Celeborn's Nine - Riders of the Night

Author's note: Thank you for the kind words...and a sphinx is in the future, and a flying horse just kicked me in the butt...hehehehehe
............................................
Arwen read the message in amazed disbelief.

"What is is?" Eowyn asked anxiously.

"The jinn tiger is still alive. King Eomer has her." Looking up from the letter, she added, "Lothiriel is afraid the king has taken her for a mistress and will not easily let her go."

Eowyn sat on the devan beside the queen and slowly shook her head. "Are men insane by nature or is it just something that happens to them?"

"I can not answer that," Arwen replied and folded the letter back up. "When the king returns, I need to let him know first."

"When do you plan on telling Haldir?"

"I am almost afraid to. He will go after her."
................................................................
The warg had been a surprise. Acting as a sentinel, it had lay in ambush attacking the first elf to get in its line of sight. The orcs who had kept it had trained it to stay quiet until making its kill. Had not his brothers been behind him, Haldir would have been killed instantly when the creature jumped him. Grabbing him by the right shoulder, it had swung him savagely, its teeth crushing bone and and lacerting muscle. The mauling was terrible before the elves and men were able to kill the beast. Had the warg been able to seperate the shoulder and arm from the body, it would have been a fatal wound, but as it was it was exquisitely painful and weakening. And the beast's spit was mildly toxic, but Haldir didn't care; he wasn't going to die so who cared if it hurt a little. It was a distraction from his other thoughts.

Of course, once the toxin kicked in, he was one sick elf and Aragorn and Glorfindel were able to treat him. Orophin and Rumil offered to hold him down if that was what it took. Too weak to protest, Haldir tried to glare at them but only succeeded in looking nauseous, which he was. Since he was in no shape to ride, he was carried on a drag that the twins made. Glorfindel led Haldir's horse out of the mountains, and Haldir looked as if every rock was another stab at his shoulder. He was sitting his horse when they arrived in Minas Tirith almost a week later, but he was still painfully weak.

Arwen was relieved her husband and kin were well, and she made sure all of them were settled and their needs met before showing Aragorn the letter from Queen Lothiriel.

"This is not good," he said and passed the letter to Legolas, who shared it with Gimli. "If Eomer thinks the tiger is his now...."

Legolas frowned. "I have never liked hearing anyone claim the tiger was theirs, not even Haldir."

Gimli scratched his beard and asked, "When do you plan on telling Haldir she's at Edoras?"

"He's in no shape to ride right now," Aragorn said. "Perhaps I can speak to Eomer."

The Galadhrim at the door had not meant to eaves drop. He had been looking for the king to return a knife to him. But what he heard was incredible. So Tiger was alive after all. Haldir would be relieved to know she was not skinned and lying on Eomer's floor. Deciding the knife could wait, he went looking for Orophin or Rumil.

Haldir, sitting up in bed, his shoulder recently wrapped with a clean dressing, listened in amazement at what the elf told him. "Are you certain?" he asked, almost afraid to believe it.

"That is what I heard the queen say," the elf answered. "King Eomer is keeping her as his mistress."

Haldir swung his legs around so his feet rested on the floor. "I need another tunic," he said and rotated his right arm with a hiss of pain. It hurt terribly but he had been hurt before. Nothing new here.

"What are you wanting to do?" Rumil asked curiously.

"Go to Rohan," Haldir replied through gritted teeth as someone handed him a clean tunic, and he tried to put it on without help.

"Now?" Orophin asked and helped him slip on the tunic.

"Can you think of a better time?" Haldir asked and cursed himself for not letting Aragorn and Glorfindel do more for him. He would have been farther along if he had allowed it.

"You're not going by yourself," Rumil said and the others agreed. Rohan owed Haldir a debt of gratitude, but if Eomer was keeping Tiger, knowing she belonged to Haldir, then he was not going to willingly return her.

"If anyone sees you, they'll try to stop you," one of the Galadhrim opined.

"True. Go saddle our horses. Come back and get me when you're ready," Haldir replied.
..........................................................................................................................

No one but a couple of guards noticed the six riders riding slowly at first to avoid making too much noise and then quicker out of the city. Once on the open field, they touched spurs to their horses and raced to the west towards Edoras. It was a two day hard ride and they meant to complete it without stopping.
.......................................................................................................................................

Glorfindel was the first to notice the Galadhrim were missing. The twins, who considered themselves their confidants, didn't know where they were. And when he mentioned it at breakfast, Celeborn stated he didn't know where they were either, but that was before he noticed the shocked look on Aragorn and Arwen's face.

"Do you know where they are?" Celeborn asked curiously.

Gimli, enjoying his meal, looked up and said, "My guess is they are half way to Rohan by now. I told you I heard someone in the hall."

"Rohan?" Glorfindel asked in disbelief.

"Tiger's not dead," Legolas answered. "Eomer lied about killing a tiger."

Celeborn looked at the Mirkwood elf for a moment then went back to his breakfast. "We'll leave after we finish eating," he told Glorfindel and the twins. "We won't be able to catch them, even if we leave now."

"I think I ought to go with you," Aragorn said.

Entering the hall, Faramir smiled and asked, "Go where?"

"To Rohan," Aragorn said. "And I guess you get to come now. The queen is your cousin, and she may need us."
........................................................
The six gray elven horses never eased in their race across the plains of Rohan. If Haldir could have pushed them harder, he would have, but they were already running as hard as they could. The constant jarring hurt his shoulder and arm and put a terrible strain on his neck, but he didn't care. Tiger was at the end of the ride. Tiger! In two more days she would be back in his arms, back in his bed, back in his heart. It drove him on.

Humans who saw them pass stopped what they were doing and for a moment watched in awe. Chasing the wind, they said, hunting the devil. Bad luck. But the riders were so quick they were gone without so much a backwrds glance. And when the dark came, when the full moon shed its light upon the land, those who saw them swore they were clothed in light. Dogs barked and were then silent.

It was late afternoon on the second day when the citadel of Edoras rose before them. Only now did they stop and stare at it. Haldir was hurting, but he also knew Tiger was there, his tiger. With his brothers and the Galadhrim behind him, he rode slowly up the road that led to the great hall of Edoras, the seat of the horse kings of Rohan.

Was there anyone who didn't remember Haldir of Lorien and the sacrifice he made for them? So why were they now staring at him with fear in their eyes? Had he turned into an Urukai? Or maybe the Rohhirm didn't want to remember the carnage they had ridden on at Helm's Deep. Maybe dead elves were preferred to living ones. It didn't matter; soon he would see Tiger.

Arriving at the great hall, the six drew rein and dismounted.