Swearing Oaths
Author note: In case anyone wonders why it is the same date in-story (March 6) while I also mentioned the travel of Gandalf and Pippin as they entered Gondor last chapter, it is because I need to check a timeline on various Tolkien fan wikis to connect all the events so they happens on the correct date as Tolkien himself wrote. Also, the characters are riding horses or walking on their own feet like Frodo and Sam in a medieval setting, NOT traveling by modern-day means of transport. Horses need to be groomed both before and after a ride or used for pulling carts and the like, even well-trained horses have a limit on how much distance they can cover in a day of travel, they need a regular supply of food and water, and they can get injured or sick. Horses aren't automatons (as sadly too often written in fiction!), they're living animals with needs. / Rogercat
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Morning of March 6, the Hornburg of Helm's Deep:
Merry slept very soundly until he was roused by Legolas and Gimli.
"The Sun is high," Legolas smiled, placing a plate of food next to Merry, "All others are up and doing. Come, Master Sluggard, and look at this place while you may!"
"Hard to think that there was a battle here three nights ago," Gimli muttered, seeing the difference without any dead bodies around, "and here Legolas and I played a game that I won only by a single orc. Come and see how it was! And there are caves, Merry, caves of wonder! Shall we visit them, Legolas, do you think?"
The Elf gave the Dwarf a sad smile.
"Nay! There is no time, my friend. Do not spoil the wonder with haste! I have given you my word to return hither with you, if a day of peace and freedom comes again. But it is now near to noon, and at that hour we eat, and then set out again, I hear."
Merry got up and yawned. His few hours' sleep had not been nearly enough; he was tired and rather dismal. He missed Pippin, and felt that he was only a burden, while everybody was making plans for speed in a business that he did not fully understand.
"Where is Aragorn?" he asked, between adding more pieces of food in his mouth. Plain bread and cheese with cold meat, and a tasty cider that had to be done on apples. Well, Merry would not complain about the food and look ungrateful for the amount he was given, during the travel between Rivendell and Moria Boromir had not exactly sugarcoated for the four hobbits how war affected food production when farms often was burned and the owners killed, their fields ruined with the crops still not harvested or the livestock slaughtered by the attackers and how food often could be rationed in order to not start starving from the food supplies suddenly echoed empty, because someone with money had given in to the temptation to hold a big party with many food dishes. In most cases, those who were used to being served several big meals with a lot of fancy food dishes a day risked being suspected in such a scenario, especially if they had already complained before about the food rations.
"In a high chamber of the Burg," Legolas answered his question, "He has neither rested nor slept, I think. He went thither some hours ago, saying that he must take thought, and only his kinsman, Halbarad, went with him; but some dark doubt or care sits on him."
"They are a strange company, these newcomers. Stout men and lordly they are, and the Riders of Rohan look almost as boys beside them; for they are grim men of face, worn like weathered rocks for the most part, even as Aragorn himself; and they are silent," said Gimli as he looked around.
"But even as Aragorn they are courteous, if they break their silence," said Legolas, "And have you marked the brethren Elladan and Elrohir? Less sombre is their gear than the others', and they are fair and gallant as Elven-lords; and that is not to be wondered at in the sons of Elrond of Rivendell."
"Why have they come? Have you heard?" asked Merry. He had now dressed, and he flung his grey cloak about his shoulders; and the three passed out together towards the ruined gate of the Burg.
"They answered a summons, as you heard. Word came to Rivendell, they say: Aragorn has need of his kindred. Let the Dunedain ride to him in Rohan! But whence this message came they are now in doubt. Gandalf sent it, I would guess," Gimli explained, since that sounded the most logical way of how the Grey Company had been called to aid Aragorn.
"Nay, Galadriel," said Legolas, "Did she not speak through Gandalf of the ride of the Grey Company from the North?"
"Yes, you have it," Gimli signed, "The Lady of the Wood! She read many hearts and desires. Now why did we not wish for some of our own kinsfolk, Legolas?"
Legolas stood before the gate and turned his bright eyes away north and east, and his fair face was troubled.
"I do not think that any could come," he answered eventually with a voice that Gimli could tell to be of sorrow and not so little hidden frustration, for Legolas had admitted to him in secret that he had not been at the Battle of the Five Armies despite being a adult long before said event and this was the reason to why he was a bit unfamiliar with death despite his skills as a warrior, "They have no need to ride to war in realms far beyond their borders; war already marches on their own lands."
On the way, they saw Oberyn and several other Dornishmen check over the catapults for possible damage and whatever repairs that needed to be made, which was a wise choice if there would be a new attack coming from the enemy. Saruman and Isengard were no danger anymore, but the hordes of Mordor may still try to reach past the borders of Gondor.
"See that tall man with the widow's peak and sharp nose over there, Merry? That is Prince Oberyn Martell of Dorne, the younger brother of Queen Elia. A man with the true spirit of a warrior, and someone who has seen battle before. There is a good reason why he is commanding the troops from her homeland alongside the Rohirrim."
For a while the three companions walked together, speaking of this and that turn of the battle, and they went down from the broken gate, and passed the mounds of the fallen on the greensward beside the road, until they stood on Helm's Dike and looked into the Coomb. The Death Down already stood there, black and tall and stony, and the great trampling and scoring of the grass by the Huorns could be plainly seen. The Dunlendings and many men of the garrison of the Burg were at work on the Dike or in the fields and about the battered walls behind; yet all seemed strangely quiet: a weary valley resting after a great storm. Soon they turned back and went to the midday meal in the hall of the Burg.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
At Dunharrow, Éowyn had taken use of the magical portals as a way to arrive faster to the refugee camp. And there was a very good reason why she had chosen to leave Edoras now when Helm's Deep no longer was threatened by Isengard and Saruman.
"By the heavens, she is just too adorable! She is looking exactly like how I imagined a child between you and my Brothor! His eyes and a such tiny miniature of his jaw, and your skin tone with black hair!"
Despite not being that familiar with the voice of her aunt from her time inside the womb because it was a rather fair amount of travel distance between Aldburg and Edoras even on the famed horses of Rohan, Elfhilda did not seem scared of the woman with the same pale blonde hair as her father, as Éowyn smiled at her. The female infant only whimpered a little as her manner of wondering where Lothíriel was.
"I am here, sweetie….I am trying to sleep because while you are kind enough to not be a fussy baby, your mama worked very hard to bring you out into this world and I need sleep to heal better after your birth…"
Somewhat absentminded because she was almost asleep, Lothíriel reached up with a hand to gently touch her daughter, and Éowyn bent down slightly so her sister-in-law did not have to move that much in her camp bed.
"I will try to help the nursemaids keep Elfhilda pleased enough that she does not wake you, as long as she does not have to breastfeed."
"She seems to like being held in the arms of someone when being awake and sleeping in that braided reed basket we have as a temporary cradle. Use that to keep her happy until feeding time…"
Unsurprisingly, Lothíriel went out like a candle the moment she placed her head back on the pillow. Recalling how tired Elia had been after the birth of the twins almost nine years ago, Éowyn respected her need to sleep in peace and just not have to think of the baby until waking up.
"Right, sweet Brothor-dohtor of mine," she whispered to Elfhilda, "shall we let your modur sleep for a while?"
In response, Elfhilda yawned and blinked twice with her baby-blue eyes as if saying that she would take a nap too, and given her tender age, she could not be blamed. But when seeing this innocent little face, Éowyn felt a protective instinct awake in her, and something else that was less pleasant:
The memory of how the body of her father Éomund had been brought home after that he had been slain in battle against orcs when she was just seven years old in 3002, and the death of her mother Théodwyn a few months later, after how her grief over losing her beloved husband had weakened Théodwyn during that fatal illness that took her life.
"I am sorry, my dear children…I am really sorry for leaving you…I really want to stay with you…but without your Papa to be with us…"
The regretful whispers of Théodwyn on her deathbed, after that her brother, sister and mother had hurried to arrive so she could be surrounded by her family.
"War or not, you will not lose your father in battle as I did, Elfhilda," Éowyn promised her sleeping niece, knowing the huge risk that Éomer may not return home from the battlefield when the gathered forces of Rohirrim and Dornishmen left for Gondor. If she could ensure that Elfhilda could be spared from losing her father in the same manner as herself, then Éowyn intended to do so, even if it meant that she had to dress up like a male Rohirric soldier and use a false name to hide herself better. With long hair being common among both men and women here in Rohan, she would not stand out that much unless she had to undress herself from the layers of clothing and armor that hid her more feminine body shape.
And in Meduseld, Aegon had finally found the time to tell his mother and stepfather something that honestly was not that important compared to the war, but could still be useful information for a later situation;
"It is not our responsibility to locate Eddard Stark's daughters. In the middle of this war to determine the future of Middle-earth, finding two missing noble daughters from a different world simply can not be put on top of what is needed to do. Even with the portal at Dragonstone, we did not know that Sauron would send the Nazgûl to King's Landing, or that Khamûl would try to kidnap the younger Baratheon generation to be held hostage in Mordor."
Personally, Elia was not surprised to imagine a scenario where the magic of the Baratheon children had reacted on the Nazgûl and due to their lack of training, a smaller portal opened and vanished somewhere in the capital of Westeros without them realizing it. But that the daughters of Eddard Stark were the ones to end up in Minas Tirith of all places? Pure coincidence, it could just as easily have been someone else who fell through the temporary portal.
"Elia is right. Are finding those two young noble-born sisters and trying to return them to their father in the middle of this war really that important, compared to everything else?" Théodred added in from his sickbed, and his stepchildren hurried to say:
"No, Feder!"
Neither Aegon or Rhaenys had expected their parents to say anything else, though. No marriages had ever happened between House Stark and Martell in the past, so Sansa or Arya were not blood relatives of theirs to protect, and honestly, this situation just proved one among many long-term problems of Eddard Stark trying to shelter his children from the real world outside Winterfell. The deaths of his father and oldest brother Brandon at the orders of Aerys, and Lyanna dying in the Tower of Joy after her disappearance with Rhaegar being one of the sparks for the Rebellion, could not always be used as an excuse for his parenting.
"There are always some people going missing in conflicts like this, right?" Aegon wondered, "Apart from their social status that should have enabled some better protection of their household guards, the two Stark daughters are hardly unique in this sort of situation, apart from the fact that they ended up in another world?"
It was not just them and their friends in Edoras who had found public security strongly strengthened ever since last summer. Even Aégnor and Andréth were no longer allowed to leave Meduseld without at least a trusted shieldmaiden and three household guards to protect them.
"Exactly, Aegon. Some people sadly go missing forever, especially in a war zone because they are either killed by soldiers or dragged away as prisoners to be relocated in the country of the attackers, and in wars that stretch over a border between two countries, noble families face the risk of their relatives being kidnapped as hostages. Or in the case of daughters, finding themselves married off even at a young age for their claims to a family seat or castle, if their father and all known brothers are confirmed to be dead."
Of course, Elia also had thought of something else that could result from this information:
"But we thank you for telling us about the two Stark daughters, nonetheless. If Eddard Stark has the nerve to accuse Dorne of this as a "revenge kidnappning" because of his selfish sister, I will remind him that she openly cast away her expected responsibility and duty to marry well as a daughter of a noble house! She should have grown up knowing that arranged marriages are the norm for upper classes, and with no sisters to replace her as the bride, Lyanna would have to face the role of being a wife and mother whether she wanted it or not! Even any female cousins of hers from House Rogers in the Stormlands, into which her maternal aunt Branda married, might already have their own future secured by a similar engagement, or been far too young for marriage, not to mention that breaking a betrothal can have serious consequences! That idiotic girl throwing a childish tantrum over Robert siring a natural daughter before the betrothal? Mya was never going to be raised in the same household, and despite his flaws, Robert is not the WORST sort of man when it comes to marriage vows and cheating on said legal wife!"
"Elia…you are really holding a grudge for that girl's narrow-minded view on her future and her acting as if she somehow would be an exception to the norm in what is expected of a noble daughter…" the King of Rohan thought for himself as Elia made a minor rant over how foolish Lyanna Stark had proven herself to be and how this had led to her death at age sixteen, but on the other hand, seeing how the actions of Lyanna had also led to Elia being the one to almost lose her life and that of her own two children, he could not blame his wife for still harboring some negative feelings against the dead sister of Eddard Stark.
And heavens help the current Lord Stark of Winterfell if he indeed accused Dorne for kidnapping his two missing daughters. House Martell would never accept that sort of action, not after how Elia had been humiliated in front of the whole Westeros not once but twice by Rhaegar, and Lyanna being involved on both occasions, whether it was involuntary at Harrendal, and everything pointing towards her acting much more voluntary the second time.
"...and if someone dares to claim that girl would be happy as a replaceable royal mistress or that the Faith of the Seven would agree to Rhaegar having two wives like the first Aegon with his sisters as well that any sons of Lyanna would not pose the risk of becoming a new Daemon Blackfyre to my half-Dornish Aegon, I will personally slap some common sense into said person and force them to realize what sort of long-term disaster a such scenario would be!"
Having blown off some steam through this rant about how Eddard Stark had learned nothing from the death of Lyanna about how necessary it was to to keep his own daughters under better surveillance at an early age to avoid a repeat of her legacy, Elia felt a little better.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Back at the Burg, the midday meal was being served. Like the breakfast Merry had gotten earlier, it was simple food but as he had realized earlier, expecting anything else would only cause trouble. And any hobbit would know how it was with the food storage at this time in late winter, before the fields would be plowed and sown with the seeds that will hopefully be this year's successful harvest later this autumn. Because it was this time of year that food was really scarce, before the summer there were not many edible plants and herbs, no animals could be slaughtered and everything else that a farming community knew from previous generations.
Théoden was already seated with his sister-son closest to the fireplace due to being members of the ruling family of Rohan, and as soon as Gimli, Legolas and Merry entered he called for Merry and had a seat set for him at his side.
"It is not as I would have it," said Théoden, "for this is little like my fair house in Edoras. And your friend is gone, who should also be here. But it may be long ere we sit, you and I, at the high table in Meduseld; there will be no time for feasting when I return thither. But come now! Eat and drink, and let us speak together while we may. And then you shall ride with me."
"May I?" wondered Merry, surprised and delighted, "That would be splendid!"
He had never felt more grateful for any kindness in words.
"I am afraid I am only in everybody's way," he stammered, "but I should like to do anything I could, you know."
"I doubt it not," said the former king with a kind smile, "I have had a good hill-pony made ready for you. He will bear you as swift as any horse by the roads that we shall take. For I will ride from the Burg by mountain paths, not by the plain, and so come to Edoras by way of Dunharrow where the Lady Éowyn awaits me. You shall be my esquire, if you will. Is there gear of war in this place, Éomer, that my sword-thain could use?"
"There are no great weapon-hoards here, fedra," answered Éomer, having checked the storerooms earlier, "Maybe a light helm might be found to fit him; but we have no mail or sword for one of his stature. And we do not allow children to have a full set of armor, for they are not expected to be out in battle."
Even if a King of Rohan had multiple sons to have as back-up spares to his oldest son and heir, no one with common sense would let a young prince risk his life in battle. That was something Dorne also agreed on, child soldiers were the result of a huge disaster that took all adult men and foolish ideas formed from idealized songs or stories where the gritty and often blood reality had been carefully rewritten to suit a more heroic theme.
"I have a sword," said Merry, climbing from his seat, and drawing from its black sheath his small bright blade. Filled suddenly with love for this old man, he knelt on one knee, and took his hand and kissed it.
"May I lay the sword of Meriadoc of the Shire on your lap, Théoden, Lord of Rohan?" he cried, "Receive my service, if you will!"
'"Gladly will I take it," said Théoden; and laying his long old hands upon the brown hair of the hobbit; he blessed him.
"Rise now, Meriadoc, esquire of Rohan of the household of Meduseld!" he said in a clear voice so everyone could hear, "Take your sword and bear it unto good fortune!"
"As a father you shall be to me," promised Merry.
"For a little while," Théoden agreed kindly, knowing that Théodred and Elia would be less worried for his safety if Merry was around, even if the hobbit might not follow him into battle.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Author note: Thranduil, Legolas' father, is mentioned to have been alive already in the First Age, though Legolas is not. Beyond this, he claims that the Noldor elves were a "strange people" to him, so we can assume that Legolas was born after the War of the Jewels. Thranduil is mentioned in the Battle of the Last Alliance and Legolas is not (also, Legolas often shows a lack of familiarity with death, making it very unlikely he's fought any great battles before), so we can assume he wasn't born in the Second Age either. Also, it was once common for the elves of Mirkwood and Lothlórien to visit each other. Since Legolas has never been to Lothlórien before the visit of the Fellowship it can be assumed that he wasn't born until after this travel became less common (when Sauron once again became a presence in Dol Guldur, around the year 1000 of the Third Age). This means that at most Legolas is likely not much older than 2,000 years old at most, making him most likely a few centuries to almost a full millennium younger than Arwen who is aged 2,901 years at her canon death in Fourth Age year 121. Also Thranduil did lose his father Oropher in the Battle of Dagorlad against the forces of Sauron during the Last Alliance, so I would not blame him for not wanting his own child to be lost to him in the same manner aka death in battle witnessed by a relative
And here we see the changed reason for Éowyn planning to join the Rohirrim on fighting in Gondor as she did in canon: She is not intending to win honor as a warrior like her brother and uncle, as well already being in love with Faramir and more or less openly betrothed to him despite that the now dead Denethor would never have accepted his younger son marrying before his heir, so she will NOT fall in love with what Aragorn represented for her in canon, but she wants little Elfhilda to have both a living father and mother in her life, because Éowyn lost both her parents as a young girl and knows the pain of orphanhood even with caring relatives to take care of her afterwards
As Elia and her family points out in-story, they honestly can NOT focus on Sansa and Arya Stark going missing in Gondor and trying to find them to later return them to Eddard Stark. There is a huge war to determine the future of Middle-earth going on, as well how Westeros will be affected by a victory by either side, and two noble daughters vanishing in the middle of all this? Trying to find them, when they are in a different country on top of everything, are going to be put pretty low on the "list on what to do next" for them all. Two missing girls are only to be a drop in the sea of such cases when it is a massive-scale war going on
