Lady Hope of Middle Earth

Chapter 21: Being a Woman in Battle

Hope's POV:

When the sun starts to set we set up camp so we can set. Aragorn and I are sitting on the rocks, talking. Eowyn approaches us. I smile at her. After what the King said I have more of an understanding of her.

"I made some soup. It isn't much but it's hot." She says, dishing out two bowls for us. "Thank you." Aragorn says, taking the bowls. He hands one to me then grabs the spoons in her hands. We both take a bite. Honestly not the best food in the world.

I see Aragorn nodding, trying to be polite, but you can see it in his face. Once swallowed I hold back a laugh while he continues to try to ingest it. He finally does and looks up at her. "Good." He says, lying through his teeth. She smiles and starts to walk away.

Aragorn and I start to pour out our bowls when she turns around to face us. "Really? My Uncle told me a strange thing. He said you rode to war with Thengel, my grandfather. But he must be mistaken." She says.

"The King Theoden has good memory. Though I was only a small child at the time." Aragorn says. Shock crosses her face. I smile, I was shocked at his age when I met him too. "Then you must be at least sixty. Seventy?" She asks when she sees his smile.

"You cannot be eighty." She says, shocked. "Eighty-seven." He corrects. She stands. "You are one of the Dunedain. A descendant of Numenor, blessed with long life. It was said that your race had passed into legend." She says in awe.

"There are few of us left. The Northern Kingdom was destroyed long ago." He explains, looking down. "I'm sorry, please, eat." She says, trying to make up. I smirk as Aragorn takes another hesitant bite. Smiling she walks away. I let my laugh out.

"Oh be quiet." He grumbles as we proceed to dump the rest. We talk for a few hours till the moon is up. "Come on, let's get some sleep." He says. I nod. We find a spot on the grass and lay down like we normally do. On our sides with his arm wrapped around my waist. Soon I am fast asleep.

The next morning Aragorn shakes me awake. "Wake up my love, it is time to continue on our journey." He says. I sigh, but get up. Once everything I have is in its place we climb back on our horses. Once everyone is up and ready we continue our trek towards Helm's Deep.

Halfway through the day I end up away from everyone except Eowyn. "He loves you you know." She says. I turn to her confused. "What?" I ask. She smiles sweetly at me. Nothing but kindness on her face.

"Aragorn, he loves you. I can see it in the way he looks at you when you are not looking. There is the look of love as well as the look for fear of losing you. You are lucky. Not many women have a man that is as devoted as he is to you." I smile at this.

"In the beginning, before I knew about the two of you, I sought after him because I found him charming and now I see your love and it makes me wish for that love for myself. You are luck Lady Hope." She explains. I smile at her. "Please, call me Hope, lady is too formal." I say.

"You say this yet you wear the circlet and amulet of elven royalty." She says, not anger of envy in her voice. I misjudged her. I look down, feeling ad about my jealousy of her. "They were gifts given to me by Galadriel. They were once Lady Celebrían of Rivendell's." I say. Her eyes widen.

"How did you come to acquire them?" She asks. "Her daughter Arwen has been my best friend aside from Aragorn and Legolas for the past three years. Arwen is about to pass into the Undying Lands with her father Lord Elrond. She insisted that Galadriel gave them to me." I say, smiling.

Eowyn smiles as well. "She sounds like a lovely woman. Lady Arwen that is." She says. I smile. "She is." "I have a question for you." She says. I scrunch my brows in confusion. "What question?" I ask. "You fight and no one stops you, do you wish to be out of the fight?"

More confusion. "Why are you asking me this?" I ask. She blushes and looks down. "In Rohan woman are not allowed to fight. We are told to seek refuge. Yet I have always desired to ride beside the men into battle. I was wondering if it is as I hope it to be." She says. I let out a sigh.

"Eowyn, listen to me. Being strong in battle is hard. While you are on your feet trying to survive, someone you love could die right beside you. I've fought my entire life because of who I am. It sucks, but I was never given the choice. As horrible as it is however, I would hate to be left out."

She smiles at me. "So you are glad no one stops you?" She asks. "I've had people try and in the end, some have succeeded when it counted the most, but I'm the kind of person who can't sit by and do nothing. I would blame myself if someone I loved died because I wasn't there." I explain.

"I do that as well. For I wish to fight, for I do not fear pain or death." She says. I smile sadly. "You do fear, but your wish to help people is greater than that fear. You're brave." I tell her. She smiles at me. "So you believe that I should allowed to fight?" She asks. I smile at her.

"What I'm saying is, if you feel the need to fight, then fight, but do not be blinded by the want to feel powerful in battle. You said you fear neither death nor pain, but that means nothing if you are not fighting for something. Never go into a battle without a clear goal in mind." I tell her.

"What is your goal?" "To protect the ones I love. I've lost a lot in my life time. I cannot lose anyone else. Aragorn, Legolas, Gimli, Gandalf, a few Hobbits who started this quest with us, they're all family I have left. I wouldn't trade them for anything. Family is always and forever."

She  smiles at me. "You're a good person Hope. Thank you for enlightening me." She says. I smile back at her. "Of course. And Eowyn, if you do choose to fight, know that I'll have your back as well." I say. She nods and rides off, towards her Uncle. I smile.

"You amaze me sometimes my love." I hear Aragorn say behind me. He rides up to where Eowyn once was. "Only sometimes?" I joke. He chuckles a little. Suddenly I hear screaming in the distance. "What the hell was that?" I ask. "I have no idea." Aragorn says.

We both climb off our horses. I leave my backpack on the horse and grab my weapons. The two of us then make our way to the front where Legolas is. We crest the hill to see Legolas run and kill an orc. He turns to us. "A SCOUT!" He yells back at us. "Go warn the others." I tell him.

He nods. "Be safe Hope, please." He says, placing a hand on my cheek. I smile. "I will if you will." I tell him. He kisses before running off to warn Theoden. The guard rushes past me on their horses. I start running, trying to keep up. "HOPE!" I hear. I turn to see Aragorn riding his horse.

He is pulling Belle along by the reigns. I run as I get next to her. Once we're at the same pace I climb on, not stopping for a second. I grab the reigns with one hand and take my sword out with the other.

When I finally see the approaching army I see that the orcs are riding on hyena looking things. "What are those things?!" I yell to Aragorn. "Worgs, stay on your guard." He says. Well, this should be good.