Chapter 3 - The Stars Call to You
It was not long before everyone had gathered for the procession of Theodred's body to the grave. Mourning the dead held no cultural distinction, Vezely thought, as the grief stricken voice of Eowyn chanted to the wind.
The Golden Hall would be empty that night, save for the king, his niece, the four travelers and two small children who made their way on horseback from a village on Rohan's borders. Gimli and the two children were busy eating, the latter being comforted by Eowyn, who knelt next to them. Aragorn leisurely smoked his pipe, while Legolas preferred to stand, leaning against one of the great hall's pillars with his arms crossed and his eyes fixed forward. Vezely kept quiet at the table, observing those around her as her hands gripped the edge of the bench she sat on. She had already been introduced by Gandalf as "Vez," a messenger from the East, not wanting to unnecessarily burden the king with her identity. Vezely knew what deed Gandalf must commit to now - Theodon must be persuaded to go to war.
Eowyn listened to the children tell their story, and echoed the words to the room, "They had no warning. They were unarmed. Now the Wildmen are moving through the Westfold, burning as they go, every rick, cot and tree." Aragorn exchanged a glance with Legolas, knowing this verified the information Vezely provided them all the evening before.
Gandalf continued this plight, "This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash. All the more potent for he is driven mad by the fear of Sauron." His eyes glanced briefly at Vezely, thinking of her own dealings with Sauron.
Driven mad in your eyes, perhaps, but not by fear, she thought darkly of her past relations.
"Ride out and meet him head on," Gandalf coaxed him carefully, "Draw him away from your women and children. You must fight."
Aragorn then added humbly, hoping to help the cause, "You have two thousand good men riding north as we speak. Eomer is loyal to you. His men will return and fight for their king."
Despondent, Theoden rejected this notion, "They will be three hundred leagues from here by now! Eomer cannot help us…I know what is that you want of me. But I would not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war."
"Open war is upon you, whether would risk it or not," Aragorn stated strongly, a truism which couldn't be denied.
But Theoden took offense to being undermined, "When last I looked, Theoden, not Aragorn, was king of Rohan."
Gimli's sudden belch broke the tension allowing Gandalf to continue, "Then what is the king's decision?"
…The decision to relocate to Helm's Deep set things in motion, causing the entire household and surrounding village into action in order to leave by morning's first light. As Vezely passed through the Golden Hall, she encountered Eowyn, who was busy going through trunks of items, preparing as everyone else to leave from Edoras.
"You are well armed for a woman," Eowyn called out to Vezely as she passed by. "If you don't mind me asking…Is it true, that Easterling women fight alongside the men?"
Vezely turned toward the shield maiden finding in her eyes a great curiosity, for it was indeed rare to see a woman brandishing weaponry so freely in her land. "Yes, it is true. From childhood, Easterlings are trained to fight. To protect one's home by wielding a sword, it matters not what is in between your legs, but what is in here." She pressed her hand to her heart before looking down into the trunk Eowyn stood by, seeing a sword and acknowledging it as hers. She smiled inside, sensing Eowyn held a hidden desire to prove herself in battle. Vezely picked up the sword and extended it to Eowyn, who grabbed it by the handle. "It's man's world, Eowyn," Vezely continued, "Not because it should be, but because we let them have it."
Eowyn couldn't help but agree with the woman warrior from the East. After sharing a confiding smile, she would then practice its swing and feel its weight again. It's a man's world, Eowyn thought, Not because it should be…
Vezely exited the back of the hall and stood on the terrace overlooking the expanses of land just beginning to be illuminated by the morning sun. But more so, it was the stars that called her. Their presence, all too soon to be hushed by the sun, exuded a calmness she needed even more recently.
Legolas also stood on the terrace, observing her from afar, uncomfortably curious of this Elf from the East whose story of rebirth eluded him.
The journey to Helm's Deep was slow, made ever more difficult by the villagers, young and old, who moved slowly through the rough terrain and rocky, rolling hills surrounding Edoras. Legolas scouted up front, ahead of the line, while Aragorn requested Vezely to scout the back, much to the displeasure of two scouts that Thoedon had already requested go in that direction. Undoubtedly they would be tracked and there was a high possibility of being attacked. Aragorn did not tell Theodon of his reasoning for sending Vezely, whose eyes outmatched all but Legolas's. He would keep Vezely's identity a secret as per Gandalf's request, one which he reminded her again of before he took off to find Eomer and the Rohirrim.
As Vezely rode to the back of the line of villagers and soldiers, Theodon remarked wondering, "I would not expect to be in such company in this age, or any past," referring to their group's Easterling companion. "How is it that you travel with an Easterling?"
Aragorn could sense Theodon's strong distrust of the woman's origins. "She is of the resistance of free men around the Sea of Rhun," Aragorn replied calmly, hoping to not stir any worry.
"Free or not, the people of Rhun cannot be trusted," Theodon declared resolutely; speaking a mantra of his people whose dark past with the inhabitants to the East was not forgotten.
Aragorn shifted in his horse slightly.
"History cannot dictate every obstacle we come across," Eowyn interjected optimistically before Aragorn could reply; having found respect for the woman warrior through their brief conversation just prior. The pale skinned woman walked in large strides alongside her uncle's horse, smiling up at him, which made his concern momentarily melt into a smile back at her. "If we cannot trust those that Gandalf trusts, then hope is truly lost," she added.
Aragorn nodded to the maiden, and then remarked, "She is a skilled warrior and rider, here of her own will and with Gandalf's blessing."
"I do not doubt Gandalf," Theodon replied, looking forward again, "It is yet another twist of the fateful direction this world is heading."
Aragorn could sense the meaning history held for Theodon and his kin, one which Easterlings held a tarnished place and Vezely a demon within it.
Vezely kept her distance from the group, keeping ever on the outskirts, watching the travelers snake across the land, peering with her keen Elf eyes across the stretches they departed from. There, her memories collided into vivid recollections of her past at the helm of a vast army of Balchoth who descended on those hills intent on destroying whoever stood in their path. It was neither the first nor the last battle she fought or fields she pillaged, but the last one to the West of Rhovanion. She was again that black figure on the landscape; a true outsider. Her presence was even more uncanny than her fellow Elf and Dwarf among the mass of Rohan's villagers who have only encountered Easterlings in their stores - as villains, as king slayers.
She had heard of the encampment of Helm's Deep, cut into a mountain side, a strong fortification but one without easy escape. Would war find its way there? She wondered as Gizik galloped her closer to the travelers who began settling into an encampment as the sun turned down.
She carefully led her horse by the reigns through the mass of weary villagers who were sitting in small groups, with some starting fires, and others fetching pots to prepare for their long overdue meal. Vezely felt the brief stares of many eyes as she passed by and whispers of curiosity hit her cloaked ears. She approached Aragorn, Gimli, and Legolas, who had also found a place to rest on the rocky outcropping.
She nodded to the group in greeting, Gizik trailing close behind her. "I will refresh Gizik and return to keep watch on the East overnight," she declared her plan calmly, "So far the lands have been quiet."
"You should also take rest," Aragorn replied politely, as they were at that moment sharing a hot meal of modest stew.
Vezely smiled slightly at the gesture but declined. "I am not weary," she spoke with her eyes remaining forward, hoping not to betray her troubled thoughts. And without another word, she continued on to feed Gizik.
Legolas could sense her unease as she walked off.
"Our people call her Nwalmaer," Legolas spoke to his friends after she had left.
"Tormented one," Aragorn translated the Elvish title.
After nodding he explained, "Sauron's hatred coursed through her, I could see it in her eyes the day she left Mirkwood. For our kind, to have one's light completely overrun…"
"Is unthinkable," Aragorn finished as his words trailed off.
"I would suspect the title still holds," Legolas added with mild concern, not knowing if his non-Elf companions could sense her emotions.
Gimli spoke, stirring the Elf from his thoughts, "Tell me, why would your father simply let her leave?"
"She bargained her way out, her life for another's," Legolas replied after a moment remembering again the day she awoke from her healing sleep; she had taken hostage the healer who had nursed her wounds, pressing a knife against her neck, drawing blood and dismay from the one who hoped to heal her. "I do not know if the same force steadied my hand on my bowstring as urged my father to simply let her go."
"There is still much we do not know," Aragorn added diplomatically, "In time, the situation will make more sense."
Legolas knew this to be true, but his curiosity prompted him to overcome his previous reservations and engage in conversation with the woman. For if he would grow to trust her, he needed to know more about her.
Leaving her horse to feed with the others, Vezely walked to the edge of the encampment which was perched on a cliff above a black valley below. She simply wanted to gaze on the bright stars above.
Moments later, a smooth voice came from behind her, "The stars call to you."
She looked at him momentarily to gauge his desire in conversing with her before slowly returning her eyes above. His intent seemed amicable, so she nonchalantly explained the meaning behind her gaze, "The East has been covered in darkness for so long that I began to forget their alignment."
The prospect of forgetting where the stars sat in the sky was hard to fathom for Legolas, for only an occasional cloudy night could cover their presence. With his eyes also fixed above the horizon, he began retelling the story of the first stars. "It is said the first objects elves laid their eyes upon were the stars, so we continue to gaze at them, looking for guidance, perhaps a reminder of our origins and where we'll return…"
Vezely listened intently to his words as he continued, strangely enchanted by the wisdom of this history that she did not know. He spoke poetic and with meaning, revealing that her simple pleasure in their light was an Elven trait; something more than just her ears, vitality, and long life that connected her to his kin. She then looked upon him with wonder in her eyes, but noticing her gaze, he paused, realizing embarrassingly that he had gotten carried away. Storytelling was a favorite pastime of his, though it had been some time since he had told one. "Forgive me," he blurted instinctively, trying to gauge the emotions in her eyes with his own, "You probably desire to be alone."
As he stepped away, Vezely remarked solemnly but forthrightly, "You should not apologize to me, Legolas, Prince of Mirkwood, for it is I who should apologize for the pain I brought your people."
Legolas stopped and turned to her but did not speak. He looked at her curiously, not expecting what she would say.
"I do not ask forgiveness, for I deserve none," she continued resolute, and then removing her eyes from the moonlit landscape to his, she bared her honesty, "But know I feel remorse."
Legolas could sense a history of suffering behind her strong façade. She was young by Elvish standards though she had experienced much in her few centuries here. He could not help but pity slightly. "You have changed," he spoke quietly after a lengthy silence. "I do not sense the same woman who blood bargained her way out of my kingdom."
Vezely smiled inwardly as the same thoughts passed her mind, but change was a strange concept to grasp in regards to her past. But she feared letting too much of her thoughts seep through to the Elf, who she knew was definitely studying her responses. And not desiring the compliment, she brushed it off, "Your father was far too forgiving."
"I would agree," he replied carefully, hoping not to deter her from speaking comfortably, "Though I do not doubt he saw the possibility of today."
"Such prescience," she scoffed disbelievingly, "Or perhaps foolishness."
"My father is many things, a fool not among them," Legolas defended, trying to keep down his tone and refrain from arguing.
"I would return to Rhun to manage Sauron's alliances, force his tributes, build his army," she listed in explanation, before adding lastly, "And take more innocent lives."
"And now you fight to save them," he added, ambiguously asking a question.
Silence followed for a brief moment as Vezely considered his words, but declining a specific reply, she instead inquired, "Tell me. Do Elves know if the stars will ever lose their light?"
It was not a thought fathomed by many for the stars existed before the Elves and they have since dwelt in their light. "All things come to end," he considered steadily, "Even time, which stars are said to stay until the end of." He wondered if there was reason behind her curiosity in this; could she be referring to whether her own light had diminished. "But until then," he continued looking at the side of her face as she kept it turned from him, "Their light remains, even if behind a veil of darkness."
His last words forced her gaze to his, and she considered his meaning while staring into his deep blue eyes which held equal intensity as her own. But before a response could be gathered and spoken, a man of wide girth and long beard stumbled nearby, burping obscenities while lighting a wooden pipe.
"I retire," Legolas tilted his head down courteously, knowing their words need not have local eavesdroppers. "Perhaps we could continue this conversation another time?"
Vezely simply nodded as an affirmative response, but a small smile unexpectedly found its way to her face as the fair Elf left her side. She felt strangely comforted by having conversed with a former enemy; with one of her own race. And while the fires of Mordor continued to burn over the horizon, the stars' light anchored her gaze away from them.
Legolas was left notably confused by their conversation, for she was quick to annoyance, though he sensed a desire to reserve her feelings above all. But then he recalled the feeling of her wonder-filled eyes on his as he spoke about the stars and it also comforted him; for it left him certain that the light of Eldar had not abandoned her.