How did it come to this?
Loyal to her family, her lands and her people, Théadain, the illegitimate daughter of Théoden, King of Rohan, has little concern for the world that lies beyond her familiar grasslands. When all that she loves is threatened...
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Chapter 35
The Golden Hall of Meduseld was stifling. Too full of mourners and sorrow, and of joy that their king had returned to his full strength, and his daughter returned with him. The conflicting emotion was more than Théadain could bear.
After her companions had told her of what had happened after she had left them on the plains, and Gandalf had described how he had survived his fall, she needed to get away, to process all that had come to pass.
In the space of a few days she had lost both Boromir and Théodred, she had come near to losing her father and had plotted treason, her cousin was banished and she had accepted the loss of Merry and Pippin only to discover their safety, and had seen Gandalf return from the dead.
It was more than her weary mind could comprehend. All she wanted to do was forget, to lose herself in some oblivion, whether it be ale or some physical escape.
As she rose to leave the hall, she caught Aragorn's eye as Gandalf moved to confer with Gamling, casting him a look which clearly demanded he follow her as she moved to the doorway that led to the family's private quarters. As she slipped through the door into the empty hallway, she leaned against the wooden wall with a sigh, closing her eyes as she let her head tip back. Her mind was screaming, and she needed to silence it.
"Théa?"
His soft murmur of her name pulled her from her thoughts, her eyes fluttering open to look up at him as he stood before her. She had missed him terribly, she could admit. His quiet strength and support would have eased some of her pain had he been with her, but at the same time she knew that she had needed to face those trials alone. They were her burden to bear, not his, but for now she did not want to think on that. She knew what she wanted.
"Aragorn." She breathed softly in reply, pushing off the wall to stand before him, reaching up to cup his cheek in one hand, "I... I was so glad... When I saw you in the hall..."
"I swore I would find you." He whispered earnestly, his hand moving to her own cheek to draw her close. He was reluctant to move too quickly, to close the gap between them and kiss her. She seemed so small and vulnerable now, away from her people, no longer having to carry herself with strength.
"Find me now." She demanded softly, her free hand grasping the front of his cloak to pull his lips to hers, her kiss urgent and pleading.
With a soft groan at her words, he swept her into his arms, his hand spaying against her back to press her body to his chest, his other hand finding her hip to tug her closer still. The few kisses they had shared had not been like this, when they had explored that gentle, controlled longing with care. This felt like thrusting his hand into a flame.
As her lips moved over his demandingly, parting with a low sound of desire, she pulled him back, her hands tugging at his clothing to drag him through a doorway she had opened behind her back, her lips never once leaving his.
