The Queen of Gondor

Meeting Strider

Tragic scenes now.
Enjoy and comment.

The wind is very still. The sun has yet to set and the birds have yet to to stop singing to rest. The river I have been following never stops it's course.

I sit on the grass staring into the flames of the small fire I made in order to keep me warm enough through the night. Lathron is simply eating the grass that is presented to him on my left. My hair is dry from the river water I used to clean myself as much as possible. My body is feeling as good as it can in the wild on guard but my mind, while always conscious about my surroundings, is lost in memories.

I can hear laughter and singing. Old sounds, old songs, drowned and ignored by a younger self, running down the halls of the Minas Tirth, trying to get away from the guards that have been ordered to keep me away from the Common Folk. They are not used to chasing down a very excited wolf that isn't afraid to get her paws dirty, which makes it easy for me to lose them and blend in the crowd of the Commoners. I am wandering down the streets when suddenly, the Steward and his new Right Hand, my father, march to greet the Commoners. The entire family of the Steward are standing on one side while my own stands on the other side. My oldest brother, Robb, is the first one to find me in the middle of the crowd. He grins down at me and nudges his pregnant wife. She smiles at me amused and whispers to John, my older brother's ear. He looks down at me and shakes his head. Sans, my older sister hears them and scoffs and tells mother who immediately sees me in the crowd and mouths: "You will be punished once I get my hands on you." My father sees me as well and simply chuckles from up there. But his focus is back on the Steward when he highly praises him for his loyalty.

"Long live the King of Gondor!" The Steward yells. The crowd starts to murmur confused since everyone knows that the King of Gonder is not the Steward. Just then Robb gets shot by 4 arrows in the chest. His wife screams in horror before she drops dead, someone having stabbed her repeatedly in the stomach. Sans tries to run away but is grabbed by some guards and taken away. Mother tries to join her but someone cuts her throat. Father is being brought on his knees and the Steward motions for his Captain to cut off his head. Father's head rolls down all the way to the Commoners. I try to run to him but someone knocks me out and everything turns black.

I turn my attention to Lathron who's trying to make me move.

"Shh. I'm alright. No need to push me." I stroke him fondly. That's when I hear a falcon cry. I look up. The Dunedain use them as messengers, rarely, but they do. The falcon circles above our heads until it carefully lands near us. I present it some meat and we trade the meat for the letter in his beak. The letter is addressed to me. I open it and read.

Narwyn, we need you back here in the Dunlands. Father is sick and we do not know how much time the Valar has granted him.
Nas

I put the letter in the fire and let it burn. Once it has turned to ashes I climb on Lathron.

"Noro! We have a place to be." (Run) I whisper in his ear and like that we take off as fast as the wind.

--

Lathron and I slow down once we see 5 Rangers pointing arrows at us.

"Who are you?!" Nahstor, clearly him even under the hood, exclaims. I pull my hood down and get off my companion's back.

"How bad is it?" I ask instead, climbing down.

"Narw! It's not good. We do not know how long he has. I was not expecting you for a few more days." He embrasses me.

"I came as fast as I could from the borders of Rohan. Where is he?"

"In his cabin, I'll show you. Oh wait, Strider, this is Narwyn. Narwyn, Strider. He has been with since you left so a few years. He lives in your cabin, we thought you wouldn't mind." I nod at the man. His grey eyes look me up and down.