a/n: I'm hoping I actually get some response from these postings. I have 75 of this story done, so I have more, but if no one likes it, I won't waste my time posting. Please let me know!

Fellow Enemies

Pink and fiery rays from the sun lit the early morning sky. Selanae tried not to stare at it. There were more important things she should pay heed to as the soldiers packed up to leave. But her eyes seemed stuck on the beautiful colors above her. Something about it was strangely peaceful, even though some people would believe it indicated bloodshed. She could care less what things 'meant.' She lived for what she wanted to—regardless of superstition or popular belief.

The ground crunched slightly behind her, and Selanae cocked her head slightly but didn't turn her head. Whoever it was would probably harass her about her gag being off, even though a soldier had come by to cut the binds on her feet so she could ride with the Rohirrim. He hadn't even blinked an eye at it.

"I'll give you another chance," came a voice. She grimaced at the sound. She hated this man, this Eomer. "Who are you, and what was your reason to be out in that field?"

She fought the desire to spit at him.

"I'll give you another chance to let me go," Selanae countered. "You had no business to take me captive." She turned from the peace of the sky and glanced at the marshall. His eyes held a fire within them and she could see his teeth as he seethed at her.

"I have every right to take you captive," he said. "I patrol these lands, and keep them safe from those who would harm my people." His jaw was taut and his fists clenched at his sides. Selanae observed his stance with a measure of amusement.

"Who said I would harm your people?"

Eomer glared at her. "You have not denied it either." He took a step towards her, his features hardening even more. "Tell me: who do you serve?"

His tone was entirely serious, and she knew it. But she couldn't help it. A laugh escaped her throat. Serve? How ridiculous! Before she could come up with a smart reply, Eomer grabbed her by the elbow and shook her.

"If you will not answer to me, you will face the king of Rohan," Eomer hissed. "And he is not nearly so compassionate as he used to be." A flash of bitterness came to his eyes, but he blinked it away before Selanae could make sense of it. Eomer turned to a soldier and shoved Selanae towards him. "Tie her to the saddle. She will not escape today."

He took the moment to glare at her again, and Selanae found herself glaring back.

As they started riding out, Selanae's eyes stared at Eomer. He was unusually hostile. In all her days of travel, she'd come across many strangers. Not all were pleasant, but so openly contentious and mean . . . she wondered if she'd stumbled into some large scheme. Maybe Eomer was an enemy, and not just because of his cruel manner.

Selanae put her mind at rest and just let herself observe for now. She would have her moment.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

It wasn't quite noon when the Rohirrim's pace was interrupted by a shouted inquiry. The soldiers around Selanae directed her horse to the side as the rest of the group surrounded the inquirer.

Selanae found her curiosity peaked. She sat up on the horse, trying to get a better look.

It was a man, a blond elf and a short, bearded man. She guessed that last to be a dwarf. The man spoke with Eomer, and though it seemed heated for a moment, Selanae was shocked to see Eomer lighten up.

She despised him even more. He took her captive, but with a company of three (that was indeed strange with a man, elf and dwarf) he was at ease?

"They would have appeared as merely children to your eyes," the scruffy man said. Selanae raised an eyebrow. Eomer shook his head.

"We left none alive," he said. She rolled her eyes. She was alive, if she wasn't mistaken. The company of three looked shocked, mournful even. Selanae cleared her throat loudly.

"The children live," she voiced so all could hear. Eomer's head snapped in her direction. His glare didn't escape her notice, but she kept her head high. The man and elf stared at her. She saw the man's eyes flicker to the bindings around her wrists, and then suspicion followed. Anger started to flood her, but she pushed it aside. "The orcs had them, but during the skirmish, they escaped to the forest."

No man said a word, but just all stared at her strangely. She turned in her saddle and looked behind her, wondering if perhaps there was another reason everyone stared.

"Who is she?" the man asked somewhat quietly to Eomer. This should be fun, she thought, waiting and straining to hear the marshall's reply. But the marshall took the man aside and their words were too quiet to hear.

They kept glancing at her, and Selanae got tired of it quickly. Had they never seen a woman before? She almost snorted at that.

The man walked to her, his face hard. He was trying to be brave, it seemed, and Selanae couldn't help but smirk at the effort.

"Tell me what you saw," he demanded. No questions or introductions, just demands. Selanae fought to keep her calm.

"I've told you," she said simply. "Orcs held them. And the children—"

"Hobbits," the man corrected. Selanae stared at him but continued.

"—escaped into the forest."

The man eyed her. His dark hair was worse off than her own, though he didn't seem to care at all. "What were you doing there, that you saw the hobbits among the orcs?"

She knew what he was getting at, although she was tired of the questions. She sighed.

"I happened by," Selanae said. "I saw the orcs. And then I saw the . . . hobbits. No creature should be left to suffer what orcs would have in store for them."

The man's features softened. He shifted his weight. "You fought the orcs?"

Selanae had never been one to boast. She didn't answer.

"Were the hobbits . . . safe?" the man asked next. Selanae noticed his eyes—stormy but light blue. The intensity behind them was such that she could not be defiant anymore.

"I do not know," she said quietly. "I meant to find them." Her eyes flickered to Eomer, and a funny taste came to her mouth.

The man didn't say anything for a moment, but just studied her. She didn't much care for it. For some reason, she felt self-conscious, especially since she was bound.

"I am Aragorn," the man said, giving a slight bow to her. She thought that was a bit funny but nodded back. "What is your name?"

Her eyes flickered to Eomer again. He would hear her name, and that bothered her. But she relented. "Selanae."

Aragorn nodded. "And where are you from?"

She straightened up in the saddle, and pressed her lips tightly together. She did not like this. Aragorn seemed harmless towards her, but he was fishing, and she didn't like being tricked or made to do anything. She didn't answer, for several reasons.

He frowned but didn't blow up like Eomer often did. He merely turned back to the elf and dwarf.

"To the forest," he said. Eomer stepped forward and called two horses, offering them to Aragorn. The two men spoke some more, again in hushed tones. Selanae lost interest and stared at the elf.

He stared at Aragorn, listening in on the conversation. Even so, he seemed to sense that he was being watched and suddenly shifted his gaze to her. Selanae almost turned away, but instead stared back, challenging. His blue eyes were light and clear, not so confused as the man's. The elf seemed to study her like the man had done, but he eventually smiled.

That confused her, enough that she looked away.

The company of three went on their way, and so did the Rohirrim. Where they were going, Selanae still didn't know. But something was different. She was still surrounded by the soldiers, but Eomer rode alongside her. She frowned.

The marshall signaled to his men, and they parted slightly, giving her more space. Eomer remained close.

"I did not know of any other among the orcs," he said, his voice low and stuffed with pride. He coughed. "You sought to help them."

He waited for her to confirm that. Selanae didn't say a word but nodded her head ever so slightly.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Eomer asked. His voice wasn't tough anymore, but bitter. Selanae sighed to herself. The bindings around her wrists chaffed at her skin and she flexed her hands, trying to loosen the rope.

"I don't know you, as enemy or friend," she said. "I don't tell anyone what I don't have to."

"Then you will not tell me what your purpose is in these lands? Or what manner you used to fight those orcs?" he asked, his jaw hard and square.

Selanae sighed and stretched out her fingers. "Would you, if you were in my position?"

"I am no threat to any force of good," he said, a little offended. Selanae marveled at how stubborn he was. Every word he uttered was thick with defiance and unyielding.

"What do you want to hear?" she asked. Her nerves were wearing thin. "What would ease you enough so I could go free?"

Eomer was silent. He stared ahead at the land in front of him, and in his eyes she saw a faint sadness. He rode his horse with ease, and it was so natural to him that the constant jostling did not interrupt his thoughts.

"You are strange to me," he said. Selanae quirked a smile at that. "I am no novice at war, at battle. I have fought many foes. But never have I seen any such technique. It seemed unnatural, and yet . . . magical. And to come from a woman . . ."

Ah, Selanae thought. 'Woman.' It was always an issue with these battle-hardened soldiers. It's why she normally stayed out of sight.

Eomer cleared his throat. "If you offer no explanation, I have no choice but to keep you with our company until I reach a decision."

She fumed at that, but muttered between clenched teeth: "A decision on what?"

Eomer looked directly at her, his eyes small with suspicion yet again. "What to do with you." With that, the stubborn man rode ahead to lead the Rohirrim.

0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0

"She's hiding something," Eomer said to his friend. "I've given her every opportunity to tell me, to give me a reason to release her, and she refuses."

Eothain couldn't help but grin. "Maybe she wants to stay."

Eomer shot him a glare. "She hides something because she has to, and I fear that it threatens Rohan." It was Eothain's face that clouded over though.

"Then why did you let the man, elf and dwarf pass?"

Eomer didn't like being questioned, even by his friend. He was the Third Marshall of the Mark, and even banished from Rohan, his authority was not to be contested.

"They are not threats," he said. "They explained themselves, unlike the girl—Selanae." He frowned. It was an odd name, one he had not heard before. He wasn't even sure what the origin was. That also bothered him. He had no idea where she came from.

"I do not think she is a witch," Eothain said, his tone a little more humble. Eomer was grateful for that—he had enough problems without his friend and right-hand man challenging him.

Eomer nodded.

"I agree," he said. "I'm more certain that she is from one of the distant lands. A Corsair or Haradrim. Perhaps further than that."

"Do you think she could be a Dunlending?"

The mere name of Rohan's neighboring enemy made Eomer want to spit. Even so, he shook his head.

"If she were, she would have acted differently, especially towards an eored," Eomer said. Eothain nodded.

"I do not know who she is," Eothain said. "But perhaps the next few days will inspire some confidence from her."