Then one rode forward, a tall man, taller than all the rest; from his helm as a crest a white horse tail flowed. He advanced until the point of his spear was within a foot of Aragorn's breast. Aragorn did not stir.
'Who are you, and what are you doing in this land?' said the Rider, using the Common Speech of the West, in manner and tone like to the speech of Boromor.
~***~
The Rider leaped from his horse. Giving his spear to another who rode up and dismounted at his side, he drew his sword and stood face to face with Aragorn, surveying him keenly and not without wonder. At length he spoke again.
'At first I thought that you were Orcs. But now I see that it is not so. Indeed you know little of Orcs, if you go hunting them in this fashion. They were swift and well-armed, and they were many. You would have changed from hunters to prey, if ever you had overtaken them. But there is something strange about you, Strider. That is no name for a Man that you give. Have you sprung out of the grass? How did you escape our sight? Are you Elvish folk?"
~**~
The Rider looked at them with renewed wonder, but his eyes hardened. 'Then there is a Lady in the Golden Wood, as old tales tell. Few escape her nets they say. These are strange days! But if you have her favour, then you are also net weaverers and sorcerors, maybe.' He turned a cold glance towards Legolas and Gimli. 'Why do you not speak, silent ones?'
~***~
'As for that,' said the Rider, staring down upon the Dwarf, 'the stranger should declare himself first.Yet I am named Eomer, son of Eomund, and am called the Third Marshal of Riddermark.'
~***~
Eomer's eyes blazed, and the Men of Rohan murmured angrily, and closed in, advancing their spears. 'I would cut off your head, beard and all, Master Dwarf, if it stood but a little higher from the ground," said Eomer.
~***~
'I serve only the Lord of the Mark, Theoden King, son of Thengel.We do not serve the Power of the Black Land far away, but neither are we yet in open war with him; and if you are fleeing from him, then you had best leave this land. There is trouble now on all our borders, and we are threatened; but we desire only to be free, and to live as we have lived, keeping our own, and serving no foreign lord, good or evil. We welcomed guests kindly in the better days, but in these times the unbidden stranger finds us swift and hard. Come! Who are you? Whom do you serve? At whose command do you hunt Orcs in our land?'
~***~
Eomer stepped back and a look of awe was on his face. He cast down his proud eyes. 'These are indeed strange days,' he muttered. 'Dreams and legends spring to life out of the grass.'
~***~
'Tell me, lord,' he said, 'what brings you here? And what was the meaning of the dark words? Long has Boromir, son of Denethor been gone seeking an answer, and the horse we lent him came back riderless. What doom do you bring out of the North?'
~***~
