Daughter of Rohan [Lord of the Rings | Eomer]

Chapter 4

"Warg! We're under attack!"

Screams echoed around Hilde as Aragorn's shout echoed over the rocks. Her heart seemed to thrum in her ears, drowning out thought. In an instant her sword was in her hand.

"All riders to the head of the column!" Théoden cried ahead of her, whirling his horse around to survey his people and what mounted men he had. Off to the side, she glimpsed the dwarf struggling to get on the horse he shared with the elf. In front of her, Aragorn was already up on his, having already retrieved it from Éowyn. Distantly the approaching snarls and shrieks of a warg pack could be heard above the panic that was beginning to take hold.

Amid the din Hilde managed to make it to Éowyn's side. The King had already angled Aelafel next to his niece, halting her from mounting Windfola.

"You must lead the people to Helm's Deep, and make haste," he said, his tone showing that it was nothing short of an order. Though Hilde was behind her friend, she could imagine how Éowyn's blue eyes must have flashed in anger.

"I can fight!" she insisted, but he cut her off before she could protest any more.

"No!" Hilde could hear the faint trace of fear in his voice, but his eyes brooked no argument. That didn't stop Éowyn from meeting his gaze with a resentful but determined look of her own. Even in the midst of the crisis they were caught in, the King's eyes softened, and he held on to his niece's gaze.

"You must do this," he said quietly, "for me." The note of pleading on his face and in his voice seemed to shock Éowyn out of her rebelliousness. Finally Éowyn nodded in acceptance, handing Windfola's reins to Hilde in a gesture of submission to her uncle's wishes, though her reluctance to do so was clear on her face. Hilde, though, was not so bound by duty to lead in the King's place as her friend was. As soon as the reins were in her hand she was up on Windfola, pulling the chestnut around to join the call for warriors. Éowyn had already moved off, beginning to direct the people onward and away from the impending battle.

"No, Hilde," her gaze snapped up to meet the King's. But before she could make the same argument Éowyn just had, Théoden held up a hand, silencing her.

"You must help her. Use your sword and bow if you need to, but look to our people. The wargs likely mean to make for the column. You and the shieldmaidens who remain are our people's last defense should any warg break through my riders." With the same reluctance as Éowyn, Hilde nodded in deference to her King's order, though she stayed in the saddle, sheathing her sword and hurriedly lashing her quiver by her knee before pulling her short bow from her shoulder. If she was to help defend the column, she intended to be mounted. With a grim nod of approval, Théoden once again spun his horse around, calling out to the gathering riders.

Fighting the urge in her belly to join the riders racing to meet the wargs, she instead turned Windfola back toward the column. It was a longing so intense her chest felt tight, and every muscle in her body was quivering with readiness to fight. Already Éowyn was urging the people to head for lower ground, putting distance between them and the howls and shrieks rising over the hills.

Circling Windfola, Hilde was hesitant to move on with the column. Somehow she managed a reassuring smile for the two Westfold children as they were led past her, their faces pale with fear. Just about every face that passed her was such; drawn and frightened. She already had an arrow nocked against her bowstring, ready should she need it. A fair way down the column from where she stood waiting, she could see two other Shieldmaidens, older than she, standing vigil as she did, bows or swords ready. The wargs and the King's riders were just over the hill. If any orcs were to break through, it would be here. Which was why she waited as the column moved past, every sense vigilant to the danger. Thankfully, the people's fear had been repurposed to urgency, and the column moved by quickly.