A/N: Dazzler 420 – thank you!
Steff7 – me, too. I wish there was more of their friendship in the movie.
Beauty – Good! I was hoping it would bring a smile. Poor Gimli! Legs gets all the girls.
Jebb – Oh, yes! I don't think Gimli can resist teasing him. Especially since he knows it embarrasses him!
Edoras rose slowly on the horizon, surrounded by gently sloping hills. The city seemed completely deserted as they approached it. No children played outside in the late afternoon sun, there was no washing hanging out to dry nor was anyone tending gardens or repairing their dwellings. This is all very strange, Legolas thought. Perhaps the people had fled the city, leaving their troubled king.
The four boldly approached the center of the city yet no one challenged or greeted them until they made to enter the Great Hall where Theoden sat. Then several guards appeared and ordered them to leave their weapons outside of the Hall on "the orders of Grima Wormtongue". The guard grimaced as he said the name.
Reluctantly the three of them removed their swords, bow, knives and axes making a small arsenal on the porch. The guard requested that Gandalf leave his staff but the wizard refused, saying that it was his support. The guard was not entirely convinced but allowed him to keep it. What harm could it do to let the old man keep his walking stick? Reasoned the guard as he moved aside to let them pass.
He is a wily one, thought Legolas as he held out his arm to the wizard. Gandalf took it and made a show of being an aged man and leaning on his staff and Legolas as they slowly made their way into the hall.
As they approached the throne, the king's nefarious advisor, Grima Wormtongue, slinked out of the shadows to threaten them and curse the guards for letting Gandalf keep his staff. But it was too late for the scheming advisor and his true master, Saruman.
In a panic, Wormtongue ordered the remaining guards to seize the wizard but no one could come close to him. Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli bodily cleared a path for Gandalf as the wizard strode purposefully toward the stricken king. Several more of the guards were reluctant to move against the four since Wormtongue seemed so terrified of them.
Many felt that the evil counselor was the cause of Theoden's "illness" and if their presence upset Wormtongue, then perhaps they should wait and see what happened. Certainly the good king had been a completely different person before the scheming, skulking advisor had wormed his way into Theoden's good graces. No, the guards were content to allow the visitors to stand before the king unmolested for the time being.
Gandalf let his grey cloak fall to reveal himself as a white wizard and demanded that Saruman release the King from his spell. Hearing the disturbance, the king's niece, Eowyn, ran into the hall to defend her uncle if need be. Aragorn caught her firmly by the arm and bade her to wait for a moment. The lady was in a great deal of distress and feared more harm for her uncle.
The wizards fought for control of the King but it was Theoden himself who finally awakened to Gandalf's call and ultimately cast the evil out. Aragron let go of Eowyn who rushed to catch her uncle as he pitched forward, released from the terrible spell.
Gently, the lady stroked his hair and spoke soft words of comfort to him, fearing the worst. He sat up on his throne and before their very eyes transformed from an old and broken man to a young and vibrant warrior king. Eowyn gasped in awe and stood back from him. She feared that he would never return to them and could not believe the dramatic change.
Meanwhile, the creeping Wormtongue realized his scheme was exposed and tried to slink from the hall but the heavy boot of the dwarf on his chest prevented his escape. Gimli bared his teeth at the advisor in warning. He would have to pay for his treachery however Theoden saw fit.
Legolas was quite impressed with the wizard's display of power and his confidence in their ultimate victory increased ever so slightly. Surely they had many allies in the fight against Sauron – the Ents, a white wizard, the Rangers, the elves, the Rohirrim and Gondorians – the trick would be uniting them. He wondered if Gandalf had a plan in mind for that. He decided to leave that question for another time and turned his attention back to the scene at hand.
Theoden was looking around in a daze and it took him several minutes to recognize Eowyn. The poor man had no idea of what happened to him – he thought it was nothing more than a terrible dream. It did not take him long, however, to realize that it was not a dream but a terrible spell put on him though Wormtongue.
In a rage, the transformed king bodily threw his vile advisor from the hall and banished him from the realm. Never again would he be caught in such a trap. Disaster had narrowly been averted and Theoden was angered at being duped by the advisor.
Once the king's anger had subsided, Gandalf explained that the circumstances were more perilous than Theoden realized. Saruman's army of Uruk-hai was on its way to destroy his kingdom in the hopes that they could be prevented from uniting with Gondor against their common enemy.
Gandalf pressed the king to call for the aid of Gondor but he refused saying that the Gondorians had not come to their aid in the past and he could not risk the future of the Rohirrim. Instead, he wanted to evacuate the city to their ancient stronghold of Helm's Deep. The fortress would be safer than Edoras since they had neither the manpower nor the time to properly fortify the city against the approaching Uruk-hai.
Gandalf was troubled by Theoden's stubbornness and reluctantly let the matter drop. However, he confided to Aragorn that he would go in search of Eomer and his men. The wizard knew how determined Saruman was to destroy the Rohirrim and had caught a glimpse of the army he was massing at Isengard. They would need all the help he could muster to fend off Saruman's attack.
"Look for me at dawn on the fifth day," he told the ranger as he and Shadowfax set off in search of the Marshall and his band of followers.
The Rohirrim quickly and efficiently began evacuating the city taking only the necessary items. Hopefully, they would not remain at Helm's Deep any longer than a few days.
As they rode toward the fortress, Legolas looked around curiously, aware that he had never been near so many humans before. Many of them looked older than their years. Their lives must be very hard, he thought with a twang of pity. And yet they did not seem to know how hard their lives were.
Many smiled or laughed as they walked toward Helm's Deep. Animated conversations sprang up around him between riders and he watched Eowyn laugh with Gimli and Aragorn about the origins of the Dwarves. It seemed to him that they could have been on route to a picnic rather than a battle.
How very odd, he thought. Perhaps they know that their lives are short and they choose to enjoy what they have. He sighed and looked about at the rag-tag band, troubled by the lack of healthy men of fighting age. How could they hope to defend the fortress with so few?
The shield maidens would be called into duty only as a last resort. From his own experience he knew that the females could be just as deadly with a sword and bow as the men but hoped they would not be called upon just the same. To see a shield maiden fall in battle would stir too many of his own fears for Annowe.
Gandalf had assured him she was safe but all of that could change in the blink of an eye in these fearsome times. He knew that she would not be standing idly by in Fangorn if Saruman were massing an army. Most likely she would be heading to Isengard to put a stop to his plans. Yes! He realized. She would know that Saruman had gone over to Sauron. So, that's what she was up to! She was not heading to Mordor after all. Instead, she had chosen to do what she could against Saruman.
He smiled grimly to himself in admiration of her tactic. I should have known she would be smarter than to go after Sauron outright, he thought. She is trying to cause trouble to occupy Saruman's attention. He fervently hoped that Annowe would be successful and determined that he would return to Fangorn to help her once the Rohirrim were safely to Helm's Deep.