The day passed in a stony sort of silence. Emily was unwilling to talk to the rest of the Fellowship as she still wasn't sure what exactly she'd done wrong and resented being scolded like a child while they all refused to so much as look at her. But why? It had only been a kiss. And not even a particularly steamy one; if she was honest, it had actually been rather tame, it wasn't like she'd frenched him or anything. The part of her that didn't feel rejected was actually kind of amused at his reaction, really. For all that he occasionally said shockingly provocative things, Boromir hadn't been nearly as skilled at kissing as she'd expected. Probably due to the fact that he hadn't even attempted to participate. She just couldn't understand why someone who claimed to have an interest in her would just freeze like that. She knew that her hygiene was lacking at the moment-what she wouldn't give for a tube of Colgate and a gallon of Listerine-but they were on a quest, damn it, and nobody's hygiene was exactly spiffy.

And then Aragorn, swooping in and scooping her up like she was a toddler about to stick a fork in an electric socket! That had been beyond unnecessary; in fact, it had been downright degrading. She knew that he'd appointed himself her surrogate father but even her actual father wouldn't have stopped her from kissing Boromir. Part of her wanted to turn her head and ask Aragorn just where he thought he had the right, but most of her knew that would be a terrible plan. As docile as the Man seemed most of the time, she knew that underneath that calm exterior was someone you didn't screw with and, as irritated as she was with him, he probably just as mad at her, if her memory of the shock, horror and anger in his grey eyes held true. And just below her indignation at the way the situation had been handled stirred a darker emotion: fear.

Even though she knew that none of the fellowship would ever harm her intentionally, she still couldn't shake the tightness in her chest as she anticipated a show of the irritation she could feel radiating off the Man on the horse behind her. As uncomfortable as having his chest rubbing the tender skin of her back was, she couldn't help but feel thankful that she didn't have to attempt to avoid looking him in the eyes and seeing his anger for certain. No matter how many times she reminded herself that she was safe with the Fellowship, she couldn't make her stomach stop doing flips at the knowledge that she'd upset at least two people while she was still completely unable to defend herself if they chose to show their displeasure. Not that she held any illusions that she'd have been able to on her best day.

From the moment she'd stepped out of that damned blue box she'd been dependent on them not getting fed up with her and leaving her in the middle of nowhere for the wolves, or wargs in this case. Nothing had changed now. That same sense of chivalry and honor that had made them let her tag-along when they hadn't known anything about her had kept her safe, even in light of her angering them, even without the relationships between them now. Nothing had changed. They were still the same people. But no matter how many times she reminded herself of that fact, she couldn't make herself believe it. As much as she wanted to believe that nothing had changed between them since the Uruks, she knew it wasn't true.

While they were closer now in some ways, there was also more distance in others. She hadn't missed their pitying glances, or the way they would withdraw if she jumped, or the loss of the easy teasing she'd once enjoyed with all of them. Even her banter with Boromir had a tension now that it never had before. She missed it. Part of her wondered if talking about her time with the Uruks would help, but she knew that this was neither the time nor the place. They had more important things to focus on than a debriefing. Like surviving the coming battle and finding the hobbits. She knew that she just needed to deal with her own issues and find a way to separate her fear from her treatment at the hands of the Uruks from the reality of her situation with the Fellowship. But knowing that intellectually and applying it were two totally different things. And with the irritation coming off Aragorn in waves, she couldn't keep herself from flinching every time his hands would move on the reins.

ooOOoo

It was again well after night had fallen when the Rohirrim stopped for the evening. And, though she had stopped jumping at every movement and her indignation had burned out somewhat over the course of the long day, Emily still wanted off the horse and away from Aragorn and the fellowship for a bit. So, when Legolas came and assisted Aragorn in removing her from the horse, she thanked him and started walking away from both the army and the small camp Gimli was making.

"Emily," Aragorn began, "we need-"

"I know," she cut him off, taking a deep breath attempting and failing to tamp back down the irritation that had rekindled with his tone before turning to face him. "I know I need to come over to the fire so that you can change my bandages and lecture me on appropriate behavior and tell me that I need to turn in so that I'm not cranky tomorrow. And if I tell you I'm not tired are you going to offer me a cup of warm milk and a bedtime story?"

"Pardon me?" He asked, unsure what those last things had to do with anything, or where her outburst had come from to begin with. Yes, he had been intending to change her dressings and speak with her, however only to attempt to ascertain why all his attempts at conversation during the day had been rebuffed. Discord within the company could not be allowed to remain and should be addressed before it became an impassable ravine.

"I'm not a child, Aragorn," she said, all of her feelings from earlier coming out now that there was a bit of space between them. "And I don't need you swooping in and scooping me up the second I make an adult decision."

"Every word from your mouth relays the opposite," He said coolly, knowing she was referring to her spectacle that morning. "An adult would have known that there is a time and place for such behaviors and that a field in full view of countless others is neither that time nor that place. Especially for a young woman and man who are not even betrothed, let alone wed."

"I . . . and you . . . and," with a sigh of disgust, she turned and began walking away.

"Emily," Legolas called, intending to call her back and continue their discussion on appropriate behavior for young ladies of breeding, especially as she was a representative of their entire race's female comportment, but was stopped by Aragorn's voice.

"Allow her to go," the Man said, shaking his head as she sank into the grass a short distance from them. "Allow her to consider the events of the day in private for a moment. Perhaps she will come to the conclusion we wish of her. If not, then there will be time to guide her later." He was not sure that allowing her time to think was the best course of action, however he had not missed how skittish she had been during the ride that day after their confrontation. Perhaps before the Uruks challenging her directly would have been the best decision but now his instincts were telling him that careful guidance would be more beneficial to them all in the end. She could be coached in appropriate behaviors without being made to feel fear. Thought it made his very being ache to believe that she feared them, they who had traveled and faced so many challenges together, there was no doubt in his mind that she did. Why else would she have held her tongue all day, she who was usually so brash, and waited until night had fallen and she was no longer near him to confront him? Shaking his head, he turned back towards the fire and began setting out the materials he would need to tend her wounds when she did return, as he had no doubt that she would.

OoOOoo

As the night grew later and Emily continued to remain away from the fellowship, Aragorn began to reconsider his decision. Just as he was moving to rise, Boromir walked past him. It seemed that the Man, too, had tired of her brooding. Content that Boromir could rectify the situation and defend himself from her advances, he turned back to Gimli, engaging the Dwarf in conversation about what he knew of volcanic stone. They were now less than two days ride from Orthanic and some vague plan on how to penetrate the outer ring was better than none, particularly as Gandalf was remaining obstinately silent on the matter.

Emily shook her head as she heard footsteps approaching. She had to give him credit, he was determined. Even so, she still didn't feel that she was calm enough to discuss the day's events rationally and she refused to give him another excuse to call her a child.

"Go away, Aragorn," she muttered, her tone terse. "I don't want to talk to you."

"Then perhaps it is good that I am not he," Boromir replied, a strange feeling welling within him when she started at his voice. "There are things we must discuss, you and I." She sighed, turning her head slightly and looking at him, her brown eyes filled with a somber emotion he couldn't quite place.

"What if I don't want to?" Emily asked, hating herself for the whine in her words.

"I fear things have progressed beyond the point where such a decision would be feasible," he said softly, coming to sit beside her with a sigh of his own. "Why do you . . . You waited until we had completed our traveling to confront Aragorn."

"I did," she agreed, knowing what he had meant but unwilling to let him off so easily. If he wanted to know, he'd have to ask.

"Was that due to them?" He spat the word like a curse leaving no doubt as to whom he was referring. Even so vague a reference was enough to send a stab of fear through her.

"Isn't everything?" Emily whispered, curling in on herself as the memory of them wrapped around her. She flinched as she felt a hand touch her arm and offered a sheepish smile to Boromir, hating the guilt she saw in his grey eyes.

"You have no need to fear us," he murmured, retracting his hand.

"I-I know," she said shakily. "I do," she repeated seeing his skepticism. "It's just . . . I know it was only a few days but . . . they were just so cruel. Most of the time I didn't do anything to deserve what they did. They did it just because I was there and they could."

"You never deserved their cruelty," Boromir argued gently. In response she laughed, a wet, mirthless sound.

"I did stab one of them," she offered with a wry smile, holding her hands aloft to show which act of cruelty she was referring to.

"A justified action, I am certain," Boromir said, shaking his head at how dire the situation must have been to drive the woman who had washed so furiously after her first battle to draw blood anew. "I know why you now fear us, however I assure you, Emily, no such actions on your part will be necessary as long as you travel us. No one will ever touch you again against your will as long as I draw breath. They may have taken your honor yet I will protect it as intact. Nothing you did was of your choosing. I have said before that I hold you blameless and-"

"Boromir," she cut him off as his speech became more rapid. She hadn't realized just how much what may have happened during her time with the Uruks had been bothering him. He'd been apologetic about his role in her capture, and sensitive about what she'd gone through but she hadn't realized he was tortured by the situation until that moment.

"Boromir, I wasn't. . . they didn't. . . no one touched me. At least not the way you mean," she breathed, unable to put more volume to such a violent thought.

"Then they did not . . . violate you?" He asked disbelief and an unasked question hanging in the air.

"No," she said taking a shuddering breath. "They . . .more than one wanted to but," she paused, a humorless laugh leaving her lips, "apparently they weren't "breeding stock" as their leader put it so he. . .I guess, in a way, he protected me. From that anyway."

"Why, then, did they break your hands?" He asked, hating to force her to relive her captivity but needing to know the reasoning behind the action if all of his assumptions had been wrong.

"I told you; I tried to escape and when I was captured I lashed out and stabbed the leader. He he broke them to . . .to prove a point. To me and the hobbits. I could see it in his eyes. And he did," she sobbed. "He proved that anything could happen to me that he would allow, and that my pain meant nothing to him."

Boromir was at a loss for words. He couldn't refute her statement and it was useless to confirm it. Nothing he could say could alleviate her sorrow, at least nothing she did not already know. Instead, he leaned forward, slowly as so not to startle her, and pressed a gentle kiss to her cheek.

"Why?" Emily asked, unsure what had prompted this sudden show of affection.

"I do no know that I need a particular reason, however, I was unable to uphold my end of our bargain this morning," he replied, sounding more than a bit defensive. "That is the kiss I owe you."

"That was a kiss?" She asked, fighting the urge to smack her own forehead. If that passed for a kiss here-a mere brush of lips against a cheek-no wonder they were so appalled this morning. Maybe she did have some apologizing to do.

"That was an appropriate kiss between a courting pair," Boromir agreed. Or cousins, parents, friends, strangers on the street, Emily's mind added snidly. Rather than voice that thought, she nodded.

"It's kind of cool tonight," she said, knowing they needed to return to camp but not wanting to say that she was done acting like a petulant child and ready yo be with the adults again.

"It is warm by the fire," Boromir replied, taking her elbow and helping her to rise before gaining his own feet. With it another word, the returned to the fellowship.

ooOOoo

Hello all. Yes, I'm still alive. I have a few excuses that are just that, excuses, one of which being this chapter did not want to be written, but I will not bore you with a list of them. All I can say is thank you to those of you who have stayed with me and that I understand that I may have lost many. Hopefully things will flow better from here,

Stickdonkeys