Marie Note: Well here's the next chapter. There's not much of a cliff hanger or anything but you're going to want to stay tuned for the next chapter. We're getting toward a climax and then the end. Hope you guys like it!

After traveling for some time away from Edoras and through the mountains and plains of Rohan, one reaches a certain hill. Once one has crested said hill, they behold the sight of a great fortress, made of stone, carved into the mountain. It looks as if it has survived many, many years of use and war and refuge. To some it would be a welcome sight. To others this fortress is only the foreboding of something soon to come.

Helm's Deep.

Threwen took a breath as she looked upon it. She had never actually been there, although the stories of it she had heard for a long time. She stopped at the top of that hill and looked at it. For a moment she was relieved. They were finally there. But the next moment she realized that this was no refuge. This was a cage. There was no way of getting out of it once they got in and she knew, more than anyone, what was coming.

"Are you alright?" asked Cadoc, who stood next to her. He had noticed her concerned expression. "Are you worried about Rannyn?"

Threwen hadn't been worried about him at that particular moment until he brought it up. Her thoughts drifted back to the fair haired Rider. She wondered if he was even still alive. She knew what Wargs were capable of and she hated to think that Rannyn had fallen prey to one of them. She felt a shiver run up her spine, dark images entering her mind from her past.

She suddenly felt a hand on her shoulder and she turned to look at Cadoc. He smiled at her and said, "Everything will be alright. Trust me."

The blonde hesitated to trust him. One reason was because she had always had trust issues, but the other reason was because she knew that the near future was not bright. She knew that everything would not be alright, probably the exact opposite. The basis for these fears? Saruman's army was coming.

"That's the last of them."

King Théoden, Gimli, and the elf, Legolas, along with the rest of the soldiers had either killed or run off the soldiers and their Wargs. There had been many casualties and some were missing, even Lord Aragorn. But luckily one blonde haired Rider of the Riddermark had managed to survive. He had a cut on his leg from where a near dead orc had slashed him, but past that he had remained unscathed.

The group, a little bedraggled, got themselves together to head on towards Helm's Deep. Rannyn had to admit it was a grim scene. Théoden had said to leave the dead, but Rannyn wanted to at least give them a burial. It only seemed right. But he was to follow orders. So he did.

He wiped off his sword and was about to walk back to Isidien when he heard a moan. He glanced back, searching among the bodies, and found the source. A young man, a little older than himself, was on the ground with a huge gash in his leg. Apparently he had been knocked unconscious, but was now awakening. Rannyn knelt down next to him.

"Hey," he said, trying to get him to wake up. The young man's wounds did not seem too severe and if he could get him bandaged up and on a horse he could take him with him to the fortress. He just had to get him up first. "Hey, wake up."

The eyelids fluttered and then his eyes opened slowly, blinking a few times to come into focus. He winced at the pain shooting through his leg. "Wha…?"

Rannyn nodded to him and the young man put his head back down, groaning. Rannyn inspected the wound and then retrieved a piece of cloth from his sack. He cleaned the wound a little and then bandaged it up, all the while talking with the young man to take his mind off the pain, which wasn't easy.

"So, what's your name?" he asked, keeping his concentration on his work.

"Caraedry."

"Ah. So, Caraedry, do you have a family you're going to be seeing when you get to Helm's Deep?"

The man nodded and said, "My parents and a younger sister. They've gone ahead."

"What's your sister's name?"

"Cerrarien. She's 16."

Rannyn smiled. "So are you married?" He was almost done bandaging. That would mean questions were over and the transporting to a horse would begin.

Caraedry got a funny look on his face, his eyes filling with warmth, the pain leaving for a moment, and said softly, "Yes."

Rannyn grinned, understanding this. There was a certain way he had said her name that clued him in on how much he cared for the woman. "What's her name?" He had finished and was now giving his full attention to Caraedry.

He smiled. "Ruthiel."

Rannyn nodded. "Well you're going to be okay and I'll bet Ruthiel will be really glad to see you in almost one piece."

The man thanked him and then the young Rider called over another soldier to help him get Caraedry onto a horse. Rannyn promised that he would keep him company for the rest of the journey. He mounted Isidien and the two young men rode together. They had survived one small battle and were headed for Helm's Deep, walking, perhaps, towards an even bigger conflict against even worse odds.

Let's just concentrate on getting there, Rannyn thought. He looked out across the plains and sighed. It wasn't over yet.

"Asimma, come on!" Threwen tugged at the horse's reigns from where she was standing, which was in the doorway to the fortress. No matter how she tugged the animal just would not budge! It refused to come inside. Threwen finally let go and the horse just stood there, staring at her with defiant eyes. She sighed. "I know you don't like enclosed spaces, but really! Can't you cooperate for once?"

Cadoc had gone to secure them a place to stay and Threwen was to just wait for him inside the entrance…if she ever got there! She tried to tug again, but Asimma just sat there, looking at Threwen like she was nuts for wanting to bring her in there.

"Infuriating animal!" She swatted the air near Asimma's nose, trying to show her impatience at the creature. She heard a chuckle from behind her.

"Having trouble?"

Threwen turned to see the face of someone she did not expect.

"My Lady," she said, bowing her head down a little.

Lady Eowyn nodded to her. "It seems your horse does not like Helm's Deep."

Threwen sighed. "No, I'm afraid not."

"Perhaps I should find the stable keeper for you…" She started to look around but Threwen stopped her.

"Oh, no, Cadoc rode all the way here with me. He is a friend of mine. I was supposed to wait for him just inside the entrance."

Eowyn nodded. She looked as if she were about to say something when a middle-aged woman came up to her and said something to her. She turned back to Threwen and said, "Excuse me. I'm needed somewhere else. I hope you get your stubborn horse inside." And with that she was gone.

Threwen turned to Asimma. "See? Even Lady Eowyn says you're stubborn!" She surveyed the situation, trying to figure out how to get her inside. She had tried actually riding her in but the horse would not get past the door. Pulling and tugging didn't work either. "I suppose you'll just have to live there, you frustrating thing!" She slumped against the wall and placed her head on the cold, hard stone.

"She won't cooperate, will she?"

Cadoc came up and smiled at Threwen's agitation. He motioned for her to view what he was going to do. Apparently he had the solution. He reached into his sack and pulled out a carrot. Threwen noticed Asimma automatically paid attention to the old man. Cadoc backed up and, to the young woman's amazement, the horse followed. He chuckled and led the horse out of sight. She had to laugh. It seemed Asimma had a weakness for carrots.

"So, how long have you been married?"

Rannyn, while atop Isidien, was talking with Caraedry, hoping to make friends with him.

"A little over a year," he replied. The man didn't seem too comfortable because the ride jostled his leg. He winced at every false step of the horse.

Rannyn nodded, all out of questions. He didn't really know what to say in response to that. His own experiences with young women had gone very badly so far. In this awkward silence the tables began to turn on him.

"So do you have family?" Caraedry asked. "Are you married?"

He was a bit surprised that he was now being questioned but he thought it only fair he answer. "No to both questions."

Caraedry studied him for a moment and then asked calmly, "So what's her name?"

Rannyn noticed how this mimicked his earlier question of Caraedry. He sighed, hesitant to go into it. "Threwen."

This time he nodded. "Do you love her?"

Again he was taken aback. This man was rather blunt, he couldn't help noticing. Rannyn had to think about the question. Did he? He had never really thought about it that way. He cared about her, sure, but loved her? "I suppose so…yes."

"You seem uncertain."

Rannyn sighed. "Well, when I last talked with her I got angry with her." He glanced at his companion and quickly added, "But I had every right to be."

Caraedry chuckled slightly. "Really? What gave you the right?"

"I learned about her past and it's not pretty."

"You mean she's made mistakes?"

Rannyn thought about it and then nodded. "Yes."

"Is she sorry and learning from them or still making the same ones?"

The young man thought he was a being a bit too thorough but he was the one who was married so maybe Rannyn should take his questions seriously. "Well when she told me it was kind of like a confession, like she was telling them to me to let me know she was different now…or something like that."

"So she's different now?" Caraedry watched Rannyn's face.

He paused. "Yeah, I guess she is trying to be different." This seemed true. Threwen had gotten to know Cadoc and was expanding her territories, maybe slowly, but surely. And even before that she had made the choice to go back to Edoras even though she had sworn never to return. And she had told him that she wasn't working for Saruman anymore…

His companion observed Rannyn's contemplating and smiled. "If you love her and she's not making the same mistakes anymore, don't you think you should give her another chance? I'm willing to bet she'll be as glad to see you in one piece as Ruthiel will be to see me."

Rannyn thought for a moment and then smiled. He was right. And Rannyn would be glad to see her too.

And with that they crested that one particular hill and gazed down at it. Helm's Deep.

End Note: Well there you are. I would appreciate reviews if you got 'em.