Chapter 7: Good-Bye

Mornings were my least Favorite part of this new life that I had been thrown into and kept captive in. For every morning that I opened my eyes and found the hard, cold stone walls surrounding me, and the uncomfortable bed below me, was like a nightmare being lived over, and over again. I would haul myself out of bed and change into another one of those beautiful, yet annoying dresses, then head out into the Great Hall. But the thing that scared me the most was the fact that I began to remember less and less of my old life every day. People's names and the people themselves seemed like a distant, faded memory, tormenting my mind. I even found, one rainy and cold morning, that I couldn't remember my own mother's name.

"Theodred," I said softly, coming up behind him, "I can't remember her name." Tears welled up in my eyes and I had trouble breathing in the harsh, cold air that swirled around me in large gusts of ferocious power. The hem of my dress was swept up above my ankles and a sharp tingle went up through my legs as the icy wind met my skin.

"Maddy," he answered, not turning, "I cannot help you. Your memory is fading, and I cannot stop it." He turned to me then, and I could see sadness in his eyes, and his mouth was pulled into a tight frown. I gave him a questioning look and he looked down at the ground, his voice, soft and calm.

"I must leave," He said finally, raising his head, "Orcs have now swarmed all over Rohan and my people are no longer safe. I must ride out with my men and defend my people as best as I can. My cousin will also be leaving, taking a separate troop with him. You do remember Eowyn's brother, do you not?" I nodded, a know welling up in my throat. "Good," he continued, turning again to look out onto the surrounding hills, "Then I leave you here with Eowyn. I'm afraid the Hall will be fairly empty, so there will be no more feasting, which I'm sure you're happy to hear, and neither you, nor Eowyn will leave the city, understood?"

"You sound like my father." I answered, unmoving.

"Maddy, this isn't the time-"

"What do you mean? Do you think that I am not as worried as you? Believe me, I understand perfectly well what you're trying to say. You're going to leave to fend off the orcs. You're going to leave me here to like die of boredom! Theodred, please!"

"Maddy, I have made my decision. I'm sorry. This is my land!" he said desperately, motioning out over the hills with his hands, "I have to defend it! And with my father….with my father not well I am the one my people depend on! I have to go, Maddy, if you'd just listen!"

"You're the one that doesn't understand! When I was six, my father left for work one morning saying , 'I can't play with you, I have to go', That same afternoon, he was shot to death by a drug dealer in the middle of a gas station! He left me and my mom all alone! I just…I just don't want it to happen again!" Tears were pouring out of my eyes now, and my hair had blown way out of proportion.

"Maddy…"

"No, go on your stupid quest. See if I give a damn. I'll stay here, fine, and so will Eowyn I can assure you. Just don't expect me to welcome you with open arms if you do ever come back!" I turned and stormed into the Great Hall, turning down a long hallway that led to Eowyn's chambers. I found her sitting on top of a large chest, sewing a piece of dark blue fabric.

"Maddy!" she exclaimed, standing up, "I didn't think you'd be awake yet. What's wrong?"

"Theodred is leaving," I said, my voice was harsh and low, "So is your brother."

She nodded sadly and turned back to her sewing, sitting back down on the bench.

"Yes, I know." And with that, I spun around and left the room, fresh tears breaking out and sliding down my face. I could hear Eowyn calling after me, but I kept going. No one could even begin to understand what I was going through.

Three weeks after Theodred had departed, I sat in the Great Hall with Beinion on a long bench. He had a piece of parchment laying in front of him on the table, and a pencil I had found in my backpack in his hand. He stared down at the paper determinedly, studying every inch of it.

"Maddy?" he asked, his voice sounding frustrated, "I don't know where to start!"

"Hmm…" I said, taking the pencil from him and drawing a circle in the middle of the page, "Let's put the head here…you see where I put the circle? Now put two triangles on the top of the head like this, and another circle in the middle of the first circle." He complied and looked up at me, silently asking for reassurance.

"You're doing great!" I said, and he beamed at me. "Okay, now you've drawn the ears, the head, and the nose. Let's give it some eyes. There, like that, on either side of the nose, but a little higher, there you go! Now, let's give it some fur. Make the edges shaggy. Good, like that, and do you want it to be a lion, or a tiger?"

"A lion!" he said happily, showing his teeth and growling.

"Good choice," I said and added a long shaggy mane around the lion's face in the middle of the paper, "Now all you need to do is write your name here at the bottom of the page, like we practiced yesterday."

"Can I go get my parchment with my name written on it to look at?" He asked and I nodded. He hurriedly got off the bench and ran out of the room as fast as he could. I sighed and looked down at the picture, smiling at how much he'd learned.

"Smart boy, isn't he?" Said a snake-like voice and I turned to see Wrima Wormtongue standing about seven feet away from me.

"What brings you here?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"Don't be hostile, now. I just came to ask you a favor."

"Well then ask it, Worm, before I lose my patience."

"I only ask that you would let me teach the other boy. Hallath, is that his name?"

"I wouldn't let you hand him a piece of parchment, much less teach him anything!"

"Why, you are not his mother."

"I'm the only mother figure he has! And for your information, he's been getting lessons from Triory, the stable hand. He can already write as good as any twelve year-old boy should!" Wrima laughed and folded his arms.

"You are very insensible, woman." He said and stared at me.

"Leave," I said, gritting my teeth, "And we will not be having this discussion again!" He turned and exited the room. I sat down on the bench again and rested my head in my hands, breathing hard.

"Maddy?" asked a small voice from my side, "I found it."

"Good." I sat and picked him up and set him on the bench next to me. "Let's finish this, shall we?" He picked up the pencil and began to write his name on the page, right below the lion face. I watched him write it, his hand moving uncertainly, holding the pencil with a shaky hand. When he finished, he held it up for me to see and I clapped for him and smiled.

"Great job! Tomorrow we can draw a horse, okay?" I said.

"Okay," he agreed, "But can I go show it to Eowyn? Please?"

"Go ahead." I said and he skipped out of the room happily. I gathered up the rest of the parchment and stuffed it into my backpack along with the pencil and a large white eraser. I swung it over my shoulder and headed to my room. Once in my room, I put my backpack by my bed and then opened the large chest at the foot of my bed and took out a long black hooded cloak from the bottom of the chest. I put it around my shoulders and headed out of my room. I was careful not to meet anyone in the hallway, and soon I was outside and heading down the large stone stairs. I pulled the hood over my head and walked quickly down the grassy slope and turned left into the stables.

I walked down the row of stalls towards the large barn at the other end. It was quiet in the stalls, since only twenty horses were left and through the walls you could hear the wind raging outside. I breathed in the horse-scented air and walked a little faster. At the fourth-to-last empty stall I heard sniffling and walked by, nothing quite registering in my brain. Suddenly, I realized that someone was crying in the stall and turned sharply to go back, but ended up smashing face fist into a large wooden beam, falling backwards onto my butt.

"Oh, shit! That hurt! UGH! Why do these things always happen to me?" I stood up and walked into the stall, wincing at the pain in my forhead.

"Who's there?" came a little voice from the far end of the stall.

"Hallath?" I asked, suddenly recognizing his voice.

"Maddy?" He asked, sounding just as bewildered as I was. I saw him lift his head and stare at me through tear-streaked eyes. I came over and sat down beside him.

"What's wrong?" I asked, putting my arm around his shoulders.

"Nothing." He said stubbornly.

"Sure," I said back, "then why are you sitting alone in an abandoned horse stall, crying?"

"Because…you'll laugh!" He said and pulled away from me.

"Hallath, I will not laugh, I promise."

"Cross you heart?"

"Cross my heart."

"I miss my mom and dad. I mean, you're great and all, but you can't replace them. I just…I want them back!" New tears burst fresh from his eyes and I hugged him close, rocking him gently.

"I miss mine, too. The only difference is, you can remember your mothers name."

"So," he said, hiccupping, "That won't bring her back!"

"I know, but you have to move past this. I thought you had gotten over your grief a long time ago." He looked up at me, and I immediately wished I could take back those words, just realizing how mean they had sounded.

"Beinion did, I didn't! Beinion likes you as his mom, he's already forgotten how Mother used to hold him in her arms and sing him to sleep! Or how Papa used to take us both riding! It's like he doesn't care about them anymore!"

"Hallath," I said, hurt from his words, "I'm not trying to replace your mom and dad," I paused, unsure of my own feelings. There were so many things I needed to tell him, yet so little could I think of at this moment.

"I guess I just wanted to be close to you guys because I knew you knew how I felt. I've lost every person I ever cared about, except you and Beinion. You can't imagine how much you both mean to me. I have only you two now that Theodred's gone….and Eowyn and I have almost nothing in common. You guys are like my little brothers, and I'll always be here for you." I finished and breathed in deeply, feeling tears tugging at my own eyes.

"Really?" he asked, and I looked into his eyes, "I want you to be my big sister…don't be mad."

"I'm not mad, just…I don't know."

"Sad?"

"Yeah. I miss my home so much," tears poured from my eyes now, and my breathing came in rasps, "I don't know why I'm here! It's like I'm being punished or something!"

"There's a reason," He said, wiping his nose on his sleeve, "there's always a reason."

"I just wish I could go home!" I said with difficulty, and tried to wipe the tears off my face with my hand.

"Don't go! Maddy don't go, please!" cried out a little voice and Beinion came running from the door of the stall and into my arms. "I don't want you to leave us too!"

"Maddy, please stay?" asked Beinion, who hugged me too.

"I'm not going anywhere." I said, wrapping them both in my arms and, with the storm raging outside, we all cried there together, in that abandoned stall, and didn't go back till the sun had set, and the stable hands had left for the night. In my heart, I didn't want to leave. Not now when these two boys needed me so much. And, in the back of mind, a little voice told me that I wouldn't be going home anytime soon, anyway.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: I hope you guys liked it! Oh, and I am so sorry for not updating sooner, and if you must, blame it on my stupid computer. I pray that you won't have to wait so long for the next chapter. Bye-Bye for now!

Please, Please, Please Read and Review! Oh, and I now accept anonymous reviews!