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Thea
Shieldmaiden of Rohan
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Re: Journey to Gondor
Eager to be away before the whole house stirred, she quickly left her room, shutting the door behind her without a backward glance, and disappeared down the low, dark hallway. She passed by several doors, behind which muffled sounds reached her ears. Her fellow servants were now awake and preparing for the day's work ahead of them. She passed from sight around a corner and headed for the kitchen.
Stood across from the main hall of Lord Helcwine, the kitchen was a cavernous room overseen by the stout and stalwart Cook. This morning the fire had not yet been lit and the room lay cold and deserted.
She stepped softly down the step and across the flags of stone beneath her feet. Upon the great table she found a small bundle packed full; there was fresh bread, cold meats, apples and some goat cheese. She reached out and took an iced biscuit from the top. It was shaped as though a horse and Théa was iced across it. She let out a laugh, recalling the many times she had begged Cook to make them in the early days. It was her way of saying she would be missed, and Thea felt the stab of sentiment. Suddenly she did not feel able risking a chance meeting with any of the household, and grabbing up the bundle she left.
She hurried across the outer hall, then through the main hall, waking up the master's wolfhounds in her haste and thwarting their efforts to detain her, until finally reaching the back entrance and out into the courtyard behind.
Outside the air tasted crisp and clean; vaporous morning mists hung about the out-buildings and across the plains beyond. Thea felt revived as she stopped to take in the fresh, autumnal Rohan morning, its bright air surrounding her. She looked about the familar courtyard, with its wagons and water troughs and many foot and hoof prints in the mud. There was an ingrained scent of horse and sweet-scented hay about the place that she loved. She closed the back door with a click and walked out into the centre of the yard, her belongings tied around her at one shoulder, her food pack in her arms.
The barn lay opposite the main House and its stalls were usually empty save for use in the harshest of weathers. The horses roamed freely and were guarded by Helcwine's Riders, sometimes scattering far and wide over the expanse of the Eastfold. There was but one horse residing there at this time: Mistégo, the horse of Thea. A dappled grey stallion with mighty strength and swift speed, he had come to Thea as a foal born at Lonewinds, placed into her care and bonded so closely with her he would let no other ride him. In her turn Thea loved no living creature more than Mistégo.
She started towards the barn, but something stopped her in her tracks.
"Thea!" a voice called from behind her.
She turned and saw a woman emerge from the door she had just left. It was Hild, the housekeeper of the Homestead. An aged woman, with steely grey hair pulled back from her small, tanned forehead and falling loose down her back, her eyes were a deep and piercing brown. The way she carried herself revealed vitality not yet lost, and the intelligence in her eyes gained her an immediate, natural respect. She approached Thea and stopped, contemplating her silently.
"Hild," Thea spoke with surprise. "I thought we made our farewells yesterday eve, I did not wish you to rise, to see me away."
"I know child. Yet I wished to see you off on your journey. To lose a friend and companion of years is no small thing to an old maid such as I."
She spoke in queer halting tones- still her eyes refused to betray her sadness at this parting.
"Come then, and stay with me a while, I must ready Mistégo for the journey." Thea linked her arm in Hild's and the two women crossed together into the barn.
Mistégo could be heard moving around in his stall until Thea, speaking calming words, reached his bed.
"Be still my warrior horse. We have a great journey ahead of us, there is no need to be restless now! Your energy must be reserved for the ride."
Mistégo snorted and nodded his head impatiently, but pressed his nose into her neck as she came near and playfully nudged against her. She laughed and patted his large, arched neck. "There's my beauty. My beautiful Mistégo. We will be in the wilds in time, where you belong." She fed him a handful of oats.
"Always you spoil that beast." Hild eyed him critically, but not without a reluctant appreciation. "He turned out well on it I grant you that. One of the finest of the house."
"That he is, the very finest! You know you love him Hild, don't act a part with me." Thea looked at her teasingly as she nestled into the soft mane. Hild broke a rare smile in spite of herself.
"If I am sorry to see him go it is only due to that which he carries away."
Thea lifted a saddle gently on to the horse's back. "Oh do not fail me now, speak no words that approach sadness or I will not part from you."
Hild fell silent as Thea pulled the bridle over Mistégo's head and slipped the bit between his teeth. After loading up the saddle as lightly as possible with gear, she watched as the young woman led him out of the stall, and then followed as they walked down the rows and out into the daylight once more.
"My girl!" Hild suddenly clutched at her arm. "Ride not into harm I beseech you." Her voice caught behind clenched teeth. " I shall never lay my blame to rest if you should come to any harm, any such..." she trailed off.
Thea caught up the old woman in an embrace. "Nothing can harm me Hild! I am a 'Shieldmaiden of Rohan', do you not recall me telling you on our first meeting, when I was but ten?! You know I am able with sword and rein, hold no fear for me, my friend. There is no need of it." She smiled at her companion who looked not convinced, but resigned. A pouch of gold was placed in her hand.
"Be gone then! There is your pay. Go off in search of adventure and renown, only do not forget your old friends."
She walked away, leaving Thea torn as she watched the old housekeeper go. The woman had been as a grandmother to her. Yet leave she must, for here she would suffocate if she stayed, she had outgrown her old life and needed to seek herself in one that was new.
She pulled herself up into the saddle and sadly walked Mistégo out of the courtyard. At the gate she turned and waved at the figure standing at the door. "Fare thee well Hild!" she yelled. "I shall return one day, look for me!"
And with that she spurred her horse forward and they broke out on to the plains. Mistégo sped like a silver dart through the rippling grasses, the wind whistling past them both. Thea closed her eyes and fairly grinned with the rush. She adored the freedom of the ride, hooves pounding on the turf and resounding in her ears, the wind on her face. Eventually they topped a ridge after a distance and stopped to look back one last time. Lonewinds stood silent and proud in the morning sun. A wisp of nebulous smoke now curled up from its roof. Thea looked hard, etching every detail in her mind, her hair dancing across her face in the gathering strong winds. Then she wheeled Mistégo away, off towards the Great West Road.
Last edited by Thea, 5/19/04, 4:05 pm
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1/31/04, 3:03 pm
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Thea
Shieldmaiden of Rohan
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 Re: Journey to Gondor
Ask and you shall receive. 
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2/1/04, 11:02 am
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Asenath
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Re: Journey to Gondor
Great post. I must insist that you keep going as well. 
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2/1/04, 11:34 pm
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Thea
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Re: Journey to Gondor
Thanks you two. I will try to write some more soon. :teehee:
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2/5/04, 10:10 am
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Asenath
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Re: Journey to Gondor
Let me know if seeing Howard Shore in concert was of any inspiration. :wow:
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4/19/04, 9:59 am
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Thea
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Re: Journey to Gondor
I will indeed. This Sunday!  :teehee:
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5/19/04, 3:50 pm
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Thea
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Re: Journey to Gondor
~ Mering Stream
The sun climbed higher and higher in the bright morning sky. Below on the plains the traveller and her horse brushed through the long grasses, the buzz of insects and the sweet scent of the meads about them as they rode, now slowed to a walk. Some way off in the distance a dip in the land marked the progress of the Mering Stream. It was there that they were headed, to follow that path until it crossed the Western Road away to the south. Mistégo ploughed tirelessly onwards.
Presently the ground broke up a little, and the stallion picked his way down a short rocky outcrop, spraying mud and stones down the track. At the bottom Thea dismounted and brushed the windswept hair off her face.
"This seems like as good a place as any to take a rest," she said to her companion. His long silver tail flicked as if in agreement.
She pulled out a water-skin to let him drink his fill, then unpacked some breakfast for herself and let the horse wander off a little way to graze. A grassy hillock stood nearby and she gratefully lay down her head against it. The still silence in the sheltered spot relaxed her spirits after the stirring ride of the morning. The wind had died down to a cool breeze that barely moved; she felt it play upon her uplifted face as the light of the sun glowed red behind her closed lids. She lay like that for a while, cherishing her new found feeling of freedom.
After a spell she sat up again and unwrapped some bread and preserves and sat crossed legged, watching Mist as he wandered about clipping at the shorter grass that lay down there. Every so often he would raise his head and gaze out over the countryside, then turn lazily back towards her before returning to the grass.
She remembered the first time she had seen him as a newborn. She and Helcwine had stolen out of the house after dinner to the barn, against adult wishes for they should have been tucked up in bed. Yet it had been worth the supperless evenings that had followed; as they both stood on boxes, eyes wide craning over into the stall, the young foal was the sweetest, most beautiful creature she had ever seen, and she loved him instantly. The household were all agreed that he was a disappointment, with his scrawny legs and bony little body they held out little hope for him ever becoming one of their best. Only she had seen something in those big black eyes, and so he had been placed into her delighted care. Everyone smiled indulgently at the sight of the young girl being trailed everywhere by the gangly grey colt. Everyone except Helc of course, he had understood. And she had been right in the end after-all, but no one else could handle the grey stallion once he was grown, only she.
She shivered as the sun suddenly disappeared behind a patch of ragged grey cloud overhead. Reaching for the cloak that lay discarded nearby, she shook the grass and crumbs off her skirts and walked across to Mist. Not long afterwards they were journeying once more.
At around noon they reached the small river that wound its way along the border of Rohan to join the mouths of the river Enwash northward from the mountains. The bubbling waters ran merrily and clear over the rocky bed on its busy way. Thea dismounted in the sweeping motion of the horse lords that she liked to practice for effect, and sauntered over to the water, scanning the horizon as she went. Mists hung about the tributaries as they joined the Great River that lay in a north-easterly direction from where she stood. Absently she stooped and hung her hand in the current, letting it flow through her relaxed fingers as the calls of hidden fowl reached her ears from clumps of water-side reeds all around.
"It would surprise me if we did not meet some settlement or other on our way upstream, boy," she said. "There should be some homes here-about at least, taking advantage of the water source; if I remember correctly. It is many years since I last had the chance to travel this way. And we never ventured far along, even then. Perhaps we will find a friend to offer some shelter on our first night away from home. There is always hope of kindness in strangers, after-all!" She had returned to the horse's side now, and grinned indulgently at him as he blinked back at her, seemingly unmoved.
"Oh I know what you are thinking in that fine head of yours; and yes, I am ready to continue now. Sorry to keep you waiting around Sir! Let's be on our way."
It was a pleasant ride that afternoon along the bank of the river. The mild heat of the sun warmed the back of Thea's head pleasantly as she gently swayed with the horse's gait. Mistego needed no direction, he knew where it was they were headed, and she gave him a free rein while she passed the time musing in the saddle. They had a short stop after a couple of hours for a small meal, then continued on. Once in the far distance she spotted a large herd of horses, with the scattered tents of their guardians thrown widely about them. It was a common sight in Rohan, where families often led a nomadic life; they followed their herds wherever they roamed. She paid them little heed.
Mering Stream wound on for hours and miles and the horse and rider followed its trail until they eventually reached a stretch of land where it curved round in a wide arc. Nestled between the river so that it provided a natural boundary, and a rare thin copse of trees that rose up behind it on a slope, a small village lay quiet on the western side of the water where Thea rode. The sun was beginning her path down towards the sea far away in the West, and she cast early evening shadows about the huts and gardens of the little hamlet, and beneath the spindly trees it was darkening. The Stream swung away to the left as they came upon the cottages, and they left their cheerful guide for a time to walk the road through the sleepy dwelling pace in front of them.
Last edited by Thea, 8/1/04, 12:00 pm
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5/19/04, 3:54 pm
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Thea
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Re: Journey to Gondor
As Mist clopped along the dry dirt road beneath them, Thea turned her head to examine the curious dwellings about her. They were little more than tumbledown huts made from mud and stone, thatched above with overhung roofs of yellow straw, yet the Rohirric strain still ran true in the various simple wood carvings on doors and along shining beams. The village had an unkempt look about it, yet it seemed cosy and welcoming with its wild gardens of flowers and grasses overflowing behind stone walls; open doors led into small shadowed interiors, and smoking chimneys stood above all, suggesting the residents were busy preparing for the evening mealtime.
She thought it a friendly looking place and had half a mind to inquire after some board, yet after a day's long ride she felt tired and uncertain of herself, and feared being a nuisance to these private folk who lived in this out of the way place. She wrestled with her pride and decided that she would not ask for any help; many had said she was foolish to attempt what she was doing, a lone woman travelling by herself across country on some wild whim, and she would resent the inevitable questions. No, she would do this on her own; if she was to journey to Gondor there would be nights out alone along the road, so she might as well grow accustomed to sleeping under the night stars straight away. Yet it was with reluctance that she finally passed by the last house at the far end of the small street and met up again with the sparkling river. The road carried on off into the distance, and the wild pl ains were now lit with a dimming light, the golden sky a wash of ever deepening colour.
They were making a good pace far down the track when a couple of small figures materialised upon the road in front of the travellers. They came ever closer, and were obviously heading back the way Thea had come. She continued on until their paths met and both parties slowed and halted. Thea smiled and said good evening. Two young girls stood in the road before her holding hands, and it was obvious by their looks they were sisters. The older one returned the greeting and smiled, biting a fingernail, while the youngest only smiled back shyly and gazed up at the rider. Thea reckoned their ages at around eight and five.
"I hope you two are homeward bound, the hours are getting long and the shadows are deepening."
"We are my lady, our home rests away there by those trees." The older girl motioned back towards the village, which was small now in the distance.
"I am pleased to hear it." Thea smiled.
"What is your horse's name?" The girl inquired in a clear voice, looking at Mistego with curiosity.
"Mistégo. He is of Lord Helcwine's stock. You may come closer, he won't hurt you if you are careful. Make sure not to startle him, that is all."
She came forward and began stroking the velvety neck while Mistégo stood in the road, unperturbed. The younger girl crept up also and began stroking his side where she could reach. She looked up at Thea and her freckled face twinkled at her.
"Where are you going?" she asked quietly, squinting.
"I'm headed for Gondor. I seek out the Company of Stonewain Valley, in the shadow of Mount Mindolluin."
The older girl turned to look at her. "Gondor? I wish I could travel there. I have heard tales and they make me long to see it with my own eyes."
"Perhaps one day you will look upon it." Thea looked at her kindly, as she saw the hope dawn in the girl's eyes. "You have your whole life ahead of you, who knows where your road will take you."
"I know where it will take me. I will marry young and live out my life like the other village girls." She grimaced at the thought and returned to Mistégo. Thea said nothing in return, as it was likely that the girl spoke truth. The women of Rohan did not easily escape the fate of tradition.
"What are your names?" she asked instead.
"I am Bronwyn, and this is my sister Rowen. She appears shy, but once she befriends you she is more open." She paused. "Would you permit us a ride on Mistégo?"
Thea considered a moment, then made up her mind.
"You girls climb up and I will take you home before dark falls. Have you been out wandering all day long?!
Last edited by Thea, 8/1/04, 12:03 pm
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5/19/04, 3:56 pm
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Re: Journey to Gondor
