*。☆。
★。＼｜／。★
˚ ₊ ♡ ❰ BALLAD OF BROKEN SWORDS ❱
*✧ ─── ❝ ❪ a legacy of our own making ❫ ❞
▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅
˚₊· ͟͟͞͞➳❥ ACT THREE ── face et spera 🏹 ⁺⑅

═════════ ☆•° °•☆ ═════════
CHILDREN OF ARDA DUOLOGY ⋆ ☄.
♯ ❝ let their hope be their strength ❞
CHAPTER THIRTY SEVEN ✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*
˚ ₊ ♡ the third age ─── year 3019
▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅▅

━━ ˚ ₊ ♡ 🏹
❝ 𝙝𝙤𝙬 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘐 𝙝𝙤𝙡𝙙 𝘮𝘺 𝙨𝙤𝙪𝙡 𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬
𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝙩𝙤𝙪𝙘𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙮𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙨 ❞

THE SKY WAS CLEAR AND THE SUN WAS WARM AS THE PEOPLE OF ROHAN MOVE IN A SOLEMN ORDELY ROW across the land. Soft whispers and hushed voices carry over the heavy silence that lingers around them. Creaking wagons, stomping hooves and the jostling sound of armour clinking. From where she walks, Gyda watches with keen eyes as the cavalry guards the front and the back, their horses strong and majestic whilst the infantry protects the middle and the convoy's flank.

Up ahead, on the horizon where the grasslands seem endless a group of scouts on horseback remains ever so watchful of a surprise attack from Sauroman's troops. Nervously Gyda's gaze moves over the people of Rohan, their weary faces showing signs of discomfort and exhaustion already. Their pace is slow and Gyda knows it makes them vulnerable. There is no place for them to go in the likely chance they fall under attack, and their journey will only put them more at risk.

The journey from Edoras to Helm's Deep was about 60 miles, surmounting to at least three days on the road. The weather was fine for now, but come nightfall the temperatures would drop and the open plains would not protect them from the cold winds. Her eyes roam, the elderly would subjected to sickness easily if they were not careful.

"What is it that has you so worried?"

Her shoulders tense before falling as recognition settles in. "This journey." She replies steadfast, willing her eyes to remain on the people ahead.

"It was an impossible choice." Legolas reasons softly. "No matter the intentions, no matter which truth was fundamentally right."

"Maybe..." She sighs. "But still I fear more lives will be lost now."

"Perhaps." Legolas acknowledges but chooses not to continue.

Gyda's mind wanders in the silence, compels her to make him see her reasons. "When it was decided that we were to leave Lindon in pursue of Sauron forces, I thought it was right. But as we moved across our land, the further we went the more villages we found plundered and burned down." She swallows. The memories as fresh as if they had only happened yesterday. "We left them unprotected and they decided the road was their safest choice, to make for the Grey Havens."

She lets her head fall down, tears glazing in her eyes. "I never expected to see so many...so many corpses—families, children."

"That must have been hard." Legolas soft gaze meets her own.

"It was as if we had already failed. What good was facing Sauron if we had no people left that could celebrate his defeat?" She pauses, steadying her breathing. "I fear Theoden has forgotten the dangers that lurk on these lands in his dread. What good is Helm's Deep if no one arrives? What good is such a fortress when it traps them? We will be cornered and weary from the journey."

"We might face defeat on these roads, perhaps we will arrive at Helm's Deep safely only to find it can't hold against Sauroman's forces. " Legolas nods, "but to the people of Rohan, it's their beacon of hope."

Gyda remains silent, her heart heavy in her chest.

"Hope can make many-a-people do great things." He continues, "Their odds in Helm's Deep might have been the same as back in Edoras, but they don't know that. Let their hope be their strength Gyda."

Her shoulders slouch as his words echo in her head and her eyes subconsciously focus on the figure of Elgarain and Aragorn in the distance. A new type of heaviness settles deep within her. One she hadn't felt in a long while and she bites her lip worriedly.

"She will understand." Legolas firmly states.

"What?"

"Elgarain will understand." He repeats, "All that matters is that you both care."

"Am I that easy to read?" She whispers, looking back at him, hair falling at the movement and framing her face.

She watches as his hand twitches by his side, as if repressing the urge to reach out for her. "To me you are." He says it so casually. "You reach for the pommel of your sword if you need a sense of comfort, you tuck your hair behind your ear if you feel nervous—" His hand moves this time as he speaks.

A shiver runs down her spine as his fingertips graze her cheek to tuck her hair away. The touch is gone before she knows it...before she can admit she likes it.

"You bite your lip when you're worried, and your eyes shine when you're truly happy."

Warmth spreads through her, a gentle kind of fondness at the way her notices such things about her.

"Just how they shine now." He murmurs softly as if she was not meant to hear him.

A blush coats her cheeks, "Thank you."

"For what?"

She breath in deeply, "Just...thank you." Thank you for talking reason into me, thank you for seeing me, thank you for loving me.

"For you, I would do anything." Is all he says but she can see in his eyes he wants to say more, but he holds back and takes a step away from her. It is only when he moves backwards that she realises how close he had been.

It is only as the fast beating of galloping hooves approaches them and breaks the spell around them, that she realises she had liked it. She tenses for a moment, hand reaching for her sword only to note the relaxed expression on the rider. "We make camp here for the night! Please make sure to stay together!" he calls out before turning around and racing back down the convoy.

A sighs escapes her and Gyda is quick to move toward one of the wagons stacked with supplies. Atop of three small crates a familiar girl sits with her arms wrapped around her torso for comfort. From her perch the young girl stares at the vast land in awe.

"Freda." Gyda calls out gently. "Come down please."

Gyda watches as the girl scoots down the crates before holding her arms out. The Elleth shakes her head before reaching out to lift the girl up and set her down on the grass.

"Annon allen." Gyda's heart warms at the way Freda tried to pronounce the elvish Sindarin-dialect.

"You remembered."

Freda hums, a bright smile adoring her sun-kissed face.

"Will you help me get the supplies of the wagon?"

Freda nods determinately, spinning around and reaching for one of the crates. She huffs, tiny muscles straining.

Gyda chuckles at the sight before nudging the girl aside. "Freda will you gather the blankets and give them to the elderly and the families with young children?" She instructs instead.

Happy with a much lighter task, the girl nods and rushes to gather the blankets before rushing off. Gyda keeps her eye on the girl bustling about the clearing whilst she works on setting up some of the tents with the help of two other women.

Smoke already gathers up in the sky as fire's are lit and pots are placed upon them. The smell of broths and herbs grows stronger with each passing moment as the people of Rohan finish up their tasks. Most have already gathered around the warmth of the fires, taking comfort in this moment of rest.

"Come, let us join the others." Legolas appears beside her again and she follows his gaze to see, Aragorn, Gimli and Elgarain sitting by the fire, talking quietly amongst themselves and as they approached, the last whispers of their conversation floated around in the air.

"You two finally talked things over then?" Gimli spoke, dark eyes focused on Aragorn and Elgarain.

"I dare say there probably wasn't a lot of talking involved, my friend," Legolas smugly joins the conversation. "I take it my services to provide a distraction are no longer necessary then?" Legolas continues lightly.

From behind him, Gyda notes the dark blush on Elgarain's cheeks just before she ducks her head. The moment their eyes meet however, the brunette averts her eyes.

"They are not, but I thank you all the same."

He grins, bows his head and took a seat next to Gimli.

Gyda hesitates for a moment, worry clouding her mind before she is reminded of Legolas's earlier words and sits herself down next to the Ellon.

Aragorn turns to look at Elgarain with a raised "Do I want to know?"

Elgarain scoffs good naturedly. "Don't pretend like you have no idea what he meant. We both know subtlety is not my strong suit."

Slowly, a smile spreads across his features and Gyda has to hold back her own smile at the carefree interaction. "Ah, the day we were planning our route..."

"Yes, that day."

"Any more alliances I should know about?" he asked, still smiling, eyes crinkling with fine lines as he looks upon the High-Queen.

Gyda watches as Elgarain subtly peers at Gimli from beneath her dark lashes, grinning impishly. But as the a ray of light flickers from behind a passing cloud and shines it light upon her skin worry grips her like vice.

Despite Elgarain's joyful disposition, her skin is pale...paler than normal and her cheeks despite the blush that lingers are gaunt. It is now that Gyda notices the tired frown of her brow and the tension in her shoulders. For a moment her ears buzz in a familiar hum of a foreign language. Her eyes flicker to the glimmering ring on her finger.

She swallows, muscles taunt and her heart beating just a tad faster than before. The sounds around her disappear as the melody of the ring grows louder.

"Not that I can think of right now," Elgarain says, putting on the sweetest smile she can manage and it breaks Gyda away from her thoughts again.

As if sensing her worry, Gyda can feel Legolas' eyes on her, the presence of his hand close to her own in a gentle reminder of his comfort.

She exhales, slow and meticulous before dragging her eyes away from the alluring sight to ring to focusing on the soft footsteps that approach their small campsite.

Eowyn appears before them, stray-coloured hair like spun gold in the late afternoon sun. in her hands she holds a steaming kettle. "I made some stew. It isn't much, but it's hot. Gimli?" she asked, tilting the metallic kettle up.

The dwarf eagerly looks inside but his face quickly fell. He held up his hands in surrender. "I couldn't."

Eowyn turned to Elgarain next with a hopeful smile. "My lady?"

"Ehm, apologies my lady, but Elves do not eat meat." Elgarain quips quickly.

Eowyn looked truly guilty and Gyda felt a small bout of guilt in the pit of her stomach. But if Gimli had refused a warm, fresh meal she would heed his advice, as Elgarain seemed to do too. "I am so sorry. I will make sure something else is send your way."

"That won't be necessary," Legolas refutes kindly and reaches into his pocket. He took out a loaf of Lembas, still wrapped in a large green leaf. "We still have some of our own waybread."

Eowyn nods, curiously eyeing the eleven bread before setting her sights on Aragorn. "My lord?"

It was impossible for him to have missed their strange dismissals of the stew. So, it was concluded, he was either too gentle to refuse, or he thought himself brave enough to stomach it. Living in the wild as much as he had, he must've eaten far worse.

Aragorn dips his head and Eowyn hands him a bowl and a spoon. "Thank you," he said.

They all watch with bathed breath as Aragorn bravely sips at the brown mixture. He put the spoon in his mouth and paused. Then, slowly, he swallowed.

Meanwhile Eowyn looked at him expectantly.

"Mmm," he finally manages. "It's good."

"Really?" the woman sighs with relief and spins around to leave.

As soon as her back was turned to him, Aragorn moves to spill what was left of the stew on the ground. But Eowyn turned back around suddenly and Gyda holds back her laughter as Elgarain quickly hits his arm in warning. Aragorn quickly held the bowl up straight again, but in doing so, spilled the hot liquid all over his hand.

"My uncle told me a strange thing," Eowyn says as she approaches them once again.

Aragorn peers up at her with a slight grimace on his face and Gyda expectedly watches the scene unfold.

"He said that you rode to war with Thengel, my grandfather. But he must be mistaken." Eowyn murmurs unsurely.

The atmosphere changes immediately as Aragorn smiles wistfully as if caught in a good memory. "King Théoden has a good memory. He was only a small child at the time."

Eowyn frowns, arms folding across her chest. "Then you must be at least sixty."

Aragorn shakes his head, his lip upturning in an awkward grin.

"Seventy?" Eowyn guesses once more. "You cannot be eighty!" She sputters out as he once again shakes his head.

He looked at her a moment. "Eighty-seven," he reveals at last.

Her eyes widened as the pieces fell into place. "You are one of the Dúnedain. A descendant of Númenor, blessed with long life. It was said that your race had passed into legend."

Aragorn nods, his smile fading. "There are few of us left. The Nothern Kingdom was destroyed long ago."

"I'm sorry," the white lady mutters. "Please eat!"

He could do nothing but accept and so was forced to put another spoonful into his mouth, but this time, after watching him swallow it, Eowyn truly did leave. As soon as she was out of sight, he threw what was left of the stew into the fire. Then quickly poured some cold water from his flask over his hand.

"I did not think even you would go that far to spare the lass' feelings," Gimli grins mischievously.

Aragorn didn't reply and instead moves to look at Elgarain instead. "Since when do you lie that easily?"

Gyda is reminded of the young Elleth that Elgarain had been, and agrees silently with the man.

She shrugs in answer. "Since I looked in that kettle and saw the rabbit staring back at me."

Gimli broke out into roaring laughter while Legolas looked rather sick.

Gyda's face twitched, the ghost of a smile on her face as her eyes met Elgarain's over the fire.

"I believed it too, as I was under the impression Elves didn't eat meat," Gimli states once he'd wiped the tears from his eyes. "I remember my father complaining about the leaves they were fed during their stay in Rivendell."

"Most of us indeed prefer not to eat meat," Legolas elaborates while throwing another piece of wood on the fire. "But, and I'm sure the same can be said about Dwarves, not all Elves are the same."

"Also, I'm fairly sure Lord Elrond requested there was no meat served as long as the company of Thorin Oakenshield remained in Imladris," Gyda adds with a grin.

They broke out into laughter once again, while Gimli grumbles dwarven curses beneath his breath with fake hurt. As the laughter fades, a comfortable silence was left behind. Legolas handed out the Lembas and even Gimli seemed content to eat the Elvish bread.

The sky had turned from orange to a dark blue and one by one the stars became visible. All around them chatter slowly quietened down as the people of Rohan tried to get some rest on the uncomfortable floor.

The warmth of the flames surrounds Gyda like a warm blanket and the sound of nature their lullaby, but the comfortable silence dies as Elgarain speaks her request.

"Sing me a song?" she whispered to Aragorn.

"Which one, my love?"

"Something to remind me of home."

For a moment all was quiet, then Aragorn took a breath and sung softly:

Gil-galad was an elven-king.

Of him the harpers sadly sing;

the last whose realm was fair and free

between the Mountains and the Sea.

His sword was long, his lance was keen.

His shining helm afar was seen;

the countless stars of heaven's field

were mirrored in his silver shield.

But long ago he rode away,

and where he dwelleth none can say;

for into darkness fell his star

in Mordor where the shadows are.

Now his daughter rules the land,

with kind word and a healing hand;

But peace was never meant to last

she bravely followed her father's past

But hope remains for those who wait,

the queen might show still at their gate;

For silver light shines through the night

And darkness bows down to its might

For a moment all was silent, as if the entire camp was holding its breath. The stars seemed to glimmer even brighter, awakened by the song. Gyda, despite the comfort of the song is reminded with melancholy of their quest...of the war they lost their king, the war that took her father.

"I've never heard those last two verses." Elgarain voice trembles.

Gyda clears her throat, "Galion wrote them—he wished for you to remember that your father's strength was in you as well...he never got the chance to sing it to you himself." She paused, "Galion could probably explain it better too."

Thinking of the archer came with both a warmth and a stab of missing.

"Hopefully I get to thank him one day," Elgarain says softly. "He always was the better singer out of the three of us."

"He has always had a gentle soul." Gyda chuckles, memories of their childhood echoing in her mind. The way he had always cried seeing injured animals and tended to them with utmost precision. How he would comfort her when she was sad. How he had always advised her with wise words.

"He's good at hiding it though," Elgarain added, carefully watching her guard. "Always making jokes, trying to cheer us up, get us to understand each other."

Gyda's gaze flickers to the fire, mulling over her next words. "I wish he was here." He would know how to fix this, she thinks sadly. He would know what to say to make us understand.

"So do I," Elgarain whispered.

Legolas watches Gyda with a conflicted gaze before speaking softly: "That is why we fight, is not? To make sure we have a home to return to and see our loved ones again."

From her right side, Gimli agrees resolutely. "Well said, lad."

A new sense of strength runs through them, a untameable spark of hope. Gyda could truly see it now. How this fellowship came to be, how it has evolved into more than a bunch of strangers tied by the brave courage of a single young Hobbit. Destiny had brought them together for more than this quest. These were the people they were supposed to meet, these were the people they belonged with. Together they would face the dangers up ahead, no matter the odds. They would see it through, for better or worse.

They would all continue the legacy of the people before them.

They would all write history themselves.

▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬

AUTHOR'S NOTE;
it has been FOREVER but Nel and I are finally back in buisnes so you can expect more regular updates! Also our boy legolas had really been making the moves lately and my darling gyda is slowly letting him in! Good things ahead for them I promise!! The slow burn will pay off!!! I have missed this story a lot! Please give it some love and feedback 🥰