Chapter 3:
Three weeks later, the elleth from the throne room sat on the outer wall of the palace and sharpened her sword unconsciously. As she did so, she looked not at her sword but rather at the inky twilight shifting across the sky as the sun descended. Her cloak billowed around her as the slight wind became stronger, heralding a storm on the horizon. As she sat there and let the wind pick up, she saw a small horse on the horizon with a rider obviously in trouble. Standing in her borrowed dress on the edge of the wall, she watched intently with her powerful elven eyes and narrowed her gaze as she picked out the faraway form of a Rider swaying dangerously in the saddle. Turning, she ran from the wall to the throne room and burst inside hurriedly. As she walked quickly to the throne and reported what she had seen, Eorl alerted the healers and sent someone to rescue the rider.
As the sounds of the horse hooves faded on the cobblestones, King and Elf eyed each other nervously and then looked away guiltily as the horses raced up the road and the men dismounted, carrying a body in their arms. As the two turned, the elf gasped at the state of the man. He was badly burned, with much blood and pus oozing from his wounds. He was delirious and his skin felt like a fire of Mordor, the numerous cuts on his body already badly infected. As the elf shook her head, she took the body from the horsemen and raced him to a spare chamber.
Laying his body gently on the sheets, she pulled out her herb kit and began to mix poultices and ointment for his wounds. Calling the maidservant Calla, she sent her racing for water and dabbed his wounds and burns with what water she had with her. As Calla raced back in with the water, the elf sent her scurrying for the Queen as she began to minister to the Rider before her....