Author: Karina "Galadriel"
Chapter 2
(Time passed since last episode: about an hour)
"I cannot believe it." Grima grumbled to himself. He was banished from Rohan after the discovery of his true job, and was lucky to escape alive, seeing the hatred in Theoden's eyes as he held his sword. Now, Grima was on Horseback, riding to Isengard to his real lord, Saruman "The Traitor". The ride was long even on horseback, so Grima had time to think over what happened back at Rohan. He thought back to the time when Gandalf threw off his grey cloak, revealing his white robes, robes that Grima had only seen on Saruman. Grima was shocked and frightened, but mostly infuriated. Why didn't Hama take Gandalf's staff? The fool! All of the guards were fools! But, enough about them, for they were relatively powerless. It was Gandalf that made Saruman's blood boil. That wizard had meddled in Saruman's affairs once too many.
But then, another thought came to him. He never truly enjoyed Rohan all that much, so he felt a sudden relief and strength. He laughed a harsh laugh that would make the hair on anyone's arms stand on end.
"No more Rohan!" Grima yelled into the wind, grinning. "No more walking around guarded halls! No more guards in general! No more..." he faltered then, and his voice became sad. "...Eowyn." He found that he missed the darkness in her eyes, the commanding tone in her voice, and her hair... her long blonde hair that swayed whenever she moved. Eowyn was the one aspect of Rohan that made Grima stay willingly. He remembered how she rejected him, so cold and so abrupt. Grima slowly looked behind him, but there was nothing but grass and trees as far as he could see.
He looked back to the front, then his head jerked to the side suddenly. He noticed a figure in the shadows of the woods beside him. It was the same woman he saw back at Rohan. The dress was the same, and so was the hooded head, but some sunlight was shining on her face, so Grima could make out some of her facial features. The upper part of her face was hidden by the shadow of the hood, but Grima saw that she had very pale skin, though not as pale as his own, and thin pale lips that showed neither smile nor scowl. Through the shadows of the hood, Grima could see the same dark slits for eyes, but there was more of a glitter in them, as if she was mocking him or crying for him. Grima held onto that vision, craning his neck back as his horse sped on forward.
Then, Grima's horse made a turn to one side, making Grima return his eyes to the front. He steered the horse in the right direction again, but when he looked back towards the woods, he found he was too far away to see the woman. "Who was that?" Grima thought out loud, returning his attention ahead of him. At last, he could see a glimpse of Orthanc in the distance. He was nearing Isengard. "Finally." He grumbled, momentarily forgetting about the strange shadow of a woman. "I hope Saruman is in a relatively good mood."
