The Road Goes Ever On And On
Disclaimer:I do not own Lord of the Rings!
Chapter Three: Discovered!
Tithenwen threw herself into work at the Ranger camp. She wasn't going to give herself time to think about her family. She wasn't going to give herself a chance to miss them or anyone else. It was better for her where she was so she didn't want to get into any trouble. And she didn't want to put her father in harm's way by anyone finding out the truth. Besides, Tithenwen liked staying busy.
One night, while Tithenwen was cooking dinner, one of the other Rangers, who was opposed to a girl in the camp, was cracking jokes. Most of the jokes were crude and aimed at Tithenwen. Tithenwen tried to ignore them but it was hard not too, because she had been cursed with Elven hearing. But one didn't need Elven hearing to hear the jokes or the laughter that they brought.
As the Ranger cracked another joke, the others who were listening began to crack up, some falling off their spots on the logs around the fire. But Tithenwen didn't laugh. Instead she glared at the Rangers who were laughing and continued cooking. She was determined to not show a reaction so she planned a surprise for them.
A while later, Tithenwen finished cooking. She looked at the Rangers who were still laughing, shaking her head before yelling at them.
"Dinner! Come and get it!" cried Tithenwen and all the Rangers in the whole camp came running.
Tithenwen smiled and dished out bowel after bowel of stew to the hungry Rangers. The Rangers all gladly took their dinner and went back to their seats around the fire. The only Ranger who didn't come and collect dinner was Nicholas, their captain but that was no shock. Nicholas never ate meals with the other Rangers. He always made his own food on his own time, never eating the same as the others. Not that Tithenwen cared, it only meant one less person that she had to cook for.
Tithenwen got her own dinner and sat down, a distance away from the fire. She was still not welcome with the other Rangers and that was fine with her. And as she ate her stew, she watched the others. Within minutes of taking their first bites, all the Rangers around the fire began to gag and they all spat their stew back out. Tithenwen watched with a smile.
If there had been anything that Tithenwen had learned from Eowyn, the White Lady of Rohan, it was how to make a stew poisonous without using poisons. And Tithenwen should know, seeing as Eowyn had tried to murder her with a poisoned stew. And Tithenwen had also had enough sense to make her own stew after she had filled the other Rangers' stew with nasty tasting food.
As the all the Rangers turned around to face Tithenwen and glared at her, she smiled and raised her bowel of stew. Then, she said sweetly, "Next time, make your own food!"
"Get her!" growled the group of Rangers as the rushed towards her.
Tithenwen laughed before she saw them all jump towards her. Before she could do anything, the Rangers had tackled her to the ground, her stew flying out of her hands and the bowel landing upside down on some poor Ranger's head all the stew dripping down his clothes.
Tithenwen laughed as the Rangers tickled her and she playfully kicked and punched them. Some of the Rangers stood in a circle around her watching her wrestle with the Rangers who had tackled her. Soon everyone involved was laughing.
Nicholas heard the racket outside in the main area of the camp and exited his tent to see the chaos caused by Tithenwen and her nasty stew. He quickly strode over to the group that was standing in a circle around Tithenwen. He then saw Tithenwen wrestling the small group of Rangers. So he pushed a few Rangers aside and entered the fray. Once inside the circle, he grabbed Tithenwen from behind, picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. Then he carried her away from the others and to the outskirts of the camp.
"Put me down!" cried Tithenwen angrily as she kicked and punched her 'attacker'. She tried to reach one of her swords or her dagger but she couldn't reach any of them.
Finally, Nicholas set Tithenwen down on a log. Before anything registered in Tithenwen's mind, he grabbed her by both shoulders and looked straight into her grey-blue eyes. Which were at the moment, filled with anger instead of the usual sadness that filled them or the laughter that had once been in them but had not been seen in a while.
"What the bloody hell is going on!" demanded Tithenwen angered, not yet noticing the man had held her down by the shoulders in the darkness.
"What are you doing, getting into scrapes with the others? Do you have any idea what could have happened to you?" replied Nicholas.
"It was only a harmless little fight! It was a joke!"
"Maybe to you it was but what about the others? You don't know them very well yet!"
Tithenwen laughed.
"What's so funny?"
"For a minute there, you started to sound like my…" started Tithenwen, laughing, but then trailing off, as all hints of laughter disappeared from her.
"Like who?"
"Like everyone else!"
"And who might that be?"
"None of your business!" cried Tithenwen trying to leave.
"Tithenwen, it is my business!"
"No it's not!"
"Tithenwen, I know your secret. So why don't you make everything much easier on yourself and just tell the truth for once!"
"Why should I need to tell you the truth if you know my secret! And what secret is it anyways?"
"I know who you truly are, Tithenwen…"
"That's impossible!" laughed Tithenwen, as if he was joking.
"I'm not joking."
Tithenwen tried to keep a serious look on her face to match the one on Nicholas' face but couldn't.
"You are a runaway from Gondor, from the palace of Minas Tirith…"
"Yeah right!" snorted Tithenwen. "Tell me another story, why don't ya?"
"Okay, I will. A messenger came riding through the woods, heading to all the Ranger camps, bearing the same message. He warned us that there was a runaway from the city of Minas Tirith that needed to be taken to the King. He said that the runaway would be armed and would be telling stories."
"And this is supposed to mean what?"
"You are the runaway aren't you? The one that the King is hunting for. Tell me, what did you do to be sent on the run? Was it stealing the King's sword and ring that did it?"
"What?"
"You have the King's sword, Anduril, Flame of the West. I noticed it when you arrived. And his ring too, the Ring of Barahir. And did you steal his horse as well?" said Nicholas, trying to provoke Tithenwen.
"I did not steal anything from the King! Everything that I have is mine!"
"Sure…"
"Honest!"
"I'm going to turn you in Tithenwen, just as soon as we reach the city again. You should have noticed by now that we were heading towards Minas Tirith. I know you miss it soooo very much…"
"To think I trusted you! You bastard!"
"Tithenwen, I'm not the bad guy!"
"Sure you're not!" hissed Tithenwen as she spat on Nicholas.
"Tithenwen, I'm doing this to protect you! You'll be much safer in the city than out here! You need to be safe!"
"I don't care about being safe!"
"You should Tithenwen, daughter of Aragorn."
"What did you just call me?"
"Tithenwen, daughter of Aragorn. That is your name after all. And you are a princess of Gondor."
"How did you…"
"You gave yourself away. I was suspicious before when I first saw you after hearing from the messenger but you gave the truth away just now."
"So you didn't know!"
"I had my suspicions."
"Then why can't I stay here? You know who I am and I'm not a threat."
"As a matter of fact, you are a threat to Saruman. And he wants you dead."
"What? Saruman? We destroyed him! We destroyed him a long time ago! He's no threat to Middle-earth or me!"
"As a matter of fact, he is calling an army to himself. He wants to rid Middle-earth of Men and he's starting with Gondor. He's going after the King and his family."
"I must warn him!"
"There is still time to warn him but you can not go running off. He's hunting for you. He knows that you are out here and even if he kills the King, he still has to contend with you, the one who take the throne and the only one who could kill him."
"I can't be the only one…"
"Your father is old Tithenwen as are his friends. They can not finish him. That is up to you. It's part of your destiny. Besides, you have the sword of the King, the bane of Gondor's foes."
"So what?"
"Only you can rid the world of Saruman. This is your task. And we will help you accomplish this task."
"How?"
"We ride for Gondor, early tomorrow, before dawn breaks. We can not afford to waste time."
Tithenwen nodded and Nicholas released his hold on her. Then he turned and swiftly left her behind alone. Tithenwen sat there, replaying everything in her mind for a few minutes. Then it became clear. She had unknowingly put herself and her family in danger along with everyone in the city. It was up to her to rid Middle-earth of this new threat. But how could she do it alone? And could she save her ada in enough time?
Author's Notes:
Sorry that this is later than I promised! I was ill yesterday and lost my sight.I'll make up for itby posting, I think, 4 chapters tomorrow!
Reviewers!
Boromir's Curse – Spur of the moment is fun! That's how Iwrite sometimes. I just sit down and write something as I type.
Laer4572 - It's nice to know that someone missed the story! And this promises to be intersesting. The first part will deal with Saruman and the second will be a lot more random and that's as far ahead as I've thought!
Mr. Random - It shouldn't change anything. It's still the same chapters, I'm just moving them and changing the author's notes. And if I see a spelling error from before, I'll change it but no major changes.