The riders didn't know what to do with this strange woman. She didn't seem dangerous, she was small and unarmed, but in these dark times no one could be trusted. She had been brought here by some kind of strange magic, people don't just appear out of thin air, and she said something about a wizard, which the people of Rohan were inclined to distrust. She could be a spy for the enemy or a wielder of dark magic.
Still, she was a woman and she was injured. She was also dressed oddly; she was wearing pants, like a man, made out of a strange material the riders had never seen before. She was wearing a strange tunic with a hood, also made out of strange materials and colors. It had "USC" printed on; the men didn't know what to make of that. It looked quite thin and worn. They decided to wrap her head wound and lay her on a bedroll, they gave her a blanket and one of the younger riders was assigned to keep watch over her. They would treat her with decency, but they would be careful until they were assured she was not a threat.
Eomer gathered his most trusted riders to discuss what to do next. Cedric, his right-hand man and best friend, suggested that she be brought to King Theoden in Edoras. "The king should know of this intruder and decide her fate."
Another rider, Eadgar, cut in, "if we bring her to Edoras it will be trouble for all of us. The king is highly suspicious and he has that rat, Grima, at his side at all hours. He will banish us for not executing her on the spot."
"So, is that what you suggest Eadgar? That we execute her?" Eomer barked.
"It is not ideal," Eadgar grimaced, "but it is the simplest solution, and she is trespassing."
"We can't kill an innocent woman," a man named Declan cut in.
"We don't know that she's innocent!" Eadgar retorted.
"We can take her to the border and release her," Cedric cut in.
"That would be the same as killing her," Eomer said, "she won't last a day on her own, she'll be killed by wargs if she's lucky, or taken by orcs if she's not."
"Well, my lord, what is your suggestion?" Cedric questioned.
Before Eomer had a chance to voice his thoughts, which was that he had no idea what to do with her, another intruder interrupted their discussion.
"You seem to have something I have misplaced," a tall man with greying hair and greyer robes said. The riders, or Eored as their group is properly called, drew their swords to fend off the intruder.
"What are you doing in our lands Gandalf the Grey?"
"Ah, Eomer, I am glad you found her and not some other enemy. Thank you for keeping her safe," Gandalf gestured to the sleeping woman.
Eomer did not lower his sword, "what do you want with her?"
"This young lady is very important to Middle Earth, the fate of the war against Sauron rests in her hands. I got word that the enemy was after her so I decided to bring her here where she could be protected," he replied calmly, as if he hadn't just declared that the future of their world was in the hands of a young woman whose head barely reached their shoulders. "It would have been better to wait until I was in Rivendell but, alas, there was not time. Unfortunately, I miscalculated when I tried to transport her, poor girl was moving very quickly in some kind of magic carriage, I meant to drop her next to me but as you know I did not. I am glad you found her and not some evil creatures, if you'll place her in my cart, I can be on my way."
Eomer was torn, giving the woman to the wizard would solve their problem by getting her out of Rohan. However, Eomer didn't trust the grey wizard and he felt strangely bound to protect this woman who had fallen into his care. And, most importantly, if this woman was as important to the war as the wizard claimed, she would not be safe riding in his cart with the worn old pony and only himself to protect her. He voiced his last two concerns aloud.
"Ah well you see, there's nothing for it, she needs to be taken somewhere safe, I'll have to take her myself, unless you plan to escort us?" Gandalf was being facetious, he knew the Eored would never do this, they were bound to protect Rohan, not go traipsing around foreign lands protecting strangers.
It was Eomer who spoke up, "she can stay in Aldburg, we will keep her safe."
Cedric cut in, "I do not think that is wise, my lord, she is a foreigner in our land, people will ask questions."
The group was interrupted once again by the young rider who had been assigned to guard the woman, from across the clearing they heard him call, "she's waking!" And she was, they could hear her moan once again and sit up. She was still struggling, but seemed more coherent than she had been when she first fell into their campsite.
"Ah my dear! I am glad you have woken, we must get going soon and it will be much easier to travel now that you are conscious."
The rider assisted the woman as she walked towards their group, "I thought I was having a strange dream, but I'm still here," she sounded distressed.
"Yes, I'm sorry I could not explain before I brought you here, but time was of the essence."
"YOU?! What the hell man?! You have to send me back!"
"I'm afraid I cannot, it is too risky, you are in grave danger."
"Well, no shit! You dropped me into a fictional world with dragons and monsters and giant spiders!"
"There are evil beings who are after you, you are important to them, I had to bring you here where I can protect you."
"You're Gandalf aren't you?"
"Yes," he said suspiciously, "how do you know my name?"
"You look like Ian McKellen, and you're wearing his hat. What do you mean I'm important? I'm just a rando undergrad from LA?"
"Sauron is searching for the one ring to bring him back to power. If he succeeds, he will bring terror on Middle Earth. There is a prophecy, it has named you as one who can turn the tide in favor of Sauron or who can bring about his defeat. If Sauron gets his hands on you, he will try to use you to win this war, or he will kill you to prevent you from interfering. I cannot say more."
"Yeah, Frodo's ring, I've seen the movies. There's nothing in them about me though and I am definitely not supposed to be here."
"How do you know about Frodo?" Gandalf grabbed her hand and pulled her close, a panicked look in his eyes.
"Hey, let go! You're hurting me!" Emma yelled.
Eomer stepped in front of Emma and glared at Gandalf, "let the lady go." Gandalf did so, he took a breath and calmed down.
"You know more than you should," he told her.
"Look, I've seen the movies but I haven't read the books and honestly I've forgotten a lot of stuff so if you're trying to get me to tell you how it ends I might fudge the story a bit. Plus, there's the whole butterfly effect thing, I could be fucking everything up just by being here. If this is all real somehow, you have to send me back."
"Answer my question," Gandalf asked, "how do you know about Frodo."
"Where I'm from this is all just a story, okay? You're not real, Middle Earth isn't real, it's fiction!"
"I assure you Lady Emma, it is not fiction. Your knowledge could destroy everything, you must not share what you know."
"Great! Send me home and I'll keep my mouth shut."
"You cannot go home, Sauron will send his servants after you. We must hide you somewhere and keep you safe. You must come with me to Rivendell."
"I get to meet the hot elves? But isn't Rivendell, like, really far from here?"
"It is a long journey, we must get moving."
"You cannot take her Gandalf," Eomer interfered again, "Sauron could intercept her out in the open, you cannot fight off his armies on your own. Besides," he looked her up and down, eyeing her head wound and lack of muscle tone, "she does not look fit to make the journey."
"Hey, excuse you I happen to be in peak physical condition!" (She was lying, she hadn't been to the gym in way longer than she cared to admit.)
"Well Eomer, I ask you once again, what is your plan?"
"She stays in Aldburg, we will keep her safe there."
"How will you explain her presence?" Eomer was quiet, thinking of a plausible story.
"She is from Bree, it is far enough that the people of Rohan will not know that her strange manners and speech are not the custom there. (Emma began to protest but was shushed by Gandalf). You will have to act like a lady," he gave her a strong glare, "no profanity, and we'll have to get you more appropriate clothes. She was travelling to Gondor with her family to start a new life, they were attacked by Orcs and we saved her, we were too late to save her parents. I have invited her to take shelter in my home in Aldburg until she is able to continue her journey." Eomer seemed pleased with his plan.
"It is unseemly for you to live with an unmarried woman in the great hall. The people will talk, and we can't draw attention to her situation." Gandalf pointed out.
"The people of Rohan understand these are dangerous times, I am simply giving sanctuary to a destitute traveler."
"I am not destitute!"
"She can be a servant at the hall," Eadgar offered, "it would not be strange for her to live among the servants and make herself useful." Emma suspected that Eadgar didn't like her very much.
"That's not a bad idea," Cedric stated, "what are your skills my lady?"
"Skills? Umm, I'm a pretty good driver, I'm excellent at fantasy football, I have a decent singing voice," her voice tapered off when she saw the men's exasperated stares.
"None of these things are useful," Eadgar said.
"Okay! Okay! Let me think...I'm pre-med, I did some EMT training so I know some first aid and basic medical stuff, stitches and what-not."
"A healer? That could be useful," Cedric gave a small smile.
"Right, and I read pretty fast, I was decent at math and umm...that's about it unless you count my awesome Just Dance skills...which I guess you don't," she said as she saw the men frown once again.
"You know how to read?" Eomer said, surprised.
"Well, yeah. Most people do, right?"
"Not here, my lady, it is very strange." Cedric said, "especially for a woman."
"Well that's not very progressive of you," she huffed.
"And math? You know numbers?" Cedric asked. Emma nodded. "So, you are a lady."
"What do you mean 'a lady'? I mean, my grandma would definitely tell you I am not lady-like."
"Only a lady would have such skills," Declan jumped in. "You could tell people she is noble-born. That would explain why she is not living in the servants' quarters. She can help with the accounts and in the healing house, there are more men being injured on patrol and old Madge can't keep up with all the work herself."
"That is not a terrible plan," Cedric offered.
"I think you would be safer with the elves in Rivendell, my lady," Gandalf tried once again.
"Are you suggesting my Eored is incapable of guarding one woman?!" Eomer was offended.
"I am not, but you must know that things in Rohan have been dire as of late." Gandalf replied, "there is much distrust in this part of the world right now, your people will not treat her kindly."
"They will do as I say," Eomer puffed out his chest.
"Do I get to decide anything, or are you cavemen uninterested in a woman's opinion?" Emma remarked sarcastically.
All the men turned to her, "it is not your place to decide this," Eomer looked stared down at her.
Emma was livid, "it's my life! It is entirely my place to decide this!"
"Not if the future of my country is in the balance!" Eomer roared.
Emma glared at him, "I'm not afraid of you just because you take too many 'roids."
Gandalf broke in, "do you know how to ride?"
Emma turned to him, "no."
"What about fight, do you know how to wield a weapon?"
"No."
"Do you know how to hunt? Or build a fire?"
"No."
"Are you a fast runner?"
"...no..." Emma was not liking the direction of this conversation.
"I am afraid you may be right Eomer, she would not survive the journey."
Eomer smirked at Emma. She wanted to wipe that smirk off his smug face, the more time she spent with him, the less the idea of staying in Rohan appealed to her.
"It's settled, she goes to Aldburg." Eomer declared, shutting down Emma's protests.
Gandalf seemed displeased but backed down.
"Very well. No one can know about her, Eomer. Not even your uncle." The Rohirrim were not happy about having to hide this from their king, but they reluctantly agreed. "I must be off, I have to be in Rivendell soon, there is a very important meeting that I cannot miss."
Emma was unhappy to see him leave, at least she knew from the movies that he was trustworthy. These brutish men could harm her, they looked like they treated women like men from the middle ages in her world did. They certainly didn't respect her.
"We ride home tomorrow," Eomer addressed his Eored, "you all know the story, stick to it, no one can know the truth." His men nodded.
"And you," he addressed Emma this time, "learn to act like a proper lady, keep your mouth shut and do as I say, and I swear to you that I will keep you safe."
Emma glared but didn't reply. As Eomer walked away, he heard her mutter "asshole," under her breath, but he didn't acknowledge it. These next few weeks would be insufferable.