Element of the Heart - A Lord of the Rings/Legolas Fanfiction

Chapter 44: Save Them

Estelwen stood in one of Gondor Houses of Healing.

On the other side of the room, Éowyn lay unconscious on one of the thin beds. After the battle, Éomer had discovered her among the corpses of fallen knights. He had screamed, thinking the worst. However, she was not dead, though she was fatally wounded from her fight against the Witch King. Now, Aragorn tended to her, using the remainder of the Athelas in his pouch. He dabbed her feverish face with a cool cloth. Éomer sat nearby, his face creased with tense worry. He could not bear to leave until he was sure his sister would live.

Estelwen cast her gaze aside and walked away from the room. She could not bring herself to watch, even though she felt certain that Aragorn would heal Éowyn. Éowyn's battle under the shadow of death reminded Estelwen too much of what Arwen was going through. When Lord Elrond visited the Rohan camp before she had left, he had told her that Arwen was fading because of the darkness. It was killing Estelwen that she was thousands of miles away from her, unable to be at her side, tend to her, or offer any sort of comfort. Yet, she knew that in order to save Arwen and the rest of Middle Earth, the threat of Mordor needed to be eliminated.

Estelwen slapped her palm onto the wall of the walkway to steady herself. The world spun around. Her knees trembled. She had not tended to herself yet. The bruises throbbed. She smelled like blood and death. But that all had to wait. Sleep beckoned her more than any other comfort. She turned a corner and started down a hall. There is an empty room somewhere near. Suddenly, she stopped.

Legolas also stopped in front of her. He opened his mouth as if to say something, but seemed to think twice after seeing her face. "Aragorn intends to have a council after the sun rises tomorrow."

Estelwen blinked once, uncertain if that was what he was going to ask in the first place. However, she was much too tired to pursue the matter. "You can be certain that I will be present."

"Then until tomorrow, rest well."

Estelwen was relieved to find the sitting room as empty as when she first saw it. She slid her armor off. Then, she reached for the string holding her hair back and pulled it out, releasing a dirty mass of black hair. As soon as the back of her head touched the faded couch, her eyes fell shut. Her mind, however, was tortured by of the screams of those who died in war and the pale faces of beheaded men. Her exhausted body eventually succumbed to sleep, though it was disturbed multiple times during the night.

When Estelwen finally woke, her body ached only slightly less. She peered out of the only window in the room, taking note of the position of the rising sun. Aragorn would be calling together his first council soon. Estelwen quickly changed her coarse undershirt into a fresh, spare one, and wiped the blood off her armor. She re-fastened it onto her body. It would have to do for now until she could bathe and find suitable clothes. She entered the council room quietly, for it had already begun.

Aragorn looked at Gandalf, who was pacing the floor. "If Sauron had the Ring, we would know it."

Gandalf continued to pace. "It's only a matter of time. He has suffered a defeat, yes, but behind the walls of Mordor our enemy is regrouping."

Gimli had made himself comfortable on the seat of the Steward of Gondor. He shrugged his shoulders. "Let him stay there. Let him rot. Why should we care?"

Gandalf stopped. "Because ten thousand orcs now stand between Frodo and Mount Doom." His head dropped. "I have sent him to his death."

Aragorn stood up. "No."

Gandalf looked up sharply.

Aragorn's eyes shown with an eagerness, a light. "There is still hope for Frodo. He needs time and safe passage across the Plains of Gorgoroth. We can give him that."