Chapter 11

Banners of the White Hand flew down from the battlements of Helm s Deep. The Hornburg had become overrun with the Uruk-Hai which meant that Theoden and all the soldiers were trapped in the Hall of the Keep.

"The fortress is taken." The King stated solemnly. "It is over."

Aragorn looked up at the King's words and continued to carry a table with Legolas to shore up the door of the hall. "You said this fortress would never fall while your men defend it!" He stated. "They still defend it! They have died defending it!"

As they placed the table down, Legolas walked over towards Adrianna who was sitting alone on the floor beside a large stone wall. She lifted her helmet and allowed her chestnut tresses to fall onto and over her shoulders. The delicate hair clip gifted to her by the Lady Galadriel hung from a few loose strands of hair, so the faye unclipped it and held it in her hands. She looked up upon feeling someone walking towards her, and upon seeing Legolas, she smiled up at him as he sat on the ground beside her.

"Is there no other way for the women and children to get out of the caves?" Aragorn asked. Upon receiving no reply from the King, he turned to the guards, "Is there no other way?" He asked.

"There is one passage." A guard stated. "It leads into the mountains. But they will not get far. The Uruk-Hai are too many."

"Send word for the women and children to make for the mountain pass." Aragorn suggested, "And barricade the entrance."

"So much death." Theoden said, "What can men do against such reckless hate?"

Aragorn paused for a second before speaking, "Ride out with me." He began, "Ride out and meet them."

A light of determination shone in the King's eyes when he spoke. "For death and glory."

"For Rohan." Aragorn stated, "For your people."

"The sun is rising." Gimli stated suddenly.

Legolas noticed light twinkling in Adrianna's emerald eyes as her face broke out into a smile. "Yes!" She looked towards Aragorn who was staring at the window; sunlight streaming through. "Gandalf told us to look for his coming at first light on the fifth day!" Adrianna exclaimed, getting onto her feet and running towards the window. "At dawn, look to the East!"

"Yes." Theoden stated with hope. "Yes! The horn of Helm Hammerhand shall sound in the deep one last time!"

"Yes!" Gimli ran up the steps towards where the horn of Helm Hammerhand was kept.

"Let this be the hour when we draw swords together." The King began. "Fell deeds awake. Now for wrath! Now for ruin! And a red dawn!" He mounted his stallion then and put on his silver helmet. The sound of a horn rumbling throughout Helm's Deep gave him pride and confidence as the dwarf blew it. "Forth Eorlingas!"

Theoden lead the charge out of the keep into the Hornburg, slashing away at the Uruk-Hai as he went. Without pause, he stormed out of the gate with his army right behind him and down the Causeway, right into the column of waiting Uruk-Hai.

In the midst of battle, Aragorn looked towards the East to see a white rider rearing against the rising sun. "Gandalf." He breathed.

"Theoden king stands alone." Came the bellowing voice of the wizard.

A lone rider moved to stand beside Gandalf. "Not alone." Adrianna blushed upon realising that he was the brave warrior who had rescued her from the band of Uruk-Hai when she had been trapped in the lantern prison. She gripped tighter onto the back of Aragorn's cloak when an army of horses moved up to stand beside the brave man. He raised his hand, "Rohirrim!"

"Eomer!" The King called.

"To the king!" Eomer called out to his army.

The Rohirrim and the White Rider charged down the slope towards the Uruk-Hai army, who turned to face the challenge, bearing their spears down towards the riders. As the riders drew closer and closer, the sun rose behind them which momentarily blinded the Uruk-Hai. To shield their eyes, they raised their hands (and spears), and in that second, the riders crashed right into the Uruk's to engage them in battle.

"There won't be any left by the time we get there!" Gimli grumbled, attempting to make his horse move in the direction of the army.

Theoden and the cavalry remained still and watched on as the riders slaughtered the Uruk-Hai, and when the last of the Uruk's were defeated, the Rohirrim and the White Rider met with the King in the centre of the battlefield.

"Where's Legolas?" Adrianna asked aloud, looking around the crowd of men on horses.

"Aren't you going to greet me first?" Gandalf asked, riding upon Shadowfax beside the faye and Ranger.

The faye blushed, but grinned at the old wizard all the same, "Gandalf!" She cried, forming into her fairy size to fly towards him and rest upon his shoulder; placing a small kiss upon his cheek in greeting. "I missed you." She stated.

Gandalf smiled, "And I you, my dear." He stated before turning to Aragorn, "O' don't look so glum, Aragorn! I missed you aswell."

The Ranger rolled his eyes, "The battle is won." He stated, "I was worried you weren't going to show, old man."

"Old ma-" Gandalf held a hand to his chest. "Come, let us find Legolas and Gimli. For we must discuss our travels with them to the Forest of Isenguard."

Adrianna flew from Gandalf's shoulder into the air above the heads of the soldiers so that she could look for Gimli and Legolas. Giving up before she had even started, the Princess had decided to call for the elf because there would be no doubt he would hear her. "Legolas!" She called. The raven haired faye waited patiently for a few seconds before turning back to Gandalf. Upon finding both the White Wizard and the Ranger absent from the places that they both were once, Adrianna began to panic. She didn't know who anyone was or where her friends were!

She turned back and fourth on the spot before deciding to fly around and find her friends.

The Princess darted around the gathered soldiers to look for her friends. Accidentally, she flew into the arm of one of the soldiers, and blushed upon finding Eomer. He smiled down at her, "Well, if it isn't that little fairy." He grinned, turning in his saddle to face her.

"I'm not a fairy!" She cried out, quickly forming into her elleth size to prove her point.

The soldier dismounted his brown horse and removed his helmet. He was a whole head taller than the faye, and he took her hand in his and bowed to her; brushing a light kiss across her knuckles. Adrianna almost swooned at his gentlemanly manners. "Eomer, nephew of King Theoden of the Rohirrim."

Adrianna smiled and curtseyed, "Adrianna, daughter of King Adrias of the Glade of Tarasara. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Eomer straightened up, the smile still on his face, "The pleasure's all mine, Princess." Eomer stated, he took the reins of his horse and offered the faye his hand, "May I lead you back inside Helms Deep?"

Adrianna took his arm and mounted the brown mare. Eomer climbed on behind her and they led the throng of riders back into the Deep. As soon as they were past the gates, all the riders dismounted and took their horses into the stables for a rub-down, food, water and rest before making their way up towards the main Hall to rest before starting their journey's again the next day.

Eomer helped the Princess dismount from the horse and led her up the stairs to the main Hall where King Theoden, Gandalf and Aragorn were already with the other soldiers. "I regret to tell you that I must take my leave, my Lady." Eomer stated, bowing his head to the faye.

Adrianna bowed her head back to him politely, "Thank you for escorting me to the Hall, my Lord."

After brushing his lips across her knuckles one more time, Eomer turned on his heel and left the Hall. Adrianna blushed slightly upon spotting Legolas and Gimli standing just inside the door, watching her. She smiled and skipped over towards them, throwing her arms around them both, "Don't pout!" She stated, "You're both still my favourites."

"I'm glad." Legolas replied, placing his hand lightly on the small of her back.

Gimli was most flattered, "And if you were to have a favourite of favourites?"

"Then it would definitely be you." Adrianna replied. Her smile was short lived, however, when Eowyn breezed into the room and caught the eye of the dwarf. "But then again..."

"I must excuse myself," The dwarf began. "I must tell that fair maiden of my bravery and courage in the battle!" As the dwarf tottered off to follow Eowyn, Adrianna turned to face Legolas.

"Let us go and find Aragorn and Gandalf." Legolas suggested, a glimmer in his eye. Adrianna nodded her reply and was about to turn around when the elf reached up a hand to gently touch her left temple. "You hit your head during the battle. I hope you are alright now?"

The faye smiled reassuringly at the elf, "Of course I am." She replied, "Thank you, but you do not need to be so concerned."

Before they could move to find Aragorn and Gandalf, the Ranger and the Wizard had found them. "Everyone is thinking of either heading home or following us to Isenguard." Gandalf explained.

"I'll stay by your sides." Legolas stated.

"I will aswell." Adrianna glanced at her brother through the crowd of people. The Galadhrim soldiers would be making their way back to Lothlorien, and the Princess was sure the faye warriors were going to go back to the Glade of Tarasara.

The chestnut haired faye excused herself from the company of Aragorn, Legolas and Gandalf as she made her way towards her brother. "Tobias?" She asked, tapping him on his shoulder to get his attention from one of the elves of Lorien. "Can I speak with you?"

"Of course, Addie." He began, Adrianna opened her mouth to reply when the Prince beat her too it. "Fathers' going to be so happy to see you again."

The chestnut haired faye frowned, "What? He's here!"

Tobias shook his head and placed a hand on her shoulder, "You're coming home. Fathers' missed you. Well, I may have to say I did aswell but," He shook his head. "Now that the warriors are here, you won't have to travel back by yourself. Now-"

"-Tobias!" Adrianna snapped, waiting for the people near her to stop listening to their conversation and go back to whatever they were doing. "I'm not coming home."

The Prince looked at her in mock confusion, "Of course you are. If I'd have known you were to be going on a perilous journey then I wouldn't have let you take my place at the Council." He explained. "If you think I'm letting you travel on with these men then you've got another thing coming."

"I'm staying." She glared at him, "The Fellowship made promises, me included." She stated.

"I thought there were ten of you." He growled.

"I'm staying." The chestnut haired Princess crossed her arms to signify that her decision was final.

Tobias took a step closer towards her, "You're coming home. Adrianna, do you understand how worried father has been?"

"I do understand." She snapped, "Why won't you trust me enough to let me go?"

"Because you'll get yourself killed!"

"No I won't!" She retorted, "I've survived this long-"

Tobias rolled his eyes and gritted his teeth, his patience wearing thin. "As the Prince, I command you to go and get your belongings - you're coming home!"

"As the Princess, and fathers favourite, I don't take orders from you."

"You're not his favourite!"

"Of course, I am!" Adrianna smirked, "Do you really think he would give me his sword if I wasn't?" The Prince's jaw gaped as he reached for the weapon hanging at his sisters' side, "Don't touch it." The chestnut haired female scolded, turning her hip away from him, "I don't want your fingertips printing on the mirrored beauty of the steel."

Tobias growled and raised his voice, "Give me that sword!"

"No! It's mine."

"But you know it's supposed to be mine!"

"And I have it now."

Tobias growled, his fists clenching at his sides and he visibly shook with his anger, "If you don't give me that sword and get on that horse to come home, I will claim mothers' necklace."

She looked appalled, "You can't do that!"

"I can and I will!"

"That's not fair!"

The argument continued on. Aragorn, Legolas, Gandalf and even Gimli watched on with a mixture of embarrassment and amusement, did the Royal faye's not realise that their shouting had attracted the attention of the entire Hall?

Adrianna unbuckled her belt and shoved the sheath into the Princes' chest, "Take it then!" She yelled, "I don't care. Take it - I never want to talk to you again!" The chestnut haired faye then turned on her heel and stormed out of the Hall.

"Thank you, Princess!" Tobias called, "Now go and collect your belongings - we'll be leaving shortly!"

"I'm not leaving!" Adrianna screamed through the gap in the door. Before the Prince could reply, the chestnut haired faye slammed the door behind her with a resounding bang, causing all the inhabitants inside of the Hall to wince.

Adrianna stormed down the corridor, a few people stood around and watched her pass them as they had more than likely heard the argument. No one dared talk to her, especially one of her friends. She did not want to be held accountable for biting their heads off.

"Ad-"

"-Leave me alone!" She growled, continuing her rampage throughout the castle walls.

"Where are you going?"

"Somewhere." She replied angrily. "Where I can't be found."

"Where you can calm down."

"I don't need-" She stopped herself upon realising who she was speaking too. It was Eomer. She blushed, but continued on as if she hadn't been interrupted. "I don't need calming down." She aimed to scold...but it came out as a whisper - something she was embarrassed about. "I would just like to be alone."

Eomer nodded his head in acceptance, "Shall I inform your Fellowship friends that you aren't a threat to the people?"

The chestnut haired faye smiled shamefully, "That would be very kind, thank you." She turned around and continued to walk down the corridor. Finally, she walked past the archery range towards the small stream. She changed into her fairy form before flying up towards the branches of the willow tree. She settled down before changing back into her elleth-like size, her legs dangling either side of the branch - her feet covered by the long green cloak of the faye warriors.

She rested her head against the bark of the tree and took a deep breath of fresh air. The gentle breeze rustled the long vines of the tree, scattering a few leaves across the top of the water below her. The wind playfully toyed with her chestnut hair, and when the faye opened her emerald eyes, she wasn't at all surprised to see that Aragorn had followed her.

"Ade?" He called up.

The faye closed her eyes, "I want to be by myself, Aragorn." She said pleadingly. He ignored her request and began to climb up the branches of the tree, "Don't come up!" She scolded. "You'll fall and hurt yourself!" When the Ranger continued to climb, she stood up and placed her hands on her hips. "Aragorn!" The tone of her voice caused the dark haired man to stop where he was and look up sheepishly. "I'll come down, just...please don't climb up anymore."

He sat on the second lowest branch and waited for her to fly down to him before he began to speak, "Ade...the entire Hall heard."

The faye closed her eyes, her cheeks tinged pink with embarrassment. "He shouldn't tell me what to do!" She suddenly exclaimed. "I'm not going home. I refuse." The faye crossed her arms. "He can't make me."

Aragorn looked carefully at the faye, "You can only do what you want, Ade." He stated. "I can understand why he wants you to go home; you're his younger sister. He doesn't want anything to happen to you."

"But he should know that I can take care of myself!" She protested. "We had a battle not that long ago, incase that didn't cross his mind." Adrianna sighed, "Aragorn...I don't want to go home. I miss my father, truly I do...but I want to follow the Fellowship. I have to make sure nothing happens to anyone, and I can't protect the people I've grown to love if I'm back home."

"There's only one thing you can do, Ade." Aragorn stated, "And that's follow your heart."

The chestnut haired faye thought back over her time spent with the Fellowship the past few weeks. How she had enjoyed every moment (except losing Gandalf and Boromir, then being parted with the hobbits). She had felt safe being with Legolas, Gimli and Aragorn. Put her trust in them and fought to protect them. Of course Gimli did anger her at times - but Legolas told her that dwarves didn't think of anyone's feelings. The faye then thought of the elf; how he showed care for her, sat with her when she was alone, calmed her when she was angry...watched the stars with her.

"My heart lies with the Fellowship." She replied distantly.

Aragorn nodded his head and smiled, "There's your choice." He stated, beginning to climb down from the tree. "Are you coming back inside?" He asked as soon as his feet touched the ground.

The faye shook her head, "No." She replied, "I'm going to wait until my brother leaves."

Aragorn sighed, but it was her choice on what she wanted to do. He bid her a quick goodbye before leaving her to her thoughts. The Ranger found Legolas at the archery range on his way back, and joined the elf Prince for a quick practice. Not to long afterwards, the faye Prince and a couple of his warriors were seen walking towards them.

"Aragorn!" Tobias called, breaking into a jog once he had spotted the the Ranger. "Have you seen Adrianna?"

Aragorn paused, he did not know whether or not the Princess would want to speak with the Prince right at that moment. He could sense another argument would happen. But Tobias was Adrianna's brother, and he could not keep her whereabouts from him. "She's in the tree." He stated, pointing towards the willow overhanging the water.

"Thank you." The Prince bowed his head in gratitude before walking off again.

Legolas and Aragorn continued their target practice and the faye warriors joined them, and it wasn't long until raised voices reached their ears. "Let's settle this!" Tobias shouted as he followed behind his sister towards the archery range. "Three arrows each, the best aim wins. If you beat me you can stay, if not then you're coming home!"

"Deal!" The Princess cried, grabbing her bow from her back.

Tobias gestured towards the target, "Ladies first."

The Princess notched her first arrow into the string and took careful aim, the tip pointing towards the target. After a long moment, the arrow was released and struck just shy of centre target. The Prince walked towards the target and plucked the arrow from the hay before bringing it back towards her. "That was a practice." He stated, not looking her in the eye. He notched an arrow into his own bow, taking a few seconds to aim before releasing the feathered tip and striking the target right in the centre.

Adrianna did the same, with the same result as her practice.

Tobias complemented her aim before taking his turn once again, and upon receiving the same result as his first; turned to the Princess with a cocky grin. "Take your time." He stated, watching her concentrate as much as she could. "All the time in the world."

The chestnut haired faye's eye twitched, and she span round to face her brother, "Stop distracting me!" She yelled, accidentally releasing her hold on the arrow and firing it straight into the Princes' foot. Her hand immediately flew to her mouth as Tobias stumbled backwards with a yelp. "Tobias, I'm so sorry!"

He held up a finger to silence her, his mouth set in a hard line to contain his emotions. He then bent down and pulled the arrow from his big toe with a grunt. "You can stay here." He stated, bumping his shoulder into hers as he limped past. "I don't want you to slaughter me on my way home! Tralden, Livon, get the warriors together. We're leaving."

A/N: This quick update is for Valentine's Day. There is a sentence in here which informs the reader that Adrianna is beginning to have feelings for Legolas. It's very subtle, but it is a double meaning sentence. I didn't mean for it to appear, but I happened to spot it when re-reading the chapter. It's quite noticeable, yet some of you may not see it as I have.

Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed this chapter :) I certainly enjoyed writing it! It allowed me to tamper with the tempers of faye siblings, and I had much enjoyment re-reading that aswell!

Thank you to everyone who has reviewed, alerted and favourited, et cetera...Please drop a review, and I'll try and post the next chapter over the weekend :) xx