Queen of the Rohirrim

Will's Promise

Willow POV
"Okay ladies, here's the plan." Mindy said chirpily. She nodded at me to elaborate and Nathalia laughed. 
"Mindy, Give this to Mr Crupper and tell him that taking a few days off will help him too. Nathalia, Can you gather snake root, bay leaves, dandelions and willow bark." Both women nodded. Since Mindy joined our "team" we had been treating things from common colds to broken bones. The inhabitants of Edoras would have been quick to label me as witch if it weren't for there reliance on us. We were now using the horse that Eomer gave me to ride out to the villages and treat them. It was gruesome work as a lot of the sickness were infections created by sword wounds from the battles but we had won nearly everyone over in the town. There was only two people who still hated me. Harriet and strangely enough, Eden. Since Eomer returned she went out of her way to mean. I figured it was because of Eomer's rejection but I didn't understand why she would take it out on me. Night was falling and I was raking up a pile of straw that the goat had turned it's nose to and the chickens had spread everywhere. Suddenly I realized something. Eden loved Eomer but Eomer rejected her for someone else. And judging by the looks Eden was giving me.... Eomer was in love with me.

That night I lay in bed tossing and turning. It was raining heavily much to the delight of the village. Now that seeds had been planted all it took was good weather before harvest. Eomer's face kept coming into my head. I tried to push it away but it only frustrated me. I would tell Mindy and Nathalia the next day. They would find the situation quite amusing! But what did I think? Did I have feelings for the King? I think I did. And that frightened me a lot. I imagined myself in the finest of dresses sitting in the Golden Hall as Queen of the Rohirrim. I scolded myself for thinking that far. I was a criminal and had already married once. Then guilt hit me like knife. How could I love anyone else except Will. His brown hair and blue eyes, his security and love he surrounded me in. I tried to picture his voice in my head from a time not so long ago when everything was okay.

Flashback
"Suppers ready!" I called to Will who was reading a book.
"Thank you." He said smiling merrily. I see your wearing the dress I bought you. It makes you look so devine. I just can't understand how someone like you ended up as my wife. I really am the luckiest man in the world!" 
"I have my flaws." I admitted. "Still this dress is beautiful it must of cost a fortune!" The dress was blue like my eyes and had a delicate floral pattern around the outside of the sleeves. Will smiled. "The shopkeeper was feeling sentimental that morning after we cured his daughter of that awful virus." I smiled happy to think that I had helped someone. That really was my passion I decided. 
"Do you really think there will be a fight?" I asked Will who was chewing his food thoughtfully. 

"Who knows what will happen." Said Will slowly. "If we die though-"
"Where not going to die." I interrupted him. 
"Willow... Sweetheart.... You in particular know the pain of loss. But what helped us to get through it was each other. If you died Willow, I would have no other life to live." Tears welled to my eyes.

"I will never leave you Will, in life and in death." I told him. He wrapped me in his arms and stroked my hair. "And I will promise it" I told him. "To never leave you. Ever."

For the rest of that night, I cried clutching the blue fabric of the dress. Why was life so full of pain?