The clouds had broken a part the next day, and, though still thick and heavy with rain, parents let their children out for what seemed the like the first time in months. Small balls were kicked around the streets, long sticks were turned into swords, and the younger girls gathered together to play with their dolls.
"Please mother?" Fengolin asked to her frowning mother. The woman sighed before answering, "Absolutely not! You could have gotten sick yesterday! And what of Grimbold? It is important that he stay healthy for his training. What would you say if the Wild men came through here, and only Grimbold was left to protect you from death, but he was not properly trained because he was sick as a child?"
"I would say that one little sickness shouldn't do anything to him because he always sick, and then I would say that he wasted the last four years of his training, because he's only fourteen." With this said, she was told to go straight to her room.
"But mother!" the girl said as she was being pushed to her room, "I just want to go out for an hour! It is not that long!"
"Not another word Fengolin! You are not to leave this room until it is dinner time!" Her door was slammed shut, and an angry Fengolin was left by herself.
"Dinner will not be here for another six hours!" she said quietly, and then walked across her small room to a wooden chair that sat at the window. She plopped into it very heavily; it squeaked and moaned beneath the sudden weight. It was rather unfair of her mother to keep her inside when the first rays of sunlight broke through. Just because she went out for a little tiny bit yesterday…
Fengolin's thoughts began to stray away from the injustice she was just dealt to the thought of swords, and battle, and adventure. She eventually rested her head against the wall, and her eyes slowly shut.
She had a broad sword in her hands, and there were Orcs. The men around her were dead or wounded. She was tired but she was not ready to give in to these foul creatures. Her legs were planted firmly, her will was resolute. The Orc captain opened his mouth to give a command-
"Excuse me?" it said.
"What?" she asked, a bemused expression settling onto her face.
"Are you Fengolin?" Her eyes opened suddenly, golden light filled the room. A tall soldier stood in her doorway, looking at her.
"Are you Fengolin?" he asked again.
"Oh, yes, yes I am," she said apologetically, and stood up.
"The King requests your presence. Will you come?" She took a moment to think to herself, before saying, "Wait, I thought kings command, not request." She thought she saw a smile flit across his face, but it was gone so quickly that it might have been a passing thought.
"Though they might, he still bid me ask you. Will you come?"
"Of course I will, just lead the way." He nodded and stepped aside, allowing her to pass out of the room first. She entered the main room of the house where she was attacked by a very large, brown thing. For a moment, she struggled to get out of its hold, when she realized that it was her mother tying a cloak on her.
"Mother, how much does this cloak weigh?" she asked, her head finally breaking free of material.
"Do not complain, I wish that you do not catch cold." Once her mother was satisfied that her only child was very warm and protected against the harsh winds, she tried to flatten her hair. "Well, I do not know what you have done to warrant the attention of the King, but you better not be in trouble. Now, go on," she said, and placed a kiss on her forehead. With bright pink cheeks, Fengolin left her house and emerged into the puddle-riddled street. When she emerged, she saw Grimbold leaning against the wall, his face ashy white.
"Grimbold!" she said before she could stop herself. She knew that she shouldn't have been surprised to see him and that she should have even expected him there, but she could not help herself. He nodded slightly towards her, but his eyes fell on the tall soldier, and his face whitened more.
The soldier led them away from their homes and towards the Golden Halls at a brisk pace. There was indeed an icy wind, and Fengolin wrapped her cloak around herself tighter, giving Grimbold a sympathetic look as he only had a very thin cloak on his shoulders.
"Excuse me sir," she said after a moment of silence while Grimbold pulled on her arm to try to shut her up, "I was just wondering why Theoden King wants to see us, is all."
Without looking back at her, the man answered, "He said something about an incident yesterday, but that is all he spoke of. I do not know details."
"Oh, thank you," Fengolin said, and fell back in pace with Grimbold. She glanced over at him, but his white face was looking at the ground. She sighed and followed without further questions.
They arrived in the next few following minutes. The two followed the soldier up the stairs to the Halls, Fengolin a pace and a half in front of Grimbold. The heavy doors were opened enough for the three to walk into the halls, and then they were closed again. They walked silently down the length of the hall towards the King.
"Presenting Grimbold and Fengolin," the man said, bowed, and then took his leave, leaving Grimbold and Fengolin alone with Theoden.
"I am glad to see you both came," Theoden said after a torturous moment of silence. When they didn't reply, he continued, "As I am sure you remember, yesterday my niece and nephew arrived here to live with my son and me. Theodred would have taken them about Edoras to see what there is to see, and to meet people their age. Theodred, however, is out on his first ride with the soldiers, and thus is not able to do so. I would dearly like to help my niece and nephew become adjusted in Edoras as soon as possible, and I think that you two could handle this task, in place of Theodred." Theoden relaxed back into his seat, his gaze switching between Fengolin and Grimbold.
After a moment, Fengolin (who had just realized that Grimbold would not answer him) stepped forward. "Of course, my lord, it would be an honor for my friend and me." She bowed and stood straight again, and moved back to Grimbold's side.
"Very good," Theoden said, "Frea will be outside with Eomer and Eowyn. Thank you." The two nodded, turned, and ran out of the Halls.
It was as Theoden said. The man that had escorted them to the King was now standing with the two children they met the previous day.
"Well," Fengolin started awkwardly, "Hello. I am Fengolin, and this is Grimbold." She offered her hand first to Eomer, who shook it, and then to Eowyn, who also shook it. The same process was done with Grimbold.
"I am Eomer, and this is my little sister Eowyn. It is nice to meet you." Frea then bowed, and walked back into the Golden Halls.
"Well, now that he's gone, we can show you guys the really good part of Edoras. There's a little cave that no one else knows about-"
"Fengolin!" Grimbold broke in. "Did you not just hear the King? He said to show them around Edoras and introduce them to the others." Fengolin rolled her eyes and shrugged her shoulders a little under the weight of the cloak.
"The others around here are stupid," she said, giving her full attention to Grimbold. "Besides, we are showing them part of Edoras." Grimbold raised an eyebrow.
"You know where that leads." Fengolin turned to look back at the two silent siblings.
"Don't listen to him, he's not always so much fun. Let's go!" Before Grimbold could reply, she had led the other two off. Without much of a choice, he sighed and followed.
Fengolin led them to a very small opening in the ground, located on the side of the large hill that the Golden Halls rested on.
"Here it is," she said proudly. "It looks small, but it's big on the inside." She untied the cloak she wore and threw it down into the hole, and she promptly followed. Eomer immediately went next, leaving Eowyn and Grimbold.
"I do not know," said the golden-haired girl, "If no one else knows about it, perhaps we shouldn't…" Grimbold laid a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
"It is completely safe, don't worry." She looked to say she was not worried about safety, but changed her mind and climbed after her brother, leaving Grimbold to bring up the rear.
Once everyone was in, they could see that it really was quite large. It stretched for several feet about Grimbold's head, who was the tallest in the group. It was a large area of many feet where many men could stay. There were three thin shafts of light illuminating the whole area; it looked as though someone had made them. To the right of the area was a dark tunnel; no light pierced it.
"It is called Trahan," Fengolin said softly. "The passage leads up into the mountains, and out onto a peak. It is a long journey to take."
"We think this was built as a haven of sorts for the men that first came to the lands here, who were trying to protect themselves from Orcs," Grimbold added. The light in the Trahan grew dim as they talked.
"The passage is not lit by the sun, so you must bring fire if you want to go up," Fengolin said, not noticing the light.
"Can we go up?" Eomer asked, marking the first real words he had said to them. Fengolin smiled in a look of relief.
"Not today. It is a long journey." Eomer nodded.
"Perhaps next week then." There was a crash of thunder above them, some what muffled by the ground between them and the outside world. The hole that led back out was suddenly letting water in; it had begun raining again.
"Oh no," Grimbold said, stepping towards the exit. "My mother will kill me if I get wet.' Fengolin looked worried for a moment, but then changed her mind.
"We can just stay here until it passes over then." She sat down and pulled her cloak over her body. "We can take a nap; the time will pass quickly that way. Eowyn shrugged and lay down, pulling her own cloak over her shoulders, and Eomer followed suit. Grimbold looked ready to say something, but sighed and lay down.
"How will we know when it is over if we are all sleeping?" he asked.
"When we wake up, it will be time," replied Fengolin. Grimbold sighed again but said nothing.
Outside the rain came down harder, but it did not threaten to wet their sleeping area, for the ground here was dry and longed for water. The winds blew harder and the thunder boomed, but the pattern of the rain pulled them one by one to sleep.