Chapter XXVI: OF LOYALTY AND GUILT
As the fleet of Aragorn's forces hit the land, the fate of the battle was decided. Eomer rode south, and the enemy fled before him and his knights. The foes were caught between the hammer and the anvil, between the forces leaping from the ships to the quays of the Harland, plowing their ranks to the north like a storm, and the onslaught of the mounted Rohirrim.
There came Legolas and Gimli, with Cyrene leading the amazons, cutting the air with their war cries. From the next vessel leaped Halbarad with the standard, and Elladan and Elrohir with stars on their brows, and the brave Dúnedain and the warriors of the people of Lebennin and Lamedon and the fiefs of the South. Leading them into the fight rode Aragorn wielding Andúril, reforged of the shards of Narsil, as deadly as of old, and on his forehead was the Star of Elendil.
Aragorn gave the sign and his army deployed, cutting the enemy down like wheat on the field. The surprise and panic as the Dark Army recognized their situation made the task easier, and the fresh warriors of Aragorn made their way towards the Rohirrim fighters.
Eomer and Aragorn met in the midst of the battle, leaned on their swords to catch their breaths, and looked to each other.
"We meet again, Eomer of the Mark, though all the hosts of Mordor lay between us," said Aragorn. "Did I not say so at the Hornburg when we parted?"
"So you spoke," said Eomer, "but hope often deceives, and I knew then not that you were a man foresighted. Twice blessed is help unlooked for, and never was a meeting of friends more joyful." And they clasped their hands to their forearms in greeting. "Nor has ever help arrived more timely, my friend," continued Eomer. "Much loss and sorrow has befallen us."
By then, the amazons had also reached the hill where Aragorn and Eomer had met. Cyrene pulled her helmet off her head and greeted Eomer, placing her closed fist over her heart.
"We are here, Marshall of the Mark. I recognize that you carry the banner of Theoden son of Thengel, and I fear that my liege, the King of Rohan, has fallen in battle. Is that so, Milord Eomer?"
Eomer was both overjoyed and hit once again by grief as he saw Cyrene. He wanted to pull Cyrene closer and embrace her in search for comfort, for when he saw her; all his loss was upon him again. Eowyn, the light of his days, and Theoden, King and almost a father to him, were dead.
His eyes filled with unshed tears as he bowed his head to Cyrene and spoke, "It is true, Cyrene, my sister. Theoden has fallen in battle against a beast of the evil Lord. And fighting by his side has also fallen Eowyn, Lady of Rohan."
Cyrene had many times confronted death in battle of those close to her and had learned to bear it with courage and control. But as Eomer's words fell on her ears, she felt as if her heart had been ripped out and she staggered, grasping at her hair and letting out a heart-wrenching scream.
Legolas, fighting almost hundred feet away from her heard the scream and knew it was Cyrene, and turned to where it came from. His heart stopped at the grief and despair of the scream, and he knew he had to get to her. He swung around and continued felling orcs, charging now towards the spot where Eomer, Aragorn, and Cyrene stood.
Eomer pulled Cyrene into his arms and held her, trembling by the force of the grief himself. She did not resist, the pain of loosing Eowyn taking over her senses."I do not know how my sister came to be here, Cyrene, but she was at my uncle's side and fell fighting against a winged creature of Mordor," he said softly.
"We agreed to meet here, Milord. Eowyn was fulfilling her promise to me. And I was not there to protect and aid her. It is my fault," said Cyrene, her voice loaded with regret and self-loathing.
Cyrene pushed Eomer gently away, running her hand lightly across the man's cheek; the eyes she set on his hard and full of unspoken pain.
"We will talk about this after we have driven the Evil Lord from this place, Eomer. For I will not rest until we have avenged their deaths."
"Princess Cyrene is right, Eomer. Let us avenge it, instead of speaking of it!" said Aragorn, and they rode back to battle together.
Legolas saw from afar the interlude between Cyrene and Eomer, and the elf fought the feeling of jealousy running through him. Whatever had happened, it was related to Eomer and it had hurt Cyrene to the bone.
He saw her pull her helmet back on and swing her sword out of its scabbard on her back again, returning to where the amazons were fighting. Cyrene stormed into the fight, slashing left and right with ferocity and hate, dismissing her own defense. The Amazon was thirsty for blood and was not even covering her own back as she advanced like a machine through the lines of orcs and men, felling the enemies with accuracy and speed. Cyrene was out to kill, and she did not care if she died.
Legolas saw the petite form of Aella gripping a sword in her left and her labryss in her right hand, defending Cyrene's unprotected back as her friend continued killing like a berserker. He retreated then to where Gimli was still fighting and resolved to help his friend in his task. He felt Cyrene's pain as if it was his own. He hoped they would survive to the end, to be able to help her bear whatever was hurting her so badly. And move on with life.
The joined forces defending Gondor had still hard fighting and long labor before them, for the Southrons were fierce in their despair and the Easterlings were strong and war-hardened and willing to leave their lives on the battle ground.They gathered and rallied and fought until the day wore away.
At sunset the grass of the Pelennor lay red, soaked with the blood of friend and foe. In that hour the great Battle of Gondor was over; and not one living foe was left. All had been slain save those who fled to die, or to drown in the red foam of the Anduin. Few ever came eastward to Morgul or Mordor; and to the land of the Haradrim came only a tale from far off: a rumor of the wrath and terror of Gondor.
*****************
There was group of warriors riding towards the Gate of the City, and they were now weary beyond joy or sorrow, Prince Imrahil, Eomer, Aragorn, Cyrene, Legolas and Gimli were among them. These were unscathed, except for bruises and cuts, which warriors where used to, and they owed it to their fortune and their prowess in battle. Many others, too many, were hurt or maimed or dead upon the field.
No few had fallen, renowned or nameless, captain and soldier; men and amazons, for it had been a great and terrible battle and the full count of it was never told.
As the sun went down, the riders reached the City; and when they came before the Gate, Aragorn said, "This City and realm have rested in the charge of the Stewards for many long years, and I fear that if I enter it unbidden, then doubt and debate may arise, which should not be while this war is fought. I will not enter it nor make any claim, until it be seen whether we or Mordor shall prevail. I will rise my tents upon the field, and here I will await the welcome of the Lord of Minas Tirith."
Eomer said: "You have already raised the banner of the Kings and displayed the tokens of Elendil's House. It was by your intervention that the White City still stands. Do you expect to be challenged?"
"No," said Aragorn. "But the time is unripe; and I have no mind for any fight except with our enemy and his servants."
Then Prince Imrahil said, bowing his head to Aragorn," Your words, lord, are wise. If I, who am kinsman of the Lord Denethor may counsel you in this matter, he is strong-willed and proud, but old, and his mood has been strange since his son was stricken down. Yet I would not have you remain like a beggar at the city's door."
"Not a beggar," said Aragorn, "But a captain of the Rangers, who are unused to cities and houses of stone." He commanded that his banner should be furled, and then he untied the star bound to his forehead and gave it to the keeping of the sons of Elrond.
Prince Imrahil and Eomer of Rohan rode on to the city. Cyrene didn't hesitate, and, bowing her head to Aragorn and to Legolas and Gimli, she followed Eomer, not looking behind even once. She did not want Legolas to see her shame and guilt. She had almost failed him in The Paths of Death. She would not do so again.
Legolas watched her leave. He understood that she had to: she was now Eomer's vassal and one of his captains. But he still wanted to know what had broken her heart in the battle. He sighed loudly, which drew a strange look from Gimli, and followed Aragorn towards the site of their camp. He determined not to think about Cyrene and Eomer together.
***********
Imrahil, Eomer, and Cyrene passed through the gate and the tumult of people, and rode up to the Citadel. They came to the Hall of the Tower, seeking the Steward. But the Steward was not there, and before the dais lay Theoden King of the Mark upon a bed of state with twelve torches and twelve guards, knights both of Rohan and Gondor, standing around him.
The light of the torches shimmered in his white hair, but his face was fair and young, with a look of peace beyond the reach of youth; it seemed as if he slept.
The captains stood silent for a moment beside their king, and Imrahil said, "Where is the Steward? And where is Mithrandir also?"
One of the guards answered, "The Steward of Gondor is in the Houses of Healing."
Eomer said, "Where is the Lady Eowyn, my sister; for surely she should be lying beside the king, and in no less honor? Where have they brought her?" But Imrahil said, "The Lady Eowyn was yet living when they brought her from the field. Did you not know?"
Hope rose in Eomer as he turned to Cyrene, and seeing the light in her eyes, he knew that she felt it as well. They both bowed in respect before the King's remains, and given a glimpse of hope, they turned and went swiftly from the hall. The Prince of Dol Amroth followed them.
Outside the Houses of Healing they met Gandalf and with him someone cloaked in gray. They greeted the wizard and asked him, "We seek the Steward, and men say that he is in this House. Has any hurt befallen him? And the Lady Eowyn, where is she?"
Gandalf answered, "She lies in this house and is not dead, but is near death. The Lord Farmer was wounded by an evil dart, as you have heard, and he is now the Steward, for Denethor has departed, and his house is in ashes."
Imrahil said, "So victory has been bitterly bought, if both Gondor and Rohan are in one day bereft of their lords. Eomer rules the Rohirrim. Who shall rule the White City meanwhile? Shall we not send now for the Lord Aragorn?"
"He has come," said the cloaked man stepping into the light of the lantern by the door so that they saw it was him, wrapped in the gray cloak of Loren over his chain mail, and bearing no other token than the green stone of Galadriel. "I have come because Gandalf begged me to do so," he said. "But for now I am but the Captain of the Dúnedain; and the Lord of Dol Amroth should rule the City until Faramir awakes. It is my counsel that Gandalf should rule us all in the days that follow and in our dealings with the Enemy."
The high lords agreed upon that.
Then Gandalf said, "Let us not stay at the door, for the time is fleeing. Let us enter, for it is only in the coming of Aragorn that any hope remains for the sick that lie in the House."
Aragorn entered first and the others followed. As they went towards the rooms where the sick were tended, Gandalf told of the deeds of Eowyn and Merry.
As soon as they gained admittance to the sickroom, Eomer and Cyrene ran to the side of Eowyn's bed. Aragorn went first to Faramir, and then to the Lady Eowyn, and last to Merry. When he had looked on the faces of the sick and seen their hurts he sighed.
Eomer seeing that Aragorn was sorrowful and weary said, "First you must rest, surely, and at the least eat a little?"
Aragorn shook his head. "For these three, and especially Faramir, time is running out. All speed is needed."
He went away to speak to the woman in charge of the house for he needed healing herbs. Then he bade the other women to make water hot.
Eowyn lay pale and cold, her eyes closed, her breathing shallow and almost nonexistent. Eomer walked to his sister and carefully brought one of her hands to his lips.
"My sister, my brave, kindhearted, loving, beautiful sister. Do not leave me, I beg of you!" he whispered to her, while his heart broke at the sight before him. But there was still hope.
Cyrene knelt by her friend's side and lovingly brushed a tendril of golden hair away from Eowyn's sweaty brow. Her eyes took in Eowyn's broken shield-arm, the battered and bruised body, and silent tears fell unbidden.
"Forgive me Eowyn for not being at your side when you faced danger. I was your sister in arms and arrived too late to aid you. Forgive me, beloved sister, for all the pain I caused you and your loved ones, failing your trust and our vow," Cyrene whispered softly, as if only Eowyn was meant to hear it.
Eomer heard her words nevertheless and his left hand closed over the Amazon's.
"Cyrene, you made Eowyn, Rohan, and your own people proud by following Theoden's command and leading the amazons into battle. You saved many a life today on the battleground. It was Eowyn's choice to do what she did, and she did it with the courage and pride that was her own and the skills that you gave her. You could not have saved her, my beloved sister. Even I could not have done," he said.
Cyrene nodded but did not say anything. She knew her responsibility for what had happened, for she had not fulfilled her promise to Eowyn.
Aragorn came to the chamber and after revisiting her wounds he said, "There is a grievous hurt and a heavy blow. The arm that was broken has been tended with due skill, and it will mend in time, if she has the strength to live. It is the shield-arm that is maimed, but the chief evil comes through the sword-arm. In that there now seems no life." He tenderly touched the cool cheek, then turned to Eomer.
"She faced a foe beyond the strength of her mind or body. And those who will take a weapon to such an enemy must be stronger than steel, if the very fight should not destroy them. It was an evil doom that set her in his path. She is a fair maiden, fairest lady of a house of queens. Though her fading began far back before this day, did it not, Eomer?"
Eomer looked at Aragorn, his eyes narrowing on the ranger. Indeed, there had not been pleasant times for Eowyn in Edoras since Grima had arrived there, but Aragorn was the one who had hurt her. Unknowingly, maybe, but still he had touched and torn Eowyn's heart.
"I marvel that you should ask me, lord," the captain of Rohan answered. "For though I hold you blameless in this matter, as in all else, I knew not that Eowyn, my sister, was touched by any frost until she first looked on you. Care and dread she had, and shared with me, in the days of Wormtongue and the king's bewitchment, and she tended the king in growing fear. But that did not bring her to despair!"
Aragorn stood the look of Eomer's angry, desperate and hurt eyes upon him. The tension between both men became almost tangible in the air.
"My friend," said Gandalf, "you had horses and deeds of arms and the free fields, but she, born in the body of a maid, had a spirit and courage at least the match of yours. Yet she was doomed to wait upon an old man, whom she loved as a father, and watch him falling into a mean dishonored state; and her part seemed to her more ignoble than that of the staff he leaned on."
"She was trapped in the intrigues and spells of Wormtongue, chained to the care of the king and she did not want o burden you with it, Eomer. But it was not your fault," said Cyrene quietly.
"My lord, if your sister's love for you and her will still bent to her duty had not restrained her lips, you might have heard even such things as these escape them. But who knows what she spoke to the darkness, alone, in the bitter watches of the night, when all her life seemed shrinking, and the walls of her bower closing in about her a hutch to trammel some wild thing in?" said Gandalf.
"I know what happened in Edoras, Master Gandalf. And Eowyn was not alone. I beg of you not to torture Eomer with this anymore," interrupted Cyrene.
Eomer was silent, and looked on his sister, as if pondering anew all the days of their past life together.
Aragorn said, "I saw also what you saw, Eomer. Few other grieves among the ill chances of this world have more bitterness and shame for a man's heart than to behold the love of a lady so fair and brave that cannot be returned. Sorrow and pity have followed me ever since I left her desperate in Dunharrow and rode to the Paths of the Dead, and no fear upon that way was so present as the fear for what might befall her. And still, Eomer, I tell you that she loves you more truly than me, for you she loves and knows, but in me she loves only a shadow and a thought: a hope of glory and great deeds and lands far from the fields of Rohan. And a freedom she never had."
Then Aragorn went silent and looked into Eowyn's beautiful face, and it was indeed white as a lily, cold as frost, and hard as marblestone. He bent and kissed her on the brow, and called her softly, saying, "Eowyn, Éomund's daughter, awake! For your enemy has passed away!"
She did not stir, but now she began again to breathe deeply, so that her breast rose and fell beneath the white linen of the sheet. Once more Aragorn bruised two leaves of athelas and cast them into steaming water; and he washed her brow with it, and her right arm lying cold and stiff on the coverlet.
"Awake, Eowyn, Lady of Rohan!" said Aragorn again, and he took her right hand in his and felt it warm with life returning. Then he laid her hand in Eomer's and stepped away.
"Call her!" he commanded, and he left the chamber.
"Eowyn, Eowyn!" cried Eomer, tears falling down his rugged cheeks.
She opened her eyes and said, "Eomer! What joy is this? For they said that you were slain. Nay, but that was only the dark voices in my dream. How long have I been dreaming?"
And turning to the other side she saw Cyrene, also crying, but the sweetest smile was curving her lips at the sight of Eowyn awake. "Cyrene, you came too, I knew you'd keep your promise."
A tight knot in Cyrene's throat threatened to choke her. Guilt washed over her. "My sister, only the hounds from Hades would keep me away from honoring our vow."
"I am strangely weary," Eowyn said. "I must rest a little. But tell me, what of the Lord of the Mark? Do not tell me that that was a dream for I know that it was not. He is dead as he foresaw." Eowyn continued, sorrow shadowing her features.
"He is dead," said Eomer, "but he bade me say farewell to Eowyn dearer than a daughter. He lies now in great honor in the Citadel of Gondor."
"That is painful," Eowyn said. " And still is more than I dared to hope in the dark days, when it seemed that the House of Eorl was sunk in honor less than any shepherd's cot. And what of the king's squire, the hobbit, Master Merry? Eomer, you shall make him a knight of the Riddermark, for he is brave and aided in the killing of beast and rider!"
"He lies nearby in this House, and I will go to him," said Gandalf, speaking up from the back of the room. "Eomer shall stay here for a while. But do not speak yet of war or hardship, until you are well again. Great gladness it is to see you wake again to health and hope, so brave a lady!"
"To health?" said Eowyn. "It may be so. At least while there is an empty saddle of some fallen Rider that I can fill, and there are deeds to do. But to hope? I do not know. My heart is empty. I do not know how to hope anymore."
Cyrene lovingly caressed her friend's cheek. "Hope will come to you, my sister, for you are blessed with many who love you dearly. Fear not, Eowyn, for your bravery and kindness will be rewarded."
Eomer smiled to his sister and the Amazon. "She is right, Eowyn. Now rest, my sister. For you are alive and that brings joy to our hearts."
Eowyn smiled at both and settled back into sleep. Cyrene carefully arranged the coverlet around her friend. Once Eowyn was fast asleep, Eomer stood up. He did not want to leave but he felt weary and knew the fight was still not over. One look at Cyrene told him she was bone tired and sad as well. She needed some rest before the next battle.
"Cyrene, we have to rest before the next battle. You should return to the camp," he said.
"I failed her, Eomer. She might need me this night, and I will be here for her," Cyrene replied stubbornly.
Eomer walked around the bed to Cyrene and knelt beside her. "You have never failed any of us, Cyrene, and you have still a duty towards Rohan, the amazons, and me. I believe we will be engaging in battle soon. Again. I need you. I beg you to return to the camp and rest, for so will I."
Cyrene looked up into his kind eyes, wishing she could believe him. But she would never forget not having been there for Eowyn when her sister had needed her help.
"I will then leave with you, Eomer, and return to her side in the morrow, until you command our departure," she said, standing up from the floor. She staggered lightly and Eomer caught her, holding her by her waist, unknowingly pressing her wound. Cyrene winced and turned from his grip.
Eomer looked at her suspiciously. "Are you hurt, my sister?"
The Amazon gave him a tired smile. "No, my liege. I will now leave. Rest this night. Eomer, for it may be our last under sheltered roofs."
He smiled at her and both left for the camp. They indeed had a few hours yet before sunrise.
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