How did it come to this?
Loyal to her family, her lands and her people, Théadain, the illegitimate daughter of Théoden, King of Rohan, has little concern for the world that lies beyond her familiar grasslands. When all that she loves is threatened...
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Chapter 62
It was an unfamiliar feeling to Théadain, not quite knowing where she belonged.
As evening had drawn in around the city, and Aragorn still had not returned from speaking with Gandalf, she had found herself wandering between the Houses of Healing and the seventh level, trying to decipher what her place was. It was not like her familiar, clear roles in Edoras; here she barely knew where she was going, much less which tasks she could lend herself to. She did not even know where she was to sleep that night.
So, she had found her way back to Éowyn's chamber in the Houses of Healing, as Éomer had assured her that he would inform the men of Rohan of their upcoming march to the Black Gate. A smile of relief had crossed the Third Marshal's features as she saw her cousin sitting up in bed, running her hand over the sturdy bandage that encased her swordarm. The sight of her eased the heavy feeling that had fallen on Théadain, that sense of crushing finality as she thought of the final stand they would make, only two sunrises from now.
"Théadain?"
"None other." She smiled reassuringly at her cousin's call of her name, moving to sit at the foot of her bed and reaching for her good hand, "You look well, Éowyn – less grey."
The blonde woman smiled softly at her cousin's affectionate teasing, though it seemed to only veil the expression of grief that had clouded her features before she had realised she was not alone. Reaching out her good hand to take Théadain's they sat together quietly, each recalling that the last time they had done so, it had been at the side of their dying king.
"Are you well, Théa?" The younger woman asked after a long moment, seeing the faraway look that had come over her cousin.
"As well as I can be." She murmured, schooling her features into a careful smile, unwilling to tell her cousin of what had been decided just hours before, though sensing she had already guessed what was still to come; "I feel as though I am wandering in a daze, as though I have no purpose here yet... I don't know what I should be doing, I just... I wish I could speak with my father." She swallowed thickly and glanced out the window, "It's the same when I think of Théodred... I wish they were here."
"They are together now." Éowyn assured her gently, even as her voice wavered slightly, making Théadain tighten her grip on her fingers.
"I haven't been able to bring myself to see him." She admitted softly, glancing upwards as if her gaze could pierce the stone above their heads to look into the Hallows on the seventh level. "When all of this is over, I hope he can be brought back to Rohan."
Éowyn nodded, squeezing her hand a little tighter as her eyes fell on the ring hung around her cousin's neck, "Though you will not remain with us, in Edoras?"
A small smile quirked the corners of Théadain's mouth as she shook her head, reaching to toy with the ring with her free hand, "No, I don't expect I will." She whispered, though she knew that the fact she would not return to her homeland had little to do with her recent betrothal.
