Home | Literature Index | Movies & Broadway Index | Television Index | Music Index | Miscellaneous Index | Submit Your Own
Two excerpts from Destroying the Ring, the thrilling third installment in Nora Roberts' #1 bestselling saga of fantasy romance novels. Also read Finding the Ring and Bearing the Ring...
.......The night was black, blacker than any night Merry could remember. The young hobbit felt a sick horror rise within him at the sight of the evil winged shadow rising above the battle plain. All were dead, all, or they had fled in terror!
The king was dead.
He saw again in his mind how Theoden's horse had fallen, trapping the king helplessly beneath the body of the great animal. Merry relived the moment the hidious flying creature had landed upon the horse, its claws digging into flesh. And he despaired.
A voice in his mind cried, You swore to fight for him! He was like a father to you! But his conscience could not overcome the blind fear that was swiftly overtaking him.
Then, out of the blackness of the night came a voice, a voice he could not quite recognize. A voice he did not expect.
"Go away, you disgusting creature! Leave him in peace!"
The Lord of the Nazgul answered, his voice chilling Merry to the bone. "Move! Or I will kill you where you stand! Or perhaps I will take you to Sauron. He will devour your body, and torture your mind!"
Merry heard the ringing of a sword being drawn. "Go ahead! Try to get to him! You'll have to get through me!"
"Ha! You fool, you think you can try to stop me? No living man can stop me!"
The cowering hobbit then heard the strange, clear sound of laughter echoing out over the battle plain. "But I'm not a man! You're looking at a woman, a red-blooded Rohan woman. Eowyn is my name, and my father was the great warrior Eomund. Get out of here, now! I swear to God, if you so much as touch him, I will kill you!".......
.........It was good just to be alive.
Faramir felt the sun on his back as he wandered through the garden. He could almost feel the blood flowing vigorously through his veins, and it was a good feeling. But he instantly felt guilty, too, that he was here safe in Gondor, while others were risking their lives elsewhere. He glanced eastward towards the horizon.
"My Lord Faramir." The voice of the Warden startled him, and he turned around. And saw her.
Later, when he could think clearly, he would decide it had been like having a battering ram plowed into his chest. Not stopping his heart, but jump-starting it. His heart, his blood, his loins, his brain.
She wasn't beautiful, not in any classic sense. What she was, was spectacular.
Her hair was corn gold, a long mane that flowed down over her shoulders. Her skin was creamy white, and her features were sharply drawn - the narrow, aristocratic nose, the high cheekbones, the delicate yet somehow strong jawline. She was perfect. Striking, sexy, superb.
Yet somehow, somewhere beneath her exquisite exterior, Faramir sensed an unbelievable amount of anguish. She was vulnerable, incredibly vulnerable - someone had hurt her, badly. His first thought was to enfold her in his arms, to take that hurt away.
"My lord," said the Warden. Faramir shook his head, trying to wake himself from the reverie. "This is Lady Eowyn of Rohan. She was badly wounded in the battle of Pelennor Fields, and has been recuperating here. I've tried to keep her quiet, but she isn't happy here and insists on speaking with you."
"Oh, don't minsunderstand me, my lord," she said bitterly. "This is a great hospital, and I'm sure that it provides excellent care for those who want to be healed. But I can't stand being caged up here! Not while the war is still being fought."
Faramir waved the Warden away, and turned to face her, taking her hand in his. He thought he would drown in the sorrow in her eyes. "What do you want me to do, my lady? I'm a prisoner here, same as you."
Eowyn saw the tenderness in his eyes, and she felt her heart flutter in response. Despite his sensitivity, she could feel the strength in his grasp, and she knew that here was a man who could match any of her countrymen in battle. If those powerful arms were around her, could he remove the darkness?...