***Chapter 12***
**Saffy's POV**
Quiet. The room in which I sat was far too quiet. After the battle when I had arrived at the gates of Minas Tirith with Merry in my arms, I was met by the sight of a distraught Pippin. The Halfling rushed me to the houses of healing, where Merry was quickly taken to a separate room to await the healing from Aragorn. Now that the hobbit had been heavily dosed with Athelas, all that was left to do was wait. So here I sat, which Pippin at my side, waiting for our hobbit friend to leave the darkness behind and rejoin us in the world.
The desire to move finally overwhelming me, I moved from my chair to sit on the side of Merry's bed and began to wipe the sweat from his damp forehead with a cloth. I continued to dab at his forehead absently for a few minutes, before I heard the soft sound of a sob from behind me. Looking back, I saw that Pippin had a couple tears running down his dirty face.
"Pippin," I began, my voice coming softly out. "why do you weep?"
"It's my fault." He sobbed out, the words catching in his throat. "If I had been with him, maybe he would be alright now."
Setting the cloth down on the bedside table, I knelt before Pippin in his chair. Gently, I wiped the tears from his face, in an attempt to soothe him.
"Do you regret saving Faramir?" I questioned, keeping my voice gentle.
"Never." He responded without pause.
"We all have our destinies, Pippin. Yours was to gaze into the palantir and come to Minas Tirith, so that you could do some good here. Would you regret that? For what may have come to pass?"
He shook his head, yet his eyes remained on Merry. I could understand his guilt, but to have stayed by Merry's side the war would have been lost. As would many innocents' lives.
"Have faith in Aragorn's knowledge. He would never leave Merry had he not done his utmost best to save him." I finished, before gently pressing a kiss to Pippin's brow.
With those words, silence once again dominated the room and I moved back to the bed. I pressed the cloth to Merry's head once more, hoping that soon he would break this fever. We sat there, only the sounds of breathing filling the room, hour after hour.
Suddenly, the door swung open and Nimiwen stood in the entryway. Her eyes quickly found my face; there was a sense of haste filling her eyes.
"Aragorn and Gandalf have requested your presence for a council." She informed me, stepping slightly back from the door.
"Pip, will you be alright staying here with Merry?" I asked, glancing away from Nimiwen.
"Yeah, tell me what happens?" Pippin asked.
I nodded my head before turning back to Merry and tightly tucking the blankets around him, hoping that maybe that would help sweat out the fever. Then I pressed a kiss to his forehead and rose from the bed to follow Nimiwen to the council.
**Deirdre's POV**
All around me were orcs, weapons drawn and snarling. I simply smirked, adoring the weight of my swords in my hands. That seemed to signal the attack, as suddenly they began tightening the circle, beginning to strike at me. I responded with a cold laugh, bringing my blade up to block the attack and the other smashing the flat against the side of an orcs face. I sent a kick into another orc's stomach knocking it backwards onto the ground. There was the sound of a ringing blade swiping through the air, which I barely managed to block. Resulting, in a leg swipe knocking the orc into it's neighbor. As I fought, I let the bloodlust take over me filling my attacks with greater strength as the group of orcs fell to the ground with sickening thuds, squishy liquid sounds. The sound of the ringing swords fell away from my ears even though my blades still flashed through the air meeting the crude orcish weapons.
As the last orc dropped to the ground, dark blood seeping onto the floor in a puddle, the sound of clapping filled my ears. I glanced over to the source seeing Morwen politely applauding my feat. A chill spread over my body as I began moving toward her, the light sweat I had worked up during the battle was cooling on my flesh. Only a bright heat surging at the hollow of my throat throbbed warm like blood.
"Nicely done, my lady." Morwen commented, her voice carrying the polite tone with a slight undertone of amusement. I knew that stemmed from the assortment of dead orcs arranged in the circle I had slain them in.
"Thank you, Morwen." I returned. "Though I fear now I need a bath."
"Of course, my lady. I will have it drawn right away." She bowed her head before exiting the practice arena.
I walked over to a table near to the wall, where clothes awaited me, to clean the black blood from my blades. Even with my head bent in the task, I could feel the moment that eyes fell upon my figure. Turning, there stood the mouth a snarl present on his maw.
"The Nazgul riders have returned with news from Minas Tirith." His words were short, anger surging behind them. "Their leader fell on the fields of Pellenor."
"Ah yes, the Witch King of Angmar taken down by a warrior maiden." I mused aloud.
"He was one of our greatest generals." The mouth argued, bitterness filling his tone.
"Which was why his death would give them the courage to take on our forces here where we have the advantage." I replied, turning away from him once more to continue cleaning my blades.
His footsteps drew near as he approached. His voice was soft, but close enough that his breath fouled the air with it's stench.
"If this is an attempt to destroy our forces from within and aid the enemy. Know that you will not succeed. And when you fail, you will beg for forgiveness as you are torn limb from limb by the Nazgul beasts." His words rang clear yet there was an undercurrent to his voice, hinting at his worry that he was just as disposable.
I spun immediately, bringing the freshly cleaned blade to his throat. The razor sharp edge barely not touching the pale skin at his throat.
"Remember your place, Captain. You are simply a messenger, the mouth to be spoken from. Remember you are not irreplaceable." The words came out coldly and calmly from my lips.
The smile which nearly always rested upon his giant mouth fell, leaving not even his snarl behind. When he did not show any other response, I pressed to the blade so that he could feel the cold of the blade forcing against soft flesh. This earned me a slight nod, so I withdrew the blade and turned back to the table. Replacing the blades to their sheathes; I turned back to find that the mouth had left the training grounds already. A small smile played upon the corners of my mouth before I swept from the room in search of my bath.
**End Chapter**
So, I know I'm absolutely awful about updating. Life has seriously gotten really hectic but I am going to try to update more regularly than every couple of months. So if you would forgive me once more and leave a review, it would make me really happy.