Adult-FanFiction.org : Lord of the Rings

Journey Of A Butterfly	By : Mel99Moe Category: -Fourth Age to Modern times and beyond > Het - Male/Female Views: 5714 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own any characters or places of Lord of the Rings/Tolkien. No money is being made. This is for personal enjoyment only.

Chapter List
- 3
- 4
- 5
Chapter 4 Trapped

It had been a week since Alric passed. He had told her to leave as soon as he was gone, but she could not. He had no family except her. There was no one to see to his burial. He was like her father and she felt this was her responsibility. This was just what she did. With the help of a few of his friends, they set his funeral. Taldred, the young guard who held a soft spot for Terrwyn, made sure some of the more decorated Rohan soldiers attended his funeral and gave Alric a proper burial, being he once served the former King Théoden. Now, Terrwyn sat on Alric’s empty bed staring at his cedar chest. The jewels were still hidden inside. She had a very big decision to make. Should she do as Alric said, take the jewels and leave Edoras, or stay in the city and try to make her own life. To leave Rohan, the only home she’d ever known, was a very big step. Could she do this? Could she actually follow her dream and see out the elves? It was fine to dream about it from the safety of her home, but to actually ride out on her own and let the fates decide her future was a reality she never thought possible.

Terrwyn got up and went to the chest. She opened it and took out its contents, lifted up the fake bottom and retrieved the pouch of jewels. Spreading them on the bed, she looked at them. They were still in their raw form, not yet shaped into any specific. Alric never did explain clearly, what their intent was. She wondered what these men would have traded them for. Maybe it was better that she didn’t know.

“Well Alric,” she said as if he were still in the room. “I have thought about it and I believe I will follow your advice. I am going to leave Edoras, though I know not where I will go. I have heard it said that Ithilien is a beautiful place where both elves and men dwell. It is such a long way from here though.” She smiled as she looked over to a chair that still had his clothes neatly folded and stacked on the seat, his cane leaning against its arm. “You would say I am foolish to still dream of living amongst the elves, but I know you would not have stopped me. This is my chance. You have given me a gift that could change my life.”

Terrwyn scooped up the jewels and put them back into the pouch. She stuffed it into a traveling bag that was already packed with some of her clothes and a few memorabilia. She wore her riding outfit, dark brown pants, white shirt and a tan vest, which fit snug and showed off her slim waist. At her side, sheathed in a leather scarab, she had her brother’s elvish knife. Around her thigh was one of her throwing knives and in her hand, she held her sheathed sword.

Terrwyn was ready to leave Edoras and had been since the day after Alric’s funeral. Now she stood at the front door and turned back one last time to look at the small house that had been her home for the past several years. It was a good life, living here and learning all that she did, but now it was time to head out on her own. She turned back to the front door, opened it and took that first step to independence. Terrwyn smiled and breathed deep. Somehow, the air seemed fresher this evening, or maybe it was just her.

“I am ready,” she whispered to herself and walked off toward the stables. There was only one thing left to do.

As she went along, she passed Taldred’s guard station. She stopped to speak with him. He greeted her with his warmest smile. “Good evening Lady Terrwyn. It is late to go for a ride, is it not?”

“It is late, but I am not going for a ride, Taldred. I am afraid this is goodbye. I am leaving Edoras,” she said softly.

His face fell at this information. “You are leaving? Where will you go?”

“Perhaps Ithilien would better suit me.”

“Ithilien is so far from here,” he said as he took her hands. “I was hoping to talk to you soon, but I see I may be too late.”

“Well, it is now or never,” she said, trying to lighten the mood.

“Terrwyn,” he whispered, bringing her hands to his heart. “I had hoped that . . . well if you agreed, I hoped to ask to court you properly.”

Terrwyn was shocked. This was not what she expected him to say. “Taldred, I--.”

“Please hear me out. I have always admired you. I was hoping that you would allow me this honor. I would give you a proper home and take care of your every need.”

Terrwyn knew she would break his heart, but she did not feel the same for him. “Taldred, you are a wonderful man. You are very handsome and your heart is big. There is someone out there just waiting for you to marry her, but I’m afraid it is not me. I feel there is something I need to do, somewhere else I need to be. Leaving Edoras is the hardest thing I have ever done. It is also something I must do.”

“What is it you seek, Terrwyn,” he asked confused.

“I would know what happened to my brother, Hathmund. I feel I will never truly be at peace until I find him.”

“Let me help you,” Taldred pleaded. He held her hands against his armored chest. Terrwyn looked at the white horse painted upon the metal chest plate.

“I cannot ask this of you. You are a Rohirrim and this is where you belong.” As she spoke, her fingers traced the outline of the horse. “I am not of Edoras as you are. This is my burden to bear and I would not have you leave your post or your position.”

Taldred could see that her mind was made. Nothing he could say or do would change it. “At least let me walk you to the stable.”

Terrwyn smiled and stood on her toes. She leaned towards him and kissed his cheek. “Goodbye Taldred,” she whispered sweetly.

He understood that she did not want him to follow her, though something told him he should. The young guard would respect her privacy and stay at his post. “Terrwyn, be careful. I wish you would not make this journey alone.”

“I will be very careful and I will be fine,” she answered. Then she looked up into his eyes. “Promise me you will never change.”

She was about to be on her way when a thought came to her. “There is one more thing I would have you do. Take Alric’s home. It is yours to either live in yourself or give to someone as in need as I was when I first came here.”

Taldred merely nodded. “I can do that.” He brought her hand to his lips and kissed it ever so gently before he released it. Terrwyn flashed him one last infectious smile and headed off to the stables.

It was very dark this night. The streets of Edoras were empty. Terrwyn walked along with her pack flung over her shoulder. She thought she heard footsteps behind her, but when she turned to look there was no one there. She hurried her pace, always feeling like someone was following her.

Finally, she made it to the stables. It was empty as she expected it to be at this late hour. Terrwyn went to the stall that held Brannoss. He turned his head and nodded, swishing his tail as he always did when she came to visit. She went to him, picking up a brush and running it along his grey coat. He seemed sad to her and it made Terrwyn realize that Brannoss missed Alric too. Horses of Rohan shared a special bond with their owner and would know if something happened. It was obvious that this fine steed knew his rider would not be back to visit him. Terrwyn laid her head on his side, listening to his heartbeat.

“Brannoss, my friend, I know you miss him, but I will take care of you now. What do you say you and I leave this place for an adventure?”

The silver-grey horses nodded his head as if he understood and agreed. Terrwyn smiled and went to retrieve his saddle at the end of the long stable. While she was taking it down from where it hung, she thought she heard a shuffling noise at the entrance. When she looked, she saw nothing. The door was still slightly ajar. Terrwyn went back to what she was doing and entered Brannoss’ stall once more. She saddled him, checking to make sure he was comfortable. It seemed there was another noise from somewhere inside. She stopped and listened but all was silent. Maybe it was Taldred. He wanted to escort her. Maybe he followed her after all. She smiled to herself. He was such a wonderful man. Any girl would be lucky to have him as long as she loved him, as he deserved.

As Terrwyn checked the saddle and secured her pack, she heard the main door to the stable close. Then a latch sounded as if someone locked it. She smiled slightly and peered out from behind her horse. “Taldred, I told you I will be fine. You did not need to follow me here.” She waited for his response, but got none. “Taldred?” she called, but still nothing. She left Brannoss’ side to see why he did not answer her. Instead of Taldred, she found three men standing by the locked entrance. Terrwyn gasped as her heart began to pound, but she held her composure. She recognized them right away. Alric warned her about these same men.

The first thing she did was take a mental note of her surroundings. It seemed they locked the door to prevent an easy escape. Then she quickly looked over the men. One was short and stocky. He would not be very quick, but he was probably strong. The second man was tall and skinny. He did not look very smart, but was probably fairly fast. It was the third man, and the one who seemed to be their leader, that she worried about. He was built more like one of the soldiers, broad and well-muscled. He did not look like a simple thief or a ruffian like the other two.

The leader started to walk towards her, signaling to the other two to stay where they were. He eyed Terrwyn wearing a devious smile. She knew what he was here for.

Terrwyn thought of her weapons and did a mental check. She still had her dagger at her side and a throwing knife on her thigh. Her sword was already attached to the saddle along with her pack, the one carrying the jewels that the men were after. She wanted to keep them away from her belongings, so she stepped out of the stall to stand in the middle of the stable. Looking the men over, she stood her ground. “Why are you here? Your dispute was with Alric, not me, and he is gone.”

The tall man stepped forward and smiled crookedly. “You are right. Alric is gone, so now our complaint is with you.”

“With me?” Terrwyn questioned. “But I don’t even know you.”

The short fat man spoke next. “You don’t know us, but you know why we are here, don’t you? Why else would you be leaving in the middle of the night?”

Terrwyn narrowed her eyes. “I am just here to check on Alric’s horse.”

The tall man stretched his neck to peer inside the stall. “Do you always saddle up when you are just ‘checking’ on your horse?” He turned to the fat man. “I think you’re right. Looks like she’s leaving to me.”

The well-groomed muscle man shot a nasty look to each of his companions then turned back to Terrwyn. “It seems Alric’s little whore is in quite a hurry to leave. Tell me, what did he give you besides his limp cock?”

Anger surged through her. “How dare you speak to me as such. Alric was like a father to me.” She watched as the other two men circled around behind her. They were closing in on her. The situation was turning for the worse.

“No more games. We just want what is ours,” said the muscled man. “We were just waiting for him to die so we could get it back. And then you came along.” He watched Terrwyn’s hand move to her hip, and motioned to the tall man who came up and grabbed her arms. She tried to free herself, but his grip was too strong. Meanwhile, the leader took her dagger, examined it, then tossed it onto a hay bale.

“I don’t know what you are talking about. I have nothing of yours. Anything I have belonged to Alric and he gave it to me when he knew he was dying,” Terrwyn argued.

The muscled man came up and stood in front of her. “What I am talking about didn’t belong to Alric either. He was hired to retrieve something for us, but he said he never found it. I know he was lying and now I think you are lying too.” He shot a look at the fat man. “Go check her pack.”

Terrwyn started to struggle free again, but to no avail. The tall man held her tight. “There is nothing of interest to you in there,” she yelled to the fat man, but he did not listen.

He untied the pack from Brannoss’ saddle and emptied its contents out onto a bale of hay. He searched through her things until he came upon a small purple pouch. “I think I found it,” he called to the leader. Then he walked over to him, handing him the small velvet bag.

“What do we have here?” the lead man said to Terrwyn.

“Alric gave that to me. Please, I need it. My brother was kidnapped years ago and I--.” She was cut off.

“Ah yes, the destruction of the Westfold, I remember well. Their protection was inadequate allowing the Haradrim to just walk right in and take what they pleased. They were looking for children you know.” The leader paused to watch Terrwyn’s reaction.

“They took my brother,” she growled. “That is why I must find him.”

“They should have taken you too. It would mean more money for me. But alas, you escaped.” Now the muscled man approached her, standing in front of Terrwyn. “You could still bring me quite a sum. You are unusually beautiful with your red hair and green eyes.” He ran a finger along the edge of the neckline of her shirt, dipping it between her breasts. “And a virgin would bring me twice as much.”

Terrwyn was much too shocked to notice his slight fumbling with her cleavage. “You were responsible for the attack on my people?” she said rather shocked. “But why? You are a man of Rohan. Why would you have dealings with Harad, our enemy?”

The lead man turned from her as if he meant to avoid answering her question. It was evident he was becoming angry and Terrwyn wished she had not asked this question. When he turned back toward her, his eyes had grown dark and dangerous. “All my life I have been told what to do and how to behave. I have been lectured in the ways of the nobles of Théoden’s court, now under King Éomer’s rule. I don’t want it and never have. Why should I spend my life under someone else’s policies when I can break off and become my own leader? I happen to know there is good trading to be made with the Haradrim. They have riches beyond compare to Rohan. My father would not listen though. Says he does not want their dirty money, but I say money is money and more money is power.”

“What importance do these jewels play then? If your father is a noble, why not use his money to open this trading post?” Terrwyn questioned.

“Foolish girl,” he said as he moved off to her side. “The jewels have everything to do with it.” He paused before he went on. “Alric must not have told you much.”

“I know he helped you take the jewels,” Terrwyn answered. “But I also know that he had a conscience and did what he thought was right, though I hardly know why you would trade them for goods. Your family is wealthy.”

“It is not just trading for goods. There is another side of business with the Haradrim, one in which they are willing to part with their riches easily. As I said . . .,” he paused, running his hand down her spine to her bottom and further down where it did not belong. He grabbed her crotch, squeezing it inappropriately. “They will pay good money for such an innocent beauty.”

Terrwyn struggled again, disgusted with this heathen touching her where he should not. “You mean to sell girls into slavery or prostitution. You cannot do that. It is against our laws.”

“This bag of jewels says differently. They are rare to the Haradrim and they will trade more than money for them. They will trade land that is outside of Rohan and therefore not covered by our laws.”

Terrwyn thought back to the time Alric first told her about the jewels. He had said the reason these men wanted them was so terrible he could not tell her. Curiosity got the better of her. “Where did the jewels come from?”

He laughed to himself before he went on. “You really do not know do you? Alric always was good at keeping a secret.” The well-groomed man picked up a blue jewel and held it up to her. “These belonged to a very prominent family.”

“You stole from our own people?” Terrwyn said surprised.

“No, your dear Alric did and don’t you forget it if you are thinking of going to the authorities,” the leader shot back.

Now she understood why Alric did not talk to the guards about these men harassing him. He would surely have been thrown in the prison cells for robbery. This must also be the reason he kept them and hid them away. Alric would rather risk hiding them and going to jail then see them fall into the wrong hands. If this was true, she could also be arrested for possession of stolen property. Suddenly she no longer cared about the jewels. “Take them then. Take them and leave me alone. I am leaving anyways. Just let me go,” she pleaded with them.

While the tall man held her arms behind her, the muscled man moved to face her again. He grabbed her chin and turned her head to the side. His face lowered to her neck as he took in her scent. Then he ran his tongue along her skin, letting his hands grab and squeeze her breasts. Terrwyn tensed but did not make a sound. She would not give them the satisfaction of seeing her fear.

The leader put the colored stones back into their pouch and tossed it to the fat man. “Put them somewhere safe.” He then nodded to the tall man, who released Terrwyn from his strong grasp. “Saddle up our horses. It’s time to go.”

Terrwyn stood there a moment while the men gathered what few things they had. Was this it? Were they going to let her go on her way? She wanted to believe it, but something told her it was not so. She could not just leave without Brannoss, and where the men stood, she would not get out through the front of the stable, which was still latched. Slowly, while the men were busy, she slipped back into the stall. She was going to grab her sword from the saddle, but it was gone. That’s when she noticed the three men whispering to each other. Obviously, they were discussing what they were going to do with her.

“What about the girl?” she heard the tall man say.

The leader spoke next. “Ah yes, well now it seems we might have found our first servant.” The leader moved to the stall where Terrwyn stood and grabbed her waist. She pushed his arms away and hit him in the chest, but he caught her by the wrists.

“I gave you the jewels. Now let me go,” Terrwyn insisted.

“You didn’t really think we would let you go did you? You know too much.” He brought his face to her neck and licked her again. His hot breath smelled of liquor and made her stomach turn in knots. “I think we can be sure she is a virgin. The old man could not get it up anyways.”

The other two men laughed, and then the fat man spoke. “I know of someone who will pay dearly for a virgin, twice for one as lovely as her.”

“That would bring in a bit of money.” As the lead man spoke, he rubbed his crotch with his hand, a bulge evident within his breeches. “Then again, she is still innocent looking enough that I think we can pass her off as such a few times before she is broken. Maybe we should all have a little taste. I’ve always wanted a virgin.”

Terrwyn panicked as they spoke of what they would do to her. The group leader pushed his groin into her hip as the other two each took one of her arms. Terrwyn’s mind was reeling, trying to think of a way out of this situation, but she was scared. Is this what would become of her? Would she allow these heathens to defile her and become another statistic of a cruel act against a woman? Not if she could help it.
- 3
- 4
- 5
You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.You need to be logged in to leave a review for this story.
Report Story

Journey Of A Butterfly