"An excellent thought." Lona agreed, sick of sitting and listening to the merry carrying ons of the crowd gathered there. "I feel the darkness is too near, and cannot celebrate ad those inside are doing."

Caran smiled brightly. "I was hoping you would say that." Caran walked down the steps and once at the bottom, she whistled softly. Two horses approached her. "I assume you are ready to leave now?" She asked, still smiling as she looked round at Lona.

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"I was ready hours ago." Lona stepped down after her and mounted her horse. She saw people watching from the windows, one of them was King Theoden. She pretended not to see him. Let him celebrate without worry for now, she figured.

"He does not seem to be stopping us," Caran noted glancing up at his peaceful face. "It's almost as if he knows what we are up to." Caran continued as she mounted her horse. She set her horse off on an easy canter down towards the gate. "Do you think a time will come when we can rest, Lona?" She asked, nodding up at the guard as he opened the gate for them.

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rest...how long had it been since Rohan had known true rest? she questioned herself. "I do not know...but I hope so, for your sake and for the sakes of the others." she replied quietly.

"I know war is what our job entails..." Caran sighed. "I just never thought things would get this bad. I'm used to the small land disputes...Not power hungry wizards set on destroying all of man kind.." She spoke as she rode from Edoras. Her instincts told her to head towards Gondor.

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"I do not believe it is just Sarumon who is power hungry..." Lona whispered. "There is much more at work here than we can see. I hope we shall be witness to the good triumphing over this evil. Only then can you and the people truly live in peace."

"I think you are right. I have had my suspicions about Sauron. I do not believe he is truely gone. His ring survived. His soul was attached to that ring..." Caran allowed her thought to trail off when she picked up on something Lona had been saying. "Lona..." she started. "I notice that you talk of me and the people resting, but not of yourself...What do you mean?"

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"I am not one to rest, even in times of peace." she said shortly. "I wonder...does anyone know exactly who or what has the Ring? It has been lost for so many years, but why all the sudden activity? What has awoken this evil?"

"Sauron wanted, as well as overlordship of Middle-earth, control over the other rings of power. To do this he bound his own soul to the one ring. Sauron's power is bound to the ring. The ring is bound to him. One cannot perish while the other exists. Therefore it would be safe to assume that Sauron is not dead and he has been calling out to the ring. I would assume that the ring has resurfaced. I do not know where it has been, but it is roaming our lands now. It must be destroyed before Sauron gets a hold of it. Sauron seeks the ring and the ring seeks him..." Caran kept her voice low. You could never be sure of who was lingering in the wild. "I have a feeling that Gandalf knows of its whereabouts..." Caran said in an accusatory tone.

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"Gandalf has his reasons for not telling us. I fear there are more traitors than that Grima wormtongue." she replied, her own voice hushed. "If he knows, and has not said anything, than the Ring must be in the hands of one who is aiding us."

"Let us hope it stays that way. I do not think that Gandalf knows the whereabouts of this trusted saviour though. That makes me nervous," her body shuddered involuntarily. "I think we should go to Gondor. We should tell the Steward of Rohan's battle. Warn him that it may be coming to him soon. He must prepare his armies. The attack will most likely come from Mordor. Who knows what number breeds behind those black gates."

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"Great numbers. I know that much." she stated. She angled her horse in that direction. "Let's do it. I hope we can cone to some sense of what is going on." she involuntarily shivered. The dark Lord. Sauron. Evil. He was pure evil.

Caran nodded in agreement. "We have much ground to cover and very little time," she stated as she drew her body closer to her steeds back. With a nudge of her heel, the horse jumped into a gallop, sensing his owners need for urgency. The wind whipped at Caran's hair and cloak. She could not deny that it was a good feeling. Her heart beat sped up with the excitement of fleeing through the air.

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Lona leaned over her horse's neck, and with only a light touch to the reins and a light tap to the horse's sides with her heels, she was soon racing alongside Caran. Her mind was on the upcoming task. And she wasn't looking forward to it.

Caran had only met the Steward once and she had not counted on meeting him again. He was a vile greedy little man. It was the clear that the power of running a kingdom had gone to his head. King Theoden was nothing in comparison. At least he could be healed. There was no medicine that could heal the Steward's heart. The man was infatuated with riches and stretching out his land. Caran sighed faintly. She had hoped not to spend another moment with the man. Now it seemed she would be spending days with him.

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