Goneril was starting to talk about her mysterious savior, when a soldier ran into the great throne room and announced: "Your Majesty, two children have reached Edoras on horseback. One boy and one girl. The little boy has lost consciousness."
Immediately Éowyn ran out to see what it was all about.
"I think the village they come from has been attacked. They mounted on a horse too big for them. Probably their parents encouraged them to escape." the soldier continued.
"Death ..." Théoden whispered. "... around these borders there is only death."
Goneril approached him. "I told you: you had to use my army. We would have protected the borders and the villages."
Theoden looked at her. "If you are who I believe you are, these are also your subjects. Don't you feel compassion for them? Are you interested only in money?"
Goneril grabbed Théoden by the collar. Aragorn rushed to stop her. "Go easy. This is the king. And maybe he is your father." He told her.
"No, you're wrong." she growled. "I don't have a father. The man who raised me was a violent and ignorant fool ... and this one in front of me is a mad old man. I don't have parents. And yes ..." she continued . "... I'm interested only in money."
Aragorn kept holding her, he was blocking her arms behind her back. "Control yourself, Generaless. Or I'll hold you until I break your arm." He threatened her.
Théoden freed himself from the girl's grip. "Just because I have terrible guilty feelings towards you, you won't be imprisoned. But don't try that again."
Goneril looked him in the eyes and from the gaze that ran between them, Aragorn had the confirmation that they were father and daughter. Both proud and fierce.
The woman then turned to him. "So you like threating women, in Gondor? Or maybe this is the courtesy you reserve for humans ... I think you prefer elven ladies, don't you?" and then she smiled mockingly.
Aragorn left his grip. Goneril dropped her gaze to the crystal pendant that hung at the neck of the ranger.
"The Evenstar. Symbol of immortality for the Elves of Imladris. Your beloved one gave it to you, I bet." she asked.
Legolas intervened. "Aragorn is united to the daughter of Lord Elrond, Arwen."
Goneril turned her gaze on him. "Apparently interracial unions are frequent in Middle-earth. Thranduil with a human, and our Aragorn with an Elf."
Gimli was surprised. "Your father is in love with a mortal woman ?!" he asked Legolas.
The Elf gave an angry look at the warrior. "You should think about your own business." He told her.
Gimli continued. "You really want to tell me that King Thranduil is with ..."
Legolas silenced him. "It's an old story. My father loved twice in his life. But he loved. You only know hatred, instead." he said to Goneril.
"You are utterly wrong, Elf archer . I have experienced love, too. And it was your friend Amon who gave it to me. Do you wish to know how?" she asked.
But as she said this, the doors opened. Éowyn entered and behind her there were two soldiers holding two children. They were siblings, they looked alike. The little girl could have been six years old, she was awake and whimpering. Her brother was unconscious.
Théoden got worried. "Let them lay down near the fireplace, let the fire warm them up. And bring food for these two poor kids."
Éowyn ran to get more soup.
Legolas approached to watch them. When she saw the Elf, the little girl calmed down immediately. She seemed amazed. Legolas had expected that reaction: mortal children were so fascinated by the Elves. Perhaps because they were the protagonists of the fairy tales with which they grew up.
"What's your name?" he asked.
"Freda". she murmured, her mouth was still open with surprise. "My brother is sick ..."
"No, he'll be better soon." Legolas answered, crouching beside the fire. "Where are your parents?"
"My mommy stayed in the village. She sent us here. On the horse ..." the girl stammered.
Éowyn arrived with the broth. "Here. Try to eat something, baby girl." She had also added a few pieces of vegetables in the soup. The children
were both sitting on a small sofa, by the fire: the boy was pale and had deep circles around the eyes. He didn't seem to recover.
"He's still shocked." said Legolas. "He must warm up." The Elf Prince turned to Aragorn and Goneril. "Uruk-Hai's, an entire legion probably."
Gandalf and Théoden exchanged glances. "You have to do something, my friend. Your people are in danger." said the Wizard.
"Face them in the battle field, Your Majesty. Let Saruman see that you are not afraid of his monsters. You have an army large enough to push back those creatures." Aragorn suggested.
"Ask Gondor for help."
"Gondor ?!" Goneril intervened. "Yeah, right. Denethor can't wait to send his men here, I bet."
"Exactly." Théoden agreed. "There has never been solidarity, if I remember correctly, from Gondor."
"Now it will be different," Aragorn retorted.
"I say we will go to Helm's Deep instead. All of us." the King decided.
Aragorn ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. "Helm's Deep ... is a rocky gorge, there is no way out from there. If you ..."
"It is Théoden the King of Rohan. Not Aragorn." the sovereign replied with annoyance. Aragorn nodded and bowed his head, respectfully.
"Well, I would say that you have a lot of work to do here. You will have to move all the people of Edoras from their homes. I don't intend to give you any trouble. I'm going with my men to the north. And if you need us, you know what is the price to pay. " Goneril said, and started to leave.
Finally it was over, she could go back to Degarre and the others.
"What men?" asked the soldier who had accompanied the children inside.
She turned around. "Didn't you see a legion camped out in the clearing here? Are you blind?"
"There are no legions out there. They are gone. They left only a few fires lit." he replied.
Goneril felt her blood freezing. It's impossible, she thought immediately. Then she ran out and rushed to one of the Towers of Edoras, from where one could see the esplanade surrounding the citadel.
It was true.
They were gone. All.
Only a few glowing embers remained and the signs of the horses' hooves on the brown ground.
"Degarre ..." she whispered. He left with your soldiers. The conscience told her.
"Degarre ..." she repeated. And what's worse, he ran to take your money. He knows where your gold is hidden. He will go and get it, that gold, he will go and get it and share it with the others. Oh yes, my dear, he betrayed you. He really betrayed you... your trusty right-hand man.
"Go to hell!" she shouted out loud. "I'll find you! I'll find you, you can believe me, goddamn thief! Son of a ..." she screamed furiously in the wind.
"He just did what you taught him." Aragorn said from below. He had gone out to see where she was. "The scholar has surpassed the master, apparently. It's cold here, come back in."
"I'll go and look for him immediately ..." she exclaimed, descending from the stairs of the tower.
Aragorn stopped her. "No. Stay here. Stay with us. You're alone now. And Théoden needs you."
"I've already told you, I'm not his daughter. Now I'm going to look for that cursed traitor and send him straight to the other world!" she growled, heading for the stables.
"You have the King's blood. And as his daughter, you are heiress to this throne. Éomer would be the designated prince, but your existence took away that privilege from him. If you are the princess of Rohan, you must stay here. You have new responsibilities. Calm down, now." the ranger told her. "Stay with your cousin and together help Théoden."
"Why didn't this great King come looking for me in the past years, then? What prevented him from doing so? Too easy to flaunt parent's claims, thirty years later. May Éomer be up to the role. I have enough of this place already." she replied dryly.
"Idis." said Aragorn.
Goneril turned again. "What?"
"Idis. Your name must have been Idis. That's what your real mother had decided." the warrior explained. "Theoden told me." Then he sighed.
"Well, go away, if you want. If you can't forgive, no one can force you to do it. And try to be happy for the rest of your life." he said, turning to go back to the Palace.
The woman was hit by a gust of winter wind.
It's true I'm alone. I don't have a place to go. But I can't take sides with Théoden and his people ... without any reward. He says he's my father, but I don't believe it.
Then she thought of Éowyn and again she felt the annoying discomfort. That blonde girl was resolute. With a dead cousin and a lost brother, she showed great inner strength.
What if it's true? Goneril wondered. What if...they were ... my relatives for real?
"No, I don't have to deal with these people. I have to go and look for my soldiers, and when I find them ..." she said to herself.
"They are far away now. You know it. Let them go." Aragorn said. "Here is your home. Think about it."
"Leave me alone, man of Gondor." Goneril retorted. "Please don't come and tell me about vacant thrones and royal duties. The king of this realm is getting old, and he doesn't want to grow old on his own. He just buried a son, and he doesn't accept that his bloodline is interrupted. But I am not his savior, nor his daughter. And if you are the heir of Isildur you can understand me even better. Certain blood lineages are destined to disappear. It is the history of the world that teaches that."
"You say you want to build your own kingdom ... in which to find peace and silence. You already have a kingdom here, around you. You don't need the gold of the mercenaries, leave it to those poor rats. You have other things to do, far nobler tasks." Aragorn tried to tell her. "Eomer is far away ... and the King needs you."
"Oh, in the name of Eru! ... who tells you that there is a bond between me and him? This obstinacy makes no sense ... there is no proof." she snapped.
"There are all the evidences, instead. The most important one comes from your feelings. And now you have to decide. Keep wandering around Middle-earth or face your future here. In the role you deserve." Aragorn told her. "But choose quickly. A great storm is coming ..." he added, looking at the leaden sky.
Then he quietly returned to the council room, leaving the woman alone with her doubts.
⚜️⚜️⚜️
"What's your brother's name?"
Éowyn asked Freda, who hadn't taken her eyes off Legolas the whole time.
"Kilian." the girl answered.
In the meantime the boy had recovered, but he was silent, perhaps because of the shock.
"Do you have other little brothers?" the girl continued. Freda said no.
"Mom and Dad? Where are they?" Éowyn continued.
"Dead." the girl murmured.
Éowyn felt a pang in her heart. "Are you sure? Maybe they just hid ... or ran away like you and Kilian." She tried to cheer her up.
Again, Freda shook her head. "There were monsters ... many monsters. So big." She murmured.
Gandalf and the others looked at one other. "Saruman has decided to exterminate these people. May Eru curse him." the Wizard growled.
"It is a mistake to drag these people to Helm's Deep. They will be trapped there, "observed Gimli.
Meanwhile, Théoden had left to give instructions to Gamling and the soldiers. Edoras had to be evacuated the next day, and there was not a minute to lose.
"His plan is to bring the population to a place where it can be protected. In that place the numbers don't matter: an army of ten thousand Uruk-Hai's is useless against a massive wall, about this Théoden is right. The high walls of the Hornburg are impassable. " Aragorn reasoned.
"Unless they find a way to blow the wall. You're talking about a Wizard, he's not an ordinary soldier. There is no limit to what he can do." a woman's voice was heard. They all turned around.
Goneril.
"You stayed here, then." commented Aragorn. He seemed satisfied.
"Don't exult too much. I don't do it for the reasons that you believe. But yes, I have decided to stay and give you my help ... ten years of wars have taught me something. And I tell you: there is no fortress in the world that does not have a weak spot. Saruman will find it. " the woman retorted.
"Blow up the wall? And how could it?" Gimli asked.
"Probably the Dwarf has never heard of explosive dust." answered Goneril. Everyone seemed confused. "... and neither are you. But I do. It is a chemical compound, one of my soldiers knows how to formulate it ... we used it once. If Saruman is as astute as they say, and if he now has that Grima next to him as a counselor, he will soon find a way to destroy those walls. The hunchback will certainly have told him what the most vulnerable part of the fortress is."
Then she looked at Aragorn." You should have killed him, instead of letting him go."
"That man was the cause of other misfortunes. Killing him meant adding violence to violence." Aragorn objected.
"Apparently, you and I think differently about the concept of justice. So much so, now you will have to hope that the Helm's Deep will save the life of these people. I saw that there are many children." said Goneril. "Imagine if Saruman gave orders to attack the population while they were moving from here to the fortress. With his Wargs, maybe."
Again, everyone looked at each other in perplexity. Goneril was also surprised.
"I believe that you have never been in war. You do not seem to have experience in ambushes and battles. I would not have expected it ... much less by you." She looked at Aragorn.
"Then we're lucky you're here." replied Legolas, sarcastically. "A professional killer will certainly be able to predict the Orcs' moves. Evil creatures think alike."
"Enough, Legolas." Gandalf interrupted him. "The war is coming outside, let's not bring it in here."
Goneril and the Elf, however, continued to look at each other with hatred.
Éowyn approached her. "I don't know who you are. But if you are my cousin as our King says, please help us. I too can fight, maybe not like you, but I will do my part. I ask you to help our people." she told her.
"Spare me the pleas, I've already told you I'll stay here. And you, you have to do exactly what I tell you." answered Goneril.
Éowyn replied: "I promise! I can fight by your side ..."
"Your uncle wouldn't let you do it. Tomorrow he will give you orders to lead women and children, and to take care about them. But I will need you once we get to Helm's Deep. So be ready." said Goneril.
Then she looked at Freda and Kilian.
"All children must be carried by hand by an adult. Infants and very small ones in the arms of men. You will not bring carts, only horses." He said.
"The road is long, they will get tired." Gimli objected.
"We will stop along the path. But in case of attack everyone must be able to disperse and escape. Loading people onto the wagons is dangerous, and would slow down the march." she explained.
Aragorn and Gandalf agreed. The ranger looked pleased and smiled.
"Take that grin off your face, I told you I'm not here for my good heart. When it's all over, I'll present the bill." she promised. "We'll leave tomorrow at dawn, so ... tonight you better sleep well, gentlemen." she concluded.
"Théoden did not give this order." Gimli protested. "He didn't say we'll leave tomorrow morning."
"And when would you like to move? At the beginning of spring, maybe?" she asked. "Let the soldiers spread the word. Let them go to each and every house and tell these people to get their stuff ready. No more than a bag for each family. And food for at least three days."
"You are optimistic." said Gandalf. "Do you think everything will be over in three days?"
"Saruman's armies are on the march. Once Helm's Deep is surrounded, it won't take them long to decide when to attack. And then, in a short time, everything will be finished. Personally, I think you will resist at most a couple of hours. But who knows, maybe some powerful magic will come to your aid." she smiled.
"Right." said Gandalf. He was thoughtful. "We need reinforcements. I have to look for them."