▌𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲-𝐍𝐢𝐧𝐞 ━︎━︎ 𝐀 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐞 ▌

━︎━︎━︎━︎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐈𝐑 𝐉𝐎𝐔𝐑𝐍𝐄𝐘 𝐓𝐎 Helm's Deep began. Ellaria rode beside Aragorn, a handful of small acorns in her hand. She began lightly tossing them at Aragorn, a childish smile pulling on her lips as each one hit his shoulder. The Ranger turned his head to look at her just as she's tossed another one, her eyes widening when it hit him in the forehead. She pressed her lips together to keep herself from laughing. "Are you quite done, Princess?" He asked.

     "No," Ellaria answered. She tossed her last one at him and he caught it. "Now I am." He smiled at her, shaking his head before playfully tossing it back. Ellaria shieled her face, a soft laugh falling from her lips. She was trying to distract herself from the heavy situation at hand and Aragorn let her.

     Aragorn moved his horse closer to her, giving them a better chance at speaking privately. "Are you alright, Ellaria?"

     Ellaria took a breath. "Well, as alright as one can be in these circumstances. I'm not very fond of the way the king has already denied me because of who I am." Her eyes looked over to Legolas, his blue eyes instantly catch hers. His voice echoed in her head. You didn't care about what I thought, or what anyone thought. You were just you.

     Aragorn instantly noticed the way she looked at his closest friend, glancing down at the reigns of his horse as he smile to himself. Ellaria frowned. "What are you smiling about?" He looked forwards, shaking his head. She reached over, nudging him with her hand. "What is it?"

     "I am simply wondering when you will admit your feelings for our dear blonde haired friend over there."

      Ellaria's eyes widened, her face turning a shade of red. "Aragorn!" She hissed his name. "I have no such thing. Why would you even suggest that? Especially out loud when he is right there."

     Aragorn gave her a look. "You are my dearest friend, Ellaria. However, that will not stop me from telling you when you are doing something dangerous or when you simply deny the feelings that you clearly have."

     "Stop speaking." Ellaria muttered.

     Aragorn chuckled. "Your sister is right, you know."

     "Oh, do not bring my sister into this." She groaned. "I cannot even fathom what she has told you."

     "Only your most recent conversation." Aragorn hummed. "You make yourself ill at the thought of being happy. What frightens you, Princess?"

     Ellaria glanced towards Legolas, watching as he tried to hide his amused smile at something Gimli was saying from beside him. A frown pulled on her lips as she looked away before meeting Aragorn's eyes. "That my feelings are not matched. I could not burden someone with having to love me. I have my scars, ones that would make even the kindest of person to turn away."

     Aragorn stared at her for a long moment before softly saying, "If someone does not love you for who you are and all the scars and burdens you carry, then they do not truly love you. You do not need to prove yourself to anyone, Ellaria. You've done that a long time ago."

     Ellaria smiled and shook her head. "I am glad my sister has found you, Aragorn. No one else would ever be more worthy of her than you." She stared ahead of her, not noticing the way Aragorn's face seemed to slightly fall. They had not told her that Arwen would be leaving, sailing to the Undying Lands. "My sister said something to me. It keeps repeating in my mind. She said to me, 'If you are lost, then you must be found. Otherwise you will go mad.' I know she is right. Before I ever commit myself to anyone, I need to find myself first."

     "And you won't be alone," Aragorn promised. "I am at your side, always, my lady." He placed a hand over his heart, and bowed his head slightly.

     They continued their path to Helm's Deep, and Gimli was talking to Eowyn who was walking beside his horse. "It's true, you don't see many Dwarf women. And in fact, they are so alike in voice and appearance that they're often mistaken for Dwarf men."

     Eowyn turned her head to look at Aragorn, he and Ellaria trotting right behind Gimli. "It's the beards," he whispered. Eowyn smiled.

     Gimli continued, "This, in turn, has given rise to the belief that there are no Dwarf women and that Dwarves just spring out of holes in the ground, which is, of course, ridiculous." Eowyn laughed loudly as did Gimli. His horse whinnied and shot forwards, causing him to cry out before he was tossed off the horses back and landed on the ground. Ellaria let out a melodic laugh. "It's alright! Nobody panic! That was deliberate. It was deliberate."

     "Of course it was, Gimli." Ellaria called as her horse walked by him.

When the sun was beginning to set, they made camp. Naturally, Ellaria and Legolas stayed awake to keep watch for the camp, not without a snide comment from one of the guardsman. The day arose and they continued their travels. Ellaria was beginning to grow tired of the constant doubts that were being thrown her way. She walked beside her horse, Legolas walking beside his own right next to her.

     "You seem troubled," Legolas noted.

     Ellaria glanced at him. "Just a bad feeling is all." She glanced up when she noticed two men rushing to the front. "Legolas." The two of them, who were in front of all of the others, separated from their horses and moved to the top of the hill, scaling the lands before them. They watched as the two men rushed past. They disappeared before their sight and suddenly they heard them scream.

     Legolas and Ellaria were quick to rush forwards. An orc was sitting on top of a warg, attacking one of the men while the other was down on the ground. Legolas paused, aiming for the orc as Ellaria kept running forwards. As soon as the orc was dead, she tackled the warg, rolling the creature over her body and quickly killing it. Legolas turned his head as Aragorn rushed over the hill. "A scout!"

     Ellaria quickly ran to the highest peak. "Legolas, more are coming just over the passage!"

He joined her side and the two of them began shooting their arrows at the creatures, trying to kill as many as they could. The Rohan riders approached them and when Ellaria saw her horse, she grabbed his reigns and swung herself on top of it and Legolas did the same with his own steed. They charged straight into battle. Ellaria replaced her bow with her sword, cutting down the wargs and their riders. She bent backwards, avoiding the Orcs weapon as she held out her own and slice him in half. She was quick to stab a warg that was attacking one of the men before continuing forwards.

A riderless warg leaped at her from the side, but before it could reach her Legolas sent an arrow through its eye. She kept going, slicing two more Orcs and their wargs. The battle was over quickly, with Ellaria using her bow to shoot down the last few stragglers. She jumped off her horse, quickly scouting the area. Legolas instantly came up to her, attempting to check her for wounds, but she placed a hand on her shoulder to silently tell him she was okay.

     A frown pulled on her face as she looked around. She could see Gimli give a final blow to a warg, but that's not who she was concerned about. "Legolas, do you see Aragorn?"

     Legolas looked around, calling out his name. "Aragorn!"

     Gimli instantly became worried. "Aragorn?"

     Ellaria tried to swallow the fear as it clawed up her throat. "Aragorn? This isn't funny." She turned her head when she heard an Orc on the brink of death laughing. Instantly rage fueled her as she stormed up to it, pulling out her dagger and placing it against the Orcs throat, Gimli and Legolas quick to join her side. "Where is he?" She demanded. The Orc kept laughing. "Tell me what happened filth, and maybe I'll consider letting your death be peaceful."

     "He's. . ." the orc coughed, "dead." Ellaria's face fell and the Orc laughed. "He took a little tumble off the cliff.

     Legolas grabbed onto the Orc, pulling him forwards. "You lie." The Orc laughed before choking and dying.

     Ellaria's eyes narrowed on something in his hand, reaching forwards and grabbing it. Her heart shattered in her chest. "Oh. . . oh god. It's Arwen's." She quickly handed the necklace to Legolas before shooting up and making her way to the cliff's edge where Theoden already stood. There was a river below and Aragorn was nowhere to be found.

     Hama walked up the hill towards Theoden and Theoden turned to look at him. "Get the wounded on horses. The wolves of Isengard will return. Leave the dead." Legolas snapped his gaze to the king and Theoden placed a hand on his shoulder. "Come." He walked away but the three of them continued to stand there.

     "What am I to tell my sister?" Ellaria whispered, her voice cracking. "We cannot leave without searching." She looked at Legolas with pleading eyes. "There could be a chance." Legolas looked at her with solemn. She shook her head, tears filling her eyes. "No. No, we are not just going to leave him. We can't."

     "Ella. . ." He gently grasped her arm, wiping away her tear as it slipped down her cheek. She quickly swallowed her emotions, pulling herself from his grasp and making her way to her horse. Gimli and Legolas exchanged a look before following after her.

Ellaria climbed on her horse, snapping its reigns and letting it go as fast as it could towards Helm's Deep. He was not dead, he couldn't be. She refused to believe it. All she could think about was her sister who was probably waiting at home for him. Her sweet, kind, full-hearted sister who had found her perfect match had lost him. She looked over her shoulder at Legolas whose worried and sad eyes were already looking at her. She turned away, cursing her heart for beating so profoundly when she met his gaze. If this was her sign to follow her heart, it was a cruel, terrible sign.