Author: Karina "Galadriel"

Chapter 4

(Time passed since last episode: About an hour)

That army he sent is enormous! Grima thought to himself after hearing of what Saruman did before he arrived. He detached himself from the window and slowly paced the floor of the tower. It was getting slightly duller than usual around Isengard. Even Saruman stopped beating him up just for stress relief. The windows of the tower were Grima's only ways to look into the outside world, so that's where he spent most of his time.

"Impressed?" Saruman asked after telling Grima of his huge Uruk army sent to Helm's Deep. Grima didn't look at hiom, but he knew Saruman was smiling proudly, trying to hide how upset he was about the ent attack.

"I'm very impressed, Lord." Grima said, humoring Saruman. Bored or not, he still did not want to get on Saruman's bad side. That one compliment was all Saruman needed. He grinned and leaned back in his chair. He's trying too hard to hide his emotions. Grima thought, shaking his head. He went back to the window and looked out again, resting his chin on his hand. I also try hard to hide my emotions. He lowered his eyes, staring blankly at the flood below him.

"Oh, Eowyn..." he sighed under his breath so Saruman would not be able to hear. He envisioned Eowyn's face, with her fair skin and deep eyes. He envisioned the long blonde hair that framed her face and swayed in even the slightest breeze. How he longed to see her again. He knew that he had only been away from her for a few hours, but that was enough to make him badly want to see her again.

Then, against his will, the face of Eowyn began to change. Her eyes narrowed into dark shadowy slits. Her golden hair made a switch to dark brown waves. Her skin paled. Her lips thinned. Grima's eyes widened when he was staring into the face of Katherine. She had the same look of authority and power in her expression as that of Eowyn. Katherine had the same darkness, the same mysterious side, the same... beauty... Grima gave a start and snapped out of his daydream. Oh, no no NO! the lack of Eowyn's presence is getting TOO much to my head! But was it? Grima never noticed it before. Katherine was so much like Eowyn, as different as they seemed.

"Could it be?" Grima whispered, slowly shaking his head.

"Could what be?" came a voice from behind him. Grima gasped and spun around. It was Katherine, the very person he was thinking of. She had her hood on again, but there was less of a shadow on her face. Grima could do nothing but stare, shocked. "You were thinking about me, weren't you, Wormtongue?" she said, emphasizing his name with a dark hiss. Grima shook his head, but he could not take his eyes off her.

"N-no!" he stammered, faltering under Katherine's emotionless gaze. "Why? W-Why do you think I was?" he said in a clearer voice. He was able to compose himself unusually quickly.

"Because of the fear in your eyes." Katherine hissed, bringing her face close to his so he could not escape the bottomless darkness of the slits that were her eyes. Grima was gripped with fear again, and Katherine could not miss it. Men. They are so weak. She thought, a chilling grin spreading across her thin lips. "Yes, you were thinking about me." Then, she turned around and left Grima by the window. Grima clutched his chest and leaned back against the windowsill, breathing heavily. She scared him so much that he didn't want to see her at all, yet she reminded himso much of Eowyn that he wanted to be around her.

"I don't know." He sighed, hanging his head in exhaustion and defeat. "I don't know."