A/N: Thank you to Eliza Evenstar for inspiring me to the continue with this story, for I hadn't bothered to update it since July. I always thought no one would ever find it buried under the infinite Tolkien-fics. Well, here's the third part that I thought I'd never right. Thank you again for proving me wrong!

Part Three. The Right Track Is Not Always Paved With Gold

The next morning brought on a thunderstorm that even the oldest of the town could not remember a worse one. The shutters of the Blue Mountain Inn banged violently against the outside walls, threatening to shatter at any moment. Mirwen found herself looking back into musty mirror as the storm raged on. Her eyes were red and her hair was in a worse state then the previous day. And worse of all, she was miserable. It was the one feeling that Mirwen had rarely been accustomed with in her life.

She tried to smooth it back as best she could, but it was as stubborn as ever. Her dark eyes glancing over at the window as a crash of thunder echoed through her ears

and a brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the room. Mirwen cast another look around the room. She had recovered her strength, and she could not bear to stay any longer, no matter what the weather conditions were.

It wasn't long before Mirwen was in the stables, trying her best to saddle her mare again as quietly as possible. She muttered angrily to herself, each time she tried, it would slide of the mare, onto the ground. The mare shook her head and neighed, waking the stable hand that had dozed off in the corner.

"What're you doing?" he grunted, coming out of a deep sleep.

"I'm leaving," Mirwen replied, not taking her eyes away from the saddle. "Isn't it obvious?"

"You can't leave now," the stable hand protested, climbing groggily to his feet. He pointed out the window, sleep causing him to stall his speech. "There's a storm out there."

"I don't care," she muttered, then stamped her foot as the saddle fell to ground again. She turned slowly to the stable hand, fidgeting with her skirt. "Um… I was wondering… Could you… um…"

"Help you with that?" he finished for her, grinning slightly.

"Yes," she said softly, still trying to look preoccupied, but to no avail. "If you wouldn't mind… that is."

"My lady," he said graciously, coming alongside her. "It would be my pleasure."

She turned her gaze towards him, the conceited look falling from her eyes, replaced with utmost gratitude. Mirwen couldn't believe that his voice had been free of all sarcasm. "You… you would?"

"Of course. Granted, you may not deserve my courteousness entirely, but I believe that's what we're here for."

"Here for what?"

The stable hand secured the saddle and turned towards her, a gleam in his eye that gave him the appearance as though he had a philosophy for everything. "To help our fellow man, whether they deserve it or not."

"That's very kind of you, I suppose…" she muttered, not returning his gaze, and instead choosing to distance herself.

"You're a spoiled brat."

"I beg your pardon!" Mirwen gasped out. Never before had a complete stranger had the audacity to say something so demeaning of her character, however truthful it was.

"I can tell," he continued, as if he had no regard for the words she had just spoken. "But… you're different. You're not like those other aristocrats too full of themselves to come back down. You can change."

The princess opened her mouth partially. How was it that someone she had known for all of maybe ten minutes could read her so plainly? It almost made her want to weep that someone knew what she wanted, but lord knew she had cried enough already. "I need to change."

He smiled warmly. "The right track isn't always paved with gold, remember that."

Mirwen nodded, hoisting herself up into the saddle. "Thank you, sir." She wrapped her cloak tightly around her and pulled her hood deep over her head. "I'll try and remember that," she added with a grateful smile, then made her way out of the stable.

Upon being exposed to the brutality of the elements, it was all the young woman could do not to be knocked off her mare. She wrapped the reins around the back of her hands and bent close to the horse so as to try and keep her balance better. Mirwen was going over her direction in her mind, thinking of what way she should be going. When she had made her way out of the time she was trying to recollect in her mind what she had seen the previous mind. Assessing mountain ranges, forests, and rivers. She was feeling slightly more confident in where she was going as she moved further on her trail. All she could do was hope that conditions would improve.

(-*_~*~_*-)

Several days passed since Mirwen had left the small Rohan village behind her, though the storm had seemed to have followed her. And for those past several nights, she hadn't been so fortunate as to find an Inn, or another town for that matter. The previous night had been no exception. She had did her best to sleep in a small alcove of trees to try and ward off the rain, but it wasn't exactly sufficient, taking her a long time to fall into an uneasy rest.

"Oh damn!"

Mirwen opened her eyes groggily at the sound of a voice. She turned around to see a cloaked figure rummaging through her saddle bag, not far off.

"Hey!" Mirwen shouted. "What do you think you're doing!?"

The dark figure raised it's head when it realized they had been noticed, then dashed for their horse not too far away.

"Oh no you don't!" Mirwen growled fiercely, reaching for Anduril -still sheathed- which she had kept nearby. If the Princess could do anything, it was run fast, catching up with the other person, she swung Anduril around and hit the figure square between the shoulder blades. They groaned and fell face first in the mud.

Mirwen's eyes were lit fiercely with anger, her journey hadn't been too decent, and her temper had simply gotten loose. "What did you steal!?" she shouted, loosening the blade in its scabbard.

"I didn't take anything!" they spat, pushing themselves up from the mud.

"Liar," she challenged, fully unsheathing the blade - though only with a little less difficulty as it took her to first dismount from a horse. "What did you steal?"

"Just some stupid book," the thief muttered vehemently, tossing a red, leather-bound book at Mirwen's feet. The princess' eyes widened slightly as she bent down to rescue the book from the mud. "Probably just your diary or something."

"It is not!" she snapped heatedly, trying to wipe the mud. Which in a sense… it was. Something similar to a Captain's log on a ship. She turned away and walked off to her horse, preparing to ride off again. She assumed the thief would run off with nothing more than a hateful mutter.

"I didn't want to have to do this…"

Mirwen only had a split second to react to what was happening. She whipped around to see the thief run at her with a dagger drawn. She closed her eyes and tried to get away, but she couldn't quite escape it. The dagger had not hit its mark but had buried itself in her right shoulder. Doubling over and falling to the ground, Mirwen let out a shrill scream of pain. The dagger had caused her agony like she had never felt before in her life.

"You're not… no…"

The young woman looked up into the face of the thief from her place in the mud, her dark eyes flaring with anger, but was quite surprised to see an ashen look upon her assailants face. He was pointing to the White Tree of Gondor embroidered on her saddlebag.

"Oh… why didn't I notice it before!?" he groaned. He got down on his knees as if pleading. "Tell me you're not Mirwen of Gondor! Tell me you're not the princess!"

Mirwen could only spit in his face, the pain overwhelming her. "So what if I am!?" She clutched at the daggers hilt, hot tears of anger and pain coming from her eyes.

"Here let me help you…" he offered, slowly taking out the dagger. Mirwen openly cried from the pain.

Afraid to move her arm, she settled for kicking him the first place her foot came in contact with - which happened to be his stomach. He gasped out, not exactly expecting what had just happened, but accepted it. The man reached out to inspect the wound, but she jolted backwards.

"What makes you think I'll trust you?" Mirwen's dark eyes seemed to be scanning the mud, a light in her eyes. "How did you know who I was?"

"It's common knowledge…my lady, that you've disappeared from the White Tower…" he said softly. "Please, let me take a look at that."

Mirwen bit her lip. What the dagger had left on her hurt so much, she wanted to be rid of the pain so badly. Even if it meant trusting the one who had inflicted it upon her. "Alright…" she whispered softly.

Without warning he had ripped the sleeve away, making her eyes flare a little at his audacity. "I'm sorry… But I need to get a good look at it or it could become infected."

Mirwen set her jaw and let him continue though the situation made her feel incredibly put off. By the time he had finished the pain had not completely receded, but she was in quite a hurry to leave him behind as soon as she possibly could. He tried to help her onto her horse, but she kicked at him with her boot.

"Leave me alone!" she snapped. "Haven't you done enough already?!"

"Please, let me … make it up to you!"

"Make it up to me!?" Mirwen cried incredulously. "What could you possibly do."

"I can lead you to where you'd like to go… within reason," he added on quickly. "And I can offer you a warm bed to sleep in for a little while, at the very least."

She paused slightly, fingering the horse's reins between her fingers. "A warm bed… you say?"

"At the very least," he replied humbly.

"Alright," she muttered at length. "Since you know my name, it is only fitting that I know yours."

"My name is Ormael," he said, bowing at the waist.

"Well, Ormael," she stated, slipping again into her regal posture, despite the pain still present in her shoulder. "I'd like you to lead me to this warm bed. How far is it?"

"My brother has a farm not too far from here," he replied promptly.

"Well, don't keep wasting my time, lead the way…" Then Mirwen thought back to what the stable hand had said to her, so she sighed heavily and added a bit strenuously. "Please."