The end of the battle was marked with great celebrations on the field. The soldiers were hugging the women and children who had come out of the caves, and they all had tears in their eyes. King Theoden embraced his nephew, as if he was his son, and asked for his forgiveness.
"There is nothing to forgive", replied Eomer and smiled to his uncle. "Look for wounded", he shouted to the Rohirrim and they started searching among the dead. They found several wounded, who were put on the carriages that would go back to Edoras, along with the women and children. Ithilwen stood aside from them, behind a fallen stone, and quickly cleaned her wound with some water and tied it with a bandage.
Gandalf suggested to Theoden to go to Isengard, a proposal that Theoden gladly accepted. They started preparing their horses. Ithilwen, while fastening the saddle on her horse using manily her right hand, noticed Legolas talking to Aragorn and both of them staring at her. Aragorn had a serious look in his eyes and after their discussion, he strode towards her.
"You are wounded" he exclaimed.
"It is just a scratch" said Ithilwen indifferently, hoping that he would stop worrying about her wound. Aragorn looked at her in disbelief and tore down her sleeve, revealing her wound on her left shoulder.
"Is this nothing?" he asked her furiously. "You should have gone to Edoras along with the other wounded."
"It is ok. I can join you" she said, as she took a look as well at her wound. It sure needed to be tended soon, but she didn't want to miss the chance to join the to Isengard.
"You will not come with us! You will go back to Edoras and heal your wound" he said persistently. "I need you to be healthy my sister. For the war has not ended yet, and your presence is really valuable" he whispered to her. "So hurry now and go to Edoras" he said to her loudly.
"I will accompany her" said from behind Éomer, who had noticed their conversation, and went closer to them with his horse.
"I don't think this is necessary" said Ithilwen while getting on her horse, but she received a dark look from Aragorn for her reaction.
"Thank you, Lord Éomer. Your offer is very kind and welcome" said Aragorn and smiled to Ithilwen. "We will meet again soon. Farewell!" he said and patted on Ithilwen's horse to start. Ithilwen looked back and Aragorn had this cunning look of success painted on his face. Ithilwen smirked. He would certainly be a good king.
"If you feel pain and you cannot ride, please tell me, my Lady" said Éomer breaking the two hours long silence between them.
"Thank you, Lord Éomer. But I assure you that this is a mere scratch. If you have Athélas, it will be healed in two days' time."
"Athélas?" he asked.
"Kingsfoil in the common tongue"
"We use this to feed the pigs, not to heal wounds."
"Today you will see that all these years you have been underestimating this miraculous, small plant."
The sun had set down, and in the atmosphere was spread a sense of sweetness and serenity. Éomer and Ithilwen stopped at a grove. They dismounted from their horses, and they tied them to a tree nearby. Éomer went to look for athélas. They would arrive to Edoras by the next morning, but they should not wait further. Ithilwen sat on the ground and she removed her cloak and her tunic, remaining only with her undershirt. She removed the bandage, with which she had quickly tied her arm after the battle. Éomer came back with several athélas leaves.
"Let me help you, my Lady" he said and sat close to her.
"Thank you Lord Eomer but I can manage all by myself" said Ithilwen, opened her flask and poured some clear water on the wound. She took out from her pouch a needle and a thread to sew her wound. After doing the first two stitches she raised her head and looked at Eomer. He was looking away, and his face had an annoyed look. She understood her mistake.
"I am sorry my Lord. I did not mean to be disrespectful. I am just not used to others taking care of me." She gave him a shy smile and gave him the needle with the thread. He smiled back to her and continued the sewing of her wound. "As ranger and as an elven warrior in the past, I was trying to mend my wounds on my own, and only when I was severely wounded I was allowing someone else to help me" she said as she was watching his careful and deliquate moves of his hands.
"Have you been a lot of times wounded, my Lady?"
"Please call me Ithilwen. And yes. But my wounds were mostly scratches like this one. Only once I was about visit the Houses of Mandos, but Lord Elrond kept me into life."
"Gandalf told me about your past" said Éomer and Ithilwen grimaced. "When I saw the four of you roaming around Rohan, I wondered why an elven maiden would have joined such a company." Ithilwen looked at him in disbelief. "I have no intention to make you feel uncomfortable", he continued "I just want to point out that you are a very brave woman. And nowadays this is a rare phenomenon." Éomer looked at her eyes. They were big and grey, like two moons who had long lost their light. "Thank you Lord Éomer for your kind words" she said and turned her head away.
"I am done" said Éomer and gave her back her needle. "Now, how will you use kingsfoil?"
Ithilwen took some leaves and rubbed them between her fingers. Then she carefully put them on her wound. "It is your turn now" she said to Éomer. He copied her movements and then started tying a bandage around her arm.
"I had never treated a wounded elf in my life before" he said and laughed.
"There is always a first time for everything" she replied and she gave him a broad smile. Their eyes were fixed to each other's for several seconds. Cool drizzles started falling on their faces. It was not like the rain, which had fallen the previous night. It was soft and it had a sense of the coming spring. Ithilwen turned and looked at the sky. She closed her eyes and let the drizzles fall on her face. She had a childish, pure look on her face. Their eyes met again and for a moment Éomer would swear that he saw a shine inside them. He looked at them mesmerised.
Ithilwen mended her torn sleeve and they ate some lembas bread, which Ithilwen had carried with her and then they fell asleep under a tree. They woke up by the first sunrays of the morning, they mounted their horses and rode to Edoras. Ithilwen was taking glimpses of him, trying not to be noticed. Because of her vision at Galadriel's mirror, she was feeling a strange proximity with him.
They arrived at Edoras by midday. There had already arrived Eomer's Rohirrim along with Gamling and they were waiting for the carriages with the wounded and the women and children. The Rohirrim welcomed their Lord and Ithilwen. Eomer gave orders to treat Ithilwen as an honored guest and take care of her wound.
"We haven't prepared a room for you, since everyone is away. If you want to rest you should go, without second thought, to my room" Eomer told to Ithilwen and she nodded. She didn't need to rest but she considered his move very thoughtful. He left for the stables and stayed there with the rest of the Rohirrim.
Soon arrived the carriages and Eowyn. Upon her arrival, Eowyn started preparing for the feast that would take place that night in honor of the dead. In the hustle and bustle of the preparations she realized that Ithilwen was among the people who helped at the feast's arrangements. She was startled by her appearance and immediately approached her.
"My Lady, I did not expect to see you here!" she exclaimed. "I thought that you would have followed the others at Isengard."
"This was my intention, but because of my wound" she said and pointed with her eyes her left shoulder, "I was not allowed to join them and was ordered to come here. And your brother kindly offered to accompany me."
"My Lady you should rest! Come with me at the kitchen. I will ask someone to prepare something for you to eat before the feast." Ithilwen did not have time to deny Eowyn's offer, because she suddenly grabbed her from her hand and led her downstairs, where the servants had started preparing the food for the night. She asked for a bowl with soup and told to the servants that this was intended for Ithilwen. The servants looked at the elven maiden with awe. They had heard of her participation in the battle, and of the help she had offered generally, and they willingly offered her a bowl of soup and some bread.
Ithilwen sat on a chair and Eowyn sat next to her.
"I am sorry my Lady for this poor meal, but under these circumstances..."
"There is no need to apologise" interrupted Ithilwen. Éowyn fixed her eyes on the floor and left a sigh. Ithilwen realised that she wanted to talk with somebody, and apparently that somebody was her.
"What troubles you my Lady?" asked Ithilwen politely, and then tasted the soup.
"My Lady, how does it feel to be in a battle?" she asked without removing her eyes from the floor. Ithilwen sat back and left the spoon from her hand.
"At first you feel anxiety. The enemy is in front of you, they stare at you. You have not emerged into the battle yet, but it stands right in front of you. But then, after you have killed your first enemy, fear conquers your soul. And that is the moment, which you must not bow, because that very moment you will be killed. Fear is beaten by courage and hope. Courage, because you have to successfully confront someone who wants to kill you. And hope, because you are surrounded by dead men and every second you hear the agonizing scream of a man who is wounded, and you hope that this is the last scream, that you will see no more pf dead bodies, and that all your loved ones will survive this madness." Éowyn looked at her.
"I am sorry, my Lady for bringing back to your memory uninvited memories."
"No, lady Éowyn. You should not worry" replied Ithilwen and had a mouthful of the bread. "I wish I could talk to you about moments of blissfulness, but these are rare during wartime."
"The King!" shouted one of the servants and he interrupted their discussion.
"We should go and greet them", said Ithilwen.
"Thank you my Lady, for your wise advice."
"Oh please, call me Ithilwen, and count me as a friend."
Éowyn smiled and hugged her. Both of them needed a hug, after the hardships they had been through the previous days.