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Chapter 10: Dunbrough.

We trekked our way through the wide plains of Rohan. The scenery changed from the gold grassy plots to the long green grasses and then back again to plain grounds. A few times we came across some cultivated lands and the outskirts of a few villages. Èohere steered clear of any settlement we came across. Maybe he didn't want to draw attention to ourselves or maybe he didn't want to slow our pace down. Whatever the reason was, for the next three weeks as we moved through the East Emnet we didn't stop at any of the few villages we came across. I thought that now we had entered the borders of Rohan Èohere will stop driving us all day but I was so wrong. He kept his fast pace and it felt as though we were covering distance faster every day. We had reached almost half the length of the Emnet when Èohere decided to proceed towards the small plots of cultivated lands towards the West. I was too busy in my own world of thoughts to notice our change of direction until the dark shadows of the village could be seen in the distance.

I squinted my eyes to make sure that I was seeing some village and that it was not some figment of my tired imagination.

"Why are we going in this direction? Wasn't your hometown towards the South East or something..." I trailed off after seeing no inclination from Èohere that he was hearing what I was saying. I peeked towards him once. Was he so lost in thought that he couldn't hear my voice?

He sighed, glancing towards my face "I heard what you said, Lanette."

"Why are you not answering then?"

He raised one brow at my irate tone. "We do not have any more beef jerky. It is hard to find a game in these plains. You do not want us to starve, do you?"

"Why didn't you stop at any of the villages near the Limlight?" I groaned. If I was honest with myself, I was suddenly scared of going into a village. The last time we did was almost two weeks before we started on the misty mountains. I was acutely aware of the fact that I was wearing pants. What will the residents of this place think about a man and women travelling alone? I wasn't this aware of my pant wearing self near Bree. The people there were mostly accepting. And how could they not be? After all the humans, dwarves and hobbits lived together in that place. If those people were not accepting of each other they wouldn't be able to live together. The situation in Rohan was quite different. Èohere had once said that people in Rohan were not even aware of the existence of Hobbits. Elves were the part of folklores there. I was sure that if they're anything like the medieval movies and Tv serials I've watched, they will not be accepting of my modern self. I abruptly wished that I had packed at least one dress with me...Realising belatedly the train of my medieval based thoughts I couldn't help feel disgusted at myself. Not even a year here and I was feeling ashamed of wearing pants. Not even short skirt or a tight modern dress but pants. I ran a hand through my messy ponytail at my sudden frustration.

I had once read a short story. In that particular tale, the hero and his family went to inhabit some other place. The hero tries his best to leave for his home but as time passes he gets adapted to his surroundings. He becomes like one of the previous inhabitants and with time forgets about his homeland. When I had read that tale, it had felt like utter nonsense. How could you go to someplace and start living as one of them? How could you feel that your whole a past life is so insignificant that you end up thinking of it just as a figment of your imagination? I knew that I won't forget about my old life but What really scares me was the fact that what if I became a little like the hero. That when the time comes I would not want to go back...

It was because of this reason I was desperately finding any clue that could help me find my way back. I needed to return to my home, back to my old life before I forgot the significance it held.

We passed through the narrow tracks in the fields. From far it seemed as though there was crop growing in this area but as we walked beside the supposed farm only tall grasses could be seen. Even though it was noon, not a single soul was working. After almost two hours we neared the village enough to be able to see the outlines of the houses. They were made of wood, like most the houses in Middle-Earth were. The wooden planks were mostly light brown. The roads, which were synonymous to the dirt tracks in Modern Earth, were scarcely filled. It seemed as though most people preferred to live holed up inside their homes, not at all what I expected of the Rohirrim. Aside from my general nervousness with social contact, I would be lying straight through my teeth if I said that I wasn't at least a little bit curious about their lifestyle. The tales I've heard in Bree spoke of the magnificence of their homeland, of the gallant riders and of their breath-taking horses. Needless to say, I was a bit disappointed at seeing the empty pathways.

We entered the village without passing through a gate. Not like there was a gate or even a guard protecting the entrance. I instinctively moved a bit close to Èohere. Something about this place just seemed distasteful. The few people scattered on the street stared at us unabashedly. What surprised me wasn't their open glares, I was sort of expecting that, but the fact that those were both the stares of curiosity but of suspicion and contempt. A fleeting look of surprise passed through Èohere's face, even he seemed to be startled by their distrust. Without stopping anywhere Èohere moved straight towards the small sign that marked the butcher's shop. A small jingle marked our entrance. The shop was dark even in the bright sunlight. The only light was coming in through the door. The few windows were so musty and crooked in a way that they were rarely opened. The butcher was standing behind the counter. He was a large muscular man. His hair was tied in a small ponytail and his thick beard and moustache mixed with his cold gaze gave a creepy expression. My hand instinctively twitched towards Èohere's dagger strapped to my waist. As if hearing my thoughts Èohere's eyes snapped towards my face. He shook his head once, slightly and I let my hand drop. The butcher's already narrowed eyes wrinkled a bit more. Èohere stepped up to the counter and placed his hands on the wooden surface. Maybe in an attempt to show submission. "We need some beef jerky." He went straight to the point. Throwing another, albeit slightly less suspicious look towards us, without a single word, the butcher turned around and opened a large cabinet behind him. He took out a large stack of dried pieces of jerky and threw them onto the counter. They looked to be about twenty pieces. "Four pieces. Bronze." His voice was harsh in a way that showed it rare use. Èohere rummaged through the side pocket of his travel bag and took out five bronze coins. He placed four of them in front of the butcher and took the beef. He then turned around and left as swiftly as possible. I scrambled behind him still startled by the general behaviour of the people. We walked out of the village without another word. It wasn't until the village was left behind in the form of dark outlines that Èohere spoke up.

"They are quite courteous at most times," I looked at Èohere questioning. He returned my gaze with a small look of his own before staring straight ahead. "The Rohirrim, I meant to say. They are very welcoming people." I snorted in disbelief.

"I was so much more welcomed in my aunt's house after me and my friend thrashed two of her windows," My tone was sarcastic.

"You have the experience to speak, Lanette, that the times are dark in this land." I nodded at that. "Are things that bad here? Like, do orcs attack too often or something."

"It is not just orcs that attack this land, the Rohirrim are tormented. Too long have shadows prevailed in these lands." I looked sideways at his face for a moment. I was curious for more detail but something in the sudden hard lines of Èohere's face stopped me. I made a small noise of agreement and turned my face towards the road.

It was undoubtedly an extremely harsh world to live in...

We journeyed for another two weeks before we reached Èohere's hometown. The sun was beginning to set when I sighted the tops of the houses in a distance. By the time we reached the main gate of the small town, the dark had already set in. The gate was opened slightly and a few men were sitting beside a small flickering fire, enjoying their meal. At the sound of our footsteps they looked up and in one swift moment, their swords were in their hands. I flinched at the sharp sound of clanging metal. One of them stepped forward and in a loud booming voice said something. I was racking my mind to understand what seemed like nonsense coming out of his mouth when Èohere raised his hand slightly in greeting. He replied something in the same strange language and drew back his hood. His cropped golden hair was messed up from the hood. And just as fast as they had drawn the swords, they placed them back in their sheaths. A moment later they all were embracing Èohere and commenting something, which I couldn't possibly understand, in their rowdy voices. One of the men said something and all of them spontaneously cracked up into loud laughs. I shrunk back into my cloak. It was such a contrast to the village we had gone into two weeks ago. Now I can tell where the folklores were derived from. I shifted awkwardly in my feet and it drew the attention of Èohere back to me.

"I beg your pardon Lanette," he beckoned me forward. Even though his words were of apology for his negligence, his tone and expression showed that he didn't care enough to spoil his good mood. He said something to the men in his language as I came to stand beside him. The men looked startled and asked him something urgently. He replied with a loud laugh and what seemed like a humorous comment and had the men raising their eyebrows. Large grins were directed towards him. Just when I was getting irate at their blatant use of a language I couldn't understand they turned towards me. All of them had identical polite smiles and mildly curious stares.

"Welcome to Dunbourn Lady..." The one speaking looked at Èohere for elaboration. I raised a brow at this. "Lanette," I supplied before Èohere had a chance to say anything. A little sheepish expression passed through his face. He cleared his throat and spoke again in his accented Westron.

"We welcome you to Dunbourn Lady Lanette, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance." One peek at Èohere showed his twitching lips. This whole ordeal seemed to be funny to him. In any other situation, I would've corrected their use of lady, as I was quite obviously not one, but just because it was what Èohere was expecting I squashed my desire and smiled politely in return.

"The pleasure is all mine," I indicated my head in respect. With an amused look towards me, Èohere said something to the men again in Rohirric and they nodded. All except for one went back to their post and we walked into the town.

The houses here were also made up of wood. It was considerably larger with many paths diverging from the main road. All the houses were in the side paths, while the central road seemed to be reserved for shops and inns. A large wooden building marked the town hall, besides which a large stable was filled with horses. The mark of a true Rohirric town. The area seemed to be bustling with life, quite contrary to my previous experience. People stopped and hurled their greetings to Èohere in loud Rohirric. Almost all of them stopped to stare towards me with curiosity. Some gazes even astonished. A few of them greeted me too, and although I couldn't understand them I nodded in return and smiled politely. We move towards a side path. After passing almost five houses we came across a mediocre sized house. Èohere took the key from the man that had followed us and bid him farewell. The door slid open with a faint creak. Inside it were only three main rooms. Two had cots in them and one had a large wooden tub, most probably for bathing purposes. The main room had a wooden table with four chairs and it was connected to a small rectangular area in which a hearth could be seen. Èohere pointed towards the room assigned to me, went to his own and closed the door. I stood for a moment in the doorway of, what was going to be, if only for a while, my room. It was simply designed with one wooden cot at the window side. The wooden cupboard was placed near the wall opposite to the door. There was a small oval shaped mat placed in the middle of the room. It was simple but comfy. After months of travel, even that cot seemed like pure heaven. I wasn't sure if Èohere was going to set something up for our dinner. Just to get a taste of how it felt to lay down on a cot after so long, I dropped my bag at the door side, moving tiredly across the room I collapsed in the cot. It wasn't long before I fell into the dark abyss of sleep.

A week passed in what seemed like a moment. The comfort of a bed, good food and bath were so relishing able that I would've spent most of my time enjoying these pleasures if Èohere had not asked a town woman to give me company. The first day she had brought with her four simple cotton dresses, all in pale colours and had revolutionised my entire closet. Almost by noon, every day, she came across the house and took me to show about the town. But mostly I found myself getting dragged into the stables and chatting with Grimwyn, the woman, in her extremely broken Westron. Today seemed like an exception, though. It was way past noon and there was no sign of her arrival. I had waited for a while but had shrugged it off quickly. After all, no one was free enough to donate all their time to a stranger. She might be busy with something. It was almost dark. I was sitting in the main room with one of Èohere's many books in my hands. I was quite engrossed with the story so I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard a knock at the door. Thinking that it might be Grimwyn, I moved towards the door to open it. What greeted my sight was a large war horse and the man riding it. The horse was magnificent, a huge grey stallion, it's muscles rippling behind the skin. The man on the horse was a bit old but was wearing heavy looking metal armour. The setting sun glinted on its polished surface and contributed to its shine. I didn't know at that time, but one day I was going to look at the sea of such armours and contrary to the bewildered emotions I was feeling at that moment, I was going to feel relief and thankfulness. It wasn't that significant a moment, just some warrior came to discuss matters with Èohere, who was out at the stables, but later on, I would look back into this moment and feel as though it was the key to the start of the most exalting adventure I could've come across.

To be continued...