Part Five - The Road to the Shire

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Ever since they had encountered the stone giant in the Misty Mountains, a feeling of dread had been building up inside of Aragorn that he revealed to no one though he believed some of them might suspect what he was terrified of being the truth. He knew the possibility had occurred to the others but they did not dare speak it out for fear of how he would react if he knew. Celeborn had warned that many that had attempted to cross the mountains by using that same canyon had vanished never to be seen again. Although Aragorn had not time to make a proper search when they had traveled through the deadly breach, he knew what he had seen and what he had seen was the remnants of many corpses that had been skeletalized by time.

There was no telling how long the creature had been waylaying travelers with its deadly barrage for the snowfall had made it difficult to see just how many bodies there were on the ground. The urgency of the situation had prevented Aragorn from examining them closely, though he wanted to badly. As the Fellowship departed the perilous path and made for Rivendell, Aragorn became consumed by the possibility that perhaps Arwen and Eowyn might have taken the same route upon leaving Lothlorien. Indeed, Celeborn had said that he had given her the same warning.

Upon leaving the mountain range and making their way towards the legendary elven city, a grave mood had befallen the Fellowship for they all felt Aragorn’s anxiety as well as his need to reach Rivendell. The king hope’s for his wife’s safety rested solely on the hope that she had reached the elven city ahead of them. Only when he saw her at Rivendell, could he believe that she had escaped the fate they had so narrowly survived themselves.

While Aragorn’s fear was kept close to his heart, with none of it shown beyond his fierce determination to keep moving, Faramir’s anxiety was more visible in the shortness of his temper. Although the Fellowship all loved Arwen and Eowyn, their affection could not compare to the love felt by the husbands of the two formidable women. The others in the party were careful in their words, speaking as if no harm had befallen either the Queen or the Lady of Ithilien, offering Aragorn and Faramir hope for as long as it was possible.

It felt like almost an eternity had passed before they reached Rivendell and as they passed through the city towards Elrond’s home, the signs of the great exodus could be seen everywhere. It was like watching the diminishing light of a great jewel where once gone, would leave the world a less wondrous place in its passing. They could feel the end of an age soaking into their skins when they moved through the streets of Rivendell and saw the ongoing preparations of the elves to depart for the western shores. In his heart, Aragorn knew that when Gandalf went so would Frodo. Though it had not been spoken out loud by either, he could feel it instinctively. Someday, Legolas would go too and what remained of the Fellowship would pass into memory and be forgotten as if it had never been.

He hoped the memory of those who lived beyond his years would endure for he would not.

There were no happy greetings when Aragorn entered Elrond’s house and was met by Elladan and Elrohir. The twin brothers, who had fought along side of Aragorn during the War of the Ring, did not seem as enthused by their departure to the Undying lands as they should, when they came to meet him and the Fellowship. Identical to one another, they bore Elrond’s dark, intense looks instead of Arwen’s luminescence, which Aragorn was told was from her mother Celebrian. While Elrond had always been reserved about Aragorn’s affections for his daughter, her brothers were nothing but supportive and this was mostly because they had fought alongside him and knew that he was a man of good and noble bearing, worthy of their sister’s affections.

"Estel!" Elladan, the more adventurous of the two exclaimed as they met the Fellowship in the great hall of Elrond’s court. "What brings you here? We would have thought that you would still be playing host to your guests at the White City."

Aragorn’s heart sank upon hearing Elladan’s happy words for it appeared he did not know that there was little cause to celebrate. Arwen would have confided in them about her quest and the dark implications it had upon their child if she failed. That they did not know brought to surface Aragorn’s worse fears.

"What is it?" Elrohir asked, his eyes seeing the worry in the faces before him as the king felt the air drain from his lungs.

"She has not been here?" Aragorn asked, his voice nothing more than a strangled gasp.

"Who?" Elrohir stared at him in confusion, understanding now that something terrible had happened.

"Arwen," Legolas answered sparing either Faramir or Aragorn from speaking. "She has not come here?"

"No," Elladan shook his head. "We have seen nothing of her. Are you telling me that our sister was meant to come here?"

"Yes," Legolas nodded. "She has been given a quest to fulfil," he explained. "Some days ago we narrowly escaped death at the hands of a stone giant. The vile creature was hurling rocks upon anyone who dared use the pass through the Misty Mountains. We saw bodies of those who had tried before us. We think that Arwen and the Lady Eowyn who is travelling with her, might have taken this path."

The two elves became ashen with horror and Legolas did not know what to say to console them.

"Aragorn, Faramir," Gandalf said quickly, refusing to belief that it could end this way for either woman. "There may be any number of reasons why they did not pass through Imladris. Perhaps they discovered the danger and chose another route that might have made coming here too troublesome."

"That’s right," Sam added. "The Queen, she knows how to look after herself. She kept Mr. Frodo safe from those Rings Wraiths. She probably saw through that stone giant fellow and kept going!"

"And what if they didn’t?" Faramir asked, clearly in anguish at the thought that his beloved Eowyn might have come to harm. "They might have died there while we were running to save our skins!"

"She’s not dead," Aragorn swallowed away his pain and his despair. He crushed it mercilessly under the compelling desire not to fail her by giving in to his fears. Gandalf was right; they knew nothing for certain and until he had irrefutable evidence of it, he was not going to believe that Arwen or Eowyn for that matter had fallen. "My wife is not dead."

"You don’t know that," Faramir stared at him, wanting to believe his king, needing to believe him.

"I know that Arwen and Eowyn are capable of taking care of themselves, that if we could escape that monster then perhaps they did as well. They might have been wise enough to go another way upon sensing the danger," Aragorn said firmly and saw the others starting to fill with hope at the strength of his belief.

"I hope you are right," Faramir answered meeting his eyes, lost between accepting the worst and clinging to the hope, no matter how futile.

"I am right," Aragorn declared. "I am right because I do not feel that she is dead. In my heart, I know she lives and I have to believe that she is or I am no good to her."

And perhaps no good without her, he thought silently.

She was alive, Aragorn told himself as the words left him boldly. She had to be.

He would not believe anything else.