Chapter Twelve
Heart of Fire

'I serve only the Lord of the Mark, Theoden King, son of do not serve the Power of the Black Land far away, but neither are we yet in open war with him; and if you are fleeing from him, then you had best leave this land. There is trouble now on all our borders, and we are threatened; but we desire only to be free, and to live as we have lived, keeping our own, and serving no foreign lord, good or evil. We welcomed guests kindly in the better days, but in these times the unbidden stranger finds us swift and hard. Come! Who are you? Whom do you serve? At whose command do you hunt Orcs in our land?'

Rory sat out in the training fields with Éomer and Théodred. The pair were in the process of teaching him how to use a sword. Although he was determined, Rory was not particularly talented with the weapon. After a while of training the pair had given up and now they all sat in a circle telling each other merry anecdotes. Rory let out a great sigh as Théodred's story drew to an end.

"What ails you my brother?" Éomer asked gently.

"Nothing much," Rory replied, Éomer and Théodred both raised their eyebrows in unison, beckoning Rory to continue. "I just feel rather hopeless. I cannot even hold a sword properly. What good am I?"

"Not every man is good with a sword. Some men like you are simply not made for such weapons. I see your build is slim; even with one foot you are fast and sly. You have the build of a good archer. Perhaps you ought to try a bow, or maybe even crossbow,"

Rory nodded half-heartedly. "I suppose I could try,"

Théodred smiled. "Why don't we give it a shot then? I'm not terrible with a bow I could teach you,"

Rory pulled himself to his feet and followed Théodred over to the targets. They were fairly large; it would be hard for him to miss. Théodred withdrew a mahogany bow and gently placed it in Rory's grip. The prince was about to explain how to use the weapon but before he had the chance, Rory had sent the arrow propelling through the air where it landed an inch or two away from the centre. Éomer's broke out in a grin.

"I was right brother! You are natural. Now once more, to prove it was not just beginners luck," He demanded. Rory nodded, once more pulling the arrow back and releasing it into the air. This time it landed in the centre. Théodred and Éomer clapped happily.

Rory turned to face them, but his gaze fell not on Éomer or Théodred, but on the woman standing behind them. She stood with a pot of stew tightly in her grasp, a warm smile was upon her fair face and her eyes were the brightest blue. She looked much like Éomer, but in a feminine and more delicate way. Rory realised that she must have been Eowyn, Eomer's sister.

A smile grew on Eomer's face. "Rory, you have not had the pleasure of meeting my sister. This is Eowyn. Eowyn, this is my good friend Rory. He is already a brother to me,"

"It is nice to meet you Rory, If you are my brother's brother, then that makes you mine," Eowyn chuckled, she did not curtsy like the other ladies of Rohan and Rory was thankful. "Nice shooting, you are very talented with the bow,"

"'Twas my first try with a bow," Rory grinned, pulling his stomach in to make himself look like less of a pig. "Beginners luck I'd say,"

"Or a natural," Eowyn smiled warmly. "Anyway, I thought I'd bring you boys some stew. Don't worry Éomer; it is not of my own cooking. I also thought that I could stay and maybe join you for some training,"

"No," Éomer and Théodred spoke in unison. "It is not the proper way for a lady to behave,"

"You know, where I come from women are looked upon as equals," Rory told Eowyn, "If you wish to train, then train. Do not let these sexist pigs stop you,"

"You insult me," Éomer hit Rory across the head, "She is my sister not yours, and if I am not mistaken, where you come from is a very different place. Thank you for the stew Eowyn, you may leave now,"

Eowyn took a deep bated breath "I'll see you around Rory,"

"I hope so," Rory whispered to himself in a quiet tone. Apparently he wasn't quiet enough as Éomer heard him and clobbered him over the head with the hilt of his sword.

"You should not encourage my sister Rory," Éomer sighed. "She is young, with a heart of fire. She believes she can do anything. Give her a weapon and she shall fight but the battleground is no place for a woman,"

Rory did not reply, he merely scraped his finger down the bow. "It is a fine bow" He spoke breaking the tension.

"It is yours. I have no need for it," Théodred sighed. "All I need is a sword, and two dozen orcs.

"Eowyn!" Rory called as he watched Eowyn walk down the corridor. She turned around and smiled "Fancy a walk?"

She nodded, and Rory felt his heart beat faster. Eowyn joined him and he offered her his arm, she of course declined. They walked down the corridors and out into a little garden. Rory was familiar with the garden, he had spent much of his time there, it was the perfect place to waste time. Rory found a little bench and the pair sat down.

"You have the strangest accent Rory; I have not heard it before, where are you from?"

"A place called Scotland,"

"Tell me of it," Eowyn pressed her eyes widening.

"It is a beautiful place, well...unless you're in Glasgow, then it isn't so beautiful, but on the whole it is a place with a rich culture," Rory chuckled. "The scenery is to die for, hills and grassy lands stretching a far as the eye can see. I miss it terribly,"

"I have never been far from home, my brother would not allow it," Eowyn smiled, "Scotland sounds beautiful however, perhaps one day I shall have the pleasure of visiting. I take it you have family there?"

"Parents and a sister. My mother and father are still there, But my sister well it's a long story, I'm sure if you ask Éomer he'll tell you the story himself. My sister is missing; she has been for a while now. I came here in search of her. It saddens me to say that I have given up on finding her, she could be anywhere in Middle earth and I cannot search the whole of this world with only one foot can I?"

"You should not give up hope," Eowyn spoke, "This world may seem large, but it is smaller than you would think. It is surprising what a determined heart can do,"

"Then I wish I had your heart Eowyn," Rory smiled, "For if I was like you then I'd have probably found her already."

Rory was never one to believe in love at first sight. To him (and to many others) it seemed like a soppy thing, something that only existed within the heads of besotted fan girls and tragedy loving playwrights. It was something that to Rory seemed utterly ridiculous. However, Eowyn and Rory, they seemed to fit together like two pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. Conversation flowed easy between them and Rory felt at ease in her company.

Rory thought for a moment. If only she wasn't Eomer's sister.

A/N

Another short chapter. I thought I'd do the whole love at first sight thing for Rory; However the romance between them still isn't going to be all of a sudden. Rory may already be in love with her, but I don't think Eowyn would be the type to fall so quickly for a man so I'm going to draw the whole Eowry (Rowyn?) thing out like I'm doing with Lekyle (Kylegolas?) Anyway, hope you enjoyed my sort chapter.