Orcish Revenge
Chapter 4 - To Edoras
'Èomer!' Merry and Pippin cried out in delight, then they all bowed low.
'Rise, friends. This is not my kingdom nor are any, save Meriadoc, in my service' Éomer smiled. They all stood and followed King Èomer. They climbed up the black steps and came to a room with a few men in it. They sat down at a large table to the right of the room and waited for Èomer to join them. After Èomer had spoken a few whispered words to these men he sat down opposite Merry.
'I trust my friends found you and brought you here safely' Èomer smiled sipping his wine.
'Friends?' Pippin asked curiously 'Do you mean your riders? They weren't sent to find us were they?'
'Oh no! You met my army did you? I meant my messengers, my spies, and my seekers of little Hobbits that stray from their holes' Èomer chuckled
'The Voices!' Merry exclaimed
'The voices, indeed!' Èomer laughed, 'you sound like my men! Honestly, you lot have ventured far and wide, yet you can't pick an Elf when you hear one!'
'Elves! Of course!' Sam cried.
Merry chuckled, 'At last Sam has forgotten Elves!'
'I have not forgotten them! They just slipped my mind is all' Sam smiled sheepishly.
'Well, forgotten or not, they were indeed elves. Elves that you have met, none the less. Elrond's sons; Elladan and Elrohir'.
The hobbits sat staring, remembering their time spent in Rivendell, as well as Lord Elrond, Arwen and the two brothers. At last an entering man broke the silence.
'Sire! News from the Mark!' He said bursting in and startling all but the men at the other table. For the first time Sam took notice of these men, they were indeed men of Gondor, as they had first suspected. He knew this because of their uniform. But they looked different to those that had fought in Minas Tirith. They were tall and proud still, but they seemed somewhat darker and less inspiring, more worn and haggard. Sam stopped looking at them as he felt a shiver ripple up his spine. He then tuned back into the world, in which the messenger had caught his breath and was giving his message. Sam had obviously missed the start of this, as it made little sense at first.
'… we were then overtaken by them and many of us fell in a great attempt to break their surrounding of us. Others were captured and taken hostage. They demand that you show yourself, your men also demand that you show yourself' the messenger finished and breathed heavily.
Éomer thought for a moment, then spoke clearly 'Very well! Prepare to return to Edoras. We will all go, I assume you are willing' Èomer said, turning to a grim faced warrior like he was during the wars.
'Of course we are!' Pippin shouted standing up.
'I would you follow anywhere!' Merry said proudly, 'and I suppose I have to anyway' he added with a wry smile.
'Well then, we shall leave tomorrow at dawn. At the first sight of the sun, I shall return to Meduseld' Èomer declared. Then he walked from the room and called to the world 'King Èomer does not suffer an Orc to live!'
The next morning they were all woken an hour before dawn. Sam was roughly awakened by one of the Gondor men. He sat up quickly, took one glance at his menacing face and reached for his sword. The man was quicker and grabbed Sam's hand.
'What is the matter Mr. Gamgee? Did little Drakon scare you?' He sneered.
'Let me go!' Sam squeaked
'No, I don't think I will!' Drakon the stood up and lifted Sam by his wrist. With his other hand he drew his sword, the sword was a black metal and it clearly had dwarven runes carved down its side. Though Sam had learnt some small amount of runes he could not make out this inscription of "Blood of Saruman".
Drakon drew back his sword-hand and prepared to stab Sam in the chest. Sam's mind raced, he thought to scream, to swing, to kick, punch and bite but he did none of these things. His heart throbbed and his head ached. He squeaked once, and then fell to the ground. Sam rolled over and saw Drakon lying beside him, blood trickling from his chest. Sam was suddenly lifted up and placed lightly on the bed. He looked up to see Elrohir, son of Elrond, looking down at him.
'It would appear that we have discovered a rebel in the ranks, Mr Gamgee' He smiled grimly picking up the large, dead man with ease, he threw him into the corner and wiped up the blood.
'Thank you' Sam stuttered. Suddenly Faramir and Gimli burst in followed closely by Èomer, each with their weapons drawn.
'Ahhhhh!' Gimli yelled 'Good Elves are, at going unnoticed! How this brute died, he'll never know!' Gimli kicked Drakon's heaped body hard.
'Thank you, Elrohir' Èomer sighed 'It saddens me to say that we would have been too late. Are you alright Sam?'
'A little sore from the fall' he muttered, rubbing his bruised side.
'I am deeply sorry' Elrohir apologised with a bowed head, 'I should have caught you'
'No! It is fine, you saved my life, you can't be expected to save my fall as well!' Sam exclaimed. Elrohir smiled.
'Very well, I have done enough to earn your gratitude and I am pleased you feel grateful rather than spiteful' Elrohir bowed once more, then made for the door.
'Wait' Èomer said catching Elrohir's arm 'Perhaps you and your brother will escort us to Edoras?'
'Very well. We shall come' Elrohir smiled, then he swept around and marched smoothly from the room.
Soon everybody was ready to leave. All had eaten, packed and readied their horses. Èomer had sent messengers to Edoras as quickly as possible to send word to King Elessar of what had taken place.
Aragorn did not take this incident lightly. Two days later a small force of the King's men arrived at Isengard and interrogated each of the men. Drakon had let in men from Dunland that had fled after Saruman's fall. Then through use of bribery and deception, others were brought into the plot to regain control of Isengard in the name of Saruman. They were all banished from the realm of Gondor, Arnor and Rohan forever. Aragorn's men then retook Orthanc and called for Treebeard to come once more and protect the Isen from all things evil.
Three days after their crossing of the Isen, Èomer and company had passed open fields and crossed the Snowbourne. They came to Edoras and entered the city unknown to the people within. Soon, however, their presence was known by all. As they walked towards Meduseld a small boy bumped into Faramir.
'Sorry Sir! I mean no bad, I wasn't watching where…' the boys stopped and stared at the travellers face with wide eyes 'Lord Faramir, treasurer of that which is most fair! Carer of Lady Èowyn! Sister of Èomer, King!'
Everyone looked towards the group as they hurried along through the streets. At last they came to Meduseld. The Golden Hall stood tall in front of them. Èomer walked up the steps and was stopped by the guards.
'What business do you travellers have with Lady Èowyn. State your names and purpose!' The guard said sternly.
'My purpose is to rule over the great fields of the Mark, to instruct the warriors of Rohan, to keep the horses strong and fast and to keep what peace I can these days' Èomer stated clearly.
'Milord! I apologise! I was not aware!' The guard whimpered.
'Do not worry! If you let me straight in, then you would have some explaining to do. You did your job, and you did it well' Èomer smiled. The guards then opened the door and Èomer, Faramir, Merry, Pippin, Sam, Elrohir and Elladan walked into the great hall of Rohan.
Revised version - Some slight additions and modifications, fixed spelling and grammar etc. No changes to the story, just an improvement on the writing.