Chance Encounter

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that you recognize. I'm just borrowing them without permission but with every intention of returning them to their rightful owners.

Chapter 22: Journey to Helms Deep

The haradrim warrior now wore more bandages than clothes. From his friends' talk, Éowyn had learnt that his name was Balian. It was a strange name but she liked it. She had sent the others off to rest after promising that she would look after their companion. The man was sleeping peacefully. Aragorn had removed the arrow in his shoulder.

Gently, she sponged the dirt off his face.

"Sibylla," he whispered, reaching out. She caught his hand. Who was Sibylla? His sweetheart maybe.

"Sibylla, don't go," he mumbled, clutching her fingers.

"Shh," said Éowyn. "I'm here."

The mumbling stopped and the man quieted. She extracted her hand from his grasp. She had to go and prepare for Théodred's funeral. Her dear cousin. How she missed him. Tears filled her eyes and threatened to fall. What was going to happen to them? What was going to happen to Rohan? She went out of the room and closed the door, swallowing rapidly as she did so. She had to be strong, both for herself and her people.

Balian opened his eyes. He was alone lying on a bed of furs. Slowly, he pushed himself up. Where was he? His body ached and he was hungry. Someone had dressed him clean clothes and treated his wounds. He swung his bare feet over the edge of the bed. Where were his boots? He found them, cleaned, beside the door and pulled them on. The stone floor was cold. He opened the door and found himself in a long corridor lit by smoky torches. Voices came from the far end of the corridor and he followed them until he could see the great hall, now empty except for a few people, his friends and Guy among them. The White Lady was now dressed in black. Her hair was pinned up and she wore a golden circlet on her head. She was comforting two frightened children who were shovelling food into their mouths.

"Where's Mama?" asked the little girl. Éowyn wrapped a blanket around her shoulders and hushed her.

"This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash," said Gandalf to the King.

'Who is Saruman?' wondered Balian as he stepped into the hall.

"Lad, what are you doing up?" demanded Gimli gruffly. In one hand he held a hunk of cheese and in the other, a cup.

"I…" said Balian. Good question. What excuse would Aragorn and the others accept? "I was hungry," he said.

"Here, come and sit down before you keel over," said Aragorn, guiding him over to one of the benches. The ranger was inhaling smoke from a long wooden tube with a bowl at the end. It reminded Balian of people smoking hashish in the streets of Jerusalem.

"We were just talking about the problem of Saruman," explained Aragorn quietly as Gandalf and Théoden continued their conversation.

"Who's Saruman?" asked Balian, taking a chunk of cheese from the platter that Gimli was eating from. He bit into it. Food had never tasted so good. Aragorn handed him a cup full of golden liquid.

"Saruman is a wizard," said the Ranger.

"Maybe it's just me," interrupted Guy "but you seem to have very many of those."

Both Balian and Aragorn glared at Guy then the ranger resumed the explanation. "There were once five wizards in Middle Earth," continued Aragorn. "They were sent by the Valar."

"Heathen gods," said Guy scornfully. Everyone ignored him.

"One was Gandalf the Grey. Another was, and is, Radagast the Brown. The most powerful of them was Saruman the White. He was their leader," said Aragorn.

"What happened to the other two?" asked Balian. "You only mentioned three."

"The other two were blue wizards," said Legolas. "They disappeared. No one knows where they went."

"Saruman has recently betrayed us," said Aragorn. "He allied himself with Sauron and bred the orcs that killed Boromir and captured Merry and Pippin, and you of course."

"That's why Gandalf came back as a white wizard," said Legolas. "He's here to replace Saruman."

"What's that got to do with Rohan?" said Balian.

"Saruman intends to conquer Rohan," said Aragorn. "He has bred an army of orcs. Gandalf and the King are debating whether the Rohirrim —the people of Rohan— should fight or flee."

"We have not the strength," the King was saying. Obviously Gandalf had suggested that they fight.

"You have a thousand good men riding north as we speak," said Aragorn. "Éomer is loyal to you. His men will return to fight for their king."

"They will be three hundred leagues from here by now," declared Théoden. "Éomer cannot help us. I know what it is that you want of me, but I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war."

"Open war is upon you," stated Aragorn "whether you would risk it or not."

Éowyn looked at the ranger from the north, admiration apparent in her eyes. It took a lot of courage to speak to her uncle in that fashion.

"When last I looked," said the King "Théoden, not Aragorn, was King of Rohan." He did not bother to disguise the hostility in his voice.

"Then what is the King's decision?" asked Gandalf.

"We will make for the fortress of Helms Deep," said Théoden.

"Why does he not fight?" whispered Balian.

"He is afraid of fighting a battle that he is sure to lose," said Legolas. "Edoras is not a well fortified city and it is easy to conquer. Perhaps he thinks they will have a greater chance of surviving if they retreated to their fortress."

With that, the elf left Balian and went to speak with Gandalf who, with Gimli and Aragorn, was already stepping over the threshold.

Balian was left behind in the hall. He felt a light touch on his arm and turned to find the White Lady. "How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"Better than before," he replied, feeling slightly awkward. Why was a noblewoman paying any attention to him? He conveniently forgot that he had captured the attention of the Princess of Jerusalem once.

"I apologise for what my brother did. I hope you can forgive him."

"Your brother?" Balian was confused.

The White Lady smiled. "My brother is Éomer," she explained. "I am Éowyn, daughter of Éomund."

"I am Balian," he said. "I am pleased to have met you, Lady Éowyn. Do not worry about what your brother did. It was a misunderstanding. He was only serving his country. I do not fault him."

"I am glad, Lord Balian."

It was strange, for the haradrim warrior carried a soft lilting accent which did not come from Harad. His shy and soft-spoken manner reminded her of her late cousin. She suddenly felt protective of him. His race would surely cause her people to be hostile towards him.

"Why do you fight for us when your race serves the Enemy?" she asked.

"My race? I know no of what you speak, milady."

"You are haradrim, are you not?"

"No, I am… from another country far from Middle Earth." Balian found himself telling Éowyn his story.

"You've led men into battle?" said Éowyn. Hope grew in her heart. Maybe this man was sent to take Théodred's place, not that anyone could replace her cousin.

"Only twice," said Balian.

"That's more than what most men would have done," said Éowyn.

"I lost both of those battles."

"I do not think Jerusalem was a defeat."

"We both lost, Salah al Din and I."

"And you both won. Rohan will have need of your services."

"And I will be glad to be of service."

Soon, Balian's story had spread and grown. By afternoon, the whole city could put his name to his face and the story now said that he was the victorious commander of ten campaigns. He spent much time correcting it.

Aragorn had assigned him to the task of preparing the orphans of the city for the journey. The ranger did not want the blacksmith to over exert himself. Legolas and Gimli found this extremely amusing.

Legolas had dubbed him 'Balian the childminder'. Balian had wanted to wrestle the elf to the ground but then decided that he would probably lose and he forfeited the idea. Later, he would find a way to have his revenge but for now, he had children to look after.

He was soon laughing and jesting with the children as he loaded food and bedding onto wagons and latched the wagons to the horses that he had been assigned.

Legolas had to admit, Balian was a very able man. Not only was he a warrior and a craftsman, he would make a wonderful father as well. The man was walking with one small toddler balanced on his hip. He led Louan with the other hand. The horse also bore many children. They had all accepted him as a favourite uncle and were begging him to tell them stories.

"Maybe you should adopt some of them," one of the riders called out to the blacksmith as he rode past.

"Maybe I shall," said Balian.

"Or maybe he can marry one of the Rohirrim maidens," whispered Legolas to Aragorn. After they had gotten over their initial shyness, the maidens of Edoras had been casting admiring glances in the blacksmith's direction. Balian was a fine catch. He was skilled in all aspects. He could protect and provide for his wife.

Balian seemed oblivious to their attentions. He was too occupied with his charges.

He and Éowyn seemed to be getting along quite well. She now walked beside him, listening to him telling stories to the children. Occasionally she would ask him questions, mostly about his life and the Fellowship. Balian took care not to tell her too much about Frodo's quest. It wasn't that he didn't trust her. It was because he didn't want her to accidentally mention it.

Meals proved to be a slight problem for Balian and his little group. Each family cooked for themselves. Balian, despite all his skills, lacked the ability to make anything edible. Éowyn had offered them some of her stew but it did not look too appetizing and he had declined her offer as politely as possible. He did not want to discourage her from practising and improving her cooking. He shook his head as she approached Aragorn, who seemed to have accepted her offer of stew. The poor ranger did not know what he was getting himself into.

The solution came in the form of Legolas, who in fact did know how to roast rabbits and other game decently. As well as meat, the elf had a surplus of lembas, which he shared out generously. They sniggered as Aragorn looked over at them helplessly, a bowl of Éowyn's stew in his hand. Éowyn was watching him. He had to eat it now.

Once everyone was full, Balian tried to convince the little ones to sleep, without much success. They were far too excited to settle down.

"Tell us a stowy, Baelee," begged one of the younger children. Why they did not use his real name, he did not know.

"I don't know that many stories," said Balian. "Now go to sleep. We have a long journey tomorrow."

"Pleeease?" they begged. Balian looked to his friends for help. They pretended not to notice his plight.

"Let's count the stars," he suggested, hoping that such a boring activity will eventually put them to sleep. It worked. One by one, the children's eyes closed. He sighed with relief. Now he could rest as well. Nearby, Aragorn was inhaling smoke from his strange tube again. Legolas moved upwind from the ranger. Balian could tell that the elf disapproved of this activity. The blacksmith lay down on the grass and wrapped a blanket around himself. Beside him, Gimli was snoring.

Disaster occurred on the third day of their journey. Legolas was scouting ahead while Aragorn and Éowyn walked side by side, speaking softly. The ranger seemed saddened and distant. The children were too noisy for Balian to hear what his friends were saying. It was probably none of his business anyway. Gamling and Hama, two of the King's bodyguards, rode ahead, overtaking them. Moments later, Hama's bloodcurdling screams were heard, followed by a cry from Gamling.

Confusion and panic gripped the entire group. "A scout!" shouted Legolas to Aragorn, who had run to see what had happened. Aragorn raced back to inform the King.

"Wargs!" cried the ranger. The women began to scream and the children whimpered in fear.

"Riders to the front!" cried the King.

Balian helped the children to get off Louan. He mounted. "Lead them on to Helms Deep!" he said, turning to Éothain, the oldest boy

"I want to fight!" said the boy.

"You're not ready yet," Balian told him. "I need you to take care of the others. Now go!" With that he rode off to join the other warriors. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see Gimli trying to urge Arod forwards, without much success. The horse was backing up. In the distance, Legolas was already releasing arrows.

Coming towards them were orcs, mounted on the largest dogs Balian had ever seen in his life. Now he knew why the others were frightened. One bite with those slavering jaws could break a horse's neck. Could horsemen win over a pack of beasts such as these? Balian did not know. He didn't really want to know. All he could do was try and gain time so that the women and children could reach their destination safely. He drew his sword and swallowed, just as the first 'wargs' and horses collided, sending the horses flying backwards.

Louan swerved and almost dislodged her rider from the saddle as she dodged the onslaught of a warg. Balian slashed out with his sword, beheading the warg's rider. Legolas seemed to be making some progress. His arrows had felled many of the beasts and their riders while Gimli was nowhere to be seen. The King, despite his age, was holding his own. Balian had no time to be impressed as another warg, this time without a rider, assailed him. The fight was bloody and brief, with many casualties. The blacksmith was surprised that the Rohirrim were victorious and that he himself sustained no serious injury. He was pretty certain he would have gotten his head bitten off by one of those wolves from hell.

"Aragorn," he heard Legolas call out. He listened for an answer but there was none. Gimli's voice joined in. Balian looked around but could not see his friend. Where was the ranger? What had happened to him?

A/N: Sorry for the rather late update. I couldn't upload any documents during the weekend because the site wasn't working properly for me.For those of you who are wondering (and maybe hoping), there will not be a romance developing between Balian and Éowyn. That would be too AU as Éowyn is meant for Faramir and she's too occupied with Aragorn at the moment. Balian just reminds her of her cousin. I don't think our blacksmith is ready for another romantic relationship anyway. Anyway, please review! I write faster when people review.