When he was completely sure that his companions were all safely mounted before or behind their Rider, Aragorn finally allowed his mind to relax and soon, his thoughts drifted off to Imladris, Arwen... Oh, his dear Arwen... He missed her voice so much... Alas, who knew if they were to see each other again. If he didn't passed away on the battlefield, she should have to take the sea. Well... she should, but that did not mean she would. Oh, Valar, she could be so stubborn when she wanted to... Unfortunately, this time, Aragorn truly wished she would do what was the wisest. He could not risk losing her to the Enemy.
Sometimes, the man surprised himself to wonder if marrying the Elleth was the best and wisest thing to do. Not for him, but for her. She would become a mortal, but would still have to see the Man she loved die before her. She would never be able to sail to Aman, and so, would never get a chance to see her Naneth again.
Aragorn completely understood Gilraen and Lord Elrond being so reluctant at the idea. The Man hadn't understood at first why his mother had forbid him to marry Arwen. He had thought this unfair and had been angry at Lady Gilraen for quite some days. But then he had been explained, he had learned and, for a moment, he had agreed. They would not get married. That was one of the numerous reasons why he had chosen to join the Rangers. Like this, he would get away from his Evenstar and he had thought that, perhaps, their love could have been forgotten. Oh ! How wrong he had been ! There hadn't passed one day when he hadn't thought of his Home, of her. And so had she. And now here they were...
Aragorn lightly shook his head to clear his thoughts. Now wasn't the time for regrets and longing. He had to look after his companions now that Gandalf had parted.
"What happened to your leg ?" Celmund, the blond haired man who Aragorn was riding with asked, "It looks pretty bad."
"We encountered some Orcs at Parth Galen." the Ranger answered simply.
"Parth Galen ? We killed a small army that seemed to be fleeing from there not too long ago." Celmund continued in mild surprise and confusion at the fact that five warriors had been able to scare away an entire regiment of Orcs by themselves.
"Fleeing, you say ? Yes, they might have been the same that we encountered," the dark haired man replied and frowned at the realisation that he had not figured out yet what had made the Orcs to flee.
"B-But... How did you do that ?" he barely registered the Rohirrim's voice.
"I have no idea..." he answered without truly thinking about it. The man was looking around, trying to find Gimli. Aragorn had quickly lost track of him in the fight. Maybe he had seen something the man hadn't. Hopefully, the horse he had mounted wasn't that far from his own.
"Would you mind trying to get closer to the hors my dwarven friend is mounting ?" he softly asked Celmund.
"Deorwine's ? Certainly."
"Gimli ? May I speak to you ?" Aragorn almost whispered to his friend.
"Sure. What's the matter ?"
"I was simply wondering if you had seen anything that could have provoked the Orcs fleeing during our fight ?"
Gimli seemed to be thinking for some moments, but eventually, he answered :
"I don't know, but I think you should ask Faramir. I saw the Uruk-Hai pulling him under water and preparing to kill him but it suddenly backed off looking afraid. But the strangest thing is that the lad didn't got out of the water when he was freed and kept choking. Yet I do not think the Uruk kept him under water long enough to make him to pass out."
Aragorn frowned. He didn't really liked what this implied. He would have to talk to the young man about this. Later. He did not want the Rohirrim to hear that.
"So... You are an Elf, right ?"
Legolas sighed. The ride was going to be long. Hopefully, not all men were as boring as this one.
"Yes, I am." he answered, in a quite sharp tone. Was it not obvious enough ?
"And... So... You can do... Special things, can't you ?"
This time, Legolas really had trouble to stifle a laugh. Special things ? What was that ? Oh, Valar, were men truly so ignorant ?
"Of course, yes. I can fly." was his sarcastic and bored answer. Mayhap some humour might soften the boredom this conversation brought him. But apparently, the Rider took it seriously, for he gave the Elf an incredulous look.
"You... You can fly ?!"
'Oh, Eru !'
The Elf let out a huge sigh and this time, he couldn't avoid a smile from illuminating his face.
"Of course I can't..."
"Then what... What can you do ?"
Faramir was troubled. Deeply. Now, added with the incredible worry he felt for his hurt brother, he was worried about what awaited them in Edoras. The rumor had proved to be right, unfortunately. King Théoden had changed, indeed. And not in a good way at all. What could have happened to him ?
And Faramir could easily sense the Rohirrim Baldwig shaking before him. That wasn't good. Not at all. Nothing was. Absolutely nothing. The Fellowship was broken, they were all wounded, Boromir was definitely in a bad state, Sauron had nearly entered his mind once more and they had no idea of what would happen to them in Rohan.
Faramir felt Baldwig tremble a.little harder as they came in sight of Edoras. Now that was enough, he had to know.
"Mmh... Baldwig ? May I ask you a question ?" he gently tried.
"G-Go ahead."
"What... What is the... matter with King Théoden ?" he asked in a very hesitant and uneasy voice. That was a tricky question to ask.
Baldwig took a long breath before answering :
"We do not know exactly. But there is that new counsellor... Gríma... We think he might be linked to Saruman. In a bad way. Our King cannot take decisions by himself now, he always needs this... this Wormtongue to decide with him or for him. He doesn't even recognise his son anymore..."
After that, Baldwig's voice broke and he could not go on any longer.
A white, shining figure was standing tall on the outside steps of Meduseld. Her long blond hair were flying in the wind, her face completely wet with tears. She watched silently as the Éored entered the capital and a look of relief crossed her face when she recognised the man leading it as being her brother. She had been so scared for him. She truly wished she could have been there, with him, but the battlefield was no place for a woman, they said, especially when she was as high ranked as her. Yet the young Lady couldn't stop dreaming of the day when she would grab sword and shield, put an armour on and run into the fight with the rest of the army. It was her duty to protect this land, no matter if she was man or woman, high ranked or not.
The Lady frowned the slightest when she saw that the company was bringing back five cloaked figures and three riderless horses. She hurried downstairs to meet them, her white dress flying into the wind.
"Éomer !" she called the blond haired man that had just dismounted his horse in a shaking voice. He turned around to face her and ran to give her a tight embrace.
"Éowyn..."
Finally sensing her brother's strong arms around her, Éowyn finally allowed herself to cry freely the tears she had been holding back until then.
"Éowyn, dear sister, what is the matter ?" Éomer's gentle voice asked her.
"Théodred... Théodred passed away this morning..." she answered, sobbing silently, looking straight into her brother's face. Éomer closed his eyes and lowered his head before nodding.
"I... I guess that was to be expected..." the young man answered, voice trembling from the emotion. Théodred had always been more than a simple cousin to him. He had been nearly as important to him as Éowyn. But the Prince's battle wounds had been severe. The chances of survival had been very low. Yet, Éomer had hoped...
"Uncle doesn't even seem to care about it, Éomer ! He treats the death of his own son as if he had been nothing more than a mere soldier !" Éowyn eventually let her anger to burst out. Théoden's reaction at the news of his only son's passing had been to much for her.
"I know, Éowyn, I know. We will find a way to bring things back to normal, I promise."
"But how ?"
"We will find a way, have faith."
The young Lady sighed in despair but still nodded. Yet, they had found nothing so far and time was running out. Saruman was getting stronger while Rohan got weaker.
"My Lord ?" one of the horsemen called the young man. He then whispered something in his Lord's ear. Éomer sighed but rapidly nodded before addressing his sister :
"Éowyn, my apologies for being so rude, but I need to ask you a favour."
The young Lady quickly sensed the great hurry and seriousness in her brother's voice.
"Go ahead."
"I need you to take the wounded including the five cloaked ones to the Healing Yards. You are the only one I trust to do this. Please do not let anyone other than you and the healers to see their faces. No one other than you and the healers must know they are here, understood ?"
Éowyn nodded, but did not leave her brother right away. She did not like the hint of resignation she perceived in his voice.
"Go, now. They need you more than I do."
Faramir sat at his brother's bedside. Boromir laid unmoving, face pale, sweating. This reminded the younger man of all the times he had stayed in the Healing Houses of Minas Tirith when his older brother came back from a mission. Yet, this time, it felt different. 'This is no simple heatstroke.' the healer's words were ringing in Faramir's ear. Then what ? What was it ? The young man had to admit he had rarely been so scared for his brother's life. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were sat too on couches, not far away from the two Gondorians. The healers were now tending to them. Hopefully, nothing seemed too bad, except for the very nasty looking wound on Aragorn's leg, but it should heal quite rapidly. As for the Elf and Dwarf, it seemed that the Elven natural healing ability and the Dwarven hard skin and skill had done a good job. They just needed some rest.
Faramir hadn't been much hurt during the fight, like his brother. He simply bore some scratches on his chest and back and a simple flesh wound around his collarbone.
"Here, I brought you some tea." a womanly voice brought the Steward's son back to reality. He lifted his head to meet the bright blue eyes of Éomer's sister, Éowyn. A small smile was illuminating her already shining face, yet Faramir could easily see the deep sadness in her eyes.
"My thanks." he replied, forcing a smile on his lips as he gently took the cup from her hands, "And all my condolences to you for the passing of Prince Théodred. He was a very noble man."
Éowyn bowed her head in thanks and a long silence followed where the two simply stared at each other without saying a word.
Faramir had met her briefly in the past, when he was riding to Rivendell with his brother. He had completely forgotten how beautiful she was... In a certain way, Éowyn reminded him slightly of Lady Galadriel. The perfect alchemy between beauty and mystery. This woman was very different from any other he had ever met. He could feel great strength in her behind that supposedly fragile mask.
"I'm sorry," she finally broke, "but I need to go back to my Uncle, or he will begin to ask himself questions."
Faramir nodded slowly and the Lady left, her golden hair and white dress floating behind her.
"Faramir ?" he hard a voice calling his name. The man turned around to meet Aragorn, still sitting on his couch. The healer had left him to take care of the Rohirrim.
"I think we need to talk to you."
Faramir lowered his head. Now came the moment he had hoped would never happen.
'This is for the best.' he tried to convince himself, yet that didn't help him to feel, once more, very reluctant to talk to his companions about what had happened on Parth Galen. He knew he shouldn't feel so, but he couldn't help it. This reminded him so much of the times his Father ordered him to do a report.
There you go, I hope you liked it. For now, I have no idea who the next chapter will be centered on. I've started both anyways, so if you have any preference, feel free to tell !Also, there are some sentences in this chapter of which I am not completely sure. They made sense in my mind, but my mind has been designed to speak and write French, not English, so I am very sorry if everything wasn't completely understandable... Don't hesitate if there are some sentences you don't understand at all.I hope are all well and staying safe !