morning came. "It had been light out when Boromir was here. How long did I sleep?"
"It was late morning when you awoke." he answered. "You've been asleep all day and night."
Blinking, Alarain shook her head to clear it. "My dream didn't seem very long."
Aragorn looked at her curiously. "What was it about?" he asked.
She stayed silent for a moment and Aragorn waited patiently. Taking a deep breath, she relayed what she had seen and he looked thoughtful. "Now that we are reunited with Gandalf, he may have some answers for you." he said. "I'll send for him once the sun has come up."
Nodding, Alarain stayed quiet as Aragorn watched her. She moved her gaze to his and tilted her head. He smiled slowly and Alarain rolled her eyes. "What?" she asked.
He laughed quietly. "I missed you." he whispered, a grin still present on his face.
Alarain glanced away as her heart skipped. His hand came over and brushed her cheek. Pulling her face to his again, he leaned forward. Suddenly, a thought struck her. Aragorn is here, which means he's probably going to take his place as the King of Gondor. How do I fit into that? All of a sudden, she panicked and pushed him away, pulling herself out of his hands.
Aragorn stared at her, mouth open as if to speak and eyes full of hurt and confusion. Alarain stared right back, worry and guilt in her eyes. A look of understanding came over his face and he broke eye contact. Closing his mouth, he looked down at the floor.
"I'll go fetch Gandalf." he said quietly, getting to his feet and walking in a trance to the door.
She almost stopped him until realizing that she didn't know what to say. Aragorn left quietly and she closed her eyes. What have I done?
Only moments later, the wizard entered. "Alarain." he smiled. "It is so very nice to see your face after so many bothersome lords."
Alarain barely smiled at his words and he caught it right away. Figuring he'd stay out of the business between her and Aragorn, he pretended not to have noticed and sat down with a sigh.
"Now." he began. "I understand you want answers." She turned her gaze to him and nodded. He returned the nod and stroked his beard in thought, watching her carefully with narrowed eyes. "Let me see your arm."
She brought her sleeve up over the mark and he reached over. Running his fingers across the white skin, he began muttering to himself. "Well..." he mumbled before speaking normally again. "It seems to my old eyes, that when Saruman put this here, he poured a little of himself in with it."
Alarain scrunched up her nose in confusion and slight disgust.
"Not really himself, but some of his power." Gandalf explained, raising his eyebrows at her expression. "You see, that is how he contacted you in your head. He cannot do that with just anyone. He needed some of his magic on your end to help." Nodding in slight understanding, Alarain asked him to continue. "What he wasn't expecting, was that you would be able to take control of the magic he had put in you. And when he died, I believe that more of his power found it's way to your body."
"Then why does it bubble sometimes?" she asked, interrupting the wizard. much to his annoyance.
"I was getting to that you impatient girl." he grumbled, a hint of a smile on his face. She shut her mouth and he continued. "You don't have experience with this kind of power, so you have to keep it under control. It will test you once in a while, which is why it appears to be bubbling like boiling water. Also, if you are very angry at any time and don't have it completely under your control, it may test you then as well."
"That's what happened when I punched Eomer!" she exclaimed, smiling at the fact that she finally knew the cause of her bubbling arm.
Gandalf stared at her. "You what?"
Alarain slapped her hand over her mouth and sent him a sheepish smile. "I... uh..."
"Never mind." he said, shaking his head. "Now, it seems that you can keep it under control, which is good. It also seems that you can control it enough to actually use it. You must be very careful though." he warned. "If it were to take over, there could be disastrous consequences." Sitting back, he sighed. "Now that you have your answers, I must go. These people need someone telling them what to do or they end up like ants who don't know where their nest is." the wizard grumbled, getting up and sending her a wink.
"Good luck then Gandalf." she smiled.
"And the same to you." Gandalf said as he went to the door. "Don't get into any trouble." he ordered, exiting the room.
What does he think I am? A hobbit? Alarain giggled at the joke and snuggled back into the blankets. Her limbs felt heavy all of a sudden and her eyelids blinked closed. She felt Brenir wiggle the bed when he jumped up as she began falling into a deep sleep once more. "I'll think over my problems tomorrow." she mumbled to herself.
