Chapter, apter, apter… apter… yah… all righty, then! Besides the freaky echo, I'm feeling good about this chapter, too. Not much to say about it, except I hope that you enjoy. ENJOY, DAMNIT, ENJOY! BWHAHAHAHAHAHA-AHA-AHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!! *goes into sputtering cough* Right… bai bai!

~Hoshiko

Decisions of the King

            'I am sorry, but I do not believe I knew of your names.' Heogrid said, and Brendalin nodded.

            'Yes, the woman is Aradraen, heir of Isildur. The elf is Relnik, son of the Lord of Imladris, and the dwarf is Froin, daughter of Loin. They were traveling with me in the Fellowship that I believe you got word of.' Brendalin explained, and when each person was introduced, they bowed in their own fashion.

'Heir of Isildur? Then the rumors are true… though I did not expect the heir to be female.' He said, and Froin snorted.

'Is there something wrong with females?' she asked, and he put up a hand.

'No, no, it just comes to a surprise, that is all.' He said, and pointed to a large table at the side of the Hall. 'Now, come and sit with me, for I would like to hear of your adventures!' he said, and they all did so. Brendalin looked to the doors of the Hall, and walked up to Heogrid.

'I am sorry to say that in three days time I will have to leave you.' Brendalin said, and Aradraen looked at him.

'Where are you going in such short period of time?' she asked, and Brendalin leaned upon his staff.

'I can not answer that now, for it is not time. You will see when the time is correct.' He said, and she nodded grimly. She had always hated being left in the dark.

'Now, what has become of my country?' Heogrid asked, and Relnik shook his head.

'Alas, we have only been in your country for a short amount of time. We only know of a group of orcs that had taken some of our companions. They were killed by your nephew two days passed. He will have to tell you of anything else, for we do not know of it.' Relnik said, and at the mention of the hobbits, Froin bowed her head.

'Eothan killed your companions?' Heogrid asked, and Aradraen nodded.

'Yes, but he did not mean to, and our time of grieving is done with. We have moved on.' She said, and Relnik's head moved to the door of the hall.

'Ah, unless my ears deceive me, he is walking up the stairs now.' He said, and immediately the doors of the Golden Hall opened, Eothan walking in, along with some of his companions. When he saw his uncle he immediately bowed on his knees.

'My King!' he cried, and Heogrid smiled. 'When did this happen?'

'I was recently brought back to reality by these four.' He said, and put a hand on his nephew's shoulder. 'Rise, brother-son! This is a time to rejoice!' he said, and the second Marshal of the Mark rose, smiling at his uncle's new found strength.

'What have you done with my cousin?' Eothan asked quickly, and Heogrid's smile faded.

'He was not your cousin, nor was he my son. It was his fault I did not see the good in you and the evil in him.' He said, and Eothan nodded. 'But I have let him go, and if he ever returns on the lands of Rohan he will be killed on the spot.'

'But my King, he will go to his master, and he will council him in what we will do!' Eothan said, and Heogrid nodded.

'Yes, yes he might and probably will. I must admit I was acting hastily and in anger. But what is done is done, and we must go from there.' Heogrid said, and motioned to the table. 'Now, I will call the servants and we will feast! And you,' he turned to the Three Hunters, 'you will now tell me of your travels, for I know my brother-son would like to hear them as well.' He said, and he called servants to him, telling them to prepare food. They did so and in a short amount of time it was brought to them.

The Three Hunters told their story to him and all listened attentively. When she became tired of doing so, Relnik told it and finally Froin. When they came to the point of Aradraen letting Ondril go, she took it up, but Heogrid stopped her.

'You let the halfling go?' he asked, surprised, and Aradraen nodded.

'Yes, the Stone was out of our hands, we could not keep him any longer.' She said, and he looked at her in disbelief.

'Surely the halfling will be killed on his own.' He said, but Froin put down the goblet she had just been drinking from.

'He was not alone, another went with him. Bromwine Gardener, also of the Shire.'

'You can not tell me two halflings would make it on their own in the wilderness.'

'We have great trust in them.' Relnik said, 'they have a power with them that will protect them, I could feel it when ever they were together.'

'Elves put great trust in little hands.' Heogrid said, and Aradraen's look started to become impatient, and she said something in Sindarin.

'Even the smallest person can change the fate of the world. Wise words from a wise person. There is nothing to worry about, he will complete his task.' She said, and something in her voice said it was final. Heogrid wished to no longer dwell on the subject, so he let them continue with their tale.  When they had completed it, he sat thoughtfully.

'And there is something I wish to inform you of.' Aradraen said. 'Brendalin told us of it. Lonel is planning on an attack from Mordor. He saw the armies going into the Black Gates. There will be an attack on your country in nine days at the least. The people of Rohan are not safe here, you must take them some where else.' She said, and his expression changed.

'You are sure of this?' he asked gravely and Brendalin nodded.

'I would not have told them if I did not think it was of great urgency.'

'Nine days?'

'Yes.'

'Are you sure?'

'I have no doubt.'

'That is due time. I must think of what we are to do, then.' He said, and stood up, leaving. Eothan followed him through the hall to help him decide.

'How long do you think it will take him to make a decision?' Froin asked.

'King Heogrid is known for his time-management. He will use the full nine days to decide and follow out with a plan.' Brendalin answered, and Aradraen looked at him in disbelief.

'It will take him that long?'

'It has always taken him that long or longer to make a decision. He is not one to act in hastiness. You even heard him say that throwing his son out was acting in haste.' Brendalin explained, and stood. 'Now, it is night and you have a few good nights for being able to rest. I suggest doing it, it may be a long battle in a short amount of time.' Brendalin said, and went to also help Heogrid. The others, however, went to take advantage of warm beds.

Brendalin had been right. Heogrid had yet to decide the next morning and the morning after that. The night of the second day, as Heogrid sat in the same room, thinking of what he was to do next, Brendalin stood at the dining table.

'As I have said, I will leave tomorrow in the morning. Do not be surprised if I do not come back to you until you are in the place Heogrid has decided on.' He said, and Aradraen looked at him questioningly.

'How will you know where we are?'

'I have my sources, Aradraen. You of all people should know that.' He said, and left down the hall.

The next morning Heogrid joined them at breakfast for the first time, and when they had finished eating Brendalin again rose and looked at the King.

'I promised you I would leave this day, and this day I shall. You have received my council, Heogrid, and it is time to hear theirs. I will not return to you immediately, but I will return, I have no doubt in that. Good bye, and good luck.' He said, and the Three Hunters followed him out to the stalls.

'Do you know when you will return to us?' Aradraen asked as they walked out to Starflight.

'Look for me four days from now. My presence will be announced. I must go now, good bye!' he said as he mounted Starflight and rode out of the stalls. The Three Hunters then went back into the hall, where Heogrid still sat.

'Sire,' Aradraen said, sitting next to him. 'Have you come to a decision?' she asked and Heogrid nodded.

'I have. We will go to the great fortress of Helm's Deep,' he said. Aradraen had expected this.

'My Lord, I do not know if that is the best decision. Many of your soldiers are still patrolling your country. How many men will you have to fight them?' she asked, and he nodded.

'I have thought of that, which is why I have chosen that fortress. We can not run, we will fight no matter where we go. Helm's Deep is the safest place, it has food for the woman and children, along with food for my men.' He said, his tone rising.

'We have seen these beasts fight.' Froin said, and stood. 'They are ruthless, killing things. They have no respect for life what so ever, and eat even ones of their own kind!' she said, and he looked at her, long and hard.

'These are not normal orcs, but Uruk-hai. Bred by Saruman in the Third Age. King Theoden made the same choice, and nearly lost.' Relnik said, but Heogrid was not moved.

'This is not King Theoden's time. But he did win, though it seemed hopeless at times.'

'But Theoden made the same mistakes!' Aradraen suddenly cried out.

'Then what do you suggest? There is no other option. We will go to Helm's Deep, that is my decision, and I will not have an elf, dwarf, and woman rule my country. Weather the woman is the Heir of Isildur or not, I will not be told how to run my Kingdom!'