Chapter Six
William of the Rohirrim
Eomer quickly dragged Will up the hill, his wide steps leaving question for whether he could keep up or not.
He was soon at the castle, the large doors parting for both of them to enter.
Eomer brought him to the King, and then they reached the steps before the royal chair. Theoden sat in his chair, his elbow upon the armrest, his head in his hand. The man looked thoroughly exhausted.
Eomer spoke, "My dear King and Uncle, here is the man for whom you wished to be summoned; William the Strange."
Theoden locked up after these words, taking in Will.
At the present moment, Will desired to be presented to no one. His boots were covered in horse droppings, his jeans were no longer a light blue, but in stead a filthy brownish-blue. And his originally white t-shirt was now a shade somewhere between yellow and brown. Though this face and arms had been relived of some of the filth, his hair was no where near the blond it really was. Will would have been appalled by his appearance, except he had not looked into a mirror since before he had arrived in Rohan.
The Kings eyes held no emotion. They almost looked dead, as if the Kings life had already been taken ('or,' thought Will, 'I'm only seeing that look because I know this mans doom is near).
"William tbe Strange… That is what the men call you. I have been told you story, heard that you joined forces with the Rohirrim as they traveled to Helm's Deep. And to that, I am thankful. But I am not here to speak of the past. I am here to speak of the future."
'Oh shit!' Will thought, 'I know where this is going, but how the fuck did he find out?'
"Gandalf the White left this morning for Gondor with the halfling Perigrin Took. Before he left, Gandalf spoke to me about Minas Tirith. He said that Rohan might be needed, and that if the beacons were lit, Rohan must be prepared to go to war. Then he turned the conversation to you, Young William."
Theoden stood then, and walked down the stairs to speak more face to face with him.
"He said you were the answer to all the riddles. You would know whether Rohan would be needed. But he also said that I must never call upon you, for asking you of the future could destroy everything. I do not see how that could be so. I do not see how all could be lost by asking you whether we should prepare for war now, or wait. I only ask this of you, least the chance everything should fall into darkness. When will the beacons be lit? When must Rohan ride to Gondor for our last doom?"
Will was stunned by every word Theoden had spoken. He was asking Will to reveal every word of memory he had of this world. He could not, would not do it. He'd made a promise to himself, and he met to keep that promise.
Reluctantly, despite knowing so many men's terrible fates, Will spoke, "I am sorry, King Theoden. But I can not give you the information for which you seek."
Theoden looked like he had been ready for this answer, and responded justly.
"Will, you have fought with the Rohirrim, you have been aided, and now you live with a family of Rohan. Do you now deny to help the country which has taken you in as one of their own?"
Will literally took a step back. His jaw dropped, and his eyes went wide. He'd been in this county no more then a few days, yet he was practically being accused of treason.
"My-my Lord and King Theoden, I have not committed treason not will I attempt to do so, but all I can tell you is this. When the beacons are lit, ride to Minas Tirith with all speed. They will need you in the end."
Theoden stepped back from Will, turned his back to him and Eomer, and then sat in his chard again.
"You cannot tell me when the beacons will be lit?"
"No, my lord. If I were to tell you this, many men would die with out need."
"So you do in fact know the future?"
"Yes my lord. But know this, and please take it to heart. The end of this war will bring the type of peace you have yet to imagine. I cannot change what will happen. If I were to do so, the war might turn ill, and everyone we know and love that surround us now will surround us in the massive, unmarked graves the servants of the Dark Lord shall toss us into. My lord, please trust me on this. Do what you feel is right, despite anything I have told you. I am nothing more then a solider under your reign, and I will go into battle should you ask it of me. But I can tell you no more then what I have already said,
for hope shall then cease to exist."
Theoden furrowed his brow, and then took a deep breath.
"I shall trust you, William the Strange. The words you speak have impressed upon me the trust of which Eomer has spoken. I no longer doubt the purity of your heary, though I cannot say just why."
Will smiled lightly. The whole 'trust' this was getting pretty old, but it definatly was paying off.
"You may take your leave now, William."
"Thank you, my lord." Will said, before bowing his head slightly and turning to leave.
Once he'd left and the doors had shut behind him, Theoden spoke to Eomer.
"He knows the fate of each and everyone of us…"
"But he says the end will be good, and I did not sense a lie in his voice." Eomer spoke surely.
"No, neither did I. But his eyes looked upon me as if they were watching a man who was about to breathe his last breath…"
Will quickly walked back to the home he was staying at. His stomach growled loudly as he trampled down the streets, smelling others dinners cooking along the way.
When he walked inside, everyone was just sitting down to dinner.
"Welcome back, Will!" Trefa spoke upon his entering. "You've arrived just in time. I was afraid I'd have to start dinner with out you. Here, take a seat right here." She said, tapping the chair between herself and Marya.
The dinner was delicious. Chicken stew. It wasn't much, and wasn't as good as the food us in the palace, but after a hard days work, anything to fill your stomach is amazing.
After dinner the family sat around the fire, telling of what they'd done that day. All the children that were the 13 and younger had played all day, while Marya, Marfe, the parents, and Will were the people who were helping to support the family until the children were old enough to do so as well.
Quickly though the sun was gone from the sky, and the stars began to brightly shine. Immediately, Trefa shoved them all to bed, where they endured the same sleeping arrangements.
Once again, the candle was blown out by one of the girls. And silence fell upon them all except for the light breathing given off by them all.
After about an hour of lying still, Will heard Marya emerge from her bed, and leave the room. Will waited a moment until he was sure no one had awoken from her movements, before getting up and following her.
This night was colder then the last. There was a firm wind blowing in from the north, chilling everything to the bone with its first blast of cold.
But despite the frigged wind, there sat Marya upon the step of her home.
Arms folded to his chest, Will joined her.
They sat there for a few moments in silence, until Marya broke the silence.
"I missed you today." She said, with a small smile on her face.
"And I you. For when I was even cleaning the stalls I was thinking of-" Will stopped in mid sentence, as Marya grinned because he'd realized what he'd said. "Or maybe what I should say, is that to bring beauty to the horses stalls I had only to think of you, and it was as if your presence had brightened the stalls by the sun."
Leaning against his shoulder, and him putting an arm around her, she said, "It is so weird, Will. I have known you but a day, but as often as I think of you, I feel as if I've known you a life time."
"You have no idea how much that feeling is mutual. All I can say is that I can not imagine living life with out you now. Does that sound mad?"
"Only if you think my feelings are mad, because they are exactly the same."
Then, taking his arm back and lifting her face up off his shoulder, he grabbed both her hands and looked deep into her eyes.
"Then I ask you this. After this war is over, we shall make a life together. We both know a great final battle shall be along with in the next few weeks. I ask you that after this war, we marry."
Her face was lit brightly by the stars above; the moon was hidden behind a cloud. But even in the dim light, her eyes shined like the stars above, and from what he could read of her face, the answer he was going to get was exactly what he wanted.
Her lips grew into a wide, ear-to-ear smile and she nodded immensely. Will's face lit up and he picked her up by the waist, twirling her around and kissing her at the same time. He could not possibly put into words why he had just asked her. But there was a bond between them that was impossible to explain, that just wasn't to be explained. It was simply understood that they loved one and other, and they were willing to spend a lifetime learning what they had not needed to learn to fall in love.
After setting her down, Marya giggled slightly and then looked lovingly into Will's eyes.
"Yes, yes, my answer is yes."
Will kissed her lightly, before the worst thought possible crossed his mind.
What if he did not return from Minas Tirith?
A/N- ok, farfetched 'love so fast' story, but hey, Romeo and Juliet experienced it! Lol… then again those two are dead. But forget about that. So I thought I wouldn't be updtateing for a long time, but today in classes I wrote out on notebook paper the first 600 words of the story, cause I'm cool like that, and then I just COUDLNT STOP!! Review now!! REVIEW!! Update within a week cause my last finals are next Wednesday., so possibly before next wed, but most likely next thursday.. REVIEW!!