The dúnedain ranger (a Lotr Fanfic)

Chapter 5

 Éomer POV

     I left Arnwen and walked back to my men. As I was walking in kept thinking about her Arnwen. The last time I saw her was when she came to Edoras in need of supplies and a place to stay. I agreed to let her stay until Théoden came back. and she left the day before Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli and Mithrandir came back from Isengard. As I arrived at my camp, the guard on watch came over in my direction, awaiting my orders. "We rest the night. We will travel with another group of men in the morning. We ride for Edoras." I ordered. "Yes my Lord." he replied and went to sit near the fire to continue to guard. I walked into my tent and slowly fell asleep thinking about how lucky I was to find Arnwen again, and this time she has her own kin behind her.

Arnwen POV

     I woke up the next morning and walked towards the fire. Éomer and his men just arrived at our camp with all their belongings. "Good morning Éomer." I said to him. "Good morning Arnwen, is your company ready to continue?" he asked. I woke everyone up, had a quick meal and packed our things. "Have I met you before?" Legolas questioned to Éomer but then looked like he found the answer. "Greetings Éomer, son of Eomund. It has been awhile." "Yes it has. Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood." Éomer responded. We all mounted our horses and rode towards Edoras in a full gallop, despite Loborneth's constant protests.

     By mid-afternoon, we arrived at Edoras. As we paraded through the gates, people were lined up on both sides and we're cheering for the return of their king. A few villagers looked at me and waved. I smiled and waved back at them as we were passing by.

     We dropped our horses off at the stables and walked into the great hall. "Éomer, you have returned! It has been so long." A lady in fine robes said as she came rushing towards Éomer. A young man who was standing with her and another girl followed her and exclaimed. "Father, you've returned!" They embraced and Éomer introduced them. "Arnwen, this is my wife Lothíriel and my son Elfwine. Lothíriel, Elfwine, this is Arnwen, heir to the throne of Arnor before it fell into ruin." I noticed that Lothíriel has long black hair and blue eyes. Elfwine must've inherited her black hair and blue eyes but unlike her, his hair is short. He looked at me with awe as he realized how long I've been in middle-earth. "Then you must be over one thousand years old!" Everyone had a shocked look on their face except for me. "Elfwine, behave. We have guests and they might not want to be reminded of their age." Lothíriel said. "It is alright Lothíriel, You are right Elfwine, I am one thousand six hundred and forty three (1643) years old." I told them. "But how? No dúnedain has ever lived so long." Éomer asked. "My mother was an elf. My companions and I are weary of our journey. May you show us to our rooms so we may rest and be able to attend the evening feast?" I simply asked them as they nodded and we started walking towards the guest rooms.

Arnwen POV

     I walked into the guest room, dropped my stuff and had a nice bath. I sighed as I welcomed the freshness into me. If you are thinking why I am enjoying it, trust me, if you have lived in the wilderness for a few months, you would like it. After I was done, I got comfortable, got into the covers of the bed and I picked a book and started to read until I fell asleep.

     A few hours later, there was a knock on the door. I sat up and walked towards it. I opened it and there stood Lothíriel. "Follow me, and hurry." She said. I followed her to a secret room with a bow on the wall and a sword on a pedestal nearby. "I feel war will be upon us soon. I do not know if both Gondor and Rohan will have the strength to resist them. I believe only you can save middle-earth." She told me as she unstrung the bow from the wall and passed it to me. "Your father gave the king of Rohan in his time his bow and sword after he found out about what happened at Fornost. The bow is only used by your bloodline and the sword goes to every heir of Arnor. The sword is named Aradhael. Take them, for only if you unite your fallen kingdom can you defeat the threat." she offered. "I do not wish to be the queen, it draws too much attention and I do not want to feel like every person has to obey me. It is too much." I told her. "You must for I fear if you do not, middle-earth will fall. So for the sake of middle-earth will you put aside the ranger and become who you were meant to be." She pleaded. "If it means saving middle-earth than I guess I have no choice." I replied. She handed me the weapons and told me to get ready for the feast tonight. I bade her farewell and went back to my room to prepare.

     I returned to my room and rummaged through my bags until I pulled out a beautiful light blue and white dress. I didn't know why I still kept the dress since I wore it the day Tyrn Gorthad was destroyed, but now it would help me fit in at the banquet. I got into the dress and found a pearl necklace in my bag. I put it around my neck and looked into the mirror. Satisfied about my look, I grabbed Aradhael and strapped it to the belt of my dress and left the room to head to the banquet hall.

A/n:the image above is Aradhael.