Far and Away
Chapter: sixteen
Rated: pg-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of J. R. R. Tolkien's and I'm just borrowing them.
Eowyn slowly opened her eyes. Lifting herself off of the small cot that she had slept on, she made her way to the largest room in the underground system.
The underground safe haven had been built more than a few hundred years ago, when Edoras had first begun to be built. The secret entrance was in the throne room. A movable panel could slide sideways, exposing an opening. This narrow passage led to a dead end. By removing the flooring at the very end of the tunnel, one could go down a steep stairwell.
There were two levels to the safe haven. At the end of the stairwell, it opened into a very large cave. It had been carved out of the earth and rock long ago. From the room, three tunnels split away, two going to living areas. The third tunnel led to another stairwell, which went into the second level. This level was used to store food, and had a small live spring flowing there. There was also an emergency tunnel. This tunnel was extremely small, being only three feet high and three feet wide. Stone archways and wooden sides made the passage strong, so that there was no chance for a collapse. The tunnel carried on about a mile, where at the end, a stone could be rolled away. The exit was out of sight from any travelers because it was hidden in a knoll.
Eowyn pulled her over coat on and stumbled sleepily into the candle-lit chamber. A few of the women were already up and going about, attempting to make the safe haven as comfortable and homelike as possible. Eowyn yawned and rubbed her eyes. She went over to Ethel, who was sitting on a low stood, drinking a streaming cup of an herb mixture.
The old lady smiled when Eowyn sat down on the ground beside her and patted her shoulder. "How are you this morning, young one? You look a bit tired."
Eowyn nodded. "Yes I am. It was a busy day yesterday."
Ethel coughed and sighed. "Yes, it was wasn't it?"
Eowyn glanced at Ethel. "Are you alright?"
She waved a hand. "Its nothing, just a little cough. It will go away."
"Lady Eowyn! We need your help!" Tarra motioned for Eowyn to hurry.
Eowyn stood and look at Ethel. "If you don't feel well you should rest. I'll be back later tonight."
Eowyn ran off with Tarra. "What do you need?"
"We aren't sure what we should do in case of an emergency, and not necessarily a raid, but flooding and such. We brought a counsel together of the few elderly men still left."
"Thank you Tarra, I'll take it from here."
~*~
Faramir walked through the wood of Ithilien with his Rangers. All were clad in shades of greens and browns. Faramir pulled his dark green hood over his face.
He and his men glided silently through the underbrush and passed from shadow to shadow. Tall men with quivers of arrows strapped to their backs and bows in their hands were aware of every noise in the forest.
Anborn, one of Faramir's Rangers whistled. One short, two long. It was a safe area. Damrod came up to Faramir and stood at his side. Faramir gave in a questioning look.
"My Captain," Damrod said, "Anborn tells me that he can see Henneth Annun from the tree and it isn't more than two leagues southeast."
Faramir clasped Damrod's shoulder and nodded. "Thank you." He looked around, surveying their surroundings. "If we can find shelter, we will stay here tonight. But if we can't, then we will go onto Henneth Annun."
Damrod nodded and saluted. "I'll ready some scouts."
Faramir sat down with his back against a tree. He removed his hood, reveling his tanned, unshaven face. He ran his fingers through his dark hair. His company had been gone from Minas Tirith for a long time, so many months that Faramir had lost count. Sighing deeply, Faramir let his mind wander back to the hall of his childhood.
He had grown up in Minas Tirith. His mother, Finduilas, had died several years after the difficult childbirth of her second child, him. Faramir was almost sure that his father blamed him for the death of Finduilas.
Boromir had been older, but a good friend.
Faramir buried his head in his hands. "Boromir," he whispered, "Why did you go? Why do you lay your responsibility on my head, leading me to my doom? Our father mourns your death and I believe he wishes that I had been the one to die in your stead. Oh, Boromir, brother, friend." A tear slid down Faramir's cheek. He quickly wiped it away.
The barely audible sound a Damrod's footsteps made Faramir raise his head.
"We must move quickly and silently to the south, my captain. Already two of the scouts came back reporting that they spied the Southrons passing by."
Faramir nodded and stood. "Prepare to leave. Send out the men in groups of four or five. Get Mablung, Anborn, and yourself and you three will go with me and we will take up the rear of the Rangers."
Damrod saluted and ran off to give the orders. Faramir backed into the shadows of the trees and stood quietly, still and listening. Far off he could make out the footsteps of a large company. Pulling his hood well over his face he vanished into the forest to rejoin his company.
~*~
Eowyn leaned against the wall of the cave. The ten old men who were left were boring her to sleep. She sighed loudly and then standing said, "I beg that you pardon me, but I think that you will be able to figure out how to waterproof the doors."
"Of course we pardon you, Lady Eowyn. We will come to you later with our final decision," said an elder.
Eowyn nodded and left. She walked out into the large area. She didn't know what time it was, but many of the children were up now, playing with their friends. Their mothers, who were grinding grain, keep a watchful eye on them.
Eowyn grinned and walked around the children. A little boy with blonde hair falling into his face and the biggest brown eyes looked up at her and smiled.
She knelt down beside him and the little boy looked up at her. "Hello."
He giggled. "Hullo."
"What's your name?"
While pushing the golden strands of hair from his face, he replied, "Haleth."
"Who's your daddy, Haleth?"
"Herefara. And my Uncle is Herubrand. They're brothers."
Eowyn smiled. "I think I know your daddy. Isn't he the blacksmith?"
Haleth smiled. "Uh-huh. That's what my daddy does. That's my mama over there." He pointed to a young blonde woman who was tying strings of herbs together and hanging them from a beam. She glanced over and saw her son pointing at her. She shyly smiled and waved, and then turned back to her job. "My mama's name is Leofa." He cocked his head to the side and looked at Eowyn. "what is your name?"
"Eowyn."
"Do you want to play Eowyn?" Haleth looked up at her. His hair had fallen back into his face. Big brown eyes stared up at her.
Eowyn gently touched his cheek. "Not right now, but how about some other time?"
Haleth nodded. "Sure."
Eowyn sighed to herself and getting up, she went to where the women were working. "Need any help?"
An elderly woman looked up and nodded. "Over there. Leofa could use some help."
"Alright." Eowyn walked over to Haleth's mother. "Mind if I help you?"
The young woman looked at her. "Sure." She brushed some of her hair from her face. "Now these herbs are-"
Eowyn touched her shoulder. "I know what everything is."
Leofa nodded nervously. "Of course you do, I'm so sorry Of course royalty would have taken lessons on this sort of thing."
Eowyn laughed. "No, I got in trouble a lot and had to work in the kitchen for it."
Eowyn and Leofa worked silently side-by-side for a while until Leofa broke the silence. "I saw you talking to my boy."
"Yes, he's so adorable!"
Leofa blushed with pride. "Thank you. I don't know what I would do without him."
"Isn't your husband gone with the King?"
"Yes, he is."
"You must miss your husband terribly."
Leofa smiled. "Yes, I do. You know, the funny thing is, the marriage was arranged. My husband, Herefara, is ten years older than me. My parents knew his parents and they decided that the match would be a good one. I hated my parents and him. I hadn't met Herefara yet. The night of the wedding was the first day I met him. He would have come earlier, but he was riding with an eored and had only just gotten the news that he was to marry me.
"He got to my hometown the day before the wedding, but there were so many things to do that there was no way to met. So two minutes before we were to be married was the first time I saw him."
Eowyn smiled, tying a bunch of clove leaves together. "Was it love at first sight?"
Leofa thought for a minute. "No, I don't think so. I thought that he was indeed handsome, but I didn't know him, so how can you love someone without knowing them?"
Eowyn shrugged. "It could be possible. Don't you think?"
"I suppose, but I don't think that it would happen very often."
"I'm sorry, I interrupted your story. Go on."
"Well, anyways, I guess the first time that he was me was when I was walking toward him at the ceremony." She giggled. "His eyes got big and he just stared at me. He told me that he thought I was the most beautiful creature that he had ever seen."
Eowyn looked at Leofa. She had freckles softly falling on her cheeks. Her hair seemed to be kissed blonde by the sun. The loose strands came down in soft curls. Her eyes were clear blue. Most Rohirrim had a darker shade of eye color, so Leofa's eyes stood out as one of her rare and beautiful features.
"You are very pretty."
Leofa blushed and brushed curls out of her face.
Eowyn keep glancing over at Leofa. Finally she asked, "Leofa, how old are you?"
Leofa glanced at her. "Twenty. Why?"
"How old is Haleth?"
"Just four."
"How old were you when you married?"
"Fifteen. How old were you when you married?"
Eowyn was startled by the question. "Oh, I'm not married."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-six."
Leofa appeared a little shocked, but dropped the conversation.
A few minutes later, Tarra rushed out into the room and grabbed Eowyn. "It's Ethel. She died."
Eowyn stood still from shock and she when she felt the tears weld up in her eyes, but she didn't try to stop them.
Almost everything that could possible go wrong was going wrong. Eowyn sank to the floor. How was she going to cope with all this?
~*~ I'm so sorry that this took me so long! With the end of the school year coming up, I've been busy. You all know how it is. (please ya'll, give any suggestions that you might have! I'm struggling for ideas.)
*I'm so sorry about that slip up about Faramir not having dreams. I think I got him mixed up with Boromir for a second while I was writing. Faramir does often dream!
Chapter: sixteen
Rated: pg-13
Disclaimer: I don't own anything of J. R. R. Tolkien's and I'm just borrowing them.
Eowyn slowly opened her eyes. Lifting herself off of the small cot that she had slept on, she made her way to the largest room in the underground system.
The underground safe haven had been built more than a few hundred years ago, when Edoras had first begun to be built. The secret entrance was in the throne room. A movable panel could slide sideways, exposing an opening. This narrow passage led to a dead end. By removing the flooring at the very end of the tunnel, one could go down a steep stairwell.
There were two levels to the safe haven. At the end of the stairwell, it opened into a very large cave. It had been carved out of the earth and rock long ago. From the room, three tunnels split away, two going to living areas. The third tunnel led to another stairwell, which went into the second level. This level was used to store food, and had a small live spring flowing there. There was also an emergency tunnel. This tunnel was extremely small, being only three feet high and three feet wide. Stone archways and wooden sides made the passage strong, so that there was no chance for a collapse. The tunnel carried on about a mile, where at the end, a stone could be rolled away. The exit was out of sight from any travelers because it was hidden in a knoll.
Eowyn pulled her over coat on and stumbled sleepily into the candle-lit chamber. A few of the women were already up and going about, attempting to make the safe haven as comfortable and homelike as possible. Eowyn yawned and rubbed her eyes. She went over to Ethel, who was sitting on a low stood, drinking a streaming cup of an herb mixture.
The old lady smiled when Eowyn sat down on the ground beside her and patted her shoulder. "How are you this morning, young one? You look a bit tired."
Eowyn nodded. "Yes I am. It was a busy day yesterday."
Ethel coughed and sighed. "Yes, it was wasn't it?"
Eowyn glanced at Ethel. "Are you alright?"
She waved a hand. "Its nothing, just a little cough. It will go away."
"Lady Eowyn! We need your help!" Tarra motioned for Eowyn to hurry.
Eowyn stood and look at Ethel. "If you don't feel well you should rest. I'll be back later tonight."
Eowyn ran off with Tarra. "What do you need?"
"We aren't sure what we should do in case of an emergency, and not necessarily a raid, but flooding and such. We brought a counsel together of the few elderly men still left."
"Thank you Tarra, I'll take it from here."
~*~
Faramir walked through the wood of Ithilien with his Rangers. All were clad in shades of greens and browns. Faramir pulled his dark green hood over his face.
He and his men glided silently through the underbrush and passed from shadow to shadow. Tall men with quivers of arrows strapped to their backs and bows in their hands were aware of every noise in the forest.
Anborn, one of Faramir's Rangers whistled. One short, two long. It was a safe area. Damrod came up to Faramir and stood at his side. Faramir gave in a questioning look.
"My Captain," Damrod said, "Anborn tells me that he can see Henneth Annun from the tree and it isn't more than two leagues southeast."
Faramir clasped Damrod's shoulder and nodded. "Thank you." He looked around, surveying their surroundings. "If we can find shelter, we will stay here tonight. But if we can't, then we will go onto Henneth Annun."
Damrod nodded and saluted. "I'll ready some scouts."
Faramir sat down with his back against a tree. He removed his hood, reveling his tanned, unshaven face. He ran his fingers through his dark hair. His company had been gone from Minas Tirith for a long time, so many months that Faramir had lost count. Sighing deeply, Faramir let his mind wander back to the hall of his childhood.
He had grown up in Minas Tirith. His mother, Finduilas, had died several years after the difficult childbirth of her second child, him. Faramir was almost sure that his father blamed him for the death of Finduilas.
Boromir had been older, but a good friend.
Faramir buried his head in his hands. "Boromir," he whispered, "Why did you go? Why do you lay your responsibility on my head, leading me to my doom? Our father mourns your death and I believe he wishes that I had been the one to die in your stead. Oh, Boromir, brother, friend." A tear slid down Faramir's cheek. He quickly wiped it away.
The barely audible sound a Damrod's footsteps made Faramir raise his head.
"We must move quickly and silently to the south, my captain. Already two of the scouts came back reporting that they spied the Southrons passing by."
Faramir nodded and stood. "Prepare to leave. Send out the men in groups of four or five. Get Mablung, Anborn, and yourself and you three will go with me and we will take up the rear of the Rangers."
Damrod saluted and ran off to give the orders. Faramir backed into the shadows of the trees and stood quietly, still and listening. Far off he could make out the footsteps of a large company. Pulling his hood well over his face he vanished into the forest to rejoin his company.
~*~
Eowyn leaned against the wall of the cave. The ten old men who were left were boring her to sleep. She sighed loudly and then standing said, "I beg that you pardon me, but I think that you will be able to figure out how to waterproof the doors."
"Of course we pardon you, Lady Eowyn. We will come to you later with our final decision," said an elder.
Eowyn nodded and left. She walked out into the large area. She didn't know what time it was, but many of the children were up now, playing with their friends. Their mothers, who were grinding grain, keep a watchful eye on them.
Eowyn grinned and walked around the children. A little boy with blonde hair falling into his face and the biggest brown eyes looked up at her and smiled.
She knelt down beside him and the little boy looked up at her. "Hello."
He giggled. "Hullo."
"What's your name?"
While pushing the golden strands of hair from his face, he replied, "Haleth."
"Who's your daddy, Haleth?"
"Herefara. And my Uncle is Herubrand. They're brothers."
Eowyn smiled. "I think I know your daddy. Isn't he the blacksmith?"
Haleth smiled. "Uh-huh. That's what my daddy does. That's my mama over there." He pointed to a young blonde woman who was tying strings of herbs together and hanging them from a beam. She glanced over and saw her son pointing at her. She shyly smiled and waved, and then turned back to her job. "My mama's name is Leofa." He cocked his head to the side and looked at Eowyn. "what is your name?"
"Eowyn."
"Do you want to play Eowyn?" Haleth looked up at her. His hair had fallen back into his face. Big brown eyes stared up at her.
Eowyn gently touched his cheek. "Not right now, but how about some other time?"
Haleth nodded. "Sure."
Eowyn sighed to herself and getting up, she went to where the women were working. "Need any help?"
An elderly woman looked up and nodded. "Over there. Leofa could use some help."
"Alright." Eowyn walked over to Haleth's mother. "Mind if I help you?"
The young woman looked at her. "Sure." She brushed some of her hair from her face. "Now these herbs are-"
Eowyn touched her shoulder. "I know what everything is."
Leofa nodded nervously. "Of course you do, I'm so sorry Of course royalty would have taken lessons on this sort of thing."
Eowyn laughed. "No, I got in trouble a lot and had to work in the kitchen for it."
Eowyn and Leofa worked silently side-by-side for a while until Leofa broke the silence. "I saw you talking to my boy."
"Yes, he's so adorable!"
Leofa blushed with pride. "Thank you. I don't know what I would do without him."
"Isn't your husband gone with the King?"
"Yes, he is."
"You must miss your husband terribly."
Leofa smiled. "Yes, I do. You know, the funny thing is, the marriage was arranged. My husband, Herefara, is ten years older than me. My parents knew his parents and they decided that the match would be a good one. I hated my parents and him. I hadn't met Herefara yet. The night of the wedding was the first day I met him. He would have come earlier, but he was riding with an eored and had only just gotten the news that he was to marry me.
"He got to my hometown the day before the wedding, but there were so many things to do that there was no way to met. So two minutes before we were to be married was the first time I saw him."
Eowyn smiled, tying a bunch of clove leaves together. "Was it love at first sight?"
Leofa thought for a minute. "No, I don't think so. I thought that he was indeed handsome, but I didn't know him, so how can you love someone without knowing them?"
Eowyn shrugged. "It could be possible. Don't you think?"
"I suppose, but I don't think that it would happen very often."
"I'm sorry, I interrupted your story. Go on."
"Well, anyways, I guess the first time that he was me was when I was walking toward him at the ceremony." She giggled. "His eyes got big and he just stared at me. He told me that he thought I was the most beautiful creature that he had ever seen."
Eowyn looked at Leofa. She had freckles softly falling on her cheeks. Her hair seemed to be kissed blonde by the sun. The loose strands came down in soft curls. Her eyes were clear blue. Most Rohirrim had a darker shade of eye color, so Leofa's eyes stood out as one of her rare and beautiful features.
"You are very pretty."
Leofa blushed and brushed curls out of her face.
Eowyn keep glancing over at Leofa. Finally she asked, "Leofa, how old are you?"
Leofa glanced at her. "Twenty. Why?"
"How old is Haleth?"
"Just four."
"How old were you when you married?"
"Fifteen. How old were you when you married?"
Eowyn was startled by the question. "Oh, I'm not married."
"How old are you?"
"Twenty-six."
Leofa appeared a little shocked, but dropped the conversation.
A few minutes later, Tarra rushed out into the room and grabbed Eowyn. "It's Ethel. She died."
Eowyn stood still from shock and she when she felt the tears weld up in her eyes, but she didn't try to stop them.
Almost everything that could possible go wrong was going wrong. Eowyn sank to the floor. How was she going to cope with all this?
~*~ I'm so sorry that this took me so long! With the end of the school year coming up, I've been busy. You all know how it is. (please ya'll, give any suggestions that you might have! I'm struggling for ideas.)
*I'm so sorry about that slip up about Faramir not having dreams. I think I got him mixed up with Boromir for a second while I was writing. Faramir does often dream!