Bealocwealm hafad fréone frecan forth onsended (An evil death has set forth the noble warrior)
Giedd sculon singan gléomenn sorgiende on Meduselde (A song shall sing the sorrowing minstrels in Meduseld)
Pat heo mano arer his pruc ne d'ores (That noble cousin who always held me dear)
On meagorinc deorcas, belt (Now is held in darkness, enclosed)
The chanting rung clear through the air as Eowyn, and many others, mourned the death of Theodred. It was a dark time and the chill wind stung the tears that fell to the ground. The body of Theodred was laid to rest and the entrance of the tomb was sealed shut, never to see the light again.
~~~~~
Aragorn found Salandiel standing high on a wall, overlooking the plains. In the distance they could see the figures of Gandalf and King Theoden standing by the tomb. With thoughts of war and death so heavy on their minds, a silence fell on Salandiel and Aragorn as they watched on.
After a while Salandiel broke the silence.
"Why did you let him go?"
Aragorn frowned.
Salandiel continued, explaining further.
"Why did you let Grima go?" she asked, "Surely he deserved to die?"
"No one deserves to die, Salandiel," replied Aragorn, "He was merely a pawn in a much larger plan."
Aragorn turned to face Salandiel and spoke quietly.
"Also, your duty as a soldier, as well as my duty, is to protect all the free folk of Middle-Earth and to fight evil, not to play judge and decide who deserves life and who deserves death."
Salandiel turned to face Aragorn with a strange look in her eyes, as if she were seeing him for the first time. Everyday that she spent in the presence of Aragorn, the more she began to understand who he was as a person.
Salandiel opened her mouth to speak but her attention was drawn away by an unusual figure in the distance.
"What is that?" she wondered aloud.
They both turned their heads to see the figure in the distance. As the figure drew closer, Aragorn and Salandiel could make out two young children on horseback riding towards them, but just as they reached the top of the hill the older child fell off the horse, exhausted and wounded.
"Call the healers," ordered Aragorn.
~~~~~
"They had no warning. They were unarmed," said Eowyn, "Now the wild men are moving through the Westfold, burning as they go. Rick, cot and tree."
Aragorn, Salandiel, Gimli, Legolas, Gandalf, Eowyn and King Theoden were all gathered inside the Golden Hall. Eowyn attended to the young children whilst the others spoke of what their next decision would be.
"This is but a taste of the terror that Saruman will unleash," said Gandalf, who was now sitting on the right hand side of the king's throne, "All the more potent he is, driven now by fear of Sauron. Ride out and meet him head on. Draw him away from your home and children. You must fight!"
Aragorn was sitting by a table, smoking a pipe, surveying this whole scene."
You have two thousand good men riding north as we speak," spoke up Aragorn, "Eomer is loyal to you. He will return and fight for his king."
King Theoden was deep in thought and the worry could be seen on his face. He paced back and forth.
"They will be three thousand league from here by now," said Theoden, "Eomer cannot help us. I know what it is you want want of me, but I will not bring further death to my people. I will not risk open war."
Aragorn replied gravely.
"Open war is upon you, whether you would risk it or not."
Theoden turned on Aragorn angrily.
"When last I looked, Theoden, not Aragorn, was King of Rohan," he said with a fire in his eyes.
The tension sat thick. Salandiel looked to Aragorn from where she was leaning against one of the pillars. She could see the doubt creep into his eyes and even felt that doubt within herself. Was the king really choosing not to fight?
Gandalf's voice cut through the tension.
"Then what is the king's decision?"
~~~~~
"By order of the king the city must empty," rang the voice of Hama, "We make for Helm's Deep. Do not burden yourself with treasures. Take only what provisions you need."
The people that dwelled in Edoras gathered their belongings and prepared to flee to Helm's Deep. As they all prepared, Gandalf stormed down to the stables, followed by Aragorn and Salandiel.
"Helm's Deep!" exclaimed Gandalf, "They flee to the mountains when they should stand and fight. Who will defend them if not their king?"
"He is only doing what is best for his people," replied Aragorn, "Helm's Deep has saved them in the past."
"There is no way out of that ravine," remarked Salandiel, "I have seen it and we all know that Theoden is walking into a trap."
Gandalf agreed with Salandiel.
"King Theoden thinks he is leading them to safety. What they will get is a massacre. Theoden has a strong will but I fear for him. I fear for the survival of Rohan."
By now the three were gathered in the stables and Gandalf had gone to prepare his horse, Shadowfax, for departure. He turned to Salandiel and Aragorn.
"Theoden will need you both before the end," said Gandalf, "The people of Rohan will need you. The defences have to hold."
"They will hold," said Aragorn resolutely.
Gandalf turned back to Shadowfax and spoke mournfully.
"The Grey Pilgrim," he said, stroking Shadowfax, "That is what they used to call me. Three hundred lives of men I've walked this earth and now I have no time."
Gandalf mounted his horse and looked down on Salandiel and Aragorn.
"My search will not be in vain. Look to my coming at the first light of the fifth day. At dawn, look to the east."
Without a pause, Gandalf galloped out of the stables and into the wilderness. As Gandalf disappeared, Aragorn turned to see Salandiel's eyes filled with worry.
"I fear for their survival," said Salandiel quietly.
"Me too," said Aragorn gravely, as he put his hands on Salandiel's shoulders, "but we will fight to keep their defences up and their people safe."
Salandiel nodded in agreement and, without a word, they both turned their separate ways to prepare for the journey; Salandiel making her way back to the Golden Hall and Aragorn turning back to the stables to prepare the horses.
~~~~~
Back in the Golden Hall, Eowyn was also preparing to leave. She opened an old chest to reveal a sword. With swift movements, she skilfully swung the sword in a series of moves but turned to clang her sword against Salandiel's dagger. Salandiel looked at Eowyn, impressed by her skills.
"I did not realise that women of Rohan had such skills," remarked Salandiel.
Eowyn dropped her arm and raised her eyebrow. Eowyn had heard many stories of the woman that stood before her and had no idea what to expect.
"I did not realise that women of Gondor could become captains," replied Eowyn.
"How did you know I was a captain?" asked Salandiel.
Eowyn returned to packing her chest .
"My brother spoke of you after he met you wandering in the wilderness. I know of your plight..." Eowyn looked up sadly, "and of your banishment."
Salandiel returned her dagger to her boot.
"Where did you learn to wield a sword?" asked Salandiel, not wanting to speak further of her banishment.
"The women of this country learned long ago that those without swords can still die upon them," answered Eowyn, "I fear neither death nor pain."
"What do you fear, my lady?" asked Salandiel.
"A cage," answered Eowyn solemnly, "To stay behind bars until use and old age accept them. And all chance of valour has gone beyond recall or desire."
Salandiel raised her eyebrows. She had not expected those words of courage to come from her mouth and grew impressed.
"You are a daughter of kings," exclaimed Salandiel, "A shield maiden of Rohan. I do not think that will be your fate."
Salandiel bowed her head and turned to leave but Eowyn stopped her.
"I admire you, Salandiel, and I do hope that we are to become good friends."
Salandiel looked back and smiled.
"I hope so, too."
~~~~~
Aragorn and Salandiel were riding side-by-side and could hear the conversation happening between Eowyn and Gimli.
"It's true, you don't see many dwarf women," said Gimli who sat astride a horse whilst Eowyn led the horse by the reigns, "And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance that they're often mistaken for dwarf men!"
Aragorn turned to Salandiel and mouthed, "It's the beards."
Just as Aragorn said that, the horse that Gimli was sitting on sped off and Gimli fell off. Salandiel and Aragorn could not contain their laughter as they watched Eowyn run after Gimli to make sure that he was alright.
In the distance they heard Gimli saying, "It's alright! Nobody panic. That was deliberate."
Aragorn turned to see Salandiel throw her head back in laughter, her smile lighting up her face and her hair blowing in the wind. Never before had Aragorn seen her laugh so freely. Despite the ragged scar that ran across her face, she was quite beautiful.
Salandiel caught Aragorn looking at her and lowered her head, her cheeks growing red. Aragorn had never looked at her like so...
They both fell silent.
"Where is she?" asked Salandiel, breaking the silence, "The woman that gave you that jewel?"
Salandiel nodded her head towards the pendant that lay on Aragorn's chest. She could see Aragorn's eyes shift and his mind delve into a memory. A sadness came upon him.
"She is sailing to the Undying Lands with all that is left of her kin," replied Aragorn, breaking out of his reverie.
Salandiel nodded her head. She knew that Aragorn spoke of Arwen, the beautiful elf-maiden. Salandiel felt pity for Aragorn's loss but a strange feeling arose within her when she heard of this story, but she couldn't quite place it.
They were both brought back to reality when they saw a great number of animals coming over the hill from the distance. Aragorn rode ahead to survey what was happening.
He rode back, shouting a warning.
"Wargs! We're under attack!"
A cry broke out from the townspeople and they all turned to each other in fear. Their voices rose and time sped up; everything seemed to happen in a blur.
Salandiel immediately withdrew her sword, ready to attack, but before she galloped off she saw Eowyn arguing with her uncle.
"You must lead the people to Helm's Deep, and make haste," commanded Theoden.
"I can fight!" replied Eowyn.
"No!" shouted Theoden, "You must do this for me!"
Without another word he galloped off to battle. Aragorn was already at the forefront of the fight with Legolas and Gimli by his side. Salandiel followed him but she first swerved past Eowyn and handed her a dagger from her boot. Salandiel saw the understanding smile that Eowyn gave her before she turned back to gather the people and lead them to Helm's Deep.
The orcs came riding down on their wargs and met the men in fierce battle. Sword clanged against sword and blood was spilled. Chaos surrounded them. Salandiel deftly killed orc after orc using her the skills that she had been taught, the skills that had made her one of the greatest fighters in Middle-Earth.
With much fighting the battle was won and the orcs fled. But it was not a battle to be celebrated for many had lost their lives.
"Aragorn?" cried out Legolas.
Salandiel looked at him in worry.
Where was Aragorn?
Legolas, Salandiel and Gimli began the search for Aragorn and came upon a wounded orc lying on the ground near the edge of a cliff, laughing.
Gimli put his axe in the face of the orc.
"Tell me what happened and I will ease your passing."
"He's...dead," said the disgusting orc in-between sharp intakes of breath, "He took a little tumble off the cliff."
"You lie!" said Legolas.
With another evil laugh, the orc died.
Salandiel searched the edge of the cliff and found Aragorn's necklace, the Evenstar, lying on the ground. She picked it up and held it in her palm, hoping against hope that it wasn't true. Aragorn surely couldn't be dead?
She looked back to see the mournful faces of Gimli and Legolas.
With an anguished cry she threw the necklace far down into the river below and fell to her knees. Her angered shout echoed through the hills.
Salandiel felt the weight settle on her as she finally came to understand that Aragorn truly was gone...
Author's Note: Hey there! A bit of a long chapter but so much in it. As you can see I kinda strayed away from the 'Eowyn and Aragorn' love triangle a bit. Hope you don't mind but I'm really excited for the friendship between Salandiel and Eowyn to grow. What do you think of their friendship?
Again, please vote or comment if you liked this.
Much love!