Hidden Secrets

Disclaimer: I don't own anything or any of the characters, locations, etc. from The Lord of the Rings nor do I claim too. I only own the creation of Wanderer.

Chapter One: Beran

T.A. 3018

"Whoa! Steady, steady now, girl," whispered the hooded rider as she softly pulled the dappled gray mare to a halt.

Suddenly an arrow whizzed past the rider's head and the hood of her cloak fell down, revealing a young woman about eighteen with short, dark hair. The young woman moved faster than mortal eyes could see and reached for her bow and fitted an arrow from her quiver to the string. There was no doubt that she's been followed. She looked around for a second before she smiled and somehow managed to sound much braver than she felt, called out, "You're a better tracker than I expected, Beran!"

"Why thank you, Wanderer," replied the man called Beran with what sounded like a sneer. "It's almost a shame that you have to die."

"Why did you do it?" she questioned, training her bow on Beran, by following his voice.

"I had to. You know that."

"You turned traitor! I want to know why!" Wanderer demanded.

"The Eye of Sauron has returned. I heard from a reliable source that he was actively seeking the heir to the throne of Gondor. And Walker knew the answer."

"You still didn't have to do it!"

"Yes, I had to, and now I have to kill you," he said, knocking an arrow to the string of his bow.

"Beran, it doesn't have to end this way! We can both walk away from this!" Wanderer pleaded with him.

"You know that we can't Wanderer. Good-bye…" he said as he sent the arrow whistling towards Wanderer's heart.

Wanderer heard the arrow and reacted far too late. The arrow struck her above the heart and she gasped aloud. Blood dripped from her wound and onto her hand. Taking a deep breath, and wincing, Wanderer took aim and let her air fly into Beran, hopefully killing him. She heard him groan and hit the dirt as she set her bow down in front of her. While applying pressure to the wound with her right hand, she reached into a pouch tied about her waist.

Wanderer pulled out a small roll of bandage and a handful of partially crushed athelas. Wanderer removed her hand from the wound and slowly snapped the arrow shaft off near the arrowhead. She couldn't get the arrowhead out at the exact moment, so she rubbed the athelas in as best she could and wrapped the wound tightly in bandage. The wound would need medical attention soon, but the bandage would suffice until she could reach some safety.

"Come on Star, let's go!" Wanderer whispered to the mare as she tapped the dappled gray sides with her heels, with one hand clinging desperately to the saddle and other applying pressure to the wound.

The mare called Star snorted and took off at a gallop into the night once more. Wanderer was managing to stay on after all of those years of racing around bareback. But when Star stumbled over a log, Wanderer was too weak to hang on and she flew off and hit the ground with a loud crack as her head hit a rock.

"Star…" she muttered wearily as everything went black.

A Week Earlier

Beran and Wanderer were siting in the Ranger camp around a fire when the attack occurred. As soon as the attackers were heard, Beran shoved Wanderer off of the log that they had been sitting on and towards the safety of some nearby bushes. Then he took off running towards their captain, Walker, who was in his tent. Wanderer slipped out of the bushes and followed Beran and in his hurry, he didn't notice her.

Wanderer watched him enter the tent and pressed a blade to Walker's throat. They traded some words that Wanderer couldn't hear due to the attack. She knew that she should be helping the others defend the camp, but she was far too curious to leave at that moment. But she wished that she'd left when she saw Beran viciously slice Walker's throat.

Wanderer gasped aloud and felt two hands grip her shoulders from behind her. Her right hand flew to the hilt of her dagger and she pulled as the hands spun her around and she drove the dagger into the stranger's stomach. Pulling her dagger out with her left hand, Wanderer unsheathed her sword with her right hand. She raced into the battle where her fellow Rangers were already fighting. The clanging of blade against blade was filling the air and soon joined by the twang of bowstrings as arrow after arrow flew at the small group of fighting Rangers.

When Wanderer looked around after killing her latest attacker, she saw that everyone around her was dead and the sounds of battle no longer filled the air. Her gray-blue were wide with fright and she saw at least ten archers with their bows trained upon her. She froze, wondering when they would shoot her. She closed her eyes and prepared for her death.

But her eyes flew open when she heard someone walk right in front of her. And the person was none other than Beran.

"It's no wonder that your name is Wanderer. It's rather appropriate, seeing as you just keep losing everything!" Beran said with an evil smile upon his face.

"So this was all your doing?" Wanderer asked, shocked as she gestured to the bodies at her feet.

"The one and only."

"Why you little—!" Wanderer started to yell but she was swiftly cut off by Beran's large, bloodstained hand covering her mouth.

"There's no need to be angry," Beran said softly, removing his hand.

Furious, Wanderer yelled, "You're the reason they are all dead!"

"You must understand, Wanderer. I did it for you. I did it because I love you and I want you to be safe!" Beran, said, pleading with her to understand.

"That's no excuse and you know it!"

"Sure it is! Wanderer, they were going to kill you. I couldn't stand by and allow that to happen."

"Then, pray tell, what were they going to do?"

"They were plotting to hand you over to Sauron. They were going to betray you to your certain death."

"I sincerely doubt that that would happen in a million years!"

"It would happen sooner than you think because they thought you were Isildur's heir and they thought it would buy them protection from the Eye."

"Me?" scoffed Wanderer at the outrageous idea.

"Your ring," Beran whispered, reaching his hand towards her neck. "Where did you get it?"

Instinctively, Wanderer closed her hand around the ring hanging from its long silver chain. "It was a gift," she said, daring to meet his eyes.

"From?" he questioned, stepping closer to her.

"My mother," Wanderer said. "She gave it to me when I was born and I've had it ever since."

"You can't be. No that's impossible. You can't be," cried Beran, shaking his head in disbelief.

"What can't I be?"

"Isildur's heir. There is no possible way."

"Of course there isn't! My parents were just ordinary people. I don't know where she got it from, but it was a gift from her and I don't question it."

"It doesn't matter."

"Why doesn't it matter?"

"Because you wouldn't dare be thinking about leaving me, so it's no harm no foul for me no matter what!" he said, the evil smile returning.

"Why on Middle-earth wouldn't I leave you?"

"I love you too much to let you leave, Wanderer. You are staying."

"And what about what I want? Does that not matter to you either?" Wanderer questioned.

"Of course it doesn't matter when you belong to me!" Beran yelled, reaching his hand out and grabbing Wanderer's wrist.

"I belong to no one!" cried Wanderer angrily, twisting out of his grasp as she whistled for Star.

Beran reached for her again, but she leveled her sword at his throat and he froze, knowing that she wouldn't hesitate to kill him like he had killed Walker. Star trotted to her side and sheathing her sword, Wanderer swung up into her saddle.

"You will regret this one day soon! You will regret this!" Beran called after her as she galloped away.

Author's Notes:

I'm very glad that people like this story so far! I'll try to update often, so look for an update every few days. And major thanks to my beta, Ari Moon, for helping me out with corrections. She encouraged me to post this story and offered to check my chapters before I update. I don't think I could write this story half as well without her comments and pokes in the side.

Reviewers!

Aragorn 75 – I'm glad that you thinking that the story is interesting! I promise that there are plenty of surprises along the way!

Alce-Eruantale – Thanks for the review! I'm glad that you like it so far!

Mr. Random – Thanks for the review! More is on the way, I promise!

Jedi Padfoot – I'm really pleased that you like it! Thanks so much for the review and positive compliments!

Kelly Tolkien – I'm a big fan of mysteries so I couldn't resist throwing one in at the beginning! Thanks for the spelling correction! My beta doesn't know Elvish, so she can't catch any mistakes I make with Elvish.