It was early morning after the feast but sleep could not find some of them. Something was lurking and it would not let her rest. Amdiriel had risen, grabbed her cloak, and walked out of the Hall once again to try to find a sense of peace. Something was wrong, and she could feel it. She guessed it was not only her because Legolas soon joined her. His hood rested upon his head like hers did as she turned to him.
"Can not sleep?" she asked him. The elf shook his head "There is something that is going on, a shadow grows, you feel it as I do?" he asked. Amdiriel nodded her head as they stared off into the East. "I am happy for you." Legolas said to her after a moment. "You and Aragorn. I saw that kiss before we rode out of the Hornburg." he explained when he saw her questioning gaze. "I always knew you would do it. I am truly happy for you, you deserve it." he told her. Amdiriel gave him a smile. "Thanks for all make sure I never gave up." she replied. Amdiriel then gave Legolas a hug, When they pulled away they went back to looking into East. A few minutes past when Aragorn then came up next to them.
"The stars are veiled." Amdiriel told him. "Can't sleep?" Aragorn asked, Amdiriel nodded her head. "Something stirs in the East." she replied. "A sleepless malice." Legolas add causing him and Amdiriel to glance at each other. "The eye of the enemy is moving." Legolas told them. As the seconds went by they could feel the shadow grow and in the pit of Amdiriel's stomach worry and fear grew. Aragorn looked to the two as he too felt the shadow grow. Legolas turned to them "He is here!" he said the worry evident in his voice. "The Palantir." Aragorn told them. Amdiriel gasped before they ran back inside, Amdiriel leading them through the Hall to the room where she knew the men were staying.
She barged through the door "No!" she yelled as she looked down to see Pippin on his back, thrashing his mouth open as if silently screaming and the Palantir in his hand but only this time flames surrounded the sphere. Amdiriel without hesitation or thought grabbed the Palantir from Pippin's hands, taking it in her own. As soon as she grabbed her knees buckled and her eyes closed shut as she felt the amount of darkness enter her, her head began to hurt and her heart began to pound in her chest. "Amdi!" Aragorn called out as she fell back into his and Legolas's arms but she heard nothing just the sound of loud screaming. "You have failed!" said a deep voice in her head but it all ended when she slipped to the ground causing the sphere to roll from her hands into the corner of the room.
"Aahh!" Merry says as he jumps out of the way, Gandalf runs past him with a blanket in his hand. Gandalf throws it and covers the evil device, turning back to the others "Fool of a Took!" he scolded but stopped when he saw the young hobbit laying on his back motionless, Merry calling out his cousin's name. "No." he whispered and then glanced over to Amdiriel who was on her side eyes still shut taking deep breaths with Aragorn and Legolas crouching over her.
"Amdi." Aragorn whispered as Legolas silently removed the dagger at the woman's side. Aragorn looked at him confused but the elf knew that it would be the first thing she would reach for depending on what she saw and it was better to be safe than sorry. Their attention immediately turned downward as Amdireil reached for he dagger just to find that it wasn't there but before she could reach for her hidden one Aragorn grabbed her hand. "It's alright. You're safe." he told her. "Aragorn." she said as she looked up at him and then to Legolas who gave her a small smile. Amdiriel took in a breath of relief but then her eyes grew with worry "Pippin?" she asked and tried to scramble to her feet. The two then helped her to her feet and walk over to Gandalf who had just asked the sacred hobbit what he had seen.
"A tree, there was a white tree in a courtyard of stone. It was dead. The city was burning." Pippin told him. " Minas Tirith? Is that what you saw?" Gandalf questioned. Amdiriel could feel her heart sink for she had seen the same, her home had been consumed by the flames of Mordor.
" I saw...I saw him! I could hear his voice in my head." said Pippin scared as all the eyes widen at his words. "And what did you tell him? Speak!" Gandalf said impatiently causing Pippin to flitch but he continued to speak "He asked me my name. I didn't answer. He hurt me." "What did you tell him about Frodo and the Ring?" Gandalf asked. The hobbit shook his head. "Nothing. I said nothing." he confessed. Gandalf looked in Pippin's eyes and saw nothing but honesty. With the nod of his head, he stood to his feet. The wizard then looked to Amdiriel who already knew his question so she shook her head. "No, he did not say anything." she told him. "No, but he knows you are here and that is enough." said the wizard before turning to the others "Get what rest you can." he said before turning to leave, where to no one knew but Amdiriel had figured he had gone to smoke.
Merry and Gimli then helped Pippin get settled back onto his bed while Legolas and Aragorn turned to Amdiriel. Legolas handed Amdiriel back her dagger but when she grabbed it the two could see the shake in her hand "Are you alright?" Aragorn asked. Amdiriel did not dare look into Aragorn's eyes not after what she saw so she just shook her head and left the room without another word. They did not know what Sauron had shown her but they knew it was bad.
Amdiriel found herself sitting on the window of her room as she tried to rid the memories of what she saw from her mind. Amdiriel pulled out her dagger, ready to defend herself at the sound of the floor creaking but finding the man she loved opening the door. "It's just me, you didn't answer when I knocked." he told her as he closed the door. "I am sorry. I didn't hear you. My mind is elsewhere." she explained as she put away her knife. "I understand." Aragorn said as he sat in front of Amdiriel who kept looking out the window. "Hey." he said and placed his hand on her knee. "I know you said you saw nothing more than what Pippin said but I know that you saw more. You would not be so shaken had you not." Aragorn told her. Amdiriel said nothing in reply for she knew that he knew her all too well. Aragorn waited for a moment. The sun was starting to rise and they would soon be called to a meeting with the others that he was certain. So, sleeping was out of the question but he could at last try to put her mind at ease. "Tell me." he whispered to her. Amdiriel sighed in defeat, she knew he would not let it go, he would try to help her as much as he could no matter if she wanted him to or not. "Minas Tirth was burning, flames were everywhere and the screams of the people filled the air. I looked and the white tree was dead and began to burn." she shuttered as the memory replayed in her head. "I... I felt him behind me." she said referring to Sauron. "I turned and I saw..." Amdiriel shut her eyes as a tear escaped them. Aragorn placed his hand her check and wiped away the tear, thinking he saw her mother or brothers that she saw at the hand of Sauron. "What did you see, my love?" he asked in a soft voice. "I saw him standing over you...you were dead, you had been slaughtered." Amdiriel said with a sob as the tears continued to run down her face. "He told me I had failed. I failed the people, I failed my men, my brothers but more importantly, I failed you." She cried. Aragorn wrapped his arms around her as she began to cry into his chest. "I got you. I'm here and I am not leaving. You will never fail me." he told her as he stroked her hair. "I'm here." he whispered to her again as he felt her begin to calm down. "I love you." he said as he kissed her hair. Amdiriel soon calmed down as she felt the reassurance from Aragorn, the two remained silent as they watched the sunrise. "Nothing will take me from you." Aragorn told her. Amdiriel looked up at Aragorn who then looked down at her with a small grin coming on to his face as he saw how the sun rays hit her face, lighting up all the beautiful features of her face. Aragorn brought down his lips to hers, each pouring their emotions into the kiss, a sense of reassurance that the other would be there.
Suddenly a knock came at the door the guard told them they had been called to the throne room for an important meeting. The two separated, unraveling themselves from each other but linking their hands to whether. "Are you ready?" Aragorn asked. Amdiriel smiled and nodded "With you, yes." That caused Aragorn to smile as he opened the door and lead them to the throne room.
In the Hall, only Gandalf, Theoden, Legolas, and Gimli stood in the room. The importance of secrecy of this quest was just as much as it had been when the fellowship left Rivendell. Amdiriel stood with Aragorn on her right and Legolas on her left and Gimli on the other side of the elf. The four stood in front of the fire pit that was in left in the middle of the throne room from the night before's festivities. Gandalf stood in front of them on one side of the pit while Theoden was on the other side, finishing feeding the fire. Merry and Pippin were sitting off in the corner of the Hall alone but not far from the others as Gandalf spoke "We are all very aware of last night's events. There was no lie in Pippin's eyes. A fool but an honest fool he remains. He told Sauron nothing about Frodo and the Ring." This news allowed everyone to breathe in a huge sigh of relief, knowing the enemy was still ignorant of their plan.
"We have been strangely fortunate. Both Pippin and Amdiriel saw a glimpse of the enemy's plan. Sauron moves to strike the city of Minas Tirith." he told them. Both Amdiriel and Aragorn glanced at each putting together a pretty good idea of what was to come next. "His defeat at Helms Deep showed our enemy one thing." Gandalf continued as he then turned to the couple. "He knows the Heir of Elendil has come forth and the hope of his people now stands at his side." he told them as he then looked back to the king. "Men are not as weak as he supposed. There are both courage and hope still. Strength enough, perhaps, to challenge him. Sauron fears this. He will not risk the peoples of Middle Earth uniting under one banner. He will raze Minas Tirith to the ground before he sees a King and Queen return to the throne of men. If the beacons of Gondor are lit Rohan must be ready for war." Gandalf informed them.
"Tell me! Why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours?" Theoden asked the wizard who then looked at him confused but then gaze Amdiriel sent Theoden could have set his cloak on fire. "What do we owe Gondor?" asked the King. "Everything." Amdiriel answered causing all eyes to turn to her. "Do not forget what you owe me and Aragorn for we are Gondor." she clarified. "So we will go." Aragorn told them as he laced his fingers with Amdiriel's
"No!" Gandalf rebuked but Aragorn argued, "They must be warned!" "They will be." said the wizard. "You can not go, Denethor will have Amdiriel arrested long before she could reach the city. I will not have you go into that city only to seal your deaths." Gandalf then stepped closer to the to and whispered to them "You must come to Minas Tirith by another road. Follow the river. Look to the black ships." he told them before turning away from them.
"Understand this, things are now in motion that cannot be undone. I ride for Minas Tirith and I won't be going alone." said the wizard as he looked to the two hobbits.
Before they knew it Gandalf was running out the doors of the Golden Hall to the stables where Shadowfax was with the two hobbits on his tail.
"Gandalf." Amdiriel called out as she jogged to catch up to the old wizard. He may have been old but he sure could move when the time was little to spare. She soon joined the wizard's side as they entered the stables.
"Denethor will not allow you to send for aid. You can try but he is too stubborn and prideful to do so especially if he has knowledge of me and Aragorn riding with Rohan. You will have to find another way." She informed him. "I will try to reason but I will do what I must to protect the city." he said as he put Pippin on Shadowfax's back
"How far is Minas Tirith?" asked Pippin. "Three days ride as the Nazgul flies and you better hope we don't have one of those on our tail." Gandalf answered, grabbing something before he joined the hobbit on top of the horse, while Merry and Pippin said their goodbyes.
"Promise me Gandalf. Promise that there will still be a city when we get there. That it will not be too late." She told him. "I promise the city will not fall." He replied. "One more thing, look after Faramir for me. Do not let him give in to fear or into Denethor. Tell him...tell him I'm coming home and that I love him." she said. Gandalf gave her an encouraging nod. "I will." Amdiriel nodded and opened the gate of the stall.
"Run, Shadowfax show us the meaning of haste." Gandalf said. "Merry!" Pippin called out as the horse took off running out of the stalls, Merry not far behind them while Amdiriel watched them run out onto the plains, in the direction of her home. "Good luck." she whispered as her heart sank.
Merry had run up the steps of the watchtower with Aragorn not far behind, hoping to comfort the halfling. Together they watched as Shadowfax ran off into the distance. " He's always followed me everywhere I went since before we were tweens. I would get him into the worst sort of trouble but I was always there to get him out. Now he's gone. Just like Frodo and Sam." said the hobbit as he looked up at the man.
" One thing I've learned about Hobbits: They are the most hardy folk." Aragorn replied.
"Foolhardy maybe. He's a Took!" Merry reminded him causing the two to laugh.
Now all they could do was wait and hope that they would not be too late.