A/N

Once again my updating is slow. I'm sure you're getting used to it lol I'm sorry I can't get this story out any faster but my writing time has been small of late.

Thank you again for the reviews, always help me to continue writing and get my thoughts moving again.

So, this chapter took me a long time, I found it hard to get the right feeling I wanted but I may just have being overly picky. I hope you enjoy it, some may not and may loathe the path I've taken... but here it is.

...

Aedre clasped her hands together and gestured to Guene, her eyes full of unshed tears, pleading. It seemed for a moment Guene's look softened. She seemed to hesitate, her anger and venom fading as she looked upon the pitiful young woman before her, who gazed up with large brown cow eyes, pleading silently for mercy, for aid... for any act of kindness. Guene couldn't help but allow pity to clutch at her heart; she was not made of stone, although part of her now wished she was.

Guene let out a soft sigh, the sound signalling acceptance of a small defeat within her. "I will give you a chance Aedre, I know the Orcs twisted you with their ways, I still pity you, though all the Valar know I should not! Though you wish to fight against the darkness and evil within you, you cannot..." She paused for a long moment in thought. "I will give you a chance to run from here before you are caught, but still... unless you are gone soon the men of Rohan will catch you, and if they catch you they will burn you as the wicked thing you are... Such a punishment has not been dealt out for many a year, but the old ways demand that evil be burnt." She narrowed her eyes. "But I have a heart, though I know I should give you none of its kindness... run to the mountains, to a cave and never come here more."

Aedre stared at her, her mouth slackened in shock as she came to realise that there would be no understanding for Guene, this woman had tarred Aedre as an evil being that had no place among the race of men... would the people of the Golden Hall believe her? If Guene told all that would listen would they truly burn her? Aedre felt that same awful fearful feeling building, clawing within her chest.

Aedre took a few more steps forward, her feet heavy and leaden. The stable still separated Guene from her and the horse within gave an uncertain whinny at having two people standing at either end of it. Slowly and without real thought Aedre reached up and stroked the animal's soft muzzle and the horse responded, seemingly happy to have a gesture of reassurance. Aedre closed her eyes, the connection seeming to calm her fear to a dull thud.

"What are you doing? Flee from here! Do no more ill work!" Guene said, her tone once again laced with mistrust and hatred. "The dark ways the Orcs taught you are no threat to the world of men, I fear you not!" But she was afraid: why, Aedre did not fully understand.

Aedre opened her eyes slowly and stared at this serving woman of Edoras and hated her. Never before had she despised someone as much as she had despised the Orcs, she had never felt such feelings towards another child of men and yet, here this unusual feeling was. Aedre gave a small silent chuckle of laughter within her own mind, the sound bitter and sorrowful... so this form of hate existed in man's world too... She had not realised a strange smile had twisted upon her lips.

Guene eyed her uneasily. "You have nothing to be merry about, I shall scream and they shall come, guards and men with ropes ready to bind you! I see now you truly deserve no pity!" Her eyes spoke more silent ill words. "You are nothing but a wicked husk!"

Again Aedre laughed that toneless hollow laugh, but this time it came from her lips. Her hand lingered softly upon the horse's muzzle.

It seemed the race of men were really no better than Orcs, Guene was a greedy, selfish being that wanted to hurt, to kill others so she could get what she wanted. Aedre felt sure there was indeed more to Guene's little outburst than just fear for her king and lands. She was unwilling to give understanding and kindness and was far too easy to judge what suited her own goals... no, the two worlds were not so different after all. Her thoughts darkened with a sudden plummet and anger bubbled from within her... they were all the same! Suddenly her face twisted, a dark frown clouding her features as she dug her fingernails into the animal's nose and dragged with all her strength across tender flesh. She instantly felt the wetness of blood spring beneath her actions and the animal gave a surprised and terrified cry, rearing onto its hind legs and letting out a noise of pain. Aedre backed away as the horse came down heavily upon its front legs. Guene gave a small low shriek of shock at the situation and in response to the noise the animal kicked out its back legs, connecting harshly with her body. As the heavy blow hit Guene she was sent reeling backwards as the pain seared through her entire being. She would have screamed but the wind was forcefully removed from her lungs and she landed with a dull, heavy thud upon the ground where she promptly began moaning pitifully.

Aedre narrowed her eyes, the anger holding her in its firm grasp for a moment. She flicked her hand violently, dispelling some of the sticky gore that clung to her fingertips. The horse still whinnied in hurt surprise at what had just befallen him but Aedre now paid the animal little heed. Her focus was upon the groaning woman on the floor. Quickly she walked to her side. Guene clutched her torso as she whimpered and moaned, tears of pain coursing down her cheeks.

Aedre hesitated... at the sight of this injured woman the anger and frustration that had only moments ago fuelled her began to ebb away, leaving a strange hollow feeling inside along with a bitter taste of regret. With her rage gone, her determination to lash out and hurt faded... what was she to do now? She'd caused this, she'd wanted to cause this... and now what was she to do? She could feel her own eyes welling with tears of frustration and desperation. She felt pulled near in two by her own thoughts, they gabbled out advice, telling her to go to the aid of Guene, to beg forgiveness and run for help... But the other part of her spied the heavy rock lying nearby and her mind whispered words of fear and panic into her ear... her choices were few and her time preciously thin, and waning with each moment that passed. If she aided Guene, if she gave into the part of her that wanted to run, cry and ease her remorse...what would become of her then? If Guene told her story they would surely listen now, they would heed the actions of violence and turn their hateful gazes upon Aedre...

Aedre sniffed loudly, brushing away the wetness upon her face and sank to her knees beside the injured woman. What should she do? The same question rolled over and over in her mind endlessly. She felt her mind begin to scream advice and she could listen to none of it clearly as panic began to clutch at her, everything was lost... everything was done... she was lost...

Yet within her torrent of thoughts, her hearing pricked to the sound of a deep, rough voice that surfaced, echoed and grew louder with each ragged breath she took. She cocked her head, listening, and suddenly the tone hit her with its familiarity, feeling like a sickening blow to her stomach.

"What's It thinking, kill the man flesh, It knows how."

Aedre placed her hands over her ears, her skin crawling at the mere sound of that voice. She shook her head violently, not wanting to listen, but it seemed the voice wormed itself into her mind. Part of her knew that the voice came from within... was always there... always waiting...

"If the man flesh lives, It dies!"

Again Aedre shook her head, it was wrong, the Orc was wrong, it had no experience of living in the world of men, it knew nothing!

"Man flesh, Orcs, we all likes to hurt and kill, we are the same..."

Aedre heard her breaths coming in harsh gasps and she tried to block out its words.

"We did teach It how to defend Its own... kill the man flesh!" Aedre could hear the deep rasping breathing of the Orc and gave a small whimper, it seemed so close, she imagined she could smell its stink. "It wants to keep pretty things, nice food... that man flesh king... It wants doesn't It?"

Aedre gave a small frightened nod.

"Then It must get rid of the one that challenges... understand?"

She gave another nod, just wanting to please the voice so it would go and leave her in peace. After a few tense moments had passed, slowly she allowed her hands to slip from her ears, knowing the voice had thankfully gone, but it had left her feeling weak and sick. Aedre glanced around from instinct, she knew she was still alone with Guene, but the voice had made her uneasy, unsure. Finally her eyes fell leadenly upon the rock lying nearby, she stared at the object for what seemed many crushing moments. Her fingers lingered over it, not touching it, as her will and mind fought a silent battle before she allowed her hand to curl around it, feeling the hard coolness of the stone against her palm. She pulled the heavy item to her lap.

With great effort she turned her attention to Guene who now seemed to be only gasping in pain, her moaning had stopped, her breathing no more than rasps of air. Slowly Aedre leant over her and looked down upon the wounded woman with a mixture of pity and curiosity.

Guene gave another gasp. "You must get aid!" she said breathlessly, her voice struggling to make audible sounds.

Aedre nodded slowly and gently lowered her face to Guene's, pressing their cheeks softly together. Softly she hushed Guene's gasps, her hand coming to stroke her hair comfortingly.

"Help me!" Guene croaked, finding her voice was failing. She wished to scream but knew she would not be able to and still the strange creature held her and rocked her gently as if consoling her. Was Aedre sorry for hurting her? Guene closed her eyes and pleaded for it to be so.

Finally Aedre moved slowly away, sitting up once again. She smiled and nodded, her lips pushing and pursing until a strange mimicked word escaped her lips in a dull sound...

"Elp." An echoed sound and nothing more.

"Yes, Aedre get me help!" Guene could hardly understand the words her own lips spoke they were so soft.

Again Aedre nodded and Guene felt her heart lighten. For a moment she truly thought her life was safe. But the sight of the dark rock high above her head sent any hope falling away in an ebbing stream of regrets. She tried to scream, to move, but the great wave of crushing pain soon halted all her wishes and all her thoughts, replaced by the warm trickle of her very life blood as it left her. The light faded from her eyes and silence held sway over the stables.

...

Aedre sat in the darkness, she was no longer in the musty stable, but had retreated with care and silence to the kitchens, which were now dark, the fire that had once burned in the hearth extinguished. She sat hunched upon the floor, her knees pulled to her chest as she rocked her body softly and small pitiful whimpers escaped her lips. She couldn't remove the image from her mind of Guene... of the blood that had flowed and the murmurs of dying that had spilled forth with her last breaths. Aedre had killed her. She had taken the heavy cold rock and brought it down upon Guene's head with desperate force, the noise of cracking bone and corrupted flesh still invaded her mind; she seemed unable to cease the endless nightmare that played unrelentingly in her memories. Despair washed over her as she tried desperately to fight what she had done, of what it could all mean.

She glanced down at her own hands, hands that bore spackles and streaks of blood. The liquid had gathered into the creases of her palms and Aedre found herself wondering if she would ever be able to wash it away, it seemed to have embedded itself within the very pores of her skin. She shook herself inwardly, her thoughts beginning to pull at her to take action, to make sure she was not caught. But Aedre found that part of her wanted to be found, to be blamed when they found the body of Guene... Guene who would never wake up... never eat, sleep or draw breath again. She placed her brow upon her knees and tried to still her thoughts once more, to gain any kind of clarity and strength.

Finally she rose shakily, knowing she could not stay here forever, and dusted off her skirts. She found herself mildly grateful that the blood had not seemed to have gotten upon her clothing too much, the apron around her waist was the worst affected and she untied it and placed it into a drawer she knew was not used often. She would come back again when it was quiet and throw it upon the fire. She went to a jug of water and cleaned her hands in a small bowl with some fatty smelling soap, she watched as the liquid she washed in turned a light shade of pink and when she again removed her hands they were clean and fresh smelling, no traces left of the deed she had committed.

She quickly threw the used water down a nearby drainage furrow and watched as it flowed away. Aedre patted and tidied her hair and straightened her clothing, busying herself with useless tasks, trying to conceal what she had done from anyone she might meet as well as herself. She again placed the large shawl back over her head and left the kitchens, her destination set not for her own room, but the king's chambers.