Part 17

Had there been anyone else in the room, that person would have commented soon enough how pale she could go. Pale would have been an understatement, because Chloe could tell that she had gotten gray. It was in the lack of oxygen and the terrible coldness that came over her.

"As long as the Orcs are not on our doorstep, you shall have the luxury to mull over that, my lady."

Chloe smiled briefly and murmured, "Thanks."

"Your child," he continued, though, "will be raised as the child of a prince."

The thin nervous smile of earlier blossomed into a true one. If only Theodred knew that her baby was more royal perhaps than even the European princes.

"That is too generous," she replied.

"And Rohan..." his voice trailed off. Chloe noticed the faraway look that came over him. "Rohan is the grandest place in all of Middle-earth!"

"More than Rivendell?" Chloe softly asked.

"What Man can come and go in Elven territory?" he asked rhetorically. "Rohan, though, Chloe, will embrace you and your child. The Rohirrim will take you in. The land had rolling hills and seas upon seas of white wildflowers."

Chloe enjoyed his avid youth so wonderfully shown on his face. Theodred was so open and passionate about his kingdom. If ever she entertained the thought of agreeing to his proposal, she knew her only competition for his attention would be Rohan... Unlike Legolas--

How long did she need to wait still so that she would not have that horrific image of Legolas and the dark-haired woman locked in a kiss?

"Soon," Theodred continued, "Rohan will become with Gondor the most powerful kingdoms in Middle-earth. The Elves will pass through the sea and settle in their own land. Nothing, Chloe, will compare to us."

Better then that her baby not experience the loss of its father then. She would have grief enough to spare without searching for words to explain to a little child how Legolas had followed his people and went to where he truly belonged.

He held her hand tightly. His eyes were filled with hope and wonder, and Chloe recognized them well enough as trained towards this chance to become a father. Did warriors really starve for someone so little to care for? Did they not enough burden on their shoulders, trying to save their lands and worrying about their own lives at the same time?

It was an epiphany for her when she finally answered the question. Theodred was so young, yet his burden so heavy. A child would turn him into a man. He needed to care about this new life, so that his battles would have meaning beyond a piece of ancestral land that could easily be replaced by another deserted mountain.

She had two possibilities—to return now to Rivendell as she had originally planned, or to exlore this possibility. On one hand, she trusted Arwen. On the other hand, at first sight she felt comfortable with Theodred, and he was offering her a place of Men. If her baby was more Man than Elf, then better it be with its own people. If it turned out more Elf, then better still that it grew up with Men since Men looked up to Elves.

Yet what kept coming back was the betrayal she had sent through the pond. Much as she tried to shake it away, the picture was there. Deep inside, she knew she would forgive him anything. That was why she had refused to go back to Smallville. That did not mean though that she would wait for an impossibility to come true.

The tent flap opened. Chloe snatched her hand out from Theodred's grasp. The soldier read the scene and bowed his head in repentance.

"My lord prince, a band of Orcs are headed this way."

Theodred nodded and stood. "Has a messenger been sent to Eomer?"

"Aye, my lord."

Theodred took the sword he had placed on the floor and sheathed it. "Call my men, Grimbold. We are to meet Saruman's forces head on." He turned to Chloe. "Nowhere in this land can I send you where I shall feel you'll be safe," he told her. "I must then ask you to join me, my lady. I shall keep you safe. Do you trust me?" He held out his hand to her.

She heard the march of the Uruk-hai, terrible tremors of the earth that vibrated towards them. She had seen the fearsome creatures before, and they were a terrible sight to behold. Then she looked up at Theodred's angelic visage and knew that she was not in the strong side of this battle. She placed her hand in his. "I do."

Theodred handed her up one of the horses before stopping her mount. "You are not a rider," he said, almost in a question. She saw the crease of concern on his brow.

"I'll be fine."

Theodred called for his mount and smoothly jumped onto its back. "Grimbold, how many do you see?" he called out.

The rider galloped beside Theodred and gave him a rough number. Chloe saw the tortured look in Theodred's eyes as he glanced from her to the warriors.

"I leave most of my men to you, Grimbold. You and Eomer will hold these areas. I shall hold the Fords of Isen."

Theodred and his part of the Rohirrim defended the fords until it became apparent that Saruman had given direct orders for the heir to be killed. Finally, Theodred retreated to a small isle. Theodred scouted the area immediately for a tent to set Chloe up, despite her objections. Strategically, he installed his men in the area surrounding her. Before he left to lead the warriors, he knelt in front of her and kissed her knuckles. "A day or two of battle, then you shall see," he assured her, "pomp and circumstance await us upon our victorious return to my kingdom."

Chloe clasped her hands in front of herself. Wherever he was, this was what Legolas faced every day. Caught up in the tension of the few minutes before an attack, Chloe grasped Theodred's arms and kissed him on the lips. "Stay safe," she whispered as a request.

"And stay here," he cautioned her. "If the Orcs take you, they shall feast of your dead body."

Chloe bit her lip to keep the hysteria at bay. It would have been better if it was something funny to lighten up the mood. However, she recognized Theodred's words as the warning it was meant to be.

The battle raged on for several hours. Chloe prayed that the men that Theodred had left behind to watch the marshes would march here. She saw men falling around her and despaired that the time would come when she looked into the face of one and would see Theodred.

The half-men half-orc beasts detected one thing off about the placement of the strongest warriors. The leader raised a holler and cried. Chloe felt burning eyes on her as the Uruk-hair realized that while Theodred could not be defeated in a battle, they could lure him out into the open.

Chloe was standing outside searching for the prince when he crashed right into her. She fell hard on her back with Theodred on top of her. His passionate eyes from earlier were not filled with hurt and grief.

"No," she whispered. Chloe grabbed his gritty face with her hands and forced him to look at her. "No."

From a distance, she heard the cry of a flood of Rohirrim flooding into the isle. Chloe felt Theodred relax at the sound. "Eomer," he rasped. "My cousin Eomer and Grimbold. You'll be safe."

"Of course I will because of you. Your job isn't done. Take me to Rohan, Theodred. Teach me to train horses. How am I going to be a lady of Rohan without that skill?"

Theodred smiled at her, yet still did not move. Chloe knew he was desperate to take his weight off her, but he did not have that strength. "You would have agreed?"

"I agreed the moment I placed my hand in yours," came her reply. Chloe did not know what possessed her then, because in her heart she would never have gone through the entire process of promising her life to someone when her heart still belonged to Legolas.

It seemed like days later when they lifted Theodred off her and tried in vain to save his life. Through it all, Chloe stayed beside the prince and held his hand while the poison fever raged through his body. Eomer stood back as he watched her from beneath dirty straggled hair. Grimbold had told him of the girl. Eomer could well believe the rider's words. "He had taken one look at her, did Theodred," Grimbold reported, "and wanted to move the sky and the mountains to raze the Uruk-hair and take her to Theoden King and Rohan."

Eomer had always pegged his cousin as a dreamer, whose ideals were of a perfect Rohan, a hale family and a lovely queen. He never begrudged Theodred his birthright. Yet here now Theodred lay, the promise of his dreams weeping before him, and Eomer would no doubt be thrust into the line of the crown.

He walked towards his cousin's deathbed and clasped his arm. "I want it not, Theodred," he told the prince. "Be well and take responsibility for your birth!"

Chloe wept for the silence that had followed, in which Eomer and Theodred looked into each other's eyes in mute communication. Then, Eomer stepped out of the tent and left her with the prince. Theodred murmured something she could not hear. Chloe leaned over him and allowed his fingers to run over her cheek. "It could have been," he whispered.

She nodded and kissed his forehead, then watched with a frozen heart when his eyes finally closed. Chloe laid her head on the prince's chest and listened to how his heartbeat slowed and stopped.

She had fallen asleep with her head against his heart. She woke when Eomer shook her shoulder and helped her up. "'Tis time to carry him home."

Chloe closed her eyes and nodded. She brushed Theodred's hair away from his face. "Safe trip, Theodred. You shall be buried in the land you love."

"You shall come with us," Eomer gruffly commanded. "You are his chosen bride." When Chloe opened her mouth to protest, Eomer held up his hand for silence. "His surviving men believe it so. Give him that."