Strong Willed Chapter 2

Several more arrows followed the first, all missing her by inches, save one. It struck Falinwe in the shoulder, crashing into the bone there, which stopped it going any further. She cried out in pain. Thankfully the wounded shoulder was her left and not her right, or she would have been useless against the orcs she saw now coming towards her. Ganf whinnied as if to tell her he would protect her, but she drew the long hunting knife she always carried anyway. She broke the shaft of the arrow off half way down so it would not hinder her movements, breaking into a sweat as the pain hit her in waves, nearly knocking her senseless. Falinwe steadied herself, it would not do to faint now with orcs rushing at her! She held tight to Ganf as he reared, bringing his sharp front hooves down onto the head of an orc with a resounding crack. She parried a thrust from an orc below her, and then cut him across the back of the neck and back, black blood spraying forth as he crashed to the ground. Another came and another, until Falinwe was lost to the rhythm of slaying these creatures before they could do the same to her. Finally, there were no more left to kill. At some point she had fallen off of Ganf, bruising herself painfully, and now those hurts, and the arrow in her shoulder, started to throb painfully reminding her she was far from her father's hall and it was near dark. She might not get home. Falinwe mounted Ganf, a task he made easier by kneeling and allowing her to climb up onto his back before standing again and bearing her away homewards.

xxxxxx

They had been searching for hours. Eomer sighed. It seemed he was going to have to bring the girl's body back to Yanulf, if only he could find her!

"Gunlan! Do you see anything?"

"My Lord, no, only a darker blackness against the night, over there." Gunlan said, pointing in the direction he meant.

Eomer saw it too. As they approached it became apparent it was a horse lying on the ground, using its broad back to shelter something against the wind that had sprung up.

Eomer ran towards it now, daring to hope, surely the horse wouldn't shelter the girl if she was already dead? The horse stood up as he came near, and whinnied at him, a threat?

"Whoa there old fellow, I'm not going to hurt her." Eomer reassured the stallion, in a low calming voice. The horse moved towards him, whuffling in his hand, looking for oats no doubt.

"Good boy. Gunlan, see to this fellow will you?"

"Of course, my lord."

Eomer moved to the girl's side. In the faint moonlight he could see the darkness of blood on her shoulder, and the end of an arrow poking out of it. He also saw her gown was sprayed with orc blood. How did that get there? Then he remembered the horse's greeting and decided the stallion must have defended her before bearing her home.

As he leant over Falinwe, he noticed she was quite beautiful, her night-dark hair, a rarity in Rohan, spread around her shoulders and her face pale in the moonlight had full lips, a straight nose and what would be large, wide eyes framed by long, dark lashes when they were open. Yes, beautiful.

xxxxxx

She awoke. Her shoulder felt like it was on fire. Then she remembered. The orc attack, riding home on Ganf, and falling off when she could no longer endure the pain in her shoulder. Damn! She should have started back home sooner, then she would not be lying here with her shoulder bandaged and her entire body smarting from the bruises she'd received. Father must be very angry. Oh, why couldn't she just put up with his foolishness and play at being a good daughter?

Knocking came from her door. "Enter." Falinwe called, figuring it must be her father coming to scold her. It wasn't however. A man she didn't recognize entered and stood near the door, an almost embarrassed expression on his face at having caught her lying in bed. She had a wound! Where else would she be!

"May I help you?" She said, hoping to call his attention back from the fact that she was quite clearly naked under the coverings, as could be seen from the fact that quite a bit of shoulder was poking out from underneath the furs.

"Oh, I wanted to see how you were. I'm the one who found you."

She stared at him, knowing now that her father had sent the leader of the eored to find his wayward daughter. He wasn't too bad looking either she decided as she eyed him. He was fair, nearly everyone in Rohan was fair though so that was nothing different, his hair glowing golden in the candlelight. He had rather full lips under his close shaven beard, and his eyes were deep and mysterious under his brows. A warrior's body filled out the package of an altogether handsome man. A handsome man who had rescued her from death. Damn! Speak girl!

"Then I must thank you my lord, for surely I would have died had you not."

"You are welcome my lady. How is the shoulder?"

"To be honest my lord, it feels as though it would have been better to chop it off!"

He laughed, a rich throaty sound.

"That means it is healing, my lady."

"Please, my lord, my name is Falinwe."

"Eomer."