My eyes opened and I quickly glanced around the room. Gone were the days of restful sleep and waking up with a body and mind eager for the day ahead. Since my journey had begun, my eyes snap open at night for fear of ever being caught off-guard. I would wake up with a body sore and aching and a mind exhausted for what the day would bring.

When I glanced around the room I noticed Aragorn sitting near, his back against a tent pole. My heart raced. I wondered how long he had been there and if he had slept in that position all night.

I tried to pull myself up but my body was sore from yesterday's battle. I looked down at myself underneath the new light of the sun and noticed scratches and gashes across my skin. I decided to quickly dress and make haste out of the room before Aragorn had a chance to wake up. I had never fallen asleep in a room with another man before, save for my brother, and I was anxious to leave before he noticed.

I snatched my clothes from outside the line on the tent and returned inside, thankful that the warm night air had dried the clothes. I dressed as fast as I could into my blue shift, awkwardly covering myself while I changed attire. I attempted to step into my over-dress made of wool before hearing the words-

"Eowyn?"

I gasped and stepped backward as I tried to cover myself. I felt the tent flap envelope me before spitting me out to the ground outside. I regained my balance to see men staring at me, some laughing while some shook their heads in disapproval as I pulled up my dress over my torso and stepped back inside, fumbling at the threading to tighten the dress.

"I am sorry. I wanted you to know I was awake-but I didn't think- I thought you were dressed." Aragorn stumbled over his words.

"No, I was. I just. I." I could not explain the embarrassment. I had been mostly dressed in my shift, after all. Yet, Aragorn's eyes bearing down on me caused a wave of uncertainty and insecurity. "Your voice startled me is all."

"I apologize. You could have asked me to leave if you needed privacy."

I nodded my head. When I looked up he had a smile on his face. The insecurity vanished. "What is so amusing?"

He stifled his smile and looked down to the floor. He had a bashfulness about him that I had never seen before. He seemed almost unsure of himself as he looked up to meet my gaze again. "You are most different from-" he stopped for a short, but noticeable moment "-other women."

I felt a knot in my throat. Different from whom…Arwen? The image of Arwen in Aragorn's arms, the two looking into each other's gaze, forever destined to be with one another, flashed through my mind as it often did. I wanted to escape the tent. Walk away from him and all that would never be. But I saw a sadness in his smile.

"Are you saying you've never fallen out of a tent before?" I mustered an indignant tone.

"Well, there was a time I misjudged the location of the tent flap. Does that count?"

I laughed. I had not seen him smile like that before, and I wanted to stand there forever, laughing and smiling. But as suddenly as the moment came, it vanished.

"My lord?" a voice came from outside the tent. Aragorn stepped outside the tentft the tent for only a moment before returning to tell me we would be leaving at noon. "There's food. Eat before we leave and I'll come find you once we start moving."

I found a man stirring a pot over a fire, and I met him just in time to receive the leftovers of the pot. I wanted to hide in the tent until Aragorn returned; but I assumed the tent would need to be rolled up and packed onto one of the horses, so I braved the dismayed faces and the embarrassment I felt for tumbling out of the tent like some sort of barmaid. For that moment I was not the shield-maiden of Rohan. I was a joke to these men.

"It's very good," I said to the man who had served me a bowl of stew. He looked pleased.

"I would say you are being polite, but this is quite a good batch of stew," he said, laughing at his own bluntness. I smiled, happy to have a member of the camp who didn't eye me with suspicion. "Take heart. I'll make more tonight, wherever that may be. Maybe you can get more than the lining of the pot."

He picked up his pot and started to walk away. When he moved, I noticed a group of men in the distance standing near three mounds of dirt. I stood up. "Wait-what has happened?"

The cook looked back at me in confusion, so I pointed to the mounds of dirt. "Has someone died?"

"Oh, they passed in the night."

"I was not called?"

He frowned and shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, my lady. I know no more than that."

I walked over to the men standing around the mounds of dirt, anger swelling in my chest. "I beg your pardon."

Two of the men turned around, the rest continued talking amongst each other. "These men passed in the night. Why was I not called?"

"What makes you think you are to be called?" He folded his arms across his chest. The other man walked away, apparently wanting nothing to do with the argument-or with me.

"Because that is my duty. I am here to heal."

"Heal with witch-craft? We want none of it!" His voice was loud.

"It's not witch-craft!"

"You learn from that ragged black book. Will you honestly claim innocence?"

I put my hands behind me, palming for the book in my knapsack. I felt a sudden unexplainable fear-the fear that they knew the knowledge's source. "Of course, I learn from a book. It is where most knowledge originates. That does not make it evil."

"You cannot fool us with your sweet words," One of the men stepped up from behind. "You cannot enchant us as you do Aragorn."

"Enchant? I have enchanted no one!" I said, feeling cornered. "I only want to do my duty. Nothing else. I want to heal the wounded. Why else would I be called here?"

"I can think of a few uses," one man said. The men around him chuckled. The laughing grew louder and I walked away, realizing the futileness of the conversation.

I returned to the fire, which was now only a faint flame. I wanted to return home. I felt like an idiot for having thought I would belong in a group of battle-ready men. I would never be respected. I would never have a duty of importance. I would return home and walk the lonely halls until a man married me for my lineage, and we would grow old together behind the walls of the castle. Being and doing nothing more. That was my fate.

I felt the log rock as someone sat next to me. I looked up to see Aragorn, except it wasn't the Aragorn I had left earlier that morning. He wore a blue velvet tunic and a few strands of his hair were braided and pulled back. I could smell a mixture of cotton and forest on him.

"Ready to move out?" he asked, kicking some dirt over the fire with his heel.

I nodded my head. "Yes."

"What troubles you?"

The fire was faint, but I could still see the flickering flames in the reflection of his eyes. "Three men died in the night because the men refuse to let me heal them. They think I'm a witch."

"I attended a meeting this morning. We'll be stopping at Forland before night, a little refuge not far up the road-" His words hung in the air, and I knew he had more to say, so I sat in silence until he finally began.

"I have been told of the restlessness of the men with your healing. I have declared that the man shall have choice in his fate and if he seeks healing he cannot be denied it as might have happened last night."

My gaze returned to the fire.

"It is all I can do, as I can not force a man aid if he does not want it."

"I know." I stood up. "I just wonder if I am better off leaving. I am no use here and the men hate men. They think I'm a witch and I'll be lucky if they don't kill me in the night."

"The men who talk loudest only talk loud to be heard. They have very little to say. Many still believe in you, they just keep quiet."

I stood there for a moment, not convinced.

"What if you leave and I'm speared through the heart? Will you leave me to die?"

I stood for a moment, caught off-guard by his declaration of needing me. Declaration? Who am I kidding? He's joking. He doesn't need me.

I laughed. "Oh, alright. I'll stay."

He took my hand in his. "I won't let anything happen to you. I promise."

The ride was long and hard. We were wanting to reach Forland before nightfall and it appeared to be a greater distance than at first assumed. We had no breaks, and my back was sore from the constant bouncing of the horse. When we finally caught sight of the tower, motivation carried us the rest of the way.

When we began approaching Forland, Aragorn caught up to me. "Larger than you expected?"

"Yes." I had seen Forland on a few maps and had heard talk of it. I had always assumed it was a small town, but the tall building before me was made of stone. Even a few of the houses in the outskirts of the building was made of stone.

"Forland is a city that likes to be kept off the map-rarely do they involve themselves in the politics or the aid of this country, so the city is often not talked about. But they have allowed us to stay tonight."

The idea of a bath, warm bed, decent meal, and possibly some privacy from the men was appealing. "Sounds wonderful."

When we arrived at the steps leading to the great hall, we began dismounting our horses for the men to take to the stables. Aragorn reached out his hand to help me and I barely heard the soft voice over the sound of my feet hitting the ground.

"Aragorn."

I looked behind me to see the woman who had spoke. She had long black hair with no strand out of place. Her face had a pale light about it and her eyes were dark and mysterious. She stood tall and proud, her white dress delicately draped across her body and pooled around her feet. As my mind registered all her perfections, I knew this was the woman from my dreams. This was Arwen.