All Shall Fade

Chapter 35

Let Sleeping Dogs Lie

Aragorn, Legolas and I made our way into the throne room of the halls through a side door, seemingly catching Gandalf and Théoden in mid-conversation, as Merry, Pippin and Gimli looked on.

“And how do we know the Hobbit did not lie to save himself?” I heard Théoden ask as we took our places to listen in.

“There was no lie in Pippin’s eyes.” Gandalf insisted, and I realised that they must be talking about the Palantir incident. “A fool, but an honest fool he remains. He told Sauron nothing of Frodo and the Ring.” I glanced to the side as I heard Gimli sigh with relief where he sat. “We’ve been strangely fortunate. Pippin saw in the Palantir a glimpse of the enemy’s plan. Sauron moves to strike the city of Minas Tirith.” Gandalf said, and I frowned, knowing I’d heard the name of that city before.

“His defeat at Helm’s Deep showed our enemy one thing, He knows the Heir of Elendil has come forth.” He turned and nodded to Aragorn and I watched as he stared back at the wizard. “Men are not as weak as he supposed. There is courage still. Strength enough, perhaps to challenge him. Sauron fears this. He will not risk the peoples of Middle Earth uniting under one banner.” He looked to Théoden, “He will raze Minas Tirith to the ground before he sees a King return to the throne of men. If the beacons of Gondor are lit Rohan must be ready for war.” I suddenly remembered where I had heard about Minas Tirith before – Boromir’s city. So if Gondor was threatened, would this mean that Rohan would help them?

“Tell me, why should we ride to the aid of those who did not come to ours?” Théoden asked, striding forward, “What do we owe Gondor?”

“I will go!” I turned to Aragorn as he spoke up, and saw him frown as he was instantly contradicted by Gandalf.

“No!”

“They must be warned!” Aragorn protested.

“They will be!” The wizard said, walking towards us and stopping by Aragorn’s side. “You must come to Minas Tirith by another road.” He murmured, just loud enough for me to hear, “Follow the river. Look to the black ships.” I frowned at his ominous command as he turned back to address the room. “Understand this; things are now in motion that cannot be undone. I ride for Minas Tirith,” He turned to look at the two Hobbits that sat near him and smiled knowingly, “And I won’t be going alone.” I watched as he gestured to Pippin and Merry, and the three quickly left the hall via the main door. I glanced at Aragorn before following them at a more leisurely pace, stopping on the parapet outside the hall. I watched as they hurried into the stables as Aragorn appeared at my side. We stood in silence, until less than a minute later, Shadowfax galloped out of the stables and down through the city with Gandalf and Pippin on his back. Merry dashed out of the stables close behind them, making for a watchtower that stood not far away.

“Merry!” Aragorn cried, and I watched concernedly as he ran after him, easily catching up with the Hobbit as he climbed the steps and reached the top of the tower in time to see the white horse galloping across the plains. Aragorn reached his side, and I assumed they were talking, as they were too far away to hear. They stood until Shadowfax had ridden out of sight, and then Aragorn ushered Merry down from the tower, encouraging him to go inside the hall with the promise of finding something to eat. I smiled weakly as he joined me on the parapet again. “You should be resting.” He murmured, and I nodded half-heartedly, knowing I couldn’t keep going without sleep for much longer. I felt him slip his hand into mine and begin leading me back through the halls to my shared room. Eowdrin wasn’t there, but I saw that my boots had been returned to my bedside after I had discarded them in the hallway last night. I looked at my bed and bit my lower lip anxiously, suddenly feeling reluctant to go to sleep and face my nightmares again; as if sensing this, Aragorn gently squeezed my hand. “Is something wrong?” He asked, and I glanced down at the floor, deciding that I’d better tell him the truth.

“I-I’ve been having these nightmares recently…” I stammered, and he sat down on my bed, pulling me down to sit beside him.

“Tell me.” He said softly, releasing my hand to brush a strand of my hair behind my ear as I anxiously knotted my hands in my lap.

I told him about the Saruman dreams first, feeling I owed him an explanation about that, and when I had finished he reminded me that Saruman was dead, and wouldn’t bother me any more.

“There are other ones though.” I murmured, before launching into a detailed account of my other nightmare, everything from describing what a suburban street in my world looked like, to the army that advanced upon us. When I came to tell him about how I watched the members of the Fellowship die, I felt tears pooling in my eyes. Somehow, saying everything out loud made it seem more real. Aragorn pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around me and allowing me to smother my tears on his shoulder.

“It’s just a dream Alice.” He reassured me as he smoothed my hair.

“I know,” I hiccupped, “But it feels like its something more than that.” He was quiet for a moment as I gradually stopped crying and sat back, glancing up at him as he kindly smiled down at me. “Will you… Will you stay with me?” I asked timidly, “Just until I fall asleep?”

“Of course.” He smiled, leaning forwards to softly press his lips against my forehead before he stood, allowing me to lie down and pull the blankets around me as he pulled up a chair to my bedside. I smiled, nestling down into my pillow as he pulled my blanket up to cover my bare shoulders as I closed my eyes, trying to retain the mental image of Aragorn watching over me, in the hope that it would chase away any nightmares as I drifted off.

The nightmare returned, more violently than before. I had watched helplessly as my friends fell at my feet, all vainly trying to protect me as I selfishly refused to leave them. Aragorn was the last to leave my side, locking blades with the dark, armoured figure of Sauron, as the ring glowed on his finger, before I screamed and shut my eyes, suddenly feeling arms around me. I struggled, convinced that I was being held back from helping him as tears streamed down my cheeks. As the arms tried to restrain me, I heard Aragorn’s voice.

“Alice, it’s alright, you’re safe!” He told me, and I shook my head.

“No, you have to run; you’re going to get yourself killed!” I protested.

“Open your eyes Alice.” He whispered, and I obliged, even though I was afraid of what I might see. To my surprise, I saw Eowdrin’s room, and Aragorn bending over me, concern painted across his features as I panted for breath. I realised he had been holding my shoulders, obviously trying to wake me from my nightmare. I sat up and he pulled me into his safe embrace, sitting down on the bed as I clung to his shirt with shaking fingers. I could still feel the tears running down my cheeks, and the cold sweat that covered my hands.

“Y-you stayed?” I whimpered, remembering that I had only asked him to stay until I fell asleep.

“I did not want to leave you,” He murmured in my ear, “And I’m glad I didn’t.”

“Thank you.” I whispered, wrapping my arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” He asked after a moment, and I shook my head.

“No… I don’t think I could.” I mumbled, sitting back and wiping my tears on the sleeve of my dress. “I think I should probably change out of this ridiculous dress though… Do you mind?” I nodded towards the door, and Aragorn smiled.

“I’ll meet you in the hallway.” He said, lightly touching my cheek before standing and walking out the door. As he closed it behind him I swung my legs out of bed and went to go locate my things. I found them bundled on a shelf and quickly changed out of the dress, neatly folding it and leaving it where my clothes had sat. I realised that as I’d changed into my old clothes I’d subconsciously belted my swords to my waist. I realised that ever since my nightmares had begun, I’d been careful about being armed most of the time. It was odd that I hadn’t thought about my weapons over the past few days. I shrugged and walked towards the door, opening it and smiling as I spotted Aragorn leaning out a window in the hallway. I joined him and looked out at the mountains he appeared to be staring at. I couldn’t figure out what it was he was watching so intently, and eventually my patience wore out.

“What are you looking at?” I asked, and he smiled, pointing to one of the nearby mountains.

“The beacon.” He replied, and I was just able to make out the small mound at the peak.

“Oh.” I sighed, remembering that beacons used to be used to relay messages. “Gandalf won’t be at Minas Tirith yet, so there’s not point in watching.”

“I know.” He sighed, looking a little disappointed.

“Come on,” I said, trying to sound encouraging, “Let’s go outside.” I held out my hand for him and he smiled as he took it and we walked out of the hall. It was only around late afternoon, so it didn’t seem like I had slept for very long. I hopped down the steps, pulling Aragorn after me, but I quickly released his hand as I was bowled over by an enormous, grey furry mass.

“Alice!” Aragorn cried in alarm as I found myself sprawled on the ground.

“What the-?!” I spluttered, and then looked up to see the large shaggy wolfhound standing over me, panting and looking immensely pleased with itself. “Aw!” I cried, sitting up and instantly beginning to scratch it behind its floppy ears. “Aren’t you adorable?” I cooed, and was rewarded with a big slobbery lick up the side of my face. “Yuck!” I laughed as Aragorn crouched beside me and petted the large dog. As I looked into animal’s deep brown eyes I was instantly reminded of Jess, my own dog. I sighed sadly as I thought of her, and how she had tried to follow me before I was pulled away from my world.

“What’s wrong?” Aragorn asked as the dog sat down in front of me.

“Would it sound really stupid if I said I missed my dog?” I smiled wryly and he comfortingly laid his hand on my arm.

“No,” He murmured, “I have often seen people form strong bonds with animals.” I looked up and met his easy smile, as somewhere in the city, someone whistled for the dog and it bounded off. Aragorn stood and pulled me to my feet, my heart fluttering a little as he leant towards me – and then we head butted each other as something rammed into me from behind.

“Ow…” I groaned, rubbing my head. Honestly, I seemed to be a magnet for accidents today… I turned around to see two young boys and a girl, all around the ages of eight or nine and clutching little wooden swords looking up at me sheepishly.

“S-sorry…” The oldest boy stammered, and I smiled.

“It’s alright, not much harm done.” I laughed, feeling my forehead where I was certain to get a bruise, if not a lump.

“Hey!” The other boy cried, “You’re one of the warriors that came to warn us about the battle!” I felt myself cringe a little at the term ‘warriors’, it made me sound more important than I really was.

“I guess…” I shrugged, crouching down to their eye-level, “But you know what?” I dropped my voice down to a whisper as they listened with yet more cringe-worthy awe, “That guy over there-” I subtly nodded in Aragorn’s direction, “- is the bravest warrior out of all of us. He kept all of you safe during the battle.” I had to resist the urge to laugh at their wide eyes as I stood, and turning to meet Aragorn’s disapproving gaze. I winked playfully at him before I felt one of the children tug at my sleeve, it was the younger boy again.

“Can you show us how you fight?” He asked, and I turned back to Aragorn. We hadn’t sparred since my training back in Rivendell; it would be interesting to see how I held up against him now.

“How about it?” I grinned, and I saw his eyes wander to my bandaged arm. “I’ll be fine.” I insisted, reaching for my swords as he rolled his eyes and drew his hunting knife as he didn’t have his sword with him.

“How much of your training do you remember?” He asked with a smile as I drew my swords.

“Oh, a little.” I shrugged, feeling like we were about to start trash-talking each other like in some corny movie, “It’s hard to forget though, I did learn from the best after all.” I launched a blow at him, which he easily blocked.

“The best?” He murmured in an amused tone as our blades locked.

“Yeah – Legolas.” I smirked, leaping back to avoid the retaliation that would undoubtedly follow that comment. He laughed and swung his blade at me, and I blocked him, letting the sound of metal-against-metal fill the air around us. As we once again locked our blades together, I jabbed at him with my second blade. He dodged and grabbed my arm, forcing me to drop the blade so I could wriggle free. Now we were even. I circled him slowly, carefully watching his knife. “You normally would have pinned me by now.” I commented, striking out at him and being pushed back.

“Perhaps you are a better fighter now.” He replied, launching a series of blows at me which I only just managed to block.

“Or maybe you’re losing your touch.” I joked, dodging another of his potentially devastating attacks and again clashing blades with him.

“Or maybe I’m going easy on you.”

I raised an eyebrow and snorted, “Alright,” I caught his blade against mine and stepped forwards so we were almost nose to nose, “Don’t hold back from now on.” He smirked, and in a flash had his blade against the hilt of mine, flicking it out of my hand and pushing me to the ground, where he crouched above me and pinned my arms above my head as I gasped breathlessly. “Bloody hell…” I muttered as he grinned. “I wasn’t ready!”

“You told me not to hold back.” He countered, as I glared at him, slipping my wrists out of his grasp.

“Oh, look!” I cried, pointing over his shoulder. He glanced to the side and I slammed him in the chest, rolling him over and pinning him to the ground, laughing as I went. “Get him!” I cried to the children who had been watching intently. They rushed over, wildly waving their little wooden swords as I jumped back, laughing as Aragorn theatrically ‘died’ before he was let up. I held my hand out for him and hauled him to his feet as he laughed.

“That was hardly fair.” He murmured accusingly.

“Using my resources? I should think not!” I grinned as he laughed, pulling me forwards to lightly kiss my forehead. I became aware that we were probably still being watched, and turned to see the children trying to imitate our battle amongst themselves as I went to recover my swords.

“Why did he kiss her?” One of the boys asked, and I felt a blush creep across my cheeks.

“They must be in love.” The other boy said, sounding very sure of himself as my blush deepened.

“Do you think she was a princess then?” The girl piped up, “Hero’s always fall in love with princesses.” I smiled a little, realising the truth behind her words fuelled by fairy-tales. Aragorn had been in love with someone who was the equivalent of a princess. I didn’t even know if our feelings for each other were strong enough to be called ‘love’ yet, but compared to Arwen I was definitely a step down, and that thought bothered me a lot more than it should have.