The next morning, Nymerial went into the throne room of the Golden Hall. The preparations for the journey to Helm's Deep had started early in the morning so not much was left to do. Nymerial noticed Éowyn coming in and Aragorn was following her quietly. Nymerial didn't think about it very much and went over to a blacksmith. She asked from him noticing the wheel for sharpening swords
"Excuse me but can I borrow that for a minute?"
"Sure, knock yourself out!"
He stood up and left. Nymerial sat down onto the chair and pulled out her sword. She made the wheel move and placed the blade gently onto it. Her sword vibrated as she sharpened it. After a minute or two, she took the sword and put it back. She knew that her daggers would never need sharpening, they were always razor-sharp.
She looked around her and saw Éowyn opening a chest. She pulled out her sword, lifting it to her chest. She then started to swing it around, practicing for a battle she shouldn't be a part of. As Éowyn turned around to swing the blade once more, her sword didn't meet air. It was stopped with a dagger, Aragorn's dagger.
"You have some skill with a blade."
Éowyn's eyes went wide as she pulled back her sword. She then pointed the tip towards Aragorn's neck. He held up his hands in defeat. Éowyn then said to him
"Women of this country learned long ago that those without swords may still die upon them. I fear neither death nor pain."
Aragorn looked her in the eyes and asked
"What do you fear, my lady?"
"A cage. To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them. And all chance of valor has gone beyond recall or desire."
Nymerial laughed in her hand lightly; Éowyn's words were similar to hers yet so different. She fears that she won't be a part of the people who had been to war. Or that was what Nymerial could understand. Yet she, Nymerial, was afraid of what would come after the war. She focused her attention back to the pair talking. Aragorn said
"You are a daughter of Kings. A shieldmaiden of Rohan. I do not think that will be your fate."
The King then entered the Golden Hall and declared that they are leaving in fifteen minutes. Nymerial picked up her bag that she packed last night and went to the stables. She released Amani from his wooden cage and led him to the others. On the way, she met Freda. Nymerial remembered that she told Freda that she could ride with her so she lifted up the little girl and went on.
Nymerial led Amani with Freda on him to the gates where everybody was gathering. She went to Aragorn, Gimli and Legolas who were standing near the King. Nymerial greeted them with a small hand-wave. Then there was silence. Soon Théoden started moving into the distance, towards Helm's Deep
. . . . .
It was midday and the sun was shining. But the air around Nymerial was filled with fear and sorrow. The people of Rohan knew why they were fleeing to the mountains even if their King ignored it for such a long time. Nymerial's thoughts were interrupted by Gimli and the others talking. The Dwarf said to Éowyn
"It is true you do not see many Dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, they are often mistaken for Dwarf men."
The girl looked back and Aragorn whispered
"It is the beards."
while Nymerial moved her hands around her chin as if scratching an invisible beard. Gimli didn't notice that and continued
"And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf women. And the Dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground!"
Éowyn laughed as Gimli added
"Which is of course ridiculous. WHOA!"
Gimli screamed the last part because the horse he was on just took off running. Gimli, being a Dwarf who usually didn't ride, fell off. Éowyn rushed to help but Nymerial didn't move. She already knew what he was going to say. And as Gimli landed, he said
"It is all right! Nobody panic. That was deliberate. It was deliberate."
Nymerial heard laughing beside her and looked up. Freda was giggling so hard that she would have almost fallen off from a horse too. Luckily Nymerial grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back up. Freda looked at Nymerial and started laughing again. This time, Nymerial chuckled as well. But she fell quiet when she felt someone tapping her shoulder. She turned around and her eyes met with a grey colour.
Delsin was standing there, smiling like an idiot. Nymerial was a bit disappointed, she was hoping it would be someone else. But her face didn't show anything like that. Instead she smiled back and asked
"Can I help you?"
"Yes, actually you can. You see, as I was walking, I could not help but a small lonely flower near me. So I went and picked it. But you see, there was a slight problem: it did not like me, so I was wondering if you would like to have it?"
Delsin pulled a small white flower out behind his back and offered it to Nymerial. Nymerial, at first, didn't know what to do but after she collected herself, she answered while taking the flower
"It would be my pleasure."
She put the flower in her hair. Delsin lifted his thumbs as if saying that the flower was pretty on her. He then joked around with Nymerial and Freda.
But what the three didn't know was that Legolas had seen it all and heard it all. He felt something in him that made him hate Delsin. He was surprised because he had never actually hated somebody. Disliked yes, but hate? Not that he remembered. Legolas thought about it, he just couldn't put his finger on why he hated Delsin. He hadn't done anything to him.
As he wondered, night drew near and the King stopped. He yelled
"We will rest for the night!"
Nymerial said goodbye to Delsin and Freda, they both had places to be and so did she. Nymerial went over to Aragorn and Legolas and sat down. She looked around and laid down. She closed her eyes and decided to take a little nap.
Nymerial was awoken from her dreamless sleep by someone walking by. It was a villager. Nymerial sat up and rubbed her eyes. She heard someone coming towards her and Aragorn, Legolas had gone somewhere. That someone was Éowyn and she had a pot in her hands. She said
"I made some stew. It isn't much, but it is hot."
She handed Aragorn a bowl and a spoon. When Nymerial smelled the aroma that was coming out of the pot, she refused politely. But Aragorn didn't have anything to say. He said
"Thank you."
He then tasted the stew. Nymerial could clearly see that Aragorn was trying hard not to show any emotion or puke. Instead he said
"Mmm. It is good."
"Really?!"
"Mmmm!"
Éowyn smiled and turned around to leave.
When Aragorn saw that, he turned to pour out his stew but Éowyn turned around. He recovered but some food got on his hand. Éowyn didn't seem to notice it, instead she asked
"My Uncle told me a strange thing. He said that you rode to war with Thengel, my grandfather. But he must be mistaken."
"King Théoden had a good memory. He was only a small child at the time."
Then you must be at least sixty. Seventy? But you cannot be eighty!"
"Eighty-seven."
"You are one of the Dúnedain. A descendant of Númenor, blessed with long life. It was said that your race had passed into legend."
"There are few of us left. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed long ago."
"I am sorry. Please eat!"
Nymerial couldn't hold her laughter. A loud ha escaped her lips. Aragorn snapped his head towards his sister and shot a sharp glare to her. He then turned to Éowyn and smiled, waiting her to leave.
AN: if you would like to see the deleted scene of this in lotr, please watch the vid (without Nymerial) x