Author's Note:
Please note that this is not romance.
Flames not appreciated. Constructive criticism and reviews are always welcome.
Disclaimer: Do not own LOTR.
Enjoy! :)
Set nine years after the War of the Ring,
Minas Tirth, Gondor,
The Library.
Legolas stared the book in his lap in utter bemusement. It was a dry book, recently written and held the accounts of the War that had decided the fate of the free people of Middl-Earth. It was as dry as the group of historians who wrote it together.
When the book was finished, the historians presented it to the Aragorn, insisting in no definite terms to read it. He had accepted it (as was expected of him) but neither had the time nor the energy to do so. Faramir volunteered out of pure curiosity.
Legolas still remembered Faramir laughing helplessly once he finished the book.
"What is so amusing, my friend?" Legolas had asked back then, half-worried when Faramir did not stop.
"Read it and you will find out." The Steward had replied, grinning broadly. When Legolas had picked up the book, intending to read its last pages, Faramir had stopped him and told him to read from the beginning; it was more amusing that way.
So Legolas braved through the entire bland explanations of Gollum's escape, the finding of the Ring, Elrond's council, the Fellowship all the way to the Battle of Helm's Deep till he finally reached the description of the Black Gates some three months later. He still found nothing amusing.
Closing the book and getting up from his perch in the corner of the shelves, the elf glanced at the window and noticed the red streams of the setting sun.
"I was told I would find you here."
Legolas turned. Éomer was standing just outside the open double doors of the Library.
The King was well-known for his extraordinary height and size, even according to the standards of the Rohirrim. Large and domineering, few people knew him past his fierce expressions to find a noble man with a good sense of humor.
"Careful, Éomer, your height and size might make it difficult for you to come through those doors."
The large man snorted in his amusement in the most un-kingly way.
"Whereas your leanness can let go you through a rat-hole," Éomer told his old comrade sarcastically.
"Maybe, someday it will." Legolas replied smoothly. Éomer flashed him a smile and shook his head. There was no way to top an argument with the elf.
"What were you reading?"
"'The Coming of The Ring of Power and the Downfall of The Dark Lord'," Legolas quoted the name of the book. "It may sound interesting but do not read it. It is as bland as a book can get. Master Frodo's accounts make for a better reading."
"Why were you reading it then?"
"Faramir found something exceedingly funny in the Quest of The Ring. I was curious to know what it was."
"Ah, that," Éomer said, understanding dawning. The King grinned broadly. "Why? Did you not find it amusing?"
"I would if I actually found something to be amused by."
"Have you not finished it?"
"I find the fact that reading this book is comparable to self-torture."
"Do not be like that!" Éomer said, laughing. "It is not the historians' fault for their dry characters. Come! I will show you the line."
Taking the book from the elf's hands, the King flipped to the last page and pointed. "Here, read this."
Legolas took it and read. Then he burst out laughing.
"The historians' wordings are quite innocent." The elf said, shaking his head in mirth.
"I said the same thing."
"Does your wife know?"
"Aye, I told Lothíriel. She laughed harder than I did."
"Perhaps, it is for the best. I would not want Elfwine to know how you two met."
At that, the blessed King gave a hearty laugh.
"Perhaps someday, I will tell him. The boy deserves a good shock every now and then."
"Telling him would mean telling Imrahil. If I recall, the good Prince does not know how you met his daughter either."
"Indeed, come! We will be late for dinner. And you know what Gondorian protocol is like."
Legolas looked down to the lines again:
"After the War of the Ring, he made friendship of King Elessar, and of Imrahil of Dol Amroth; and he rode often to Gondor. In the last year of the Third Age, he wedded Lothíriel, daughter of Imrahil. Their son, Elfwine, is the heir to throne."- The Coming of The Ring of Power and the Downfall of The Dark Lord.
Closing the book, Legolas gave a smirk and followed the King.
And when the world changed, some of the accounts survived of Middle-Earth. To this day, people still wonder about the lives of the renowned King of Rohan and his wife, and how the two had met…
Author's Note:
The idea came when I was reading the "The Abduction of Eomer, King of Rohan". After sometime, I realized that there are surprisingly many stories depicting different speculations behind the two royals. I soon toyed with this one-shot because I kind of wanted to show that Eomer's close friends as well as Eomer himself knew how he and Lothiriel had met but as time went by such stories were lost and now we find these stories on Fanficiton revolving around the nature of their meeting and consequent marriage.
What was more, I wanted to connect Middle-Earth with our modern world. Tolkien wrote Middle-Earth as our world and its history as our history. I wanted to put in a little connection and also the people's musings on that one sentence.
Pleas review. :)