Hello and welcome back! Here is A Shadow and a Thought, part four, by me, QueenofFlarmphgal. Sorry for the long wait, but my grandma died on the 23rd, so it's been totally hectic over here. But thanks to the faithful reviewers, and enjoy! We have pretty much only Eowyn in this chapter, and a few answers to whom exactly the Faithful are. Answers to reviews at the bottom as usual! Summary/ disclaimer located at first chapter.

Eowyn slumped into a heap at the bottom of the wall. She had gone over every nook and cranny in the wall and found nothing. She began to doubt herself. Did the men come this way? Was she sure? No, she couldn't be thinking that way. Aragorn needed her. With a sigh, Eowyn pulled herself up and pressed her ear to the stone. And knocked. There was no echo indicating a hidden opening, but for the first time in almost two hours, she heard someone.

"…and Lord Harnad just finished with him. He's holding a meeting now. I expect it'll be to tell us that the treacherous rat is dead now!"

"Well it's about time Bernod. Eru knows how long the Lord Denethor had gone unavenged. It's the third day from his murder, correct?"

"Yes, we got him just in time. Hey, are you leaving? We have to go to the meeting, remember?"

"I know, I know. But Harnad wants me to see if anyone has realized that their captain is gone. I'm to tell 'em that he got called away in the night."

"If you're sure."

"Salkor, if I miss the whole thing, could you cover for me? This may take a while."

"I suppose…Well I have to go. Good luck with your job."

"Thanks- I guess I'll need it." Eowyn pulled her face from the rock. Did these men think that Aragorn had murdered Denethor? And it seemed that he would pay for something he certainly did not do with his life! Suddenly Eowyn realized that the wall was sliding beneath her fingertips. She remembered that the man, Bernod, had to come out to lie to everyone. Eowyn drew her sword and took cover behind a pillar. It would be better if the man did not leave, and perhaps she could use his armor to get in.

The unsuspecting man appeared. The wall appeared to be on wheels, to be rolled back when needed. He began to walk down the hall, but turned around to close the door. All of a sudden, a sword hilt rammed onto his helm. He fell unconscious to the floor, the door remaining open. Eowyn stood over him, feeling slightly remorseful. Hadn't she snuck up on him just as the other men had done to Aragorn? But no, she told herself. I am trying to save him. I am not trying to murder an innocent man.

Guilt disappearing, she bent over the man and removed his armor. As she put on the chest plate (with some difficulty), she realized that she couldn't put on the armor and her skirt. So she took it off (making sure no one was looking) and slipped on the man's jet black breeches, and finished with the armor. Once she was done, she grabbed his arm and shoved him just out of sight behind a large statue.

Eowyn took a deep breath and entered the hidden lair. Then, realizing the door was open, she rolled it shut. There were no men anywhere.

"Probably at the meeting the other one mentioned…" she mused silently to herself. But how would she find Aragorn if there was no one to follow? She began looking around her. To her left there was a passage. To her right there was a storage room of some kind. She entered carefully, sword drawn. There was nobody there, only several crates of something, and a pack hanging on the wall. Eowyn crossed the room and opened the pack. It held a number of useful things, including bandages, a water skin, and several wrapped packages of dried meat. She slung the pack over her shoulder. Aragorn would not be in a good state, wherever he was. The men's casual talk had proved that true.

There was nothing more in the room. She turned to leave when a glitter caught her eye. There! It was Aragorn's sword, Anduril. She carefully picked it up off the ground, admiring the beautiful sheath and carved handle. It went into the pack, sticking out a little at the top. She gazed at the ground, hoping that his dagger was there as well, but there was nothing. Eowyn left the room and headed down the passage. All too soon she heard a loud voice, apparently addressing a large amount of people. She came to a fork. The right way headed toward the voice, while the left was stonily quiet.

Eowyn debated for a moment, and decided to follow the voice. She wanted to find out more about these men, and Aragorn if she could. She pulled the too-big helm down further, stuffing her hair inside of it, and walked down the passage. The man's voice magnified and she recognized it as the one who had taunted Aragorn before capturing him. She rounded the last corner and gaped at the room before her.

It was a huge chamber. There were several tables on the side, and a large pavilion set up at the other end. About 40 or 50 men were in the room, and they were all gazing reverently at the man speaking from the center of the pavilion. Eowyn shrank to a corner, trying to remain unnoticed, and listened to the man speaking.

"…has been avenged. The murderer of our lord is dying as we speak. I personally gave him the seven scars, with a ceremonial blade. The blade, of course had been anointed with our signature poison, invented by our ingenious lord himself. Has the search for him begun?" he questioned the room.

"W-we don't know my lord," a voice stammered and Eowyn realized that this was the man who was covering for the one she had knocked out. "B-Bernod left just a minute ago. He will return as soon as he had the answers we need."

"Very well, then he is excused. But come now, Trinion, have you something to say?"

"A question, my lord," Trinoin replied. He looked like a young man, with dark brown hair and a tall frame. "What does it matter that the murderer's friends search for him? I thought we were going to sacrifice them as well."

"All in good time, yes. But the trouble is, if the others realize he's gone too soon, they will most likely rouse the entire city, and we don't want that. Or at least," a cruel grin stretched his face. "Not yet."

"I have a question as well, my lord." Another young man spoke up. "Why did we not wait until this war with Sauron is over to act for our lord? The one we captured seemed to be a good captain. Why not wait for a victory to destroy him?"

"Fool! Do you not recall what we discussed at our last meeting? The spies reported that they intend to lead our entire army to the Black Gate in order to 'give Frodo a chance'. He doesn't want victory for Gondor! All he wants is her glory. He is in league with the Dark Lord."

"Who's Frodo?" another soldier called out.

"I don't know! Perhaps one of his plans or a player in his plot. This is why we have to act!" his voice echoed over the crowd. "We are the only men who realize what Gondor is about to succumb to! We must squash this rebel and his followers! All who fight for Gondor's freedom, I beg you, speak to me!"

"FOR GONDOR!" all voices cried out. All but one.

Eowyn stood silently in the corner, thoughts running through her head. These men believed Aragorn to be working for Sauron? That was completely absurd! And not only were they blaming Aragorn, but his friends as well? Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, Merry, and Pippin were all in danger. And her brother, too! But the one speaking had spoken of Aragorn dying, or already dead. With his words ringing in her head, she quietly exited the chamber. The meeting looked like it was halfway over already and she wanted nothing more than to find Aragorn and leave. She came back to fork in the passage and took the left hand passage. It was stonily silent, and she sped up, her mind creating vivid holograms of finding Aragorn. Trying to ignore them, she came to a door. She slowed and peered into the small window in the door.

Eowyn let out a soft sigh. The room was empty. She pushed open the door. There was nothing useful either. She left and resumed tearing down the hall. At last she came to a second door. Again, she peered into the window. The only thing in there was a large pile of…clothes? Rags? She decided to see what it was. Eowyn pushed at the door, but it didn't yield. She pushed again. There was no use. The door was locked. But why would anyone lock up a pile of…

Eowyn suddenly grabbed the window. As she trained her eyes on the shape in the corner, she saw it move. Suddenly she sank down to her knees. Aragorn was the motionless shape. How could she get him out? She examined the lock. It was fairly simple. There was a bolt with a padlock on it, but the keyhole was absurdly small. She couldn't pick it, even if she had the proper tools.

Eowyn's gaze floated to the stolen sword. And as soon as that, the solution came. She drew her sword and drove it into the door. Panting from the effort, she carved out the part of the door that had the lock attached to it. When she at last finished the trace, she kicked the door as hard as she could. It flew open without a protest. She hurriedly entered the chamber, horrified at what she saw.

It was small, dark, and it had a terrible scent that only reminded her of one thing. Death. And on the floor…there were bloodstains. Quite a lot. And one long trail of blood that led to the figure on the floor.

She stood over him, suddenly afraid. He had cuts seemingly everywhere. But the worst of which was on his face. It slowly oozed blood that nearly had his entire face covered. It was staunched, however slightly, by a gag bound tightly across his mouth.

She dropped to her knees beside him. Fearing the worst, she checked his pulse. Her heart leaped. He was alive! His heartbeat, however fain, was there and not failing. Enlightened, she bent over him and softly called him back, she hoped, to the living world.

Aragorn was floating. Dreaming in a black landscape, he felt nothing.

But then he heard a voice. It was asking him, begging him to come back to the world of light. He almost didn't want to. Why return when the only thing waiting was pain?

But despite his reasoning, he began to awaken.

The first thing he felt was pain. And a lot of it. Burning stakes were being thrust into his living skin. He moaned softly, out loud. And opened his eyes.

He was instantly startled by a pair of worried grey eyes peering into his. Remembering the pain that he still felt, he tried to inch away from the eyes, but his bonds prevented that. As he took a closer look, he realized that he knew these eyes! It was Eowyn! Dressed in Gondorian armor with a pack next to her, but it was her! Aragorn's eyes widened in shock and he tried to talk through the gag that someone had thoughtfully added.

"Ssh…"Eowyn whispered, trying to comfort him. "I'm going to get you out of here." With that she gently rolled him to his side, despite his groans of pain, and began to fumble with the knots on the gag. It was difficult. As a woman of Rohan, she prided herself on knots, but she hadn't seen anything like these before. After nearly three minutes of pulling she gave up and moved to the next one. It would not yield, and neither would the other. She considered using the sword, but she feared that it was too big and bulky and that she might accidentally hurt him more.

Suddenly Eowyn felt the adrenaline that had kept her going run out. She slumped to her knees. "I'm sorry Aragorn…I-I can't undo them." She paused, ready for his look of defeat, but there was no such expression on his face. Amid the pain in his eyes, he was focusing on his right boot. His gaze flickered to Eowyn, then returned to his boot.

She was puzzled. Was there something wrong with it? She made her way to his boot and carefully felt it. There didn't seem to be an injury, so why- Oh! There it was, the outline of a dagger! She instantly reached into the boot and drew it out. Perfect!

She quickly began cutting Aragorn's bonds and gag. He hissed sharply in pain as the blood began rushing back into his injured limbs. His tunic was soaked with blood, and his face was still covered with it. The wound on his face had instantly begun bleeding again when the gag was removed.

Aragorn gasped for breath. Now that his limbs were no longer numb, the pain, if possible, multiplied. He saw Eowyn's face come closer.

"T-thank you." He murmured, hoping she would hear. She did, and her face softened.

"Here." She said, drawing out from the pack the bandages, water skin, and a few pieces of material. "Let's bandage you for now, or at least until we can properly examine you in the House of-"She suddenly cut short, realizing that that was exactly where she was supposed to be right now. Aragorn grinned.

"I'm sure…you'll be alright. I can…vouch for you." His response was somewhat stretched out, but Eowyn understood and reached for the bandages. She quickly reached for his arm and began winding the bandage tightly around it, until a short cry of pain interrupted her.

"I'm sorry, but it must be done! You've lost too much blood already!" she quickly said.

"D-don't wrap them too…too tightly. There was something on the blade…healers need to identify." Aragorn sputtered, holding his arm and trying not to moan or cry out again. Eowyn nodded, remembering what the man had said at the meeting about a poison. She wrapped the rest of his cuts, up until she got to the one on his face. She paused, unsure of how to wrap the bandage. Aragorn, realizing this, said,

"Just give me a piece of…a piece of cloth. I can put pressure on…myself and stop the…the bleeding."

Eowyn handed it to him and stood back, admiring her work. Suddenly she remembered. The meeting was bound to be over now. She rushed to Aragorn' side.

"We must go, now! The men will return any second!" Aragorn nodded and slowly pulled himself up. He was fighting a losing battle against the pain from his wounds and he longed to cry out. Eowyn gently took his arm and put it across her shoulders, steadying him. Looking at the floor, she remembered something. She picked up Anduril and refastened it around Aragorn's waist. He instantly felt stronger and safer with his sword at his side. "Can you walk?" She murmured.

"Yes…I must." Aragorn replied. He took a step and felt the pain running up his leg. He cursed inwardly as he kept walking, feeling like his legs were on fire. Leaning on Eowyn more and more, they made there way down the passage. Once they passed the fork in the hall, Eowyn quickly doubled back, sticking her head in the doorway.

"They're concluding. We must hurry!" She grabbed Aragorn's arm, forgetting about his injury for a second. Aragorn responded with a low moan of pain, grabbing his arm in agony. Ewoyn immediately realized what she did. "I'm so sorry!" she said, inwardly cursing herself for forgetting.

"S'alright…didn't mean to." Aragorn replied, moving forward. They finally reached the end of the passage way. Eowyn reached out to open the door when Aragorn grabbed her arm. "They have…Legolas's knife…must find him…quickly." Eowyn didn't stop what she was doing.

"I didn't see him anywhere. It's possible that someone just stole his knife. But even if they do have him, you are in no condition to save him. We will look for him and return if he is missing as soon as you're taken care of." Eowyn rolled back the door and made sure no one was there. She started across the chamber. As they reached the King's seat, Eowyn grabbed the bundle behind it. "Here." She said quietly, putting it in Aragorn's other hand. His expression clouded as he remembered the details of only a few hours ago. His face was set grimly as Eowyn gently helped him out of the Citadel. It was about dawn. The guards were changing posts, so she was able to steal past them and made her way to the Houses.

"We made it, Aragorn! We're safe!" Eowyn smiled, looking back at him. But her smile quickly disappeared. Aragorn had collapsed, and there were seven growing stains across his body.

Dun dun dun…ha ha! Sorry, but here's a lovely cliffie! Wheee! Next chapter probably up around…the 17th. School is hectic and I have three major projects to work on. But REVIEW! Tell me what you think! PLEASE!

Answers to reviews:

Leela74: Sorry, but I have no idea whatsoever on how to put on the 'accept anonymous reviews' button. Anyone know? Tell me! And thank you so much for signing in and reviewing! I appreciate it! And thanks for your awesome support!

viggomaniac: You are such a nice reviewer! Thanks! And I totally agree that there are awesome Aragorn angst stories on this site (even though there's not enough). And I also agree that there is too much Legolas. Anyway, here's more Eowyn and an update!

AinuLaire: YAY! ANGST! YAY! Thanks for your review, and don't worry, I plan to have LOTS more angst! YAY ANGST!

Thanks everyone! Keep reviewing! See ya on the next chapter!

-QueenofFlarmphgal