Leaving
After the Wormtongue escapade, the group had been invited to stay in Meduseld, a high honour from what Aragorn told her. Gimli had been impressed when he saw the banquet table; Rosalie however had been much more impressed when Éowyn had offered her a bath and fresh clothes. She had eagerly followed the blonde woman through a series of corridors and into what appeared to be a guest bedroom. Éowyn turned to face her. "You can undress here; a maid will be through shortly for your bath." Rosalie nodded, murmuring a thank you and the blonde woman walked towards the door. "By the way, my name is Éowyn and I don't think I caught yours." The girl looked up. "Rosalie," She murmured, smiling shyly at the strange woman.
Rosalie sighed, sinking further into the lukewarm water. This was very familiar to Rosalie, the bathtub looking a lot like the type she used as a child. It was like she could feel the dirt, grime and grease seeping off of her skin, melting out of her pores. She groaned, flicking little droplets with her toe, grinning like a mad woman. Eventually, too soon for Rosalie's liking, the water cooled, and Rosalie wrapped a towel around herself, heading back into the bedroom. After the bath had filled, Rosalie had asked the maid to leave, a little unsettled by her presence.
When she had been relaxing in the bathtub, someone had come in, and piled clothes onto her bed. At least here, they weren't forcing her into a dress- two outfits sat on the bed and while one was a dress, the other was a set of leggings-like trousers and a shirt. Rosalie rubbed her hair, getting rid of as much water as possible, knowing it would take forever to dry it properly. She quickly got dressed and left the room, retracing her steps back into the great hall.
Gimli was sat with Aragorn, a large plate of food in front of him while Legolas leaned against a pillar behind the dwarf. Théoden was sat in his throne, looking across the hall where two children, drenched in mud and sweat were sat, eating soup. Éowyn was with them. She stood, her back to the group, facing the King. "They had no warning." She trailed her hand through the boy's dirty blonde hair. "Now, the woodmen roam freely through the Westfold, burning as they go." Éowyn turn around, noticing Rosalie for the first time and sent her a small nod. Quietly, the girl walked up, standing next to the elf, watching Gandalf try to convince Théoden.
"This is but a taste of terror that Saruman will unleash. Ride out and meet him head on. Join the fray for the women and children. You must fight." Gandalf protested, but Théoden looked unsure, chewing his lip. "What's going on?" Rosalie asked Legolas quietly. The elf's eyes darted over to her, smiling at her. "I noticed that Éowyn was only going to supply you with a dress, and suggested that she should give you a choice and so, an outfit you may prefer." The girl smiled up at him. "Thanks," She whispered and they both turned back to the debate that was quickly looking like an argument.
Aragorn had gotten involved. "You have two thousand good men riding north as we speak. Eómer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their King." The ranger sounded so passionate as he spoke and Rosalie didn't miss Éowyn spying on him from the corner of her eyes, trying to look nonchalant. Eómer, Rosalie thought to herself. Are they talking about the weirdo who kidnapped me? Legolas noticed her frown. "Are you alright?" He asked, staring at her, dragging the girl out of her thoughts. She nodded quickly and turned back to the almost fight.
"They will be three hundred leagues from here now. Eómer cannot help us." Théoden argued back. His gaze drifted to Éowyn and the two small children at the table across the hall. "I know what it is you want of me, but I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war." His voice was like steel, cold and unwavering. He looked back at the children sadly. Aragorn sighed, stepping closer to Théoden. "Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not." The ranger's voice rose with every word, conviction ringing throughout.
Théoden glared at Aragorn. "When last I looked, Théoden, not Aragorn, was king of Rohan." The king snarled, voice dripping with anger. Silence filled the hall as the two men stood off, battling with their eyes and not their fists. Gandalf broke the standoff. "Then what is the King's decision?" He asked, staring up at Théoden. The blonde man stared down at the wizard, an unreadable expression on his face. He sighed heavily before getting off his throne, stalking out of the room, another blonde man in chainmail trailing after him.
"You have blue hair." Rosalie turned at the childish voice beside her. A boy with wild blonde locks, like the rest of Rohan it seemed, was gawking at her. It's more likely the hair, she thought to herself and the girl raised an eyebrow. "You have blonde hair." She stated and the boy frowned, obviously not getting the response he wanted. "Why?"
Rosalie shrugged her shoulders. "Why not?" She shot back and the boy blinked. "No one else has been born with blue hair! So you must have done something to it!" He looked so proud of his deductions and from the corner of her eye, Rosalie could see Gimli, Aragorn, Legolas and Gandalf smiling, listening into the conversation. Suddenly, the boy's face clouded over and he took a step back. "Are you a witch?" He whispered shakily, and she could see Gimli start to shake with laughter. She crouched so that she was level with the little blonde boy. "Do I look like a witch to you?" She asked you and the snickers from the next table became more noticeable.
"Your hair's blue." The boy stated this like it was obvious and Rosalie shrugged her shoulders. "I think the blue suits me, what do you think?" He shook his head. "It's weird." He muttered, still shaking his head. By now, Gimli was laughing aloud and both the ranger and the elf looked like they were going to join him.
"Éothain!" The little girl piped up, running to her brother's side. "Lady Éowyn wants us to follow her." She looked up at Rosalie through her eyelashes shyly. "Excuse us Miss." She grabbed Éothain's hand, dragging her brother away and Rosalie watched them go, smiling, before sitting down with the others.
Aragorn was staring at her, chewing his pipe. "Seriously, why?" The girl frowned at him. "What, my hair?" Aragorn nodded and Rosalie shrugged. "I dyed it a few months before Rivendell, y'know... the same way you dye clothes." She said when she saw their confused stares. "I thought it suited me, I guess, since you don't always see the blue." Gimli snorted at that and Rosalie glared at him, before rolling her eyes. "Where I come is a lot cloudier than it apparently is here, so most of the time my hair looked black."
"Unassuming until in the light, then it dazzles." Everyone turned to look at the elf, who had raised an eyebrow in Rosalie's direction. She flushed, eyes darting away and Aragorn fought off a smirk while Gimli frowned. "Huh?" He grunted, more than asked, mouth full of whatever he was eating. Rosalie wrinkled her nose a little bit, as did Gandalf and Legolas at the dwarf's manners. Not noticing, or not caring, Gimli burped, wiping his mouth with his sleeve. Rosalie watched a few people scurry through the halls, packing bags and carrying weapons. What is going on? She thought to herself, watching everyone come and go, listening to the noise outside. She turned her head to ask Aragorn but she didn't need an answer.
"By order of the King, the city must empty. We make for the refuge of Helm's deep!" A deep voice shouted outside Meduseld. "Do not burden yourself with treasures, take only what provisions you need." Gandalf scowled, stalking out of the room and the rest of his group fled after him. He stomped out of the hall, the frown still set deep in his face as the wizard trekked towards the stable. Rosalie quickened her stride to keep up with the group. "Helms deep!" The wizard cursed under his breath.
Around them, people were scattering, arms filled with boxes and packs, and sometimes small children. A few times, Rosalie had to stop, as trickles of people filtered through tiny cracks in the group, cutting her off from the others. Whenever she got caught in a stream, she could easily see the bobbing smooth golden head and shaggy dark hair of Aragorn and Legolas to catch up with. Panic had settled over Edoras like a blanket, swamping them all in dread. The wizard stalked into the stables, the doors swinging wildly after him, enough so that Aragorn had to jolt out of the way to avoid a broken nose.
Inside, surprisingly, was empty. The three horses they had rode in on were the only inhabitants, the rest of the clean stalls empty, doors open, tracks showing most of them had been taken outside. Shadowfax was at the end one, Gandalf already there, changing between pacing and stroking Shadowfax's nose. Gimli snorted, shaking his head. "They flee to the mountains when they should stand and fight. Who will defend them if not their king?" The dwarf growled, absent-mindedly fingering his axe. Aragorn shot him a look. "He is only doing what he thinks is best for his people. Helm's Deep has saved them in the past." He retorted, frowning at the dwarf's words.
Rosalie raised her hand, and Gandalf sent her a half-smile. "Yes Rosalie?" She lowered her hand, wringing them and sweat began to build. Embarrassment made her stomach clench. "Well... what's Helm's Deep, exactly?" Her voice raised, becoming shaky and high pitched as she ended her question. All of them turned to face her, wearing identical looks of shock and that look that said What are you, stupid?! Even the horses stopped what they were doing, Shadowfax turning his great head to stare at her weirdly, a thin piece of hay hanging from Arod's mouth. Aragorn opened and closed his mouth a few times, as if trying to create a sentence that didn't make her feel dumber than she already felt, wishing to take back what she had said.
"Helm's Deep is a stronghold in Rohan, far from Edoras." Gandalf was the one that recovered first. "In times of trouble, the people of Rohan have found refuge in Helm's Deep and so, King Théoden believes that it will save them again," the wizard sounded bitter as he finished his sentence. He paced a few more times, kicking at straw on the floor of the stables. Gandalf shook his head. "There is no way out of that ravine. Théoden is walking into a trap when he thinks he is leading them to safety. What they will get is a massacre." The wizard rubbed his face, scratching at his beard, sighing heavily. He seemed to be doing a lot of that recently.
Gandalf looked out of the window, watching the world go by. People were packing their possessions, strapping bags to their backs and to horses that seemed be everywhere in Rohan. They all looked... desperate. Gandalf was still staring at them; observing them leave their lives behind to follow their King to safety.
Suddenly, he turned to Aragorn, placing a hand on the ranger's shoulder. "Théoden has a strong will but I fear for him. I fear for the survival of Rohan." Gandalf murmured, glancing back out of the window. A few children ran past, tiny feet hitting the ground, mud and dirt splattered across their tunics. The wizard smiled faintly, still staring at them before spinning back to the ranger. "He will need you before the end. The people of Rohan will need you." Two pairs of blue eyes met, older ones locking onto younger ones. "The defences have to hold." Gandalf said firmly.
Aragorn bobbed his head. "They will hold," He whispered and the wizard nodded. He strode up to the white horse, stroking his nose, whispering strange words to him. Gandalf vaulted onto his back, patting Shadowfax's neck. "The grey pilgrim, that's what they use to call me." He said, looking down at all of them. "Three hundred lives of men I walked this earth and now, I have no time." Gandalf sounded far away, as if remembering something. Beneath him, Shadowfax shivered and the wizard seemed to come back to himself. "With luck, my search will not be in vain. Look to my coming at first light on the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east." Aragorn nodded.
Shadowfax reared, hurtling out of his borrowed stall. Gimli, Legolas and Rosalie all jumped sideways and out of the way of the speeding horse, the dwarf muttering dark words under his breath. They joined together again as he passed, as the pair flew through the stables out into Edoras. Outside, people dived to the side, avoiding the powerful horse and the wizard, riding at breakneck speed. Rosalie sighed, looking at her friends, and watched as Aragorn stayed silent before walking back up to the golden halls alone.
The ranger had disappeared by the time the strange trio had gotten back up to Meduseld. The streets of Edoras were busy, everyone preparing to leave for Helm's Deep. Gimli had also wandered off, leaving the girl and the elf alone. They had ambled through too many wooden halls until they found themselves at a... crossroads of sorts. Very ungracefully, Rosalie had flopped to the floor, leaning against the walls as Legolas laughed at her before joining in. The elf had become very sneaky apparently, pulling a few books from the library there in Meduseld. He had them scattered across his lap and the floor around them, a small arc of old, dusty, yellowing pages.
The girl had frowned at him but Legolas caught her confusion. "You know very little about our world and the people that inhabit it. So, I shall teach you more about it." The elf explained before becoming a little sterner and more like a teacher than a friend. Over the next few hours, they flipped through pages, piecing together a map of Middle-Earth. While all of the books had complete maps, they also had individual ones of certain regions that gave a lot more detail. "See there, that is Rivendell, though to the elves, it is known as Imladris... And that's The Shire, the home of most Hobbits... To the south is Gondor, where Boromir hailed from, and that bit there... Yes, that's Helm's Deep. My home, Mirkwood, used to be known as Greenwood, at the top there..." His fingers trailed delicately across the paper like he was scared it would crumble underneath his fingers.
A few times, guards or maids would rush through the halls, pausing to take in the strange sight in the corridor but never stopped. That didn't mean that Rosalie couldn't hear them giggle when they went around a corner but pretended not to notice, secretly glad that Legolas did the same.
After the maps, the elf started to talk about the things in Middle-Earth, or more specifically Orcs. Uruk-hai were the ones that had taken her, Pippin and Merry. He said that they were different from other Orcs, that they were stronger than the rest of them. Yeah, I did realise that a while ago...Rosalie grumbled to herself. Once he had finished with Uruk-hai, he started on Orcs and some of the monsters found in Mirkwood. At least he didn't laugh at her when she paled after the elf talked about giant spiders. Gimli would've laughed; she shook her head, listening to what the elf was saying. One topic got her attention.
"There are Dragons!" She squealed, tempted to clap her hands together. Dragons, her mind screamed. "That's so... Not cool, very bad." She said, noticing the glare Legolas was sending her. She felt weird, never seeing that scowl directed at her. There was silence between them as Rosalie ducked her gaze and she heard the elf sigh. "From your reaction, I guess you have a different opinion of Dragons, but here, they are greedy, manipulative and only care about gold and treasure, killing anything in their way." She nodded, slightly ashamed of her outburst now. "My home never had dragons, they were more mystical... Fantastical, I guess, but they are a reality here..." She murmured, gazing at the page with the picture on it. It wasn't in colour but the artist had managed to capture the greedy gleam in its eyes. Whatever moment they had been having, was gone, awkwardness replacing the gentle talk they were having, even if it was about horrible, gory subjects. Woah, woah, woah... Moment? Really Rosalie? Two different voices were shouting at her.
Rosalie sighed, looking at all of the books. "I think I've had enough of learning about creatures that want to kill me," she said softly and got up. "Thank you for the lesson though, Legolas. It's been really helpful." She smiled at him but both of them could tell it was faked. The elf nodded mutely, watching her hurry down a corridor and out of sight.
Rosalie walked down corridors, tracing her way back to the main hall, cheeks still flushed from her conversation with Legolas. She decided to try and find Aragorn and Éowyn, or even Gimli but he was probably snoring, complaining for the past few days that he was too tired to do this much riding. In the great hall, maids and servants dashed around, packing up the tables and chairs they had been using earlier. Éowyn was poking around a big chest at the other side of the hall and Rosalie started to walk in her direction. She stopped though, when she saw Aragorn also had the same idea.
Gently, like it was china, the blonde woman picked a sword out of the chest. She swung it, testing the metal against invisible attackers. Behind her, the ranger silently drew his sword, and met Éowyn's when she turned. "You've some skill with a blade." Aragorn commented and she just stared at him, dumbstruck. Neither of them noticed Rosalie. Éowyn lowered her weapon, sheathing it once more. "Women of this country learned long ago, those who do not wield swords can still die upon them." She said stiffly, anger creeping into her voice. She looked back up at Aragorn boldly. "I fear neither death nor pain."
The ranger raised an eyebrow. "What do you fear, my lady?" He asked, and Éowyn raised her head again, meeting his eyes. "A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age take me away and all chances of valour have gone beyond call or desire." Rosalie felt like an intruder after she finished her speech, disturbing what felt like an intimate moment. "You are a daughter of Kings, a shield-maiden of Rohan. I do not think that will be your fate." Aragorn said firmly, and Éowyn smiled that kind of smile, one that Rosalie definitely recognised. The smile that a shy girl would send at her crush, one that she hoped with all her heart could catch his attention. Slowly, Rosalie backed out of the room quietly, promising herself she would not bring this up to either of those two, unless they wanted her to. She had a feeling though, thinking back to Rivendell, that this wouldn't end the way Éowyn a wanted it to.