Rejection
A short Movie-verse fic in which Éowyn dreams, Aragorn dithers, and the author manages to misquote movie dialogue and completely ignore the actual sequence of events in The Lord of the Rings. However some plotbunnies refuse to be got rid of. Hence this fic.
Days of war and heroism had come at last to the Riddermark, and Éowyn, the sister-daughter of the king, was cleaning up her gear in the armoury and daydreaming about a certain visitor, the man who had brought the chance of glory within her grasp; one Aragorn, son of Arathorn, and the Heir of Isildur. In her mind she saw them riding together against battalions of orcs, drawing steel back to back, surrounded by the enemies of the Free Peoples, and of course, making wild, passionate love on the eve of battle, afraid each time that it might be their last. . .
She smiled faintly at her romantic thoughts, and went back to cleaning her shield.
Aragorn, Legolas and Gimli were in conference.
'You've got to tell her.'
'I know, it's just . . . I feel so bad about it.'
'Look, you've got to just come out with it and tell her you're not interested. I mean, look, if we survive this, you'll go to Gondor, she'll follow, Arwen will turn up, and then there'll be all the embarrassment and marital mistrust, and everything you've worked for will go down the gurgler.' said Gimli. He sat back, satisfied with his logic. The other two looked vaguely troubled. There is little in the world more disturbing than a dwarf imitating Oprah.
Legolas looked at Aragorn. The ranger looked despondent. He decided to try a different tack.
'You can just let her down gently. You don't have to be brutal about it.'
Aragorn still appeared to be dithering.
'For Durin's sake, it's quite obvious what you have to do!'
'It is?'
'The logic is clear. You can't go out with her. Why? Because of Arwen.'
Aragorn looked puzzled for a moment, and then 'Oh. Yeah. Arwen. Because of Arwen.'
'Right, so go now and tell her. Legolas, go find out where she is.'
Legolas returned a few moments later. 'She's in the stable,'
Aragorn padded off.
Éowyn was indeed in the stable, grooming her horse. She looked up as Aragorn entered and made for the shelf of grooming tools. He took a body brush, and began to comb through the pelt of his own horse.
'It is a fine night.' said Éowyn.
'Yes.' agreed Aragorn. They made desultory small talk for a while, and then Aragorn took a deep breath, not wanting to put it off any longer. Besides, he could see a familiar fair-haired silhouette in the shadows of the tack room, urging him to hurry up. 'Éowyn?' he said
'Yes?' She looked incredibly hopeful, and Aragorn felt even worse about what he was about to do.
'I cannot give you what you want.' he said, looking deep into her eyes. She knew what he meant, and fled the stable, determined that he would not see her weep.
The blonde someone made his way out of the shadows at the back of the tack room, and wrapped his arms around Aragorn.
'That's right' said Éomer, pulling his lover to the straw-covered floor. 'Cos he's giving it all to me.'
