Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers

The Way to Helm's Deep

Chapter 5 –

We started for Helm's Deep the next morning. I stayed next to Aragorn with Gimli and Éowyn in front of me. Gimli was alone on the horse with Éowyn walking besides him.

"Did you rest well?" I looked at Aragorn to find that he was looking at me intently.

"It was fair," I smiled and went to ask him the same but Gimli said something to the golden haired girl next to him.

"It's true you don't see many dwarf women." I smiled softly. Éowyn was always a curious girl and wanted to know about the world she hasn't seen yet. "And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance, they are often mistaken for dwarf men."

Éowyn glances back at us and I mimic having a beard. "It's the beards," Aragorn said and she turned back to the dwarf.

"And this in turn has given rise to the belief that there are no dwarf woman and the dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground." The girl laughs. "Which is ridiculous." Gimli gives a sound of surprise as the horse speeds up. The sudden motion jolts him from the saddle and he falls from the horse. "It's alright. Nobody panic."

"Nobody is," I commented causing Aragorn to chuckle.

"I have not seen my niece smile in a long time," Théoden said as he rode up to match Zara's stride. "She was a girl when they brought her father back dead; cut down by orcs. She watched her mother succumb to grief and she was left alone to tend her king in growing fear; doomed to wait upon an old man who should have loved her as a father."

"You did," I told him. "She told me all the time when she was little that you were always a father to her. Your eyes may not see it, but hers did. They still do. She would do anything for you. Any girl would do anything for her father."

Théoden smiled at me. "You have always been wiser past your years. Are you sure you are not an elf?"

I laughed at that. "My father told me the same thing once."

"He would be proud." Aragorn said.

Would he? I asked myself.

--

"Myrna, come join me," my father called as he walked past the practice field.

I slung my bow across my back, said good-bye to my friends and hurried to him. "Anything new?"

"Not today, my dear," he chuckled.

We walked in silence for a spell before he spoke again. "Myrna, we will soon be off exploring the world."

"In a few moons, when I am 18," I beamed.

"I want to tell you something. You have not yet figured out who you are."

"I don't understand," I tilted my head in confusion. "I am heir to the Trilyra throne. I am captain of the royal guard archers."

"That's not what I meant, sweet. You, Myrna, are meant for more than being on the royal guard. Being a captain on the guard does not define you. You are wiser than you give yourself credit, but sometimes you are clueless to your surroundings. Nicole defines you. If you saw yourself through my eyes or your mother's, you would see that you are a different person when you are with Nicole. You are happier and more carefree. You are not even that person around your own parents" He stopped and looked me in the eyes. "No matter what happens, promise me that you will never forget who you are and who helped you become that person."

"I promise, father."

"I am so proud of you, my little feather." He kissed my forehead, "and I always will be."