Chapter 49

The next morning, Frodo was back in the Rohan throne room with the rest of the fellowship, waiting for the king's decision. For some reason, he was very nervous. Although the Hobbit had no idea of the impending danger, he knew they needed Rohan's help. Théoden let his eyes wander over the fellowship and the ring bearer became even more nervous. This waiting made him crazy. He wanted to continue to Mordor to destroy the ring because the darkness was slowly becoming too much for him.

"Rohan will support you," said the king, and Frodo exhaled in relief. He hadn't even noticed that he was holding his breath. The other hobbits returned his relieved look.

"Thank you, my old friend. Make your way to Mordor as soon as possible." Théoden nodded and said goodbye to the fellowship, which set off again for Mordor and Destiny Mountain. "Any news from the elves?", the wizard asked the prince who was walking next to Aragorn. The latter shook his head in frustration.

"No, but if they choose to help us, they will be there." Gimli snorted but luckily said nothing. "Are all elves good archers?", Pippin asked interested and Legolas laughed in response.

"Most of them do, yes, but we also have millennia to train it." Frodo smiled. That was probably true.

"Is it actually nice to be a prince?", was the little hobbit's next question. That was probably the wrong question because the ring bearer noticed that the archer winced and Aragorn put a hand comfortingly on his shoulder.

"No, my little friend. Quite the contrary. It can be an incredible burden if you have to lead your own warriors to war and see them eventually die. Since ... Since my brothers died, it's really no fun, I mean, I have never thought much of this prince thing and the last thing I wanted was to be king, so I was always happy to be the youngest, but after the death of my brothers, I am now the one who after the death of my father has to climb the throne. I am neither the typical prince nor the typical king and my father also knows that. That's why we often had quarreled. Because I'm more of a person who can't and doesn't want to tie myself into one place for long and as a king I have to." Frodo was really sorry for the beautiful warrior. It was not only that he somehow had to deal with the death of his brothers, no, but he should also at some point climb the throne even though the prince did not like it.

The next few hours passed in silence. "How long is it until Mordor?", Sam asked quietly at some point and the ring bearer realized that this was a good question.

"We'll be there by tomorrow night at the latest," Gandalf said, and the hobbit felt a cold shiver. So tomorrow would be serious. Suddenly Legolas stopped abruptly and the little creature almost ran against the elf.

"Legolas, what do you hear?", Aragorn asked worriedly and looked at his blonde friend. The archer's blue eyes were distant and his face was serious.

"Orcs." Frodo froze. Not even that. The last time they met these ugly creatures, they ended up in the hands of an insane elf. Aragorn immediately drew his sword and the others did the same. Legolas himself took up a bow and arrow and the ring bearer waited tensely for anything to happen. "Come, between the trees," Boromir whispered softly, pointing to the small forest in front of them. The fellowship started and while everyone else was hiding between the trees, the prince climbed up one. But Frodo was too nervous to notice.

At the next moment, there was an ugly roar and the hobbit trembled slightly. Hopefully everything went well this time.