She dreamed of Faramir.
She dreamed that he was near and that he was seeking her through the mist. It was good to see him, even if he existed to her within the boundaries of the dreamscape. She gazed at him with love and pride, noting that he was dressed for battle, sword hung proudly at his hip, braces on his arms and the shield of Rohan slung across his shoulder. In truth it was not the Shield of Rohan as such but one that had been fashioned by Gondorian smiths when the original had been buried with his brother. Watching him as he drew nearer to her reminded Eowyn why she loved him so. They had been two displaced people, rudderless before they found one another.
She had been recovering from her infatuation for Aragorn who, by his kindness had unknowingly acquired her affection. She was also mourning the death of her father and trying to be more than a princess because the times required a warrior. Faramir had been the opposite but also the same. He was mourning the death of a brother, one he had always relied upon to make the hard choices in life only to learn with Boromir’s death, his world had changed forever. Suddenly he was the heir to the stewardship of Gondor, the keeper of destiny for the White City. If Fate had not produced Isildur’s heir in the shape of Aragorn, then she could well have been the Lady of Gondor instead of Ithilien.
As the chasm between them dwindled, Eowyn began walking towards her husband, wanting to feel his strong arms about her and tell her that he was with her and what came after this, they would face it together.
When he said those words to her, Eowyn believed they could defeat anything…
"Eowyn!" A sharp prodding in her side made the mist around them dissolve, taking Faramir with it.
Eowyn returned to a reality where there were no ethereal mists swirling around her or the presence of her husband. Instead she was met by rather cold, wet and slimy rock scraping against her cheek, the stench of a stable that had not known cleaning since the First Age and the understanding that she was going to die. She sat up abruptly as her most recent memories flooded into her mind and she saw that she was in a small room that appeared to a dungeon of some description. The room was in a serious state of disrepair. Its walls were marred with mighty cracks and the ceiling was half missing. Beyond it, there was no sky, merely darkness devoid of starlight.
Her head throbbed and her effort to reach for it brought forth the discovery that her hands were bound behind her back. Eowyn attempted to stave off panic at this discovery, especially when she looked around and saw that the room, save herself and Melia was empty. Arwen was not with them.
"Where is she?" Eowyn asked once she managed to sit up to face the Ranger.
"They took her," Melia announced shortly.
"They?" Eowyn stared at her, unable to remember anything about their attackers. With chagrin, Eowyn frowned at the fact that her inability to recollect their captors had to do with her being subdued so easily.
"I think they were shape shifters," Melia answered. "The one who captured me appeared to Arwen with my face."
"I have heard of were creature that are able to change shape," Eowyn muttered as she shook away the disorientation from being rendered unconscious. "But I thought they were legend."
"They’re real enough," Melia retorted bitterly. "They took Arwen to the Enemy. They knew which one of us she was."
"They were waiting for us," Eowyn hissed under her breath.
"More or less," the Ranger nodded grimly.
"So where is this place?" Eowyn took the opportunity to study her surroundings more carefully.
Through the crack in the ceiling, Eowyn saw the outline of a city. Its spires and columns were broken and it was clear that some terrible catastrophe had befallen it to be in such a state of dilapidation. Some of the buildings had crumbled away completely; exposing suites and rooms that were covered within with mosaics and withering tapestries. Moss and lichens grew over the gray stone with vines and cobwebs overhanging balconies and other high places. It did not require Eowyn to see much more to understand that they were presently being held in one of the ancient cities of the Sunken Lands.
"They call it Nargothrond," Melia responded attempting to loosen the bonds around her wrists but to little avail. As it was the outcome of her efforts made her skin feel raw and tender, forcing her to stop before she was further injured.
"The weremen?" Eowyn asked, straining to see through the small hole in the door to their cell. Beyond it she could hear the movement of their captors but there was no quiet to them. Her heart clenched inside her chest as she recognised the meat of their conversation because while the substance of their language eluded her, she knew the tongue being spoken.
Uruk Hai.
As if aware of her realisation, Melia answered coolly, "we’ve been given to them."
"Given?" Eowyn’s eyes widened as she stared sharply at the Ranger. She knew what that meant of course but a part of her was still refusing to believe it.
"Apparently the Uruk Hai here have been without their females for quite some time," Melia swallowed, her face showing her clear revulsion of their intended fates. "The Enemy has given us to them to sate those desires."
"I would die first!" Eowyn spat in horror. She could not even begin to imagine such a gross violation of her body and for the first time since this all began, she started to feel currents of real terror surging through at being forced to endure such a thing.
"You will die anyway," Melia pointed out wearily. There was a brief pause and she spoke again, this time her voice was lowered almost to a whisper, "I have a plan to free us but you must trust me."
"What is it?" Eowyn asked just as softly.
"You do not want to know," the Ranger replied appearing somewhat uncomfortable with the question.
"Do not tell me that I do not wish to know," Eowyn hissed with exasperation. "This is not the time for riddles."
"And I give you none except to say that you must trust me," she repeated herself, still hesitant to tell Eowyn for the Lady of Ithilien might balk outright at the suggestion or worse yet, attempt to stop her from attempting it. "What I must do repulses me enough, however, the alternative is far worse. I have no intention of taking a Uruk Hai lover; I don’t care how insistent he is on the matter. If I fail, then we will at least die with swords in our hands and not the spoil of Uruk Hai filth."
Eowyn opened her mouth to protest but caught herself in time. Melia had proven to be a trusted ally during this entire quest and Eowyn supposed that trusting her in this matter was the least she could do to show her faith in the Ranger. Besides, she could not disagree with Melia’s logic. She would rather die fighting than raped and despoiled by Saruman’s savage creations.
"I trust you Melia," Eowyn said after a brief pause. "Can I help in what you plan to do?"
"Unfortunately not," Melia said with a little smile, grateful for the trust for it was no small thing to earn Eowyn’s respect. "I’m afraid this is work not worthy of the daughter of Rohan or more specifically, the Lady of Ithilien."
Eowyn did not understand but then she did not need to. "Alright then, do what you must."
"Thank you," Melia replied before returning her thoughts to the matter at hand. "Wish me luck."
Eowyn nodded as Melia turned her attention to the door and called out, attracting the attention of the guards at the door. One of them peered their brutish face through the opening in the door and seeing that she had caught their interest, asked to see their captain. She spoke in the common tongue but it was obvious that they understood her. Eowyn could not understand why Melia had asked the captain of the Uruk Hai be summoned. It was not as if they had anything to bargain with. The Enemy had Arwen and other than their value as relief for their lust, she did not know what reason Melia could have to call the attention of the Uruk Hai captain.
He entered the room a moment later, a sight to scare Eowyn who had faced far worse in her lifetime. Tall and muscular, his neck was thick and his face just as fearsome and ferocious as she remembered during the battle of Pelennor. The two women felt like dwarves next to him. There was no way they could hope to overpower him on equal ground and yet if they did not, they would face a nightmare far worse than any death imaginable.
"What is it you want?" He growled, his sharp teeth showing as he made the demand. His voice was like a snarl and the rest of him was savagery given form.
"I do not wish to die," Melia said simply, her tone was smooth, with a quality to it that was different from her usual speech, almost husky. Inwardly, however, the Ranger was fighting her fear because she was damn near terrified of the beast before her.
"You won’t die," he laughed wickedly, his eyes glimmering in twisted suggestion. "You two are the only females there are for my men, we will keep you alive for many, many years, or at least until we acquire more."
Eowyn felt herself blanch at the thought and prayed silently to all the gods of her ancestors that this plan of Melia’s worked because being kept alive for the sole purpose becoming the Uruk Hai’s sexual relief was enough to make her blood run cold and long for death. The idea of being violated by this creature was threatening to force sane thought from her mind.
"I would come to you willingly if you do not harm us more than necessary." Melia offered seductively, forcing herself to remain true to her course, no matter how much his closeness unnerved her.
Eowyn turned sharply to her, wondering what kind of game Melia was playing because she was never going to these creatures willingly, not while there was breath in her body. She almost demanded of Melia what insanity was she embarking upon when Eowyn remembered her promise to trust the Ranger.
"Willingly?" The Uruk Hai captain stared at her with uncertainty. "What difference does that make to us? We will take what we want anyway."
"You can do that," Melia agreed, aware of the dangerous tact she was taking but somehow she had to inspire this captain’s interest. "Or you can let me show you a world of pleasure beyond your understanding. Why do you think human males are so devoted to their wives? Love? Love is for fools. I am talking about lust, pure, dark and primeval, the kind that makes the body scream for more. I can show you so much pleasure that your mind will know nothing but the need to crave and when that craving is beyond endurance, I will satisfy it with all the skill at my disposal."
"This is a trick," the captain snorted in disbelief, yet there was a glimmer in his eyes that resembled interest. "You are attempting to escape."
"I can show you," Melia suggested, her eyes still fixed upon his own beneath their heavy ridges. "Keep my hands tied and give us some privacy and I will show you just how much of this is a trick."
By Valar, Eowyn cried out silently in the confines of her thoughts. She was succeeding! This Uruk Hai actually believed her!
The captain of the Uruk Hai stared at Melia for a second, trying to decide whether or not her offer was genuine. For a few seconds, nothing was said by anyone in the room although both Melia and Eowyn were holding their breaths in anticipation of his answer. After what seemed like an eternity of time, he reached down and pulled Melia to her feet by the collar of her shirt. The Ranger stood up shakily, uncertain whether or not she was happy that he had fallen for her ruse. Without speaking, he dragged her out of the cell into the larger room outside. There were three Uruk Hai there already. Two were playing sentry outside their cell and one who was standing guarding at the door to this room. All turned their attention to Melia and the captain as he dragged her to the center of the floor and lifted her roughly onto the table.
"Show me." He demanded.
"Tell them to go away," Melia replied glancing at the other Uruk Hai in the room. "This is not to be done for an audience, just you."
She gave him the same smile that she had in the cell, the one that promised all sorts of pleasure if he submitted to her small request. "I do not need to be untied," she added, just to give him reassurance that she was powerless against him. "Just a little privacy."
He considered her words for a short time before barking at the others in the room in words she did not understand but was clear enough when they started towards the door, sniggering to themselves with all kinds of derisive innuendo. Melia braced herself for what she needed to do and hoped it would succeed because in her experience, men did not take rejection well and one who had been lead as this one had, would not hesitate to kill her for the insult.
The first thing he did once they were alone was tear open the buttons of her shirt, exposing her breasts to him. She could tell he liked what he saw by the quickening of his breath. Melia was sitting on the table; her legs spread slightly apart as the captain took position between them. His hand reached for her skin and kneaded the flesh hard. Melia almost gagged from the sensation but closed her eyes and swallowed away her disgust. She smiled at him, pretending that his touch produced pleasure and that smile impacted upon him oddly; he did not know what to think. It was clear this Uruk Hai had never been with a female of any kind and was trying to satisfy his curiosity with her.
Unfortunately, this was as far as she was going to allow him.
