Months passed with nothing happening. We trained every other day in the fields. We were doing pretty well, if I do say so myself. The king, however, was not. He never came outside anymore. He was extremely pale, and looked much older that he had before. His advisor, Grima Wormtongue, made all his announcements to the city. Then one day, while we were sparring, Lissie ran down the hill, yelling. They're here! she exclaimed, out of breath, the wizard, and lord Aragorn, and the elf, and the dwarf! Come! You must see them! At that, we all dropped our weapons and ran.
Most of the guard and guard-in-training stopped in the center of the city to wait for them to come outside, but Rian and I knew of a place on the back wall of the palace where there were gaps in the wood and we could climb up and look in the window. So we ran around back and started climbing. We saw inside the wizard, who was raising his staff over the king. Lissie freaked out and had to jump to the ground for a moment, but I knew what was going on, and was ecstatic to actually be seeing this happen. He shouted something I couldn't understand, and there was a flash of light. Rian, surprised, fell off the wall, landing flat on his bottom.
When the light cleared, I could see the king, sitting on his throne, just the same as he always had been. The advisor was running out the door. Then the king stood up and walked around the room, looking out onto the city from all of the windows. Lissie, jump, I said, and let myself fall backwards. I landed on my feet, but fell onto my knees. Lissie landed on her feet and stayed there. Rian was still sitting on the ground, Showoff, I mumbled. I didn't really feel badly towards Lissie, but it annoyed me that I hadn't been able to stay on my feet. We ran back home to tell the news to the others. The king was free!
'Here do I swear fealty and service to Rohan, and to the Lord of the realm, to speak and to be silent, to do and to let be, to come and to go, in need or plenty, in peace or war, in living or dying, from this hour henceforth, until my lord release me, or death take me, or the world end. So say I, Eolina, daughter of Jarek, of Rohan.
But soon after, not even a week, an announcement was made. We will march to Helm's Deep, the king said. The four travellers standing behind him appeared annoyed and frustrated. Rian, Lissie, and I looked at each other, worried. Mum and Da aren't back yet, I said, What are we supposed to do? Mine aren't back yet either, Lissie added, I guess we should go with everyone, but maybe we should leave a note? No, we can't leave a note, Rian said, If anyone finds it they'll know where everyone is, not just us.
When we went to the fields the next day, the guards made an announcement. If there is any fighting at the deep, Bowman, the older of the two, said, You will be expected to join us in battle. Theodorr, the younger, came forward. As of tonight, you will be full members of the guard. I stepped out of the group. Does that include me? I asked, Because I want to fight. I won't let my family go out there alone. The guards exchanged glances and nodded. They turned back with smiles on their faces. Yes, you will also be initiated, they told me.
That night was the initiation. Almost everyone in town came to the square, and the guard and almost-guard stood on the steps. The king came down the steps to stand in front of us. Men and women of this great city! he said, Tonight we are gathered to celebrate the initiation of 15 new guard members. These young people have been training for months to prepare for their duty, and their teachers tell me that they are ready. We all got in a line. Theodorr pushed us forward one at a time. They finally got to my group. Haleth, son of Hama,' blah, blah, oaths and stuff, Rian, son of Jarek, blahdy blah blah, more stuff Eomark, som of Eodorn blah blah. Then, the moment I'd been waiting for. Eolina, daughter of Jarek, I walked forward, nervous.