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 42
It was as Théadain climbed the stone steps to the gate tower, the heavens chose that moment to open. Cold, heavy rain fell, bouncing off metal and stone and soaking the bodies of the men that crowded the walls of the fortress. It took mere seconds to plaster Théadain's hair to her head as she made her way to the edge of the wall, offering a reassuring smile to her company as she passed them. Their ranks stretched along the battlement, three rows positioned so as the back rows could provide a volley of arrows without endangering the men in front. She knew each man by name and trusted each with her life. She could think of no others she would rather stand with in this moment.
"I suppose the rain is a bad sign?" Baldan murmured, moving to her side to hand his leader her bow.
"No, I would say the ten thousand Uruk-hai are a slightly worse sign." She smiled wryly, her voice dropping low so the men would not hear her, "How are they?"
"Frightened." He whispered honestly, "I'm not sure how we're going to get ourselves out of this one, Théa."
She nodded, turning to look into the faces of her company, seeing that carefully managed fear clear in the eyes of each man as the rain pelted their bodies. Her gaze landed on one in the second row, Fenmund, the son of her fallen mentor, offering him what she hoped was a reassuring smile as he met her eyes. He looked so like his father now, she thought.
"Rohirrim." She addressed them, loud enough that they could hear over the sound of the rain, "I wish I could summon a battle speech worthy of the kings of old, but I know you need no words to drive you. You know what you defend." She pulled her shoulders back to straighten her posture as she continued, "On these stone walls stand your brothers, fathers, sons. In the caves below are your wives, daughters, mothers. The beating heart of Rohan lies within this fortress and we are its last hope." She cast a wary glance over her shoulder at the approaching army, "Saruman can rain steel and fire down upon our heads, but we will not break, we will not fall. Know that I stand with you now, and when the dawn comes, I hope to stand with you still."
As the clattering of spears, roars and footfalls behind her grew deafening, she turned, swallowing thickly as she watched the army grow ever closer, trampling the ground where she had stood just that afternoon, reunited with the man she loved. She could see them clearly now, the Uruk-hai, their masses stretching out, filling the ravine with more snarling bodies than she could fully comprehend. The last time she had heard those growls and war cries, she had been fighting for her life alongside Boromir.
With a roar from a commander, she watched as the creatures halted, level with the causeway they guarded. She placed her helm over her sodden hair as she stepped to the edge of the battlement to look down upon them, bracing her hands on the freezing, wet stone as she steeled herself against the fear rising in her chest. She would not be crushed, not now.
