Apologies for the delay, was really busy yesterday getting some stuff settled for school next week. But I have a long chapter to make up for it! =D
The beginning is, technically, from The Return of the King, but... whatever. Lol. XD
WARNING: MATURE THEMES IN THIS CHAPTER
Disclaimer: I only own Alice.
Alice rides behind Legolas on their horse as they go warily through the forest. Gandalf, Aragorn, Gimli, Théoden, and Éomer also ride with them.
"Gandalf," Alice says in almost a whisper, and the wizard turns to look at her, "I can hear voices from up ahead." Legolas nods in agreement.
"It sounds like… laughter." The Elf says, and everyone immediately has a confused look.
"… Definitely from the Shire. Longbottom leaf, eh?" Says one voice.
"Uh-huh." A pause. "I feel like I'm back at the Green Dragon." Legolas turns in his saddle to look at Alice, his eyes wide and a smile on his face. Alice returns it, she knows those voices. When they come around the corner, Pippin gives a cheer and salutes them with his mug of beer. Merry stands up, wobbly and obviously tipsy.
"Welcome, my lords," he does a sweeping gesture to the tower behind him, "to Isengard!"
"You young rascals!" Gimli cries, "A merry hunt you've led us on and now we find you feasting and… and smoking!" Pippin's words come out slurred, and Alice giggles.
"We are sitting on a field of victory enjoying a few well earned comforts!" He takes a bite from his sandwich. "The salted pork is particularly good." Alice's mouth waters, and she hops off from the horse to go to the Hobbits. Pippin stands quickly, and gives her a hug while handing off an apple to her. "Try this one! It's really good!"
"Salted pork…" She hears Gimli mutter behind her.
"Hobbits!" Gandalf says with a scoff, and she rolls her eyes at him.
"We're under orders, from Treebeard!" Merry tells them before handing Alice a sandwich he just made, and she scarves it down, seeing as she didn't have time to have breakfast that morning. "Who's taken over management of Isengard."
A few minutes later, they enter the stone ring around Isengard, Pippin and Merry now riding with them, and Alice still eating her apple. A huge, walking, talking, tree approaches them.
"Hoooom, young master Gandalf, I'm glad you've come." Alice drops her apple, and her mouth. "Wood and water, stock and stone I can master, but there is a Wizard to manage here locked in his tower." Aragorn looks up at the tower.
"Show yourself!" He calls out.
"Be careful," Gandalf warns, "Even in defeat, Saruman is still dangerous."
"Well then let's just have his head and be done with it." Gimli says with slight irritation.
"No, we need him alive. We need him to talk."
"You have fought many wars and slain many men Théoden King and made peace afterwards. Can we not take counsel together as we once did, my old friend? Can we not have peace you and I?" Alice shudders at the sound of Saruman's voice, her recurring nightmares about him bubbling to the forefront of her mind.
"We shall have peace. We shall have peace when you answer for the burning of the Westfold and the children that lie dead there!" Théoden shouts, anger rising. "We shall have peace when the lives of the soldiers whose bodies were hewn even as they lay dead against the gates of the Hornburg are avenged! When you hang from a gibbet for the sport of your own crows, we shall have peace!"
"Gibbets and crows!" Saruman says, "Dotard! What do you want Gandalf Grahame? Let me guess… the key of Orthanc? Or perhaps the keys of Barad-Dûr itself? Along with the crowns of the seven Kings and the rods of the Five Wizards!" Alice gulps quietly.
"Your treachery has already cost many lives. Thousands more are now at risk. But you could save them Saruman. You were deep in the enemy's counsel." Gandalf pleads.
"So you have come here for information. I have some for you." He holds up the palantir and looks into it, "Something festers in the heart of Middle Earth. Something that you have failed to see. But the great eye has seen it!" He puts the orb away, "Even now he presses his advantage. His attack will come soon." Gandalf rides forward bravely. "You are all going to die! But you know this don't you Gandalf? You cannot think that this Ranger will ever sit upon the throne of Gondor. This exile, crept from the shadows will never be crowned King." Aragorn looks at him with an unreadable expression. "Gandalf does not hesitate to sacrifice those who are closest to him… those he professes to love! Tell me, what words of comfort did you give the Halfling before you sent him to his doom? The path that you have set him on can only lead to death." Alice looks away, her unease giving away to straight up discomfort. "Oh yes, young Alice of New Orleans." At the sound of her name, she snaps her head up to look at the wizard. "Were you so wise in trusting that which you knew so little about?" Her throat constricts, fear stopping her from speaking.
"I've heard enough! Shoot him! Stick an arrow in his gob!" Legolas reaches for an arrow.
"No! Come down Saruman and your life will be spared!"
"Save your pity and your mercy. I have no use for it!" Saruman launches a bolt of fire at Gandalf, and it consumes him for only a moment before simply vanishing.
"Saruman….. your staff is broken!" The staff in the wizard's hand bursts into pieces. Gríma suddenly appears behind him.
"Gríma! You need not follow him! You were not always as you are now. You were once a man of Rohan. Come down." The sycophant seems conflicted, and looks like he will make his way down. Alice stares at the King, incredulous. He doesn't notice.
"A man of Rohan? What is the house of Rohan but a thatched barn where brigands drink in the reek and their brats roll on the floor with the dogs? The victory at Helms Deep does not belong to you Théoden Horse Master. You are a lesser son of greater sires!" Not seeing any kind of reaction from anyone, Alice raises her right hand and flips off Saruman. He doesn't pay her any mind.
"Gríma, come down! Be free of him!"
"Free? He will never be free!"
"No!" Gríma cries, and Saruman spins around to look at him.
"Get down, cur!" He slaps him to the ground. Alice quirks an eyebrow. "Men should not be allowed to bitchslap other men."
"Saruman!" Gandalf calls again, regaining the other wizard's attention. "You were deep in the enemy's counsel. Tell us what you know!" No one sees Gríma's knife.
"You withdraw your guard and I will tell you where your doom will be decided. I will not be held prisoner here!" Suddenly, Wormtongue appears, and stabs his master in the back twice with his small dagger. Legolas, in the span of heartbeat, reaches for, pulls out, nocks, and fires an arrow. It punctures Gríma's heart. They both fall, dead. Gríma to the black ground of Orthanc behind him, and Saruman onto a spike of a great wheel at the base of the tower. There's a moment of silence as everyone tries to keep down their lunches.
"Send word to all our allies and to every corner of Middle Earth that still stands free. The enemy moves against us. We need to know where he will strike." The water wheel turns silently, and Saruman disappears beneath the water head first. The orb drops from his robes into the water.
"The filth of Saruman is washing away. Trees will come back to live here." Pippin hops down from his horse, "Young trees. Wild trees."
"Pippin!" Aragorn calls as the Hobbit moves towards the Palantir. Pippin stares into its depth for a moment.
"Bless my bark!" Treebeard exclaims.
"Peregrin Took," Gandalf says, "I'll take that, my lad! Quickly now!" Pippin hands the Palantir to him and he wraps it up. He looks sheepish at Gandalf and watches him intently as he turns away. He sends a quick glance at Alice who shrugs at him, and he smiles before hopping back up with Aragorn.
That evening…
Alice watches in silence as Éowyn offers a goblet of wine up Théoden as she kneels before him. They're back at the Golden Hall of Edoras, and they are celebrating their victory. Éowyn goes to stand behind him, and Théoden offers a toast.
"Tonight we remember those who gave their blood to defend this country." He offers up the goblet to them, "Hail the victorious dead!"
"Hail!" The people shout in response, Alice not among them, since she doesn't know to. She simply raises her glass with them, but hesitates before drinking.
Haldir's eyes flash before her own, red hot with rage against her. She smiles weakly, a laugh dying in her throat, tainted by the memory of his death. She takes a quiet sip of her wine. She didn't find out that Haldir had died until this morning when she asked Aragorn about where he was. Her voice constricts in her throat again, remembering that he told her that it was just after she and Legolas had dragged Gimli off the battlefield.
"If only I had been there… I could have done something! I could have saved him!" She thinks bitterly, wishing more than anything to be able to go back. She goes outside silently, unaware of two wizard eyes, two ranger eyes, two Elvish eyes, two Dwarfish eyes, and four Hobbit eyes watching her back as she opens and closes the door. When she spots a nearby tree, she dumps her glass of wine into the dirt beneath it.
"You alright, lassie?" She jumps, having been lost in her own thoughts. In the heartbeat it takes her to spin around and face the voice, Ringil is drawn and pointed at Gimli's beard. He takes a step back, almost falling. Seeing it's the Dwarf, Gandalf, Aragorn, and Legolas standing behind her, she heaves a breath and puts the cold sword away.
"Sorry, Gimli." She apologizes swiftly, "I was… thinking."
"Thinking about what?" Gandalf asks, smiling. A pained expression crosses her face, and she glances up at Aragorn.
"Haldir." Her voices catches in her throat for just a second, and she clears it to help her speak again. "I… I didn't even know him. But, somehow…" She sighs, irritated, "God, I just know I could have done something." She runs a hand through her hair. "If I had only been there, I could have done something." They can see the pain splayed across her features.
"There's nothing you could have done, Alice." Aragorn tells her. She stands quickly, and turns to face the four.
"No, I can't accept that. I just know in my heart that if I hadn't busied myself with dragging you," she looks at Gimli, no anger in her voice at him, but just a small amount of disdain, "out of the battlefield, I could have gone up there and helped him. I could have saved him!" Legolas walks forward, and stands a few steps beneath her on the grand staircase so that they can see eye-to-eye. He puts his hands on her shoulders and his forehead against hers.
"A'maelamin, there is nothing you could have done. You did everything you could." He smiles, albeit sadly, "You can't save them all." Her expression hardens slightly.
"But I'll save as many as I can." He rolls his eyes, and then kisses her softly.
"That's my Alice." She scoffs as he turns her around to walk back inside.
"Hell, I don't know why I'm getting so worked up over this anyway; I didn't even like the guy." The four men laugh as they walk up the steps into the Golden Hall.
"No pauses," Éomer says, putting down three glasses, one before Gimli, one before Alice, and one before Legolas, "no spills." One is then set before Éomer as well.
"And no regurgitation!" Alice quirks an eyebrow at the laughter that follows.
"So, it's a drinking game." Legolas half asks, half states.
"Aye!" Cry the Rohirrim, laughing more, most of them already drunk.
"Well, gentlemen, this should be interesting." She says, picking up her glass and swirling its contents.
"Never before has a woman participated in our drinking game." Says Éomer, looking at her with a smirk from across the table. "I am curious to see how you perform against us." She returns his smirk, remembering how she used to be able to drink most men she drank against under the table.
"Last one standing wins, lassie!" Gimli tells her, laughing as he does so.
He sits on her right, and Legolas on her left. He puts his tankard to his lips, and drinks it all in one long go. Everyone looks to Legolas, who's next. He slowly lifts up his drink, looking at Alice with slight fear in his eyes. She simply nods her head at him to encourage him, still smirking. The two of them aren't actually competing against each other, but against those across from them. It's supposed to be two games at once, but they decided to take turns so they can watch each other very closely.
Éomer smiles at Legolas, lifts up his glass, salutes the Elf, and stares down Alice as he calmly drinks his tankard. She simply quirks an eyebrow at him as he slowly drinks the entire glass. When he sets down the tankard, she gulps quietly, remembering that when she drank those men from her time under the table… they were doing vodka shots. An entire pint of ale is far from one tiny shot. She prays to whatever god that's listening that the ale has a low alcohol content to make up for the size difference.
"Ohhhhh!" All the men around them chant, their voices building as Alice's glass is raised higher and higher above her head as she finishes the drink. She sets down the tankard on the table with a slam, and the cheers immediately die out now that she's done. Legolas smiles at her, and nods his head just as she had a moment ago.
"What is all this?" A familiar voice says from behind her, and Alice spins in her chair to face the White Wizard. This time, her gulp is very, very audible. "Alice," he says slowly, "Do you have some sort of explanation for all this?" He smiles down at her, trying to contain his laughter.
"Éomer challenged me to a drinking game." She says, immediately casting the blame on her opponent, and then looks behind Gandalf to see Théoden, Éowyn, and Aragorn standing behind him, all of them with very, very large smiles on their faces. Théoden walks forward.
"Never before has a woman participated in the drinking game," he says, repeating his nephew from earlier, "Are you so certain this was a wise choice?" He directs at Éomer, who grins sheepishly.
"She wanted to play with Legolas and Gimli, so I said I would play against her." Éowyn walks up and pats Alice on the shoulder, smiling broadly.
"I've been trying for years to get them to let me play, I'm proud of you for managing to do what I couldn't." The men laugh, remembering her attempts to play. She smiles, and pats Éowyn's hand on her shoulder.
"Well, they have reason," in the span of a blink of an eye, Alice draws and points Ringil at Éomer across from her, still grinning, "… to be afraid." She puts her sword away immediately, not wishing to cause any trouble. Suddenly, one of the men shouts.
"Ten gold coins on Éomer! Any takers?" Shouts are heard from all sides of the hall. One man placed a fifty gold coin bet on Gimli, and another man immediately called it. But, by the end, everyone could tell who the favorites were. Gimli and Éomer. No one thought that the two 'light weights' would be able to win. Then the big surprise came.
"I will bet," Aragorn starts, walking up to the table, "three hundred gold coins," he dumps a small, heavy bag onto the table in the direct center, "on Alice Dawn." There's a moment of total silence… until Gimli sets his tankard back on the table, since he went on ahead and took his turn while the bets were being placed. He burps loudly.
"Are you sure that's such a good idea, laddie? That's a lot of gold." Aragorn puts a hand on Alice's shoulder as Legolas begins his turn, and he shakes it gently.
"I have faith."
Later…
Alice lays down on the table, her arms splayed out in front of her (one palm up and one palm down), and her face resting on her shoulder. Gimli seems to be barely aware of anything as he sits calmly next to her. Legolas is in perfect health, almost like he hadn't started drinking yet. Éomer sits across from her, looking a bit green in the face as he sets his tankard down on the table.
"C'mon, Lady Alice, it's your turn." Slurs a drunk behind her as he sets a glass in front of her.
She mumbles something about the loser having to pick up the tab as she tries to sit up straight. A few giggles are heard around the room as she slips a couple of times, but she manages to steady herself. She estimates she's just getting into her 'drunk' state, as she tends to get sleepy when she gets drunk. She glances around the room warily, and spots Aragorn watching her intently from across the room. She waves drunkenly, and he simply smiles. She picks up the tankard before her, and puts it to her lips. The drink itself reminds her of drinking oil for some strange reason, but she blames it on her taking huge gulps of it so it feels thicker than it actually is. A minute later, she's got it down. She stares down Éomer tiredly.
"You should give up now, Emmy." Unbeknownst to her, she's been calling Éomer 'Emmy' for about twenty minutes now. He's too drunk to correct her, or even really respond.
About an hour ago, they decided to speed up the game by making the opponents take their turns at the same time. Unfortunately, Alice keeps forgetting this, so really, only Gimli and Legolas drink at the same time. The Dwarf farts next to her.
"Heh heh heh heh," She observes that he's starting to look the worse for wear, "Here, here." He takes another tankard, "Raaar it's the dwarves that go swimming with little, hairy women haha." He burps loudly, and drinks more.
"I feel something." Legolas says, looking at his fingers and Éomer raises an eyebrow. "A slight tingle in my fingers. I think it's affecting me." He looks more concerned than he ought, in Alice's opinion.
"Heh heh heh," Gimli's words slur as he speaks, "What did I say? He can't hold his liquor." His eyes are crossed and he sits quiet for a moment, then keels over backwards off his stool. Alice laughs harder than is probably sociably acceptable. Legolas watches him fall, raises his eyebrows and looks over at Éomer.
"Game over!" Éomer suddenly gets up and runs out the door, his hand clamped to his mouth. "Where do you think he's going?" Legolas asks Alice, genuinely curious. The brunette woman grins.
"He couldn't hold his liquor, Legolas." Alarmed, the Elf Prince looks back down the path the King's nephew just took off towards. Alice pats his hand. "Don't worry about 'im, he'll be fine… the day after tomorrow." She tells him, realizing she's going to have a massive hangover tomorrow. Éowyn suddenly appears between them, grabs a hand from each of them and holds it high above their heads.
"We have our winners!" Everyone turns, and is surprised at who it is. Aragorn walks forward to collect his earnings, and Alice waltz's over to him.
"Why did you bet on me?" He grins at her, and then leans in close to whisper in her ear.
"I figured that if you're really from the future, you probably are accustomed to drinking much, much stronger ale's than what we serve here." She rolls her eyes, and pats him on the shoulder as he leans away.
"Well, you were right." Éomer comes back to the main room at that moment, and he walks over to Alice to clap her on the shoulder.
"Good game, Lady Alice, daughter of Roxanne." Unbeknownst to them, one of the King's servants was just fetching another pint of ale for Théoden, and overheard their conversation. His eyes widen at the name, and he quickly snatches up the tankard and returns to the King's side. A moment later, the older King raises his voice above the din.
"Lady Alice!" She freezes, his tone telling her she's in deep, now. The ruckus about them immediately dies down, and everyone turns to stare at her as she looks up at King Théoden. "Come here, please." She sends a fast glance at Aragorn, and then slowly walks towards the throne down a tiny aisle between two tables. He fastens a hard glare at her. "Alice, would you please tell the congregation here your full name and heritage." She swallows.
"Lady Alice Terra Dawn, daughter of Roxanne Josephine Dawn." All the noise in the Golden Hall stops as everyone now stares at her, but this time, with harsh glares in their eyes. "If I may ask, great King, why are you asking this of me?" She asks, noticing how his angry look intensified at the sound of her mother's name.
"In the early days of Rohan," he begins slowly, "There was a troop of young, single women who were headed by an older woman named Roxanne. They all took on her name as a symbol as to whom and what they were. In our language, the term for them is 'harlot', which in the Common Tongue would mean 'prostitute'." Her eyes widen considerably, and suddenly Oromë's words ring loud and clear in her mind. "Eorl the Young, after having several cases where women took their children and fled from the presence of their husbands since they dealt greatly with the Roxanne's, made it punishable by death to sell one's body that way." She swallows again. "All of the original Roxanne's were executed, along with the head Roxanne. Today, however small, there are still groups of women who prefer to partake in this practice; they're simply very good about hiding it. They are called the Daughters of Roxanne." She closes her eyes, realization dawning on her. "Do you have any explanation for this… coincidence?"
"No, sire. Prostitution was my means of money making back home. It is something I have not participated in for almost a year now."
"That," he hisses out, "is no excuse." He claps his hands, and immediately, all the soldiers in the room stand. "Begin the ceremony. Éomer?" The King's nephew appears from amongst the throng, and she turns to face him. She sees the apologetic look on his face as he approaches her. "Tell us, Lady Alice, do you have a costumer now?" Her face hardens.
"I am in love with Prince Legolas of the Woodland Realm, if that is what you are asking." The crowd parts like the Red Sea so that he can very clearly see what's going on.
"Well, then," she can feel Théoden's eyes on her back, "Looks like we'll have to show him what it means to be in love with one such as you." She closes her eyes again, her mind already accepting her fate.
A violin begins to play, and Alice recognizes the tune as the beginning of a tango. Éomer begins to spin around her in the traditional way. She begins turning with him, and places her hand by the side of her face as her heels click against the wooden floor. She spins suddenly, and bringing her hand up, Éomer grabs it with his own hand and a slap of skin echoes in the room.
"First there is desire, and then passion," he pulls her back a little, dragging her in the way of the tango. She puts both arms around his neck, and he places one hand on the small of her back and the other on her thigh, slowly dragging it up. She spots one of the soldiers approaching her, and sticks her hand out towards him. "Then," he takes the hand she stuck out and pulls it out from behind him like he's caught her in a lie, "suspicion!" They back up, her unable to keep eye-contact, looks around the room at the other men. "Jealousy!" He spins her away, "Anger, betrayal!" The last word is said as she is grabbed by another man, and then spun back to Éomer. "When love is for the highest bidder," they dance a bit more, him holding her arms up painfully, "there can be no trust! Without trust, there can be no love!" He switches to just holding up one arm, gripping it so strong she fears he may leave a bruise, "Jealousy, yes, jealousy!" He finally releases her, and she holds her injured arm, backing away from him as he turns to look at Legolas. "While drive you… MAD!" By the time he has shouted the word and turned to face her again, another man has come up behind her, kissing her neck and starting to dance with her.
"Roxanne…" As he finishes the word, another man also walks up, and takes her from the second, dancing the tango.
"You don't have to put on that red light…
Walk the streets for money…" Now a fourth and even fifth man approach, one of them drag her away from the first two. They all know how to dance the tango in such a way that she simply switches between them with ease.
"You don't care if it is wrong, or if it is right…" The fifth man quickly takes her away, kissing her at every possible turn.
"Roxanne!" She can feel the hands of another man feeling her legs as the one before her crouches down, feeling her stomach. Éomer stands nearby, serenading her, and acting as though watching her dance with other men pains him to a great deal.
"You don't have to wear that dress tonight.
Roxanne!" One man lifts her up expertly, obviously being more experienced than the others, as Éomer sings out the next line.
"You don't have to sell your body to the night." Alice doesn't see Théoden rise from his throne in the midst of the song, and circle them, watching like a hawk, until he suddenly starts singing as well.
"His eyes upon your face…
His hand upon your hand…
His lips caress your skin…
It's more than I can stand!"
During this, Alice is lowered in front of Éomer from where she was being held up, and she leans forward to kiss him, but he backs away. She notices maids, Éowyn among them, approaching and dancing with the seven or eight men she just danced with. Éomer turns around, walking to one end of the circle that has formed, and Alice turns to walk to the other side.
"Roxanne!" Éomer calls her, and she spins around to see him looking at her with a pleading expression. She quickly turns from him, just as she had turned from many men who professed to love her in the past, and walks up the steps towards Théoden's throne.
"Why does my heart cry?" Théoden sings out, still circling.
"Roxanne!" Alice remembers her old ways, the prostitute within her emerging. One maid silently walks up behind her, stands so that she is in between Alice and the crowd, and helps her change into a scanty black dress.
"Feelings I can't fight!" Alice spins out from the presence of the maid, who goes to join the others, dancing in a temptuous in her new dress. Théoden walks over to Alice, grabs her arm, and literally drags her down the center aisle between the men and women who dance about them. She realizes their destination, and tries to fight him, but ultimately fails as Éomer rushes over to aide his uncle.
"You're free to leave me,
But just don't deceive me,
And please, believe me
When I say, I love you!"
As this last line is belted out by the tall, older tenor, the three of them arrive in front of Legolas. The music recedes to a low level so that everyone can hear this conversation. Théoden and Éomer force Alice onto her knees. Sweat is already dripping from her face, as she's not really in the right kind of shape for this kind of exotic dancing. She heaves deep breaths, staring at the ground in front of her. She doesn't see the King and his nephew's hard stares at the Elf Prince, she simply hears their cold tones.
"Prostitution is an unpardonable crime in our country, Lord Legolas," Théoden says, "You have no doubt felt the cold sting of betrayal that comes from loving one such as this wench." She glances up at Gandalf and Aragorn, who stand on either side of their friend. Neither of them are looking at her, but are staring in absolute shock at the King. "Show her why such outright lies against you are simply inexcusable." It would take an idiot (or maybe a Hobbit) to realize that they mean for him to strike her. She can almost sense his inner confliction.
"Come what may…" She sings softly, garnering their attention.
"Come what may," She looks directly up at Legolas, her eyes pleading with him for him to believe her. He kneels in front of her, cupping her face in his hands, and holds her close to sing the bit of the song with her.
"I will love you,
Until my dying day."
Angered, Théoden and Éomer drag her back, away from Legolas.
"Why does my heart cry?
Roxanne!
Feelings I can't fight!
You don't have to put your hair up tonight!
You're free to leave me,
Roxanne!
But just don't deceive me,
And please, believe me
When I say, I love you!"
Alice finally kicks off Éomer and Théoden, and turns to Legolas once more.
"Come what may,
Come what may,
I will love you,
Until my dying day." She sings it very, very loud this time, over the music and the sounds that try and drown her out. Legolas smiles weakly, and nods a few times to show he understands.
"Why does my heart cry?" Alice can only hear Éomer's voice, not his words, as Théoden grabs her from behind and starts spinning her around, dancing in sync with the men and women behind them.
"Feelings I can't fight," The King ceases from singing, the crowd about them, watching in silence, now picks up the tune.
"Why does my heart cry?" They sing sadly.
"Feelings I can't fight!" Then she hears Éomer above the din.
"Roxanne!
You don't have to put on that red light!" Suddenly, the men all forego their women, who quickly scatter, and form a tight circle around Alice who's abandoned by Théoden. The King returns to his seat. Aragorn, Gandalf, and Legolas watch on in silent horror as Alice is almost literally tossed between the men in the tight circle, each of them kissing her body and feeling her up.
"!"
She finds herself in Éomer's arms as he spins her around to face Legolas (the men having parted at the last second to so they could see each other clearly), forcers her to kneel, puts his hand on her chin, hesitates, and then moves it down to her throat, before cutting open the pale skin with his bare fingernails. She collapses to the ground, exhaustion finally wearing on her, and blood seeping out from her fresh, thin wounds. Théoden suddenly stands from his seat in a rage.
"ÉOMER!" The nephew turns to face his uncle, "Why did you not kill her as is our tradition? Why did you not break her neck?" The blonde man turns slowly back, looking down at the gasping woman who lays very still in shock.
"She saved my life. I returned the favor." She looks up at him.
"Thank you." She whispers quietly, and he nods once. The King draws his sword.
"Éomer," he says in a warning tone, "Kill her. Now." In a single, swift movement, the captain of the Rohirrim picks up the bleeding woman, slings her over his shoulder, and races out of the Golden Hall at top speed. "GET THEM!" Théoden bellows, his rage having reached a new, all-time high. Several of the guards take off running after the pair, Legolas and Aragorn following closely.
"Éomer," she manages to get out, and he grunts in response as he reaches the bottom of the staircase, "Take me to the stables. I have to get out of here. There's nowhere in Edoras I can hide until this blows over. Take me to the stables." He nods once and turns in the direction of the horses. When they arrive, he kicks open the door, and heads for the closest horse. "No! Put me down, there's one here I have to ride. He's the only one that's fast enough."
"What? Are you mad? Just get on Brego and go!" He says, putting her down anyway.
"No, Éomer, this was all planned out by the Valar," he looks at her in sheer confusion, thinking she has honestly lost it, but her eyes plead with his like they did with Legolas' before, "Please, Éomer… Just trust me." She turns to the horses, "Nahar!" She calls, and one horse at the back whines loudly. The two run to it, and the horse lord still looks confused.
"I've never seen this horse before." Alice quirks an eyebrow, as is her fashion.
"Horse?" She glances back at the huge horse, "More like a monster. Help me get on." He nods once, and as he helps her swing one leg over, she leans down to the horse's ear. "Noro lim, Nahar." The horse grunts once.
"Why did you tell him that?" Éomer asks.
"I was told to, by the Valar. Oromë said that if I didn't, Nahar would buck me off." The horse lord chuckles. "Thank you, Éomer, I know you didn't have to do this, and that it will probably get you in trouble." He shakes his head.
"I'll talk to my uncle when he's sober, he'll be reasonable then. It's not our place to condemn a woman not of Rohan. Especially for a crime she did not commit within our borders." She nods a couple of times. "Goodbye, Alice. I hope to see you again someday." She kisses his forehead.
"And I, you, Éomer." She takes the reins from him, "Noro lim, Nahar, noro lim!" She says as the horse lord kicks open the gate to allow them through.
They charge past, top-speed, the Rohirrim guards as they try and stop her. She doesn't even see Legolas and Aragorn as they stand at the top of the stairs, waiting for her to emerge. She simply rides out the great gate, dodging a couple of arrows that are launched at her back. Tears burn her eyes as she realizes this will be the last time she sees the man she loves for a long time.
Lol, changed the drinking game a bit to make it interesting.
Luna - Haha, I had to retain my laughter when writing that scene. I almost took it out, since it seemed a bit too informal for that moment, but I decided, in the end, to just leave it in.
Lady Minuialwen - =D
Gitana - Yeah, I really considered writing in that scene, but I was trying to really focus on Alice. I decided that I didn't want her involved with that scene, since it was kind of emotional, and she wouldn't have been able to handle watching someone that, even though they didn't get along, she still considered something of a friend die. I think it's just gonna be a controversy, of whether or not she should have been there or not. I tried to make up for it by having that part in this chapter where she grieves his loss.
Thank you very much for your suggestions, though, they are appreciated. =D
Song credits: "El Tango de Roxanne" from Moulin Rouge!
(I 3 that song XD)
Next time, on Alice in Middle Earth: The Two Towers:
Alice is, for the first time since entering Middle Earth, is now completely and utterly alone. Her only companion is an ancient horse who hasn't been seen in these lands for thousands of years, that she barely even knows or knows anything about. Every day she is reminded how very, very far from home she really is. Now she is on her way, whether she's ready for it or not, to an even more foreign land, and this time she will have no help. How will she fare on her own? Will she reach Frodo in time to save him? Or will the Dark Lord reign over all Middle Earth? FIND OUT NEXT TIME!