Journey’s End
Chapter 29
Return to Edoras
I stood in the Golden Hall of Meduseld in the evening, freshly washed and clothed in a new shirt and my newly-mended boots. I stood by Aragorn’s side, surrounded by hundreds of men and women. Survivors of the battle. Théoden stood before us, holding a goblet that he had just been offered by Eówyn.
“Tonight we remember those who gave their blood to defend this country.” He said, holding up the goblet. “Hail the victorious dead.”
“Hail!” The people replied.
“Hail…” I whispered, before staring into the depths of my tankard of ale and taking a swig.
Around us, the people began to become absorbed in their celebrations. I went to lean against a pillar as Eómer began to explain a drinking game to Legolas and Gimli.
“Rana!” Eómer called to me. “Are you participating?” I shook my head.
“Not tonight, I can’t be bothered with beating you all.” I smiled. A few bystanders rolled their eyes; Eómer shrugged and continued explaining the game, I turned away, there was no point in watching right now. It wouldn’t get interesting for a while yet. I leant against the pillar, watching the rest of the room. Aragorn stood just on the other side of the pillar, although I didn’t think he was aware of my presence. I watched as Eówyn approached him and offered him a goblet.
“Westû Aragorn, hal.” She murmured. I frowned a little as I tried to translate her words, but I spoke very little of the ancient language of the Rohirrim and could not place the phrase.
As I watched, Aragorn drank from the goblet, while Eówyn watched him intently. He then smiled a little and walked away. She looked after him, as Théoden approached her.
“I am very happy for you. He is an honourable man.” The King said softly. I scowled a little, and listened intently.
“You are both honourable men.” She replied.
“It was not Théoden of Rohan who led our people to victory.” Théoden sighed, looking down, and I felt a pang of sympathy for him. “Ach, don’t listen to me. You are young and tonight is for you.” He smiled, looking back up at his niece.
I frowned as I felt a burning feeling of jealously rise up within me. To my knowledge, Aragorn had shown no interest in Eówyn, yet it was already being planned that they were to be together? I supposed that someday, when he is King, he will need a Queen… And she should be of noble blood.
I sighed and turned away, feeling depressed for a reason that I did not understand, but I looked up when heard Gimli laugh.
“Here, here.” He slurred, downing another tankard. “Raaar it’s the dwarves that go swimming with little, hairy women haha!” He laughed, burping and chugging another drink. I looked on disapprovingly, half covering my face with my hand. So this was a drunken Dwarf then? I severely hoped that I would never encounter one again!
“I feel something.” Legolas murmured, looking at his hand. “A slight tingle in my fingers. I think it’s affecting me.” He looked so concerned that I had to laugh at his innocence. He had been alive for far more than twice my lifetime, yet he had never encountered a mug of ale in his life!
“What did I say? He can’t hold his liquor...” Gimli slurred then he went very quiet, and toppled backwards off his chair. I rolled my eyes as Legolas looked up.
“Game over.” He announced matter-of-factly. I laughed and slung my arm around his shoulder.
“Well done!” I congratulated him, suddenly feeling in the mood to celebrate. He only nodded in response. “How much did you drink?” I asked, starting to walk across the room.
“I… Lost count.” He replied sheepishly.
“And how do you feel?”
“A little light-headed.”
“Well,” I sighed, patting him on the back. “It seems like you can hold your drink better than I can.”
“Is that good?” He asked.
“You can certainly use it to your advantage!” I laughed, nodding towards the unconscious Gimli, who was being dragged away to the sleeping quarters. I released Legolas, and made my way over to a long table, as I had just seen Merry and Pippin scramble onto it. I smiled and stood beside Aragorn as we watched them begin to dance around the table.
“Oh you can search far and wide, You can drink the whole town dry,
But you’ll never find a beer so brown,
As the one we drink in our hometown,
You can drink your fancy ales, You can drink them by the flagon
But the only brew for the brave and true…”
Pippin became distracted from his performance, and for a moment stared intently at Gandalf.
“Pippin!” Cried Merry.
“Comes from the Green Dragon!” They sang again in unison.
I laughed and clapped along with the crowd as the Hobbits bowed and thanked their audience.
“No news of Frodo?” Aragorn murmured softly. I turned to see that he was talking to Gandalf.
“No word. Nothing.” The wizard replied sadly. It felt like a stone had just dropped to the bottom of my stomach.
“No news means no bad news.” I tried to comfort them, along with myself as I thought of our two friends, somewhere in the wilderness.
“We have time. Every day Frodo moves closer to Mordor.” Aragorn said.
“Do we know that?” Gandalf asked. Aragorn looked at him for a moment.
“What does your heart tell you?” He whispered.
“That Frodo is alive. Yes… yes he’s alive.” Gandalf replied with a small smile, I was relieved to find that I also seemed to feel that Frodo and Sam were alive. Somehow, I felt I would know if something had happened to him.
***
The celebrations continued long into the early hours of the morning, but people gradually became tiered, or passed out from over-consumption of ale, and one by one, the people left the Hall of Meduseld or retired to their rooms. I considered going to bed, but felt that I could not sleep. I slowly made my way out of the quieting main hall and towards the room where the Fellowship was staying. I glanced at my bed, but did not feel the need for sleep, so I passed the sleeping forms of Gandalf and the Hobbits, and rolled my eyes at Gimli’s snores. I walked through a smaller hall, and noticed Eówyn asleep on a long couch. I passed her by and made my way outside.
It was cold, and the sky was dark. I shivered a little and made my way over to the edge of the wall. I noticed Legolas standing at the edge, with the hood of his cloak cast over his head.
“I see you have recovered.” I mumbled, sitting down beside him with my legs dangling over the edge. I pulled out my pipe and lit it as I looked up at the sky. Footsteps sounded behind me, but I did not turn. Aragorn approached us and stood between Legolas and myself.
“Does the sky seem… Different to you?” I asked softly, looking up into the darkness.
“The stars are veiled. Something stirs in the East, a sleepless malice.” Legolas murmured; he then turned to Aragorn. “The eye of the enemy is moving.”
We were silent for a moment, and I processed Legolas’s ominous message. If Sauron’s eye was moving, was it towards us, or away from us? I sighed softly and blew smoke from my mouth, and then emptied my pipe onto the ground below. Then I heard Legolas turn suddenly.
“He is here!” He hissed.
