Chapter 16 : Kidnapped

Slowly, Lothíriel opened her eyes, frowning at the throbbing at the back of her head. Where am I? She looked down at the ropes that bound her hands and feet. What happened?

"At last you are awake."

Lothíriel turned her head to the direction of that hoarse voice, wincing when her head spun. He was sitting with two other men, eating. He looked like he was from Rohan, and looked familiar, but the other two men did not. "Where am I?" she demanded. "Who are you?"

The man approached her with a sneer. "Not too polite, are we?"

"Why should I polite if you're treating me in such a manner?" Lothíriel retorted. Then everything went blur and spotty as the man struck her across the face. Hard.

"You should be polite because you're all tied up, and we're not," he growled. "And that was also for what you did to my foot."

So I did stab him, Lothíriel thought, not without satisfaction. "At least let me know a little of what is going on. If it hasn't occurred to you, this isn't a very natural way to find yourself when you wake up."

"It isn't indeed," the man agreed. "My name is Halen. And you have been kidnapped, princess." He smiled, which triggered Lothíriel's memory.

"You're that soldier! You were on duty when I left!" she gasped. "But how could you do something like that?"

Halen laughed, and gestured to his two friends. "My two Dunlending friends and I have some plans of our own. We've been finding ways to go about it, and must thank you, my lady, because you just made it so much easier."

"What plans?"

"There's no need for you to know."

"If I am going to be victim of those plans, you should at least have the decency to let me know what you want to do with me!" Lothíriel said angrily. Halen raised his arm again, as if to strike her, but Lothíriel just stared at him. "Strike me if you want, but when you are caught, you will have a fate that is worse than mine!"

Halen grinned at his two companions. "This princess has some spirit," he said. "Pretty too. Too bad those traits are so inconvenient at a time like this."

Lothíriel turned her face away, disgusted. Someone will find me, she told herself firmly. Don't give way.

Éomer stood above the walls, staring out over the lands. Where could Lothíriel have gone? He looked in every direction, trying to recall if he had ever told her anything that could have affected her decision.

"You know, if you kept riding that way, you'd go into the Gap of Rohan, and then to the Misty Mountains…"

Éomer's eyes widened, and he all but ran down the steps, running through the city looking for Éothain. He found him having his lunch with Freda. "Éothain!"

"Yes, my lord?" Éothain stood up, looking in concern at his king's flustered face.

"Isindil left with his men yesterday, did he?"

Éothain nodded.

"Are you very good at tracking, Éothain?"

"Yes, he is, my lord, you can trust me on that," Freda said, keeping her eyes lowered, unable to look into his face.

At any other moment, Éomer would have felt most uncomfortable about that, but he did not care now. "Good. Then you will come with me. I think I know where Lothíriel may have gone."

The two men were ready in such a short time that they would not have believed it themselves, if someone had told them about it afterwards. "Lothíriel is a fast rider, she could already be at the Misty Mountains, if she presses on hard," he said.

"It's amazing how fast one can travel when one has something in mind," Éothain agreed. Then he hesitated. "My lord? I do not know if there is any connection, but… the new guard, Halen. He has disappeared. Sircyn could not find him yesterday. I was meaning to tell you, but you had so much on your mind, and I thought that he would appear again sometime, but he is still missing."

Éomer grit his teeth. "I do not know if there is any connection, but if there is…" He did not even bother to state the consequences. Such a crime had no other consequence but death.

They rode on hard in the direction of the Gap of Rohan, and spoke no further, intent on their task.

The night was freezing cold, but Lothíriel had no way to warm herself, not with her hands and feet bound. She curled up in a ball in her corner of the room, unable to see anything in the pitch dark. At least there would be a little light outside, but in this room where she was kept, there was nothing. The window was closed, and there was no door, only a little staircase that went downstairs, wherever downstairs was. The men had even left her alone, since there was no way she could possibly escape. Her dagger had been taken away from her, and all her other possessions.

Now that she was alone, a tear streaked down her face, and she finally gave way and started to cry. She saw now how foolish she had been to run away like that, how dangerous it was. Thinking about Isindil made her cry harder, and thinking about Éomer only served to make things worse. What I would give if only I could see their faces now! Even if Éomer did not love her, it would be all right, if only she could see him.

Éomer was reluctant to stop for the night, but there was no other way. In the darkness they might pass some clue, and also the horses needed to rest. So they stopped for the night, but Éomer did not sleep. He lay down on the ground, staring up at the sky. Images of Lothíriel flashed by in his mind, thoughts of her hungry, lost, hurt, or worse.

How could I have been so stupid? I should have chased after her, and then perhaps she wouldn't run away, he thought to himself angrily. This is all my fault, and what if something has happened to her? What if I never get to see her again?

Ah. A rather short chapter compared to my previous ones. But I'm leaving in like… 15 minutes. And I actually should have been studying. Darn. Never mind I will cram when I'm on "holiday".

So now we have a corrupted soldier. Well, he's new, who knows what he has going on in his warped lil' mind. Sorry if you don't like the idea of corrupted soldiers. I think it's rather creepy, that the guy who's supposed to protect you is the one who gets you.