Disclaimer: I do not own Lord of the Rings
Summary: See previous chapters.
Chapter Nine
Elfwine, Crown Prince of the Riddermark, was troubled.
It had been late, and he, Theodred and their friend Prince Eldarion had been passing by his parents' room on the way to Elfwine and Theodred's when they had heard voices.
Flashback
The trio stopped outside the rooms of the King and Queen, listening to the voices from inside. Theodred recognized his father's voice in a gentle tone that meant his mother was in the room.
"You are troubled, Natasha. Will you share the burden?"
There was a soft sigh. "We knew of a probability that we would not be the ones fighting this time. Now the Mary-Sues approach, intent on getting rid of me, and that probability has never seemed so terribly real. Whenever the men ride to battle, the women face the chance that their husband, brother or father will be one of those that do not return. How do I say that this time it will be not only their sons, many too young to be considered riders, but their daughters also who will be called upon to battle this new menace?"
Eomer was silent for a few moments. "Lend me your burden, my wife and queen, for it is mine to share. I have loved you since our first meeting, even if it took a while to admit it. Our children love you, I love you and our people love you. Simple as that."
Looking through the keyhole, Elfwine saw his parents sitting on one of the chairs in front of the fire. Natasha, smaller and more delicate that her husband, leaned against Eomer's broad chest, her head against his shoulder. She gave a soft smile. "And people say your eloquence only extends to speeches before you lead the Rohirrim into battle. Thank you, Eomer. It's just, I hate feeling helpless."
Eomer smirked, sounding as though he was reciting something. " 'Eyes as green as forests of pine / whilst in your hair, autumn leaves do twine.' "
Natasha laughed. "I always liked that one. But come, my Lord, the night is young and fine. I have other ideas on how to spend out time."
Elfwine, Theodred and Eldarion winced at the implication and crept away.
End Flashback
Elfwine wanted to be able to help, but coming out and saying so would mean admitting that he had been eavesdropping on them. His mother was very strict concerning privacy, only condoning listening in on private conversations if it was a matter of great urgency. In Elfwine's opinion, the disappointed expression in his mother's eyes when he had done something that he knew was wrong was far worse than any punishment his father or teachers would give out.
Perhaps a discreet mention of the topic would get the subject going. If not, Elfwine's parents would probably tell him sooner or later. Still, if he was to fight, Elfwine would prefer that it be sooner.
As it turned out, Elfwine did not have to wait very long at all.After dinner that night, the adults held a small meeting, this time with the older children included. Here they explained things, also telling them that they might have to fight in the battle. Elfwine suspected that the inclusion of the latter explanation was due to his mother.
Natasha had never believed in hiding things that directly concerned her children unless there was no other option.
The group sat in silence for a moment before Eowyn finally burst out, "I wish we knew what was behind all of this! Lothiriel may have been jealous, but I cannot see her willingly jeopardizing her chances with Eomer by bringing Mary-Sues into the equation. Besides which, she knows that we would have had Gandalf try to reverse the spell and she knows that Natasha has an uncanny knack of getting out of just about any situation. It would have been far more to her advantage to have just killed her and be done with it! Also, what reason is there for our children to have been sent away also? It makes no sense!"
Theodwyn spoke hesitantly, "Perhaps she and Saruman thought that they could control the Mary-Sues and make them hand Uncle Eomer over as soon as they had him."
Eomer did not look keen on the turn that the subject had taken, but the others seemed interested. Denethor spoke slowly, "Saruman never liked the idea that anyone could be more powerful than him. Perhaps he refused to consider the possibility that Gandalf would be able to reverse his spell. Also, Saruman had never really met Natasha, so he would have had little idea of her abilities in the matter. Lothiriel was always more intent on finding ways to get Natasha out of the picture than studying her character."
Natasha gave a slightly inelegant snort. "After all that happened during my first year or so in Middle Earth? I know for a fact that there were stories flying wild about things that happened; when the women and children of Minas Tirith were attacked, for example."
Gandalf spoke up, agreeing with the Steward. "Those stories seemed to multiply faster than rabbits! Saruman always liked to toy with his victims before killing them, even as a cat plays with a mouse, and Lothiriel seemed the sort to gloat over a victory. Perhaps she wished to hurt Natasha emotionally by making her see what had happened before killing her."
Eomer nodded. "That may account for Lothiriel's motives, but what of Saruman's? He is too politically clever to let Lothiriel's reasons stand in the way of achieving his goals, so why did he not pretend to send Natasha away then kill her as soon as Lothiriel's back was turned? And why were the children brought into this?"
Saranna and Celebrian were whispering in a corner as Natasha looked at her husband. "Do you mind if we discontinue this line of the conversation? I really do find it somewhat disturbing."
Suddenly Celebrian spoke up. "We have a theory on why we were sent with Queen Natasha, if you would like to hear it?"
Faramir nodded, "Go ahead."
Celebrian went on. "Well, we think it might have been part of the bargain with the Mary-Sues. Because even if they had managed to take over Middle Earth, we would have presented a large problem."
Saranna continued. "Yes, because even if they did manage to enchant the men and get rid of
Mother and Aunt Eowyn and Queen Arwen, there would still be the matter of succession. Horrible as the idea may be, if the Mary-Sues did succeed and marry you and produce children," (She paused at the collective shudder, then continued) "we are still the products of your first marriage, and therefore first in line."
Celebrian took up the train of thought again. "No woman wants to see her children come second to another's, but they are smart enough to know that you would never consent to us being disowned or declared illegitimate. They would need us out of the way."
Laer nodded. "The girls do have a point. I certainly would not put it past any of them."
Boromir added his input, choosing to ignore how many of the room's other occupants closed their eyes or sighed in exasperation. He gave Laer a mocking look. "Speaking from experience are we? How do any of us know you aren't casting spells of your own?"
Laer sneered and glared at him, mimicking Boromir's tone. "Subject to hormones, are we? Besides, I was an Eomer Mary-Sue, and I find it impossible to think of Eomer without seeing Natasha at his side. Please explain why I would have any interest in a rude, arrogant, self-centred, stubborn git like you!"
Boromir's eyes flashed and he opened his mouth to form a scathing retort when Faramir spoke to the rest of the room, "Are you sure we can't just lock them in a room to either fight it out or until they admit the obvious?"
Whatever Boromir was about to say was forgotten as Natasha answered her brother. "I don't want blood on the carpet, it takes forever to get out. I'll take it under consideration, though, and I admit that things would be easier if they both just admitted the opposites attraction."
Laer and Boromir both stared in shock, before glaring at Natasha, who remained singularly unaffected by their fury.
Half to head off a confrontation and half to remind the adults that they were still there, Eldarion finally spoke. "Is there anything else we should know about these Mary-Sues? How can we fight them?"
Faramir made a 'no idea' gesture. "Like you would any other opponent, I suppose. I do not believe that any of you boys have started experimenting upon the differences between males and females, and the girls should have little trouble resisting the pull of their spells."
They were suddenly interrupted by a voice at the window. "Very clever for you to have figured it out and thought of a way to fight. I never would have expected that from empty-headed males. Too bad it's too late now."
Boromir glared at the hostile Mary-Sues that had appeared. "I suppose that the next thing you say will be about how women are so superior at everything?"
A second Mary-Sue spoke up. "No. I never really liked that sort of person. They keep getting up on boxes and proclaiming that women are more intelligent than men. It's true, but it should be kept quiet or it ruins the whole racket."
A third Mary-Sue joined in. "Yes. The gods created women because they wanted to do better than men."
A fourth snapped at them. "Enough talking! We came here for a reason." She glared at Laer, "We'll deal with you at a later time, traitor."
Laer paled slightly; she knew what her fellows were capable of. The renegade looked up just in time to see the gathered Mary-Sues charge Natasha.
(Should I end it here?)
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Nah.
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The rest of the room instantly retaliated.
Eomer slammed into his wife, knocking them both to the floor and shielding her with his body. The other adults grabbed for weapons as the younger generation tore into the pack of Mary-Sues, wreaking havoc.
The first Mary-Sue managed to get a hit on Elfwine, causing a long cut down the side of his face. Seeing this, Natasha rolled to her feet with a snarl, appearing scarily akin to an enraged tigress. The first Mary-Sue, Brittany, charged her, ignoring all else. Natasha twisted aside at the last second, grasping the hand that held the dirk and twisting hard. Brittany's wrist shattered as Natasha grabbed the discarded blade and threw herself into the fray. She ended up back to back with Laer, who had decided that if her former sisters-in-arms were going to kill her, she wanted to go down fighting. Even so, she couldn't resist a remark. "Where did you pick up a look like that? I've seen mothers defend their children before, but none of them matched that expression!"
Natasha quite literally 'disarmed' her opponent as she replied. "Have you ever seen Eomer leading a charge into battle? I've seen any number of orcs start running before the riders are within twenty meters of them merely because of Eomer's face and war-cry."
Laer snickered as she watched Natasha throw her dirk at a Mary-Sue sneaking up behind Eowyn, then impale another on their own sword, relieving the Mary-Sue of her weapon and launching herself into a group that was threatening Isinil, who quickly joined up with Elfwine and Eldarion.
Laer decided that this was a side of the Queen that she could have gone quite happily without seeing. She looked around and saw Denethor under threat, with several small battles between them. Everyone else seemed to be faring all right, and a number of guards had just entered the scene. Only problem was, how did she get to the aged steward?
Laer gave herself a mental whack upside the head. She couldn't believe that she had forgotten her special talent! She teleported to Denethor's side then took them both out of harm's way. Looking back to their former position, she saw the added bonus that several of the weapons that had been launched at them had hit other Mary-Sues instead, either killing them or making them turn on their own comrades. Better at killing each other than orcs, that lot.
Laer waded back into the melee then stopped dead as Brittany appeared in front of her, accompanied by several others who Laer identified as some of the best fighters in the Mary-Sue army. Brittany's shattered wrist hung limp at her side as she raised the dagger in her other hand. "Now you die, traitor."
Laer dodged the attack, spinning away, only to see one of her former comrades lining up a dagger to throw at Boromir. Thinking on it for a second, Laer decided that her situation couldn't get any worse, and dove at the Mary-Sue before she could let fly.
Meanwhile, one of the Mary-Sues had managed to knock Saranna away from the fight and into a wall. Seeing his sister's crumpled form, the normally reserved Theodred let out a roar of fury and redoubled his efforts. There were more than a few startled pauses that proved fatal as the ten-year-old that everyone had been assured was less of a threat than the six-year-old princesses of Gondor and Rohan began to show himself as close to his mother in fighting skills; inexperienced, but deadly.
Perhaps it would be a good idea to stay away from the younger children as well. If this whirlwind of destruction was thought by Saruman to be the least dangerous of the children, perhaps the whole 'take over Middle-Earth' idea was not such a good plan after all.
Scarcely aware of the area of the room he was fighting towards, Boromir cut his way to where Laer and one of the Mary-Sues were wrestling over a dagger. Perhaps he needed to revise his opinion of Laer once all this was over, as she was not showing many of the characteristics typical of the Mary-Sue. Aside from the exceptional beauty, that is. Startled at his own line of thought, Boromir pushed such thoughts to the side and concentrated on the battle.
Theodwyn had joined her mother and was fighting at her side. Despite the situation, Eowyn could not help but feel proud of how well her daughter had learned what Eowyn had taught her of being a shield-maiden. Eowyn and Natasha had insisted that all of their children at least know how to defend themselves. Eomer and Faramir had protested, of course, but had eventually agreed. Sleeping on the couch and being fed on boiled cabbage for a few weeks usually convinced people.
Elfwine, Isinil and Eldarion had formed a threesome to fight off the Mary-Sues. It was proving quite effective against their targets. All three had snickered at Natasha's explanation to Laer's question about how she modelled her expression on Eomer's in battle. Still, they had to admit that the queen of Rohan had a point; Eomer did look rather terrifying.
Gandalf decided that he was getting old. During the war of the Ring he had had little trouble fending off any number of orcs, but these Mary-Sues were proving a lot harder. Perhaps it was because the power of Narya, the ring of Fire, had leant him strength back then. Either way, it didn't change the fact that he was quickly starting to tire. The Mary-Sues seemed to notice this, and pressed their advantage. Using magic exhausted him nowadays, but it didn't seem like he had a lot of choice. A brilliant flash of light and a loud bang like a cannon blinded everyone for a minute, and when the smoke cleared, a large number of the Mary-Sues were dead.
The small band of Mary-Sues was quickly defeated after that, and the survivors taken away for questioning. That detail attended to, the original group looked around to assess injuries.
Arwen and Celebrian had disappeared out of the door at Aragorn's command, taking Gilraen and Alyssia with them, so it was likely that they were safe. A few guards were dispatched to look for them. Saranna had only been temporarily knocked out and was on her feet again, though still a bit unsteady. Aside from that, it seemed that no one had been seriously hurt.
Until they looked for Laer, anyway.
The dagger that Laer had intercepted before it was thrown had instead found it's mark in her side, and she lay still and pale on the floor.
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A/N – Find out the results in the next chapter, which will be up as soon as I get enough reviews. I have noticed that I only got four for the last chapter. Sorry, Laer4572, I'm going to have to keep you in suspense too. Review and I'll update.
A/N#2 – Another of my stories, 'A Reason For Everything', based on the chronicles of Narnia, has just been finished. Could I get some opinions? I promise that it is an original concept.
A/N#3 – Sorry if I offended any of the boys out there. The quotes from the Mary-Sues are from a cute book that I picked up on my vacation in Tasmania. It's called 'Thoughts of Women: A little book of women's wisdom' and contains quotes such as:
"It is said that a pretty face is a passport. But it's not, it's a visa and it runs out fast." – Julie Burchill
"I'm furious at the women's Liberationists. They keep getting up on soapboxes and proclaiming that women are brighter than men. It's true, but it should be kept very quiet or it ruins the whole racket." – Anita Loos
"God made men, then said 'I can do better than that' and made women" – Adela Rogers St John
"If men can run the world, why can't they stop wearing neckties? How intelligent is it to start the day by tying a little noose around your neck?" – Linda Ellerbee
"Whatever women do, they must do it twice as well as men to be thought half as good. Luckily, this is not difficult." – Charlotte Whitton
"Even the most respectable woman has a complete set of clothes in her wardrobe ready for a possible abduction." – Sacha Guitry (My personal favourite; my little sister is always borrowing things without asking. Then it takes a month for me to get it back.)