Princess of Arnor - The King's Regent (Under Edit)

Chapter Seven: Southbound

"I swear to you, as Eru is my witness. No stone will be unturned, no twig unbroken, until I find Thorwen and bring her back to you. I would sooner go to Mithlond than return empty-handed."- Calenamath

15th March/ Gwaeron 3019, Mirkwood

With bated breath, Thorwen readied herself as the figures came out of the gloom. The five men armed with bows and spears looked almost as surprised to see her as she was of them.

"I thought you were Orcs," said Thorwen.

The men looked at each other. "No, we are Beornings, m'lady," said the man, who appeared to be their leader. He was short and stocky with a mop of thick shaggy brown hair that matched his messy beard.

Thorwen eyed him suspiciously. "Most Beornings I've seen wear a bear's head cloak pin, but I see no identifying marks about you."

"We are simple farmers, m'lady. But Orcs attacked our villages and burned our crops. Now we fight to protect what is left," replied the leader.

Thorwen and the men lowered their weapons. She lifted her visor and lowered her scarf, but airing on the side of caution, introduced herself as Aleth. The Sindarin equivalent of her Maia name, Almárie, explaining that she was trying to return to her people on the Western Front.

The leader of the men, whose name was Ingvar, claimed they had come from the west but had got lost in the smoke during the Melee."There is fierce fighting there, m'lady. I have never seen such a large Orc army before."

"As fortune would have it, we are at the enchanted river. If we follow it northward, we should reach the Elven way in no time," said Thorwen.

"Perhaps we should rest first. This smoke is so dense, we can't even tell if it is day or night. We are not used to fighting and my men are weary. We do not have the stamina of Elves."

Thorwen agreed. After a day's fighting, a brief respite could not hurt. The company shared with Thorwen what little food and drink they had. After a while, Thorwen noticed the smoke was receding. She and her companions could now get a clearer view of the smouldering forest. Then one of the men saw the image of an eye, freshly carved into one of the blackened stumps.

"Look Ingvar, Orc marks! They can't be far away. We should go after them." The other men agreed, but Thorwen advised that the Elven way was not far and they were few in number. "Better it would be to return with reinforcements before attacking more Orcs."

"Not scared, are you, m'lady?" said Ingvar. And the other men in the company sniggered.

"Certainly not. I have been trained to fight since childhood. But we are small in number and you, being farming folk, might fare better if we return for reinforcements."

"And if we follow the marks, we could catch the Orcs unawares and slaughter them. Like they slaughtered our families, M'lady. It's alright for you Elves, safe in your caverns. But we Woodfolk are mere pawns. Picked off at will by the Orcs. It is time we paid them back for what they've done to us!"

The other men murmured in agreement and prepared to leave. "Will you join us, m'lady?" asked Ingvar.

"I must return to my people. But I will come back with others to assist you."

Ingvar shrugged. "suit yourself, m'lady. Let's hope we are still alive upon your return." Grinning, he shook Thorwen's hand. "Fortune, be with you, m'lady." Then he and his men walked southward, searching out other Orc marks as they went. Thorwen lowered her visor with a pang of guilt. Had she condemned those men to their deaths by not going with them?