And In The Dawn Save Them

Chapter 26 : The Race Against Time

Music to listen to on this chapter:

It's getting tenser and tenser, concerning war and concerning love! How will Alcara and Eomer's relationship develop now? Find out more here! This is the end of Part 2 :D

The following days were a torment for Alcara, as they were for Éomer. By tacit agreement, they decided to avoid each other as much as possible: Éomer out of shame, Alcara out of anger.

She resolved to lock herself up in her laboratory, as she no longer felt like going out riding or archery. She dismissed all the patients and told the apprentice healers that the House of Healing was suspended for the time being. She knew she was creating disappointment and misunderstanding with such an announcement, but her tone was so firm and definitive that no one dared reproach her.

Her whole attitude changed, as if the love she had felt had turned into immense spite about everything, and she drew all her energy from it to concentrate on her mission and be able to leave as quickly as possible.

Unfortunately, the emergency also came from outside: and as expected, Gandalf wrote to her that enemies had gathered on the other side of the mountains of Mordor and were preparing to attack Ithilien. Orders were given to evacuate the population to Minas Tirith, but Eowyn insisted on going to Edoras, as she wrote to Alcara and to her brother, while Faramir prepared for battle with Aragorn. Éomer also gathered his troops to go back into war.

The roads would soon be impassable, and Éomer would be going off to war again, but Alcara didn't care, she wanted to get away, and would go anywhere as long as she got away from him. She felt both weary and vindictive when he wasn't around, but if she saw him from a distance or heard his voice in the palace corridors, she knew that if she came across him, her resistance would fade and her hope would resurface. She hated herself for giving him another chance, when he had done her so much harm.

She needed help, however, and took advantage of the King's carte blanche to summon servants to accompany her back to the mounds to gather more Simbelmynë, enough to experiment with a potion. In the distance, she could see Éomer watching his troops train in the valley. She imagined that he was totally dedicated to the war, but she didn't care.

Day and night, no longer hungry or sleepy, she devoted herself exclusively to her task: it was the first time she had to create a remedy herself, so she had to apply herself as hard as possible. Despite her concentration, the image of Éomer returned intermittently, with confused images of good and bad memories. But she refused to dwell on them, wishing at all costs never to see him again. However, she could not leave now, before she had fulfilled her promise to study the flower of Rohan, and Eowyn would soon be arriving.

By the end of the third day, she had managed to prepare several possible types of potion, using different techniques for extracting the flower: heating it to extract the spirit, or diluting it in water, alcohol or even horse digestive juice, which she had managed to collect from the stable with a horse groom. All the people she came into contact with at that time feared her a little and avoided her presence: Éomer had given her a mandate to go wherever she wanted and for everyone to obey her in all matters relating to her scientific experiments, but she had a dry way of talking to everyone, which brooked no reply.

Only one young maid, who must have been around fifteen, found favour in her eyes: she had been sent indirectly by Éomer, not to keep an eye on her, but because he secretly felt very guilty and wanted to know how she was doing.