We stopped to make camp when the sun started going down.
"I never thought we'd have a girl in the fellowship," Sam remarked as he laid out his sleeping bag.
"What's the fellowship?" I asked.
"It's what we call ourselves. The fellowship of the ring," Sam explained.
"You mean Frodo's ring?" I asked.
Sam looked away, like he'd said too much. I walked away, feeling awkward myself. Instead, I sat down next to Legolas and Strider.
"Where are we going, anyway?" I asked them. It was Legolas who answered.
"Past those mountains-" he pointed east "-we don't really know. Strider and Boromir were thinking about heading toward Minas Tirith, but that's it."
"What's Minas Tirith?"
"The city of kings. In Gondor."
"Aragorn's kingdom." I realized my mistake too late. Both Strider and Legolas froze. Strider turned towards me and said in a low, almost menacing voice, "How do you know my name?"
"Frodo told me. I'm sorry. It was my fault. I was just wondering."
He stopped me with a motion of his hand. "It doesn't matter that you know my name. I just wanted to know how."
I thought I heard something else in his voice, but I decided to let it go. I wanted to bring up the fact that I still had no weapon.
"Um, Strider, if we were attacked, how would I defend myself?"
"That's right. You don't have a sword. Boromir! Do we have any extra swords for Alex?"
"Sure!" Boromir answered. "She can use the one I found after the last orc attack. I can train her, too."
"It's settled then. You can start your training in the morning," Strider concluded. As he rolled over, I caught a glimpse of a sliver chain around his neck. I wanted to ask him about it, but decided not to. I only knew him for a day, and had already blown it with his name. I didn't want to make him mad. I lay down and fell asleep as well.