DISCLAIMER: If it's not Tolkien's, it's mine. But he's the genius that inspired me.

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Seeing Kerra stop up ahead of him, Sam reined in his pony at the top of the hill, sweating almost as hard as his mount was. He had forced himself to his broad limits of his energy, and he was secretly glad that she was calling for a rest. He waited until Frodo caught up with him, and then they rode to Kerra's side. She looked hardly the worse for wear, even after three weeks of riding almost non-stop. The only pauses in their journey had been at the fey rest-houses along the way, where they exchanged their tired ponies for fresh steeds, or to sleep when they could no longer go on.

When they reached her, she did not turn her head to acknowledge them, but she lifted her arm and pointed down the hill at a long grey strand that cut across the fields before them, split in the middle by a large stone building.

"Rainwall," she said quietly. "We rest there tonight."

She immediately started down the hill at speed, forcing Sam and Frodo to quicken their mounts' paces to keep up with her. As they drew closer to the strand of grey, Sam saw that it was a high wall seemingly carved out one long, long stone. It was singing, he realized with a thrill, a melody that echoed up from the ground and thrummed against his ribcage. If he touched it, he was sure that it would be warm under his palm.

There were two tall forms awaiting them at the entrance to the stone edifice. One was clad all in white, and holding a staff, while the other was dressed in a dark grey. The figure in white lifted its arm in greeting as they rode up, and all three of the travelers were relieved to see Gandalf's familiar face smiling at them.

"Gandalf! We did not expect to see you here so soon!" Kerra swung off her pony and hurried up the steps. Thigh muscles aching, Sam and Frodo followed her lead and slowly climbed up the stairs. Their attention was immediately drawn to the figure standing beside Gandalf as Kerra greeted her with reverent respect.

The woman was tall and proud-looking, with dark, weathered skin and long, oily black hair. Her eyes were dark and hooded, and her teeth, when she smiled, were very, very white. Sam and Frodo, still sore from the long rides, bowed awkwardly as Kerra introduced them.

"I bring before you Masters Samwise Gamgee and Frodo Baggins of the Shire. You will remember them, lady, from the Great War of the One Ring."

The woman nodded, and inclined her head towards them. "How could I forget the tale? I know many songs of your adventures, little masters. I am very eager to hear your story from your own mouths." Her voice was high and cool, like dew on a spring morning.

"I am Sutta Hooe, the Lady of Rainwall, and you are welcome to my home and to all my possessions. It is rare that I receive any guests here, and rarer still that my guests are so esteemed in song. It is lucky, indeed, that I am able to break bread tonight with not only one, but six noble guests."

Sam blinked. "Begging pardon, lady," he said quietly, "but there's only four of us here. Now, I was never good at math, but I just had to ask, if you catch me."

Sutta Hooe smiled and laughed. "Ah, Master Samwise, I have a surprise for you. Perhaps you would like to see my other guests?" Without waiting for an answer, she clapped her hands together, and the sound of footsteps came from within the building.

Frodo gasped in pure delight as none other than Meriadoc Brandybuck, still healthy and joyous despite his age, came clattering outside. He was followed, as usual, but Peregrin Took himself.

"Merry! It's Frodo Baggins! I thought I told you I heard his voice!" Pippin's eyes were filled with happy tears as he ran forward to embrace Frodo and Sam in turn. A tear-filled reunion between the hobbits followed for some moments thereafter, as Kerra, Gandalf, and Sutta Hooe conversed quietly among themselves.

"Sirs?" came Sutta Hooe's voice. She was smiling at them, her face creasing in lines that belied a life lived with much hardship and joy. "Please forgive my interruption, but night is soon to fall, and I am sure that you are most hungry, and in need of rest as well."

"And if you are not hungry now, you shall be when you see the table that our host can lay out!" cried Pippin merrily. "I have not eaten so well since our days in Rivendell!"

Sutta Hooe smiled again and silently gestured for them to walk inside the great stone building. Kerra walked behind Frodo and Sam, her footsteps soft upon the smooth stone flags of the floor.

"Kerra, who is this lady?" asked Frodo. "Is she an elf, for if she is, I have never seen her like."

He sensed rather than saw Kerra shake her head. "Sutta Hooe is no elf, Master Frodo. She is the Lady of Rainwall, and that is all I can tell you. She is a great friend when one is in need, but she is someone to be greatly feared when you are facing her from the opposite side."

Sam, who had been listening to Kerra, felt a chill wind up his back as he watched Sutta Hooe pass down the hall ahead of them. As she walked, candles grew out of the walls to light her way, and the whole time the little group was walking, he could hear the sound of the wall singing outside, in the growing darkness.

This was a place of power, then, but how could this dark woman help their lost ones? He could only wonder as he walked deeper into the house of the Lady of Rainwall.