Muted protection

Chapter 24

A black horse bent by the stream gulping in water before lifting its head to watch a hooded figure throw knives at a tree, hitting the centre of the crossed target she had created. Linwaethiel sighed in frustration before walking forwards and grabbing her knives. She had passed through the forest of Firien in the early morning sunlight and hadn't stopped since leaving Minas Tirith. Walking towards her mare she called out in elvish.

The mare trotted up to her and shoved it's massive head into her hands. Linwaethiel ran her hands over her nose before running it under her mane up over her neck as she followed her hand. She massaged softly and picked twigs out, murmuring to the horse in her mind before she pulled herself into the saddle. The mare began trotting forwards leading the way to Edoras. They had visited many times over the time she managed to get out of the Citadel. As she crossed a hill she looked over the plains of grass leading to Edoras. In the distance she could see a patrol heading her way and smiled softly before nudging the mare to go faster. Breaking into a gallop she sped in the direction of Edoras and heard the thumps of the patrols horses gaining ground. Suddenly out of nowhere a heavy object hit her and wrapped around her causing her to tumble from the horses back.

The mare whinnied and turned to trot back to Linwaetheil's side who was regaining the breath knocked from her chest. She rolled to her back and tried to move her arms. She looked down to see ropes wrapped around her and rolled her eyes. Pushing her feet under her she flipped to upright position before slashing a small blade from her wrist across the ropes causing them to fall to her feet. She straightened her clothes before glancing up to find a lance in her face. She raised an eyebrow before following it up to the man holding it.

"State your name and purpose!" Linwaethiel smiled beneath her hood which hid her face and ducked when he moved to remove the hood with the spear. Moving swiftly she grabbed the reins of her horse and swung up into the saddle, the mare already moving. Moving over the hills she pulled out her bow when she heard the gurgling noise of orcs talking in loud voices. As she rode past a rock she found the hoard of creatures. She released arrows in quick succession and ducked as arrows were fired back at her. The orcs called loudly drawing the attention of the patrol and caused the orcs to become louder and more desperate to kill Linwaethiel as they quickly recognised her as the Silent Warrior. Leaping from the horse she switched to her long knives and slashed at the closest orcs, taking them by surprise. Her blades clashed with the makeshift weapons of the orcs and they fought back and forth.

The patrol rushed in taking care of the remaining orcs leaving Linwaethiel to battle two alone. She faced one while kicking the second one away. As she was busy the second one crept up behind her, clobbering her over the head with his weapon.

"I got her!" The creature cried before gasping for breath as a spear sliced through his chest. The first orc quickly fell under a second spear and all fighting stopped. The leader of the patrol got down from his horse calling commands to the men.

"Pile them and burn them. Incinerate their disgusting air from this earth." He walked up to the fallen warrior and noticed a strand of blood red hair tumbling from under the hood. Kneeling down he pulled the hood off and found elf ears on a woman. An elleth. Suddenly he remembered the orders of his king and lifted the elleth into his arms, noticing her mare was standing off to the side.

"Follow us to Edoras. We will take your master there." He looked down at the woman in his arms before noticing a bleeding wound on her ribcage. He called out to one of his men who brought something to tie around the wound. Stepping up to his horse he settled her in the saddle before climbing up behind her. He reached forwards and pulled the hood of her cloak up, covering her face. "Ride on ahead and tell the King, he must know that his friend is injured."

One rider rode ahead and soon the patrol were moving back to Edoras. Reaching the steps of the Golden hall Eomer ran towards them before taking the elleth from the Patrol Captain.

"What happened?" Eomer sounded angry but allowed his Captain to answer.

"I mistook her for an enemy." He began explaining but stopped when he was interrupted by Eomer.

"So you decided to knock her out, Amar?" Amar shook his head before trying to explain.

"It happened when she got caught up with a group of Orcs. One snuck up on her and clobbered her over her head." Without them noticing Linwaethiel opened her eyes, awareness returning within seconds. Seeing the face of the Patrol Captain she flipped from where she was being held, landing beside Amar only to sweep his feet from under him before holding a knife to his throat.

"Linwaethiel!" Eomer called out but was ignored by the angry elleth. Her golden eyes fixed into Amar's dull green ones and his eyes widened when he saw them. He dared not move as one wrong move and this warrior would not hesitate to kill him.

"Linwaethiel, please don't kill Amar. It was an honest mistake. You cannot think that people will recognise you under a hood." Her gold eyes flicked away from Amar's focusing on the man standing above them.

"I'm not going to kill him." With that she stood up sliding the knife back into her hip sheath. I could have killed him the instant I woke without the use of a weapon.

But you wouldn't. Linwaethiel didn't bother to answer only raising an eyebrow at the King of Rohan. Stepping forwards she bowed her head before wrapping a hand around him in a hug. People who hadn't seen this before stood wide eyed as the King smiled at his strange friend. Amar stood up before backing away slowly.

"What are you doing here? I thought you were to entertain King Thranduil? I thought you'd want to see Legolas as you haven't seen him in years." He watched as her expression darkened at the mention of the elf before connecting the dots. "Walk with me."

~~~~~~~

A while later Eomer was smiling trying to hide his laughter but failing. Before him Linwaethiel was hiding her blushing face beneath the hood before punching the King of Rohan to stop laughing. She began walking away pulling out a throwing knife to twirl away her agitation.

"My apologies. I did not mean to offend, but you ran away from someone you love who loves you back." Eomer grabbed hold of Linwaethiel's arm stopping her momentum. The elleth turned to him and he ducked to see her red cheeks. "Where will you be heading?"

"Hobbiton." She answered simply looking out over the Riddermark. Horses whinnied as the day reached it's peak.

"Will you stay for the night? I wish to introduce someone to you." Linwaethiel turned and smiled.

Of course, your highness. Eomer rolled his eyes as they headed back to the Golden Halls. She was brought to her room which she had been allowed to keep over the years. Reaching it she placed her weapons on the bed and pulled off her cloak. As she started to pull off the tunic she heard an uncomfortable cough. Turning she saw Captain of the Patrol Amar standing in her doorway. She raised her eyebrow before pulling her tunic down again. She fixed a glare on him before speaking.

"What?"

"I came to apologise."

"And you couldn't have waited until later?" He apologised again before retreating quickly out of the doorway closing it behind him. She raised her eyebrows again before turning away and continuing to undress. She pulled on a white dress with a hood having braided her hair into a single long braid that came across her shoulder. Leaving her room she entered the fray of Edoras and sat watching the festivities with a mug of ale.

The next morning she set off on the mare after being introduced to Eomer's 'friend'. She was a beautiful dark haired woman and light greeny-blue eyes. Linwaethiel had gestured to Eomer to point out that he loved her only to be waved off with a fake laugh which caused her to roll her eyes. She wished them both luck as she galloped away heading towards Hobbiton.