Part 126 of the Elfwine Chronicles. The Elfwine Chronicles are a series of one-shots built around the family group of Eomer, Lothiriel and Elfwine. The total number will depend on how many ideas I get for new vignettes.
A/N: Got this idea from Lialathuveril though, for the life of me, I can't think why it didn't occur to me sooner! After all, I know of a child who did this – twice – in the past year. Duh!
Style
(August, 14 IV)
Lothiriel entered Eomer's study and slumped onto his couch, shaking her head in disbelief. For several moments, he just eyed her curiously, but when no explanation was forthcoming, he pressed, "So? Is there a reason for this visit, and your barely concealed amusement?"
She glanced up and grinned. "Have you seen your eldest daughter today?" she inquired.
His brow furrowed; come to think of it, he hadn't. He looked up from staring at his desk and cautiously replied, "No…I do not believe so – why?"
"She has…" – and here Lothiriel definitely snickered – "restyled her hair!"
It was evident that Eomer was not precisely taking her meaning, so she rose and caught his hand, pulling him along behind her to the nursery. Theodwyn lay on her bed, pouting and obviously quite upset. Though she looked up when her parents entered the room, she angrily turned on her side away from them.
That was when Eomer realized what his wife had been hinting at earlier. Theodwyn's long, lovely locks had been unevenly hacked off. Her hair lay across her pillow in two different lengths. He could only assume she had pulled them over her shoulders to make the cuts, and had misjudged getting them even.
Then another thought occurred to him, and he glanced at Lothiriel who stood beside him with her arms folded and eyebrows raised questioningly at him. "What did she use to cut it?" he asked, with some trepidation.
"She did not have difficulty finding something, since her father often carries a dagger – which today he left in his bedchamber," Lothiriel replied pointedly, and Eomer blanched. He had thought the dresser too high for young Theomund to reach the dagger, and he had believed Theodwyn understood that she was not to touch it. Apparently he was mistaken about the latter.
Clearing his throat, Eomer went over to sit on the bed by his daughter, laying a hand on her shoulder. "Dearest, why did you cut off your beautiful hair?" he asked reluctantly, rather certain he was not going to like the answer.
"Because. It makes me look like a girl!" she exclaimed, rolling over and sitting up to look at him, seeking understanding that she had not found in her mother.
"Dearest, you are a girl," he gently explained.
"But I do not want to be! I want to be a boy, like Elfwine, so I can ride and fight and do all the things he does!" Theodwyn passionately exclaimed.
Just barely, Eomer suppressed a smile. This sounded incredibly familiar from many years past. "Wanting it will not make it so, Theodwyn, and cutting your hair will not change who you are. Furthermore, you know you are not allowed to play with my weapons, even to cut your hair. If your hair needs cutting, your mother will see to it. Is that clear?"
Theodwyn flung herself back against the pillow. "Yes!" she angrily retorted. "But…mother would not do it!"
"Of course not. You have beautiful hair, and short hair does not change whether or not you are able to ride or fight. You may learn to be a shieldmaiden if you wish, but you will never be a boy and get to do the things that boys do. I am sorry."
Theodwyn's disappointment was evident, and turned to dismay when he added, "As punishment for touching my dagger, you will not be allowed to ride for a week, nor play with your sword and shield." He raised a hand to still her protest. "Weapons are dangerous, Theodwyn, and you are too small yet to safely handle them. You will not touch my weapons again or the punishment will be more severe. Do you understand me?"
Tears welled in her eyes and she nodded, then contritely flung herself into Eomer's arms. "I am sorry, Papa! I did not mean to be naughty!"
Eomer held her close, grinning over her shoulder at his wife. He knew this was partially remorse, and partially an attempt to wheedle a less onerous punishment out of him. "Then I trust it will not happen again," he answered, not relenting.
Theodwyn pulled back as she realized he was not going to yield, and with a sigh, flung herself onto her pillow again. "All right!" she sighed dramatically.
Eomer leaned and pressed a kiss to her forehead, before he rose and departed with Lothiriel. They walked in silence back to his study, but as soon as the door was closed behind them, Lothiriel broke into giggles and he was soon chuckling along with her. "She hid the hair under her mattress!" Lothiriel managed through her mirth. "I suppose she thought no one would find it there, or notice the change she had made!"
They both broke into fresh laughter, clinging to one another. Truly, Eomer thought, life with Theodwyn was never likely to be boring!
THE END
2/13/07
FYI: Theodwyn is not quite 6 years old here.
End note: It is best that you read the Elfwine Chronicles in the order they were written. The more of them that I wrote, the more likely I was to make reference to one of the previous ones and something that happened there. If you want to read them in order, go to the top of this page and click on my name (Deandra). That will take you to my profile page. Scroll down and you will find all the stories I have written. The Elfwine Chronicles are in order from bottom to top since ffn shows them in the order they were posted. A few were posted out of number order, but you can read them in posting order or number order since those few won't be affected in the story content.