Athëa - Queen of the Savages

A Shadow Covered Ellon

"You must reveal all information you forced from her!", Gandalf's voice echoed through the great throne room.

The room had been emptied for a small council to meet, consisting the wizard, King Théoden and his captain Háma, Aragorn, Gimli and the haplessly abhorred flogger Harfig.

Legolas did not join the others, as he refused to leave the bedridden Athëa's side.

"My deepest apologies for my unfortunate actions, my lord. I merely followed my king's orders, not knowing of the evil spell cast upon him", Harfig lowered his head and put up his hands in submission to the great wizard standing ominous in front of him.

"And what did the evil master order for you to do, using me as a vessel, my trusted henchman", Théoden said as a he tried to comfort his frightened lackey.

Harfig took a deep breath and began telling of his tasks of the last couple of days.

"I first saw her in the dungeon. I had been told that she was a witch and a servant of the evil master Sauron, so the beautiful woman in the cellar was not what I expected to find.

I knew that it was of upmost importance that a retrieved the information from her, and if not I would pay with my life. Information regarding the whereabouts of a savage army and a certain ring bearer, were amongst your demands, beloved king.

Believe me when I say, that I did not wish to harm her, but no matter what I said, she would not utter a word nor would she even look upon me.", the flogger had a pleading look on his face, making it clear that he felt shame from his actions.

"And she never spoke a word?", Gandalf said making sure that the man didn't leave anything out.

"Never", he answered bowing his head.

"Very well, you can take your leave", Théoden said, signaling for his subject to go.

"Sauron knows of Frodo. He knows of Athëa's army", Gandalf said mostly to himself. "They will come for her", he continued, locking eyes with Aragorn who nodded in response.

"She is one tough lass", Gimli stated, nodding his head and huffing his pipe.

"Not tough enough to save us from the peril to come. It won't be long before an army of orcs is upon the city of Edoras. They will come to kill the people of Rohan. They will come for her", Gandalf said sternly as he turned to face the king of Rohan.

"Hama, inform your men. We leave for the stronghold of Helm's Deep the day after tomorrow, at the break of dawn", Théoden said, making the captain nod and take his leave.

Angered arguing muffled by the sound of clinging swords were heard form behind one of the doors on the side of the throne room, making all of its occupants stand in silence. A loud thud was heard, before the door was flung open. Aragorn unsheathed his sword at the sight of two guards falling unconscious onto the stone floor.

*****

The room was dark and the only light to be seen was the warm orange gleam coming from a single candle flickering, casting long shadows on the wooden walls. The sun had gone down hours ago, and yet it seemed the room hadn't changed one bit.

Legolas sat on a chair in the darkness of the corner, not removing his eyes from the slender form lying underneath the woven covers. Her breathing had finally normalized, and was it not for the bandages across her chest and arm, it would seem that she was merely sleeping.

He should have never let her leave. He should have followed her. Then she would not have ended in this state. Why was she here? She was going home. The thought of her leaving him at the pier kept repeating in his mind, as he ransacked it for answers.