The Forgotten Princess

The Riders of Rohan

Lessien knelt down and put her ear to the ground. Far away, a light thrumming was heard, the stampeding footsteps of Urak-Hai. They were back-tracking to Isengaurd.

They would take Merry and Pippin to Saruman and torture information about the Ring out of them. But they didn't know anything. They were just being friends to Frodo and they had no way to save themselves.

They would surely be killed.

Lessien's knee throbbed unpleasantly in the incredibly intense heat. Her cheek became irritated against the itchy grass.

Standing up, she did her best to not limp and looked around at her three companions.

"I hear, but I cannot quite tell where they are. Legolas, can you see anything?" she asked Legolas, not looking at him as she said so.

Legolas had good eyes, even for an elf. Better eyes than Lessien had ears.

That's why a long time ago he had been appointed the Fellowship's scout. It felt like it had been one hundred years, but it had only been a couple of months.

Legolas stepped forward, the least tired out of the four.

While he scanned the horizon, Lessien sat down as lightly as she could manage. She rubbed her knee around the tattered bandage doing her best to restore circulation in her knee.

The injury had set them back a day and a half. And it likely would have delayed them much longer if Lessien had not protested as much as she had.

Still, the knife to the leg had handicapped Lessien a noticeable amount.

Everyone was exhausted.

The small company traveled from the crack of dawn deep into the night. And the days were much worse, for the sun was unrelenting as it pounded down on her back.

What had been five minutes felt like five seconds to Lessien and Legolas stated that they decide what they were to do. The yellow sun hung low in the sky like a great heavy bowl of honey. 

"We can set out after them or we can rest for a while," he said, glancing at Lessien. "It would set us two hours behind them." 

Gimli grumbled something about Lessien under his breath. 

She looked guiltily down at her hands.

"I say we rest," Legolas voted.

"I say we go on," Aragorn said quietly. "We can't afford a couple of hours."

"As do I,"  Gimli agreed loudly with Aragorn.

Everyone looked at Lessien, who was biting her lip to hold back any other signs of pain. 

Everyone saw right through her yet no one spoke a word on it. 

"I vote that we move on," she gasped out, exhausted. 

So it was, and Gimli and Aragorn immediately set off northwest after Legolas pointed out the direction. 

Legolas and Lessien were left bathing in the red light of the early evening.

"Why did you do that?" Legolas asked, walking over near Lessien. "You're clearly in pain. You need rest."

"I can go on," Lessien said in reply, no regret in her voice whatsoever.

"You are limping. You are weak," Legolas whispered, and noted the feverish complexion of Lessien. He reached out his hand for Lessien to take and brought her toward him, helping her up.