Again, I grovel! So sorry for taking so long to update! But I thank you so much for reading it and your patience! Again, INCREDIBLY sorry for the delays!

Part Five. Lorien Bound

Mirwen didn't sleep much that night. Her hatred for Ormael had grown to the point where she had not left herself much room to think of anything else. As soon as the morning had cracked she was already prepared to leave, hoping that she would be long gone before either of the brothers noticed her absence.

Her plan, however, was not to be. Tobias was standing not far from her horse with his back to her. He stood still as if he were a statue, encased in an immobile form till the end of all eternity. Taking a breath she approached her horse and hoisted her saddle-bag into place, the sudden movement making the man start.

"Leaving so soon?" he questioned in a monotone.

"Yes," was her sharp reply. "I heard you and Ormael talking. I will be nobody's fool. I'll go to Rivendell on my own. Even if it takes me twice as long." Her fingers froze as she tightened the straps on the saddlebag, all the muscles in her body had suddenly seemed to become taut. "I will not go back to The White Tower."

"I will lead you, then," Tobias said softly, not bothering to look away from the rising sun.

The princess' brow knotted in confusion. She looked at him, but his expressionless face yielded nothing to his motive. "I'm not going back to Gondor," she repeated.

"I don't intend to bring you there. I will lead you to Lorien at least…"

A new touch of accusing anger came to Mirwen's heart. "I don't think I can trust you."

He turned on her suddenly, becoming slightly angry in his own turn. "I'm trying to help you. Is that too much for you to accept! If you are who Ormael takes you to be, then I'm putting a lot on the line, here! Why can't you be grateful for that!?" He deliberately looked away from her and proceeded to mount his brother's horse.

Mirwen stood where she was, taken aback by his frankness. She knew the brother's were different, but the fact was she didn't know either Ormael's or Tobias' character. At length she sighed and climbed onto her own mare. "Fine then, lead the way."

Tobias curled the leather reins about his callused hands and stared at the horse's mane. "You trust me, then?"

"Aye," she said, with a little difficulty.

He kept his eyes fixed on the horse's mane, but something that distinctly resembled a smile crept onto his lips. "Don't worry. Everything will turn out just fine."

(-*_~*~_*-)

Much to Tobias' surprise, Mirwen had a farm more determined demeanor than he had expected. They had traveled nearly all day and she asked him for no breach in their ride, though he would not admit to her that he wouldn't have minded the rest. Indeed, he had rarely done so much consistent riding for as long as he could remember.

When night had descended upon them Tobias had finally found what would ensure their route to Lorien. They had come to the banks of the Anduin, where they had decided to make camp for the evening. While Tobias went to hunt something to eat, Mirwen went on her own to collect firewood, though she couldn't help but feel entranced by the grandeur of the Great River. It snaked across the land like nothing she had ever seen in her life.

She had become so totally immersed in her own thoughts, she hadn't heard Tobias come up from behind.

"It's beautiful isn't it?"

Mirwen's heart leapt into her throat, startled by the sudden sound and dropped the firewood she had collected to the ground.

"Don't do that!" she hissed.

"Sorry," he mumbled, bending down to help her pick up the firewood she had dropped.

She shifted her shoulders and, and said a bit remorsefully. "That's alright."

Later when there was a fire going he presented her with the less than successful outcome of his hunt.

"A squirrel?" The princess arched an eyebrow, trying to hold down her nausea at the thought of having to eat the rodent.

"Well, I wouldn't very well have you eat it raw," he said, taking out his knife as he commenced to skinning the proposed meal.

She looked down at the bread in her left hand and suddenly found that she had no appetite. "I'm not very hungry anymore… You can have it if you like," she murmured as she lay down with her back to the fire. "I think I'll just go to sleep."

Tobias sighed and shook his head. "We'll have to change those picky eating habits of yours, my lady."

She shut her eyes tightly as if to ward him off in this way. The heat of the fire felt comforting as the cold from the ride seemed to have been biting into the dagger wound. She was simply dreading having to awake and face even more riding the next day.

"What made you come with me?" she asked softly after a while.

Tobias paused as he was now almost finished cooking the squirrel and her suddenly speaking had caught him unaware. "Like I said before… I want to help you."

"But why?"

"It didn't seem right to let you out into the wilderness on your own. Orcs still roam these lands in places, it isn't safe for a woman like yourself…" he replied quietly before eating some of the sparse meat of his catch.

Mirwen opened her mouth slowly, the words disappearing on her tongue, but she had to ask. "Is it because I remind you of your wife?"

He clenched his fists and stared at the fire, Mirwen's form just beyond it. A strange emotion stirred in his heart. He was irritated and pained that she had spoken of his wife at all, but also, in a way, relieved. "Yes," he croaked in a voice that was barely audible, making her strain to hear him.

The princess slowly sat up to face him, but he had buried his face in his palms to do his best in avoiding her gaze. Her dark eyes watched the fire and she felt a pang of guilt in her as the flames danced along the logs. Tobias looked up at her and clenched his fists again, the very sight of her soft features seemed to cause him agony.

"I'm…"

"You're not Renuia… I know," he groaned. "I just wish that you were," he added more softly. Mirwen fell into a shocked silence as she tried to search for words. "I'm sorry that I told you that…"

"How did she die?" Mirwen asked, almost against her own will.

"She…she…" He looked at her with his brooding eyes, then tore his gaze away as tears threatened the corner of his eyes. "She became very ill… Maybe if I had paid more attention to her… Oh what I fool I was!" he exclaimed, hiding his face from Mirwen as tears now came freely to him.

She lay back down on the ground, this time facing the flames, her limbs feeling oddly stiff, but not from the riding. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

(-*_~*~_*-)

"Mirwen… Mirwen… Wake up…"

Mirwen's eyes fluttered open to see Tobias crouching low over her, his face a mask of fear an worry. "Tobias… what's-"

He quickly put his finger to her lips to keep from speaking any further. He leaned in close to her ear and spoke in a low voice. "I was out ahead this morning and stumbled across a band of at least a score of Orcs."

The princess' body became rigid as she tried to stifle an apprehensive whimper. "What… what do we do?" she whispered, her voice as thin as paper.

"We leave here quickly and quietly and stay out of the open… That is…" He searched her blanched face. "unless you wish to return to Gondor."

"No," she stated immediately, shaking her head so that her hair came loose and the dark tresses fell onto her shoulders. "We move on."

He nodded then proceeded to help Mirwen to her feet, careful not to disturb something that would give away their position. "We shouldn't go by horse at this time. Not until we know we've lost them completely. I still don't know if they're aware of our presence yet, so we must take every precaution not to be noticed."

Hours of painstaking vigilance followed as they moved carefully on the outskirts of the trees. Not too deep into the forest, but not too close to the open river either. "If all else should fail," he whispered so that just Mirwen could hear him, "run to the water… You'll have a better chance fleeing them in the river than facing them."

"But the current-"

"You have a better chance of beating that current than trying to face down a band of bloodthirsty Orcs," he interjected. "You could try outrunning them on horseback, and though you're consistent, I doubt your equestrian skills."

"Let us hope that it doesn't come to any of those things… That we go unnoticed," she said hopefully.

Several days had passed and neither Tobias or Mirwen had caught any sign that the Orcs pursued them or were anywhere nearby. By this time they had come to the Falls of Rauros and it was only now, staring off into the vast lands of Middle-Earth that Mirwen realized how far she had come from home. She hadn't been gone for even a month but she had already grown somewhat accustomed to the weight of Anduril at her side and the constant aching of her muscles. If these were the little sacrifices that she must make, then she would endure them. Just to see Rivendell, if only once.

"We still have a great distance to go," Tobias reminded her that night as he prodded the fire, careful of the leaping embers.

"I know…" she sighed, pulling her cloak about her for extra warmth. She was thankful that the weather had gone from torrential rains to calm with only occasional drizzles, it had become unusually cold for early winter. Just as long as it didn't snow they could keep going at this pace.

"I never bothered to ask before but, what do you plan to do once you have reached Rivendell? It cannot be inhabited any longer. The same goes for the Golden Wood."

"I'm not sure about exactly what I'll do… Perhaps I'll live there…" she mused watching the river. Then an odd sound came to her, it unsettled Mirwen at first, but she realized that it was Tobias laughing. She had never heard him laugh before, and from the sound of it, she could guess that he did not laugh very often.

"You're not going to live in Rivendell…" he said between his laughter.

Mirwen pretended to appear very put off by this. "Oh, and why not? Clearly I could carry on very well by myself," she said self-mockingly.

"Oh, yes, forgive me for being so blind. The ruins of an Elven kingdom must make for great comfort," he added, smirking.

"I have no idea what to do once I'm there," she confessed after a while. "But I know there is Elven blood in my family…"

"Queen Arwen," he said.

Mirwen nodded knowingly. "I should like to hope," she started, speaking slowly, trying to choose her words with precision, "that once I've reached Imladris I will know why I have come. That perhaps there will be some sort of higher power that will… somehow endow me with the knowledge…"

He had receded back to a blank expression as she tried to muster her words together.

"I know it sounds silly…"

"No," he interrupted. "No, it doesn't. Truly, it doesn't." They sat there watching the river, a word not passing between them for a long time. Tobias turned to her while she exhaled softly and closed her eyes, unaware of his watching her. He raised a hand gently to her face, making it so that she was looking into his eyes. "She wasn't much older than you…" he sighed, lowering his hand.

Mirwen was about to say something but came to a halt. One of the horses had whinnied horribly, but then the noise was cut short. She felt a horrible jolt in her stomach as she realized what this might mean. Tobias quickly put out the fire so that their only means of seeing was the streaming moonlight. Rising, he picked up Anduril and hurriedly shoved it into her hands and got Mirwen to her feet.

"Run," he ordered. "But try and be quiet about it. If it's nothing I'll catch you up."

She hesitated slightly. The truth of the matter was she didn't feel safe if she were to flee or stay where she was. Not alone, she thought. I can't go into the night alone. I'll be dead before morning.

"I-I can't…"

"You can and you will." He grasped her shoulders tightly, making her wince as the wound was far from fully healed. "Don't be afraid… Do you hear me?"

As if she were in a trance she nodded in compliance, then began to run near the trees of the bank. Once, twice, three times she had tripped in her panic-stricken state but somehow still managed to keep a hold on the sword as she ran headlong into the darkness. From deeper in the forest she could hear the snarling voices of Orcs and began to realize that she had walked straight into a trap.

Suddenly, Mirwen was grabbed from behind, causing her to let out a shrill scream as she fell back into the Orc that had grabbed her.

"Let me go!" she shrieked, struggling to free Anduril from its sheathe.

The Orcs laughed at this. Mirwen's senses told her that there were more Orcs than Tobias had originally estimated.

"What a pretty human girl," snarled the Orc holding her, its stale breath on her face.

"Let me go!" she cried again.

"Ooh, she's strong… And I haven't had any good meat in so long," groaned a second Orc remorsefully.

Mirwen's heart beat like a mad rabbit against her rib cage as she saw a hand reach out and clasp itself around her throat. Desperately, she was able to remove the sword and slashed at the Orc's arm. It let out a gurgling cry of pain, and the Orc holding her was so surprised that he had lost his grasp on her. Dropping the scabbard, Mirwen tore off towards the water, realizing that she could no longer run on land.

But before she could reach the water another Orc pulled her down and before she knew what happened she had slammed her head into a rock.

"You little brat! You'll pay!" roared an Orc holding her limp form under the water.

"No! Maggot-brain!" growled the Chieftain, pulling the other off the girl, then pulled her unconscious body out of the water. He smacked the Orc with her discarded scabbard. "Do you know what this is!"

"Painful!" the other snapped.

The Orc Chieftain grinned, displaying his rotted teeth. "The White Tree of Gondor."

"Could be the Hand of Sarauman for all the good it will do us!"

"Idiot! Sarauman's long dead and Gondor has never been stronger. This one's out of place," he grunted pointing at Mirwen. "You know how humans are about their offspring. They'll do anything for them. That's why she stays alive… for the time being."

The other Orc looked up with a dumb stricken expression. "Heh. That's why you're the boss."

"I know," said the Chieftain. Then he turned back to the rest of the Orcs "Now get her out of the water and bind her hands. We'll rest here for tonight. Leave her little traveling companion alive for questioning."