The Kingdom of Endor

Rohan Returns to Bree

It had been a month since Sir Rohan and his troops and Caravan had left Endor and finally he could see the lake near the palace of Bree. He realized that it looked a lot like Endor even the palace was the same except there was no “dragons loft” but he decided to fix that problem as soon as possible. He never noticed it before but Bree was a mirror image of Endor. It was getting close to dusk when they apouched the palace, it looked deserted. Rohan sent twenty soldiers into the palace to search for anyone inside. Rohan had the rest of the company start moving the wagons, horses and cattle into the courtyard while leaving a group of forty soldiers to patrol the perimeter. When the search inside the palace was completed, Rohan ordered everyone to unpack the supplies and find Chamber’s to sleep in. Rohan went into the palace and went directly to his old chambers. When he arrived at the door of his chambers he noticed that it was still locked, which was the way he had left it. Smiling to himself he retrieved a key from around his neck and unlocked the door. He opened his door slowly and walked in and lite the torch hanging in the bracket just inside the door.

As the room lite up he noticed that nothing was out of place, nothing at all which he felt was odd, seeing how the palace was invaded. Rohan immediately walked to the far wall and removed a brick from the wall, which activated a hidden doorway to a passage. The passage didn’t smell musty or dusty like it should of, after years of no air circulation through it. So he knew that the secret door at the end of the passage was open. The door led to a cave and to the outside. As he walked he longed to know answers to the question of where his people are. About fifteen minutes later he emerged through the secret door at the end of the passage to find he cave lite up by a fire. He also found ten beds of blankets were people could sleep. He knew that a group of people were living here so he removed a branch from the fire and used it to write on the wall above the fire:

“It is I, Rohan of Bree a Knight of Endor

If you are of Bree, come up to the Palace and let yourselves be known.”

Rohan threw the branch back on the fire and walked back up the passage to his chambers. When he reentered his chambers he closed the secret door and went to his bed and lied down to sleep. The next morning he was up and bathed and dressed before sunrise. He was sitting at his desk studying a map of Bree. He was remembering every nook and cranny of his homeland, when he heard the secret door scape against the stone floor as it moved. Rohan just set there looking at a face of a man he had thought to be long dead. It was the face of his best friend as a child.

“Henry!! Henry?” asked Rohan in shock. The young man just stared out of his brown eye, past his dirty face and brownish blonde air, like he was seeing a ghost.

“Rohan, you’re alive? I swear I saw you get slaughtered by Maddox’s soldiers” replied a shocked and tearful Henry.

“No, my friend I was not slaughtered, but wounded and left for dead” replied Rohan. “Is there any other survivors?” asked Rohan

“I will only tell you the answer to your question, when I know for sure you and your men can be trusted” replied Henry.

“Very, well my old friend, but come in and bathe and put on some clean garments so you will look presentable to your post” said Rohan.

“Yes, a bath sounds nice and some breakfast afterwards” replied Henry. Once Henry entered Rohan’s bathing chamber, Rohan found some fresh clothes for Henry and a sword and cloak and a new pair of boots. He set them on a chair just inside the bathing room door and then went to the kitchens to get breakfast for him and Henry. When he returned an hour later with some fried eggs, ham, and a loaf of bread to eat and a flask of mead. He found Henry standing next to the desk wearing a silver colored tunic, brown pants, and shiny new black boots and a gray cloak and the sword strapped to his hip. His hair and beard were neatly trimmed.

“Well, set those tray’s down so we can finally eat” requested Henry.

“Sure” replied Rohan chuckling. They set down and eat their breakfast, after a few minutes they started to talk.

“How did you become a knight of Endor, my friend?” asked Henry

“Long story, but to make things short, I met the two lost princes of Endor and saved them and helped them to return home. We became great friends and close like brothers and we defeated Maddox” replied Rohan.

“Well, I see you can live up to your post” exclaimed Henry

“Not a word of that” requested Rohan.

“As you wish my friend” replied a confused Henry. They finished the rest of their meal in silence and then they talked some more.

“Well, Henry would you like to take a walk?” asked Rohan

“Sounds good after such a breakfast” replied Henry.

They stood up and adjusted their sword belts and walked out the door. About ten minutes later they walked out into the courtyard. The sun was bright in the sky and all you could see were soldiers and farmers and women who were trying to clean up messes left by the old battle.

“I did not believe that you had brought so many people with you” exclaimed Henry.

“Even more, then you see my dear friend. I also have farmers, knights and soldiers outside the gates plowing and planting the fields so we will not starve this winter, rebuilding the barns and houses and some are on patrol, we have like two thousand men and women who will rebuild and be people of Bree” replied Rohan.

“But why?” asked Henry

“Because Endor wants Bree to be part of are fighting force and these people volunteered to become people of Bree and to support our Queen when she is found and restored to her throne” replied Rohan proudly. Henry cleared his throat and then he spoke to Rohan

“Our Queen has been here but she is just in hiding with her most loyal knights who have grown old and along with me and…….” Henry stopped short of finishing what he was about to say.

“Where is she and who else has survived” yelled Rohan in excitement.

“You shell know soon enough, follow me” answered Henry.

As they walked in silence Rohan thought to himself. “Who could be the one Henry wants to keep secret? Why won’t he tell me? Henry and I have been friends since we were toddlers and we have never kept secrets from each other in the past. Just then Rohan noticed a soldier up a head giving Henry a hard time about reentering the palace.

“I don’t know you, so you are not entering” exclaimed the solider.

“Why you, I have lived here all my life!! I should crack you in the head with my sword hilt” screamed Henry.

“Let him through” demanded Rohan

“Yes sire, my apologies” replied the soldier bowing to Rohan.

They continued though the palace back to Rohan’s chamber. Henry as soon as he entered grabbed a torch from the wall bracket, and then he opened the secret door. They hurried down the passage to the end and instead of an empty cave, Rohan found it to be occupied by people, people he knew ten years before. The old knights saw Rohan and they all bowed and exclaimed

“It’s true the prince of Bree has returned”

Rohan bowed back and looked straight at the far wall where he saw no other than the Queen Brianna, his mother. He ran over to her and dropped to his knees crying

“Mother, please forgive me, by the time I recovered from my wounds, I believed the worst.

“Raise, my son prince of Bree… Rohan I have nothing to forgive, you have returned to make amends to me and…….” Begun the Queen

“And who, mother?” asked Rohan.

The Queen just pointed into an inner chamber of the cave and announced “your answer is in there my son.” Rohan walked slowly towards the entranceway of the inner chamber. As he walked thru the archway he saw as he knew was the underground spring, and sitting next to it was the most beautiful women in the world. Upon looking more closely at her face he knew who it was, even though her face was black from dirt and her red hair was matted and tangled and wearing a ragged dress. He could see her beauty through all of it.

“Andrea!!!!” shouted Rohan the woman looked at him for a second and then she exclaimed

“Rohan, my love” as she threw herself into his arms. “My love, I knew you were still alive and that you would come for me” said Andrea.

“I swear to you that I have come as fast as I could” replied Rohan as he kissed his long lost love. Four hours later the last of the people of Bree were bathed and in fresh clean clothing and fed like kings. All of the people of Bree where gathered in the throne room. Rohan was explaining to his mother, the Queen about the people, and soldiers and knights from Endor and how they have volunteered to be under her rule and to make their kingdom stronger than it once was and how Endor wants to form an alliance between Bree, Endor and Burka. He also went on to tell her how he became a knight of Endor and how practically adopted into the royal family and how King Edmund and King Richard considered him their brother. He also told her of Endor’s and Burka’s protection but not of Aubrey and Brock being dragons. In hope that one day she could meet them in person and see with her own eyes that they were truly our allies. When Rohan finished with his tale, Queen Brionna stared at him in thought for a while. When she spoke it sounded like the most beautiful sound in the world, after such a long silence

“My son, I am honored that you have returned home to help your mother and what is left of your people, so how can I reject King Edmunds and King Richard’s alliance when the future King of Bree is their most loyal Knight and brother” replied the Queen.

“Thank you my mother, I will send a message to King Edmund at once, with this news and some more wonderful news” answered Prince Rohan, he started using his tile of prince once again.

“What wonderful news would that be? Asked the Queen

“Andrea and I are getting married at last” replied Rohan with a grin.

“That’s wonderful news, my son” exclaimed the Queen then as Rohan started to walk away, the Queen spoke

“But there is something else we need to discuss my son.”

“What is it, mother” asked Rohan.

For a few seconds the Queen just stared at Rohan with tears in her eyes. Finally she spoke “My son I have kept a secret from you for so long, and I can’t do it anymore. I know now that you are a man and a great knight of Endor….” The Queen paused and inhaled deeply the she continued “My son you really are a son of Fredrick Draco of Endor.”

“But why didn’t you ever tell me? Then I would have had a place to seek refuge from Maddox” asked Rohan.

“I was afraid that you would have ran off to Endor and your father never knew about you, my son” replied the Queen in tears.

“How did you and Fredrick meet?” asked a shocked Rohan

“We met twenty-six years ago, when he came to Bree to request an alliance against Maddox. He was only here a few weeks and we grew really close. The night before he was to leave we threw him a party and there was a lot of drinking and feasting, dancing. We ended up in my bed chamber and well you can imagine what happened form there. It was the best night of my life and I couldn’t write to him about you because he was married….. Please forgive me my son” replied the Queen.

“I must write to my father and let him know that he has another son, who is not just a prince of Endor but a prince of Bree, and to let him know that you have accepted King Edmunds plea for an alliance. Also about my upcoming wedding” announced Rohan

“As you wish my son” replied the Queen. Rohan bowed and turned and walked towards his chambers. When he arrived he closed bared the door shut behind him. He then walked over to his desk and sat down and on a piece of parchment he wrote to his father Sir Fredrick Draco of Endor.

Dear Sir Fredrick

I am writing this letter to you for three reasons. The first is to let you and the Great King Edmund know that we have arrived in Bree and have started planting crops and I have found Queen Brionna and what is left of her knights and my fiancée and her brother Henry my childhood friend who I have thought to be long dead. The second thing is that of my true title, I am Prince Rohan of Bree and loyal knight of Endor. I am sorry I have kept this secret from everyone but I believed that my past was dead and buried, I was truly wrong and I am sorry. Thirdly, my mother Queen Brianana has told me the truth finally of my father. My lord you are my father and I am happy to finally know you. I hope that this letter finds you, father and my brothers, and family well. I love you all.

Yours truly,

Sir Rohan Draco

Prince of Bree and Endor

When Rohan finished writing he rolled up the parchment and sealed it closed with a wax seal with the royal crest of Bree. Then he stood up and walked over to his door and unbarred and opened it. He went out into the hallway and walked straight to the one person he trusted the most in all of Bree besides his love Andrea, his best friend Henry. Rohan found Henry in the court yard watching the soldiers practice their skill with swords.

“Sir Henry may I have a word?” asked Rohan

“As you wish my Lord” replied Henry.

“I need you to ride as fast as you can to Endor and deliver this letter to Sir Fredrick Draco and then return as soon as you can” requested Rohan.

“As you wish my Lord” replied Sir Henry as he took the letter and jumped on the nearest horse and galloped away through the gates towards Endor.