A Wish for Wings

[eowyn]

The walls of the Golden Hall were stifling.

As a girl, just hearing the name Edoras would fill Eowyn's heart with joy. She was raised on the knowledge that Rohan was to be her pride and joy, the blood that pulsed through her veins. Loving her land had come all too easily to Eowyn. She had grown to adore every tree, every brook, every single blade of grass. Even today, she would gladly give her life to protect her beloved land. The Golden Hall of Edoras had always seemed to her to be the grandest place in the world, the pinnacle of the achievements of man.

But now the walls of the Golden Hall were stifling her, and she desperately needed air.

Eowyn pushed open the heavy doors of the Hall and walked stiffly out into the sun and the fresh air. She made her way down the stairs in a manner becoming of a shied maiden of Rohan, bowing her head to acknowledge each individual she passed. She kept up this facade as she made her way in the direction of the plains. Then, as soon as no other human was around, she slipped off her shoes and started to run.

She sprinted as quickly as she could. Everything was a blur, and the air pulled upon her, stinging her face as she ran straight into the wind. She ran until she ran out of breath and toppled over into the grass and the sun shone down upon her, warming every inch of her body. She giggled, actually giggled, as a bug crawled up upon her bare foot and wiggled her toes to dislodge it.

Eowyn wanted to stay out here for always. She watched a bird leisurely flapping its wings overhead. She wanted wings so that she could go anywhere she pleased. Eowyn had always loved Rohan, but she wished to be free. She wanted to be able to flap a pair of wings and be lifted from her current problems. She just wanted to fly into the sun and never look back.

But she wasn't free. Eowyn slowly pulled herself to her feet. Her face was now clear of any signs of laughter or happiness, and her eyes were once again as cold as ice as she started the trek back to the Golden Hall. She wasn't free and no amount of running or wishing for wings would make her so. She was foolish for wasting time on such a silly escapade. Eowyn should be inside the hall tending to her uncle.

She just wished that would would allow herself to be foolish more often.

[Grima Wormtongue]

It was not unusual to see people moving about the halls of Edoras, although nowadays those people were few other than servants and the occasional soldier. However, it was unusual to see this particular form skulking in the halls at this time of day. Normally, Grima spent his days with Theoden, hissing gentle commands in the nearly bedridden king's ear. Grima was very close to having Theoden in the palm of his hand, and when the old king was firmly under his thumb, Grima would be the effective ruler of Edoras, and indeed all of Rohan.

However, there were still problems. Theoden was a strong-willed man, and a powerful one. Grima knew that it would take more than a few doses of mind-numbing poison and some silvered words to put the king under his control, but he did not think it would take five months. Five months Theoden had resisted his control. Five months Grima had been unable to completely smother his free will. That would all be over very soon, he knew.

At first, Grima could do little but suggest smaller courses of action to Theoden, but as the small doses of poison continued to enter the king's food and drink, he resisted less and less. Still, there had been close scrapes. Grima nearly lost control once while sentencing a soldier who knew too much to his death. The best he could coerce Theoden into doing then was to put the man in prison. That was enough for Grima though, for he'd been able to frame the man for murder and have him executed. Still, it was as close as Grima ever wanted to come to having Theoden regain the use of his mind.

As his black-clothed form moved down one corridor after another, his pale fingers idly stroked the vial in his pocket, cradled atop the yellowing handkerchief also found there. It had been full an hour ago, but now the cloudy contents had been transported to the king via his luncheon wine. That was the reason why Grima was not in the audience chamber today. Instead of giving Theoden his usual dose of the poison, Grima had emptied an extra half dose into the wine as well. It had its wanted effect, but unfortunately it had also made Theoden quite ill. Moreso than usual, that is. Grima was quite at ease, however, unconcerned about Theoden's condition. It would be a temporary illness, he was certain. Theoden would be up again by the day after tomorrow.

Pale eyes, which gleamed a deep ocean blue in the shadows, locked onto a tall soldier who was walking towards him, his clanking armor making quite a din compared to Grima's own silent steps. The soldier kept a wary eye on Grima as well, crossing over as close to the opposite wall of the hallway as he could get without looking too conspicuous as he passed the shorter, but somehow more intimidating man. Grima could feel the soldier's eyes upon him after he looked away as well, until he turned a corner and vanished from the other man's view.

It wasn't until Grima was about halfway down the corridor that he bothered to glance into one of the many windows to his right, his eyes now reflecting a light silver in the light. He saw the Rohan countryside and the rooftops of Edoras, as was to be expected, but he also saw a single figure moving very swiftly away from the city to the west. It was still close enough that Grima could easily tell that it wasn't on horseback, and that it was a woman. Grima closed his left eye, and the usual blurriness in his vision vanished. Now that he could see clearly, he knew that it was Eowyn making her way so swiftly from the city.

Opening both eyes again, Grima's expression turned to one of slight concern. Was she running away? Obviously, she was in the literal sense, but could she be doing so with no intention of returning? It only took the counsellor a few seconds to assure himself that Eowyn's leaving permanently was impossible. While she may have been capable of leaving, Grima knew perfectly well that she would never leave her father and, more importantly, her brother.

Eomer. How Grima hated that beak-nosed man. Ever since Grima had come into contact with that man, he had been given nothing more than dislike, and this dislike had developed into hatred over the past years, and especially in these past months that Grima had been slowly taking over Theoden's mind and his kingdom. He may have only returned to the city sparingly, but Grima would have much preferred that he be gone entirely. Gone or, better yet, dead. Still, Grima only had to be patient. It wouldn't be long before Theoden would do anything under Grima's command, even order the execution of Eomer.

Grima's thoughts returned to Eowyn as she moved out of sight. She would be back soon, he was certain, and Grima would be there when she returned. In one smooth motion, Grima removed his weight from where he had been lightly leaning on the windowsill, turned, and started silently down the hall again to await her return.