A/N—Obviously, I do not own any of these Tolkien characters, and quite
honestly, I don't think I want them. I hear their up keep is time
consuming, repetitive and exhausting so count me out. Back to the point,
please don't sue me for writing this story, as I have no money and will not
be making any money from this story.
So—this is my first fanfic after reading too many while I was supposed to be working at my thankless PR job. Please give feedback because, if nothing else, it will give me something to read while at work. Here's a little history—Eomer is my favorite character (horses + strapping blond man = hell yeah!) so I thought I would start writing about what I liked and see where it takes me. The language is much more common man than Tolkien, but hey, that's me in a nutshell...not so artsy, way more fartsy. Enjoy...
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Imrahil, the Prince of Dol Amroth strolled down the long curving hallways of the royal palace of Minas Tirith. His mind wandered to the day's events, long council meetings with the High King Elessar included and sighed to himself. It was barely a year after the great siege on the city by the armies of Mordor had ended with the crowning of the king. He was impressed with how quickly Elessar had restored the grand city. Dol Amroth was not untouched by the war, but had remained relatively unscathed by Sauron's doings. Imrahil had considered his people lucky. Minas Tirith, on the other hand, had taken the brunt of the Dark Lord's wrath. Dark scars where orc catapults had tore into the white stone of the city's walls, bridges and ramparts could still be seen, but all of the city's inner workings were now thriving under Elessar's hand. Minas Tirith's people were proud again because of the return of their king.
Imrahil looked out the arched windows of the corridor he was walking through, out past the torch lit upper ledges of the courtyard, and out into the royal stable yards. He spied two figures walking close to the wall of the courtyard entrance, and their familiarity stirred his thoughts from his earlier actions in the day to the present. Though their faces were masked by the twilight he instantly recognized them and silently swore to himself. "Those two will be the death of me," he hissed under his breath as he quickly turned around to head back to the courtyard entrance.
The two figures entered the palace through the large courtyard entrance as quietly as possible. They quickly passed the main entrance to Elessar's throne room and headed off, arm in arm, towards the main guest chambers the palace contained for visiting dignitaries.
"I suppose you have a good reason for entering the palace so late, without a chaperone and in dirty riding clothes with my only daughter, Eomer?" Imrahil said as he exited the shadows of a nearby doorway behind the two, cloaked figures. The two froze in mid stride as if statues. They crooked their heads to glance at each other for a second and then slowly turned to face the prince.
"Father...You startled us," the figure on the prince's right said rather sheepishly.
"That was my plan, Lothiriel. So...?"
After a moment's pause, "So...what, Father?"
"So what are you doing out after sunset, looking quite disheveled and with the unmarried King of the Mark, Lothiriel?" Imrahil demanded hotly.
"I think I can explain, my Lord Imrahil," said Eomer, the young King of Rohan. "What may appear inappropriate is actually very innocent."
"Oh really?" said Imrahil as he leveled a steely gaze at the younger man. Eomer appeared to wilt slightly under the stare and started to shift his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the next.
"Oh, yes...Absolutely," said Lothiriel with a high note to her voice.
"Absolutely," replied Eomer as well.
"Uh huh," said Imrahil, not believing a word. "So let's hear it. Come on...out with it!"
"Well," started Lothiriel, "I was in my quarters and was about to go to bed when I heard something out in the courtyard. So I...um...I went to my window to see what was going on and...um...I saw that there were horses loose. Loose in the courtyard, I mean. And...um...there were no guards around...it must have been during the watch change..."
"It was!" interrupted Eomer with a rush. "During the watch change, I mean," he said quietly as the prince shot him another hard look and turned his attention back to his daughter.
She was staring up at Eomer with an unsettled look on her face. "Right. During the watch change...so there were no guards around. So I threw on some clothes--"
"Your riding outfit," interrupted her father as one of his eyebrows raised slightly.
"Umm...it was the most sensible thing I could find," Lothiriel stuttered. "I didn't want to ruin any of my finer dresses catching horses," she said.
"Of course," said the prince archly. Eomer just stared at the princess standing next to him, his eyes a little wide.
"Anyway, I threw on my clothes and ran down to the courtyard to see if I could help catch any of the horses. I looked for guards on my way there, but there weren't any," Lothiriel continued.
"Because of the watch change..." the prince offered with a little sarcasm in his voice.
"Yes!" Lothiriel and Eomer blurted out at the same time. They glanced at each other quickly as Imrahil risked a small smile as the two looked at each other in front of him. His face grew serious again as they turned to face him once more.
"And I imagine the good King of Rohan is soon to make his appearance in this gripping tale of loose horses and poor watch keeping procedures. I imagine I will have to relay this to Elessar...he will want to re-evaluate his guards' candor during the watch changes. What with the city left so vulnerable and unguarded," Imrahil commented and watched with amusement as the faces of the princess and king blanched slightly at the thought of Elessar's involvement.
"Continue," Imrahil prompted the pair after they had stared blankly at him for a moment.
"Oh! Well, as I was saying, I ran out to the courtyard to see if I could help catch the horses and...and...you see I didn't know that Eomer was already out there trying to catch the horses too," Lothiriel fumbled along.
"Right! She didn't know I was out there catching the horses already...because...I had heard them in the courtyard too," Eomer said, his words getting quieter as he spoke to the stern Prince.
"I see," said Imrahil. "And how many horses were loose that it took both of you to catch them?"
"Two," said Lothiriel quickly.
"Six," said Eomer at the same time. Their heads jerked quickly to look at each other. Lothiriel recovered first.
"Well, I caught two and Eomer caught four so if you count all the horses together you get six," she said to her father, her eyes darting back and forth from Eomer to Imrahil.
"Six," Eomer repeated quietly.
Imrahil silently regarded the two in front of him for a minute. They were a sad sight, he noted to himself, his daughter blushing furiously and not able to maintain eye contact with her father. Eomer was unconsciously and nervously twiddling his thumbs, trying to maintain a neutral and relaxed expression, while both king and princess waited to see if Imrahil believed their unlikely story.
After a few minutes of silence Imrahil felt they had suffered enough and spoke, "Well, I trust you returned all the errant animals to their stalls safely?"
Eomer took a step forward and said quickly, "Yes, and I plan to speak to the stable master tomorrow about the incident. I'm sure the cause was simply a thoughtless stable boy. In any case, all is well now and I was just escorting the princess back to her quarters." Eomer paused for a moment to weigh Imrahil's reaction. The prince just stared impassively at the blond king.
Continuing hesitantly, Eomer said, "I know what some members of the court might think about this situation, but—"
"They would think the King of Rohan and the Princess of Dol Amroth secreted away from the palace, minus chaperone, for a ride on the Pelennor Fields far too late in the evening for it to be considered respectable!" Imrahil said heatedly at the two before him.
Lothiriel opened her mouth to say something in protest, but Imrahil held up his hand to silence her.
"Stop!" Imrahil said abruptly. "I don't want to hear it." The prince looked back and forth between his daughter and Eomer. He sighed and slowly lowered his hand, regaining his stately demeanor. Speaking to both as calmly as he could muster he said, "I know that you are betrothed, and you will be wed soon," he continued as he rolled his eyes skyward and half spoke to himself, "of which I am eternally thankful, for I know not of another lord or lady in Middle Earth that would tolerate either of you or your antics."
Lothiriel and Eomer glanced at each other, lopsided smiles flickering across their faces. Imrahil persisted, "However, that does not give you the liberty to gallivant together unescorted and at all hours of the night! Lothiriel, you should have more respect for the honor of your family. And Eomer, though you are a king, I hoped I had promised my only daughter to a man who would protect her reputation, not contribute to its degradation!"
"You are correct as always, Lord Imrahil," Eomer replied earnestly. "I do have great respect for you and for your family. And I would not knowingly do anything to harm the reputation of your daughter and my future queen."
Imrahil's tense look softened slightly at the King's confession and the sight of his daughter's gentle squeeze on the younger man's hand in response to his words. Imrahil had grown quite close to Eomer since their meeting during the war. He was impressed with how Eomer handled his sudden kingship.
In truth, Imrahil had become a father figure to Eomer in the past year what with the death of King Theoden, Eomer's uncle, from whom he had inherited Rohan's throne. And Imrahil found himself giving council to the young king more frequently now that Eomer was betrothed to Lothiriel. Not that he minded. He loved the boy as a son even before Eomer had announced his intentions toward Lothiriel.
Thinking on that, the prince said in concession, "In a few month's time, after we have made the journey to Rohan, and you are married, the horses of Edoras' stables can get loose anytime you wish," his voice tinged with sarcasm. "But until that time I expect...no...I demand that you respect the proper etiquette of courtship."
Eomer and Lothiriel stared at the prince, slightly shocked at his comments, their mouths agape.
"I will interpret your silence as proof that we have come to an accord," Imrahil said with certain satisfaction. "Eomer, you may continue escorting my daughter to her chambers. Lothiriel, I will stop by shortly to wish you a good night." And with that the Prince of Dol Amroth turned on his heels and walked off toward one of the palace's many libraries.
The king and the princess stood wordlessly and watched the retreating form of Imrahil walking regally down the corridor in front of them. Long after the prince had turned and entered the library doorway, Eomer broke the silence and said, "Well! That went better than expected...I don't think he bought our story though." He bore a half smile on his handsome face.
Lothiriel patted him lightly on the arm and said, "Not in an elf's lifetime. But I think he would have been disappointed had we not put in the effort, and instead confessed out right, don't you think?"
"Oh absolutely, my love," Eomer replied, his voice laced with laughter as he placed a light kiss on her hand. They smiled at each other and made their way to Lothiriel's chambers as instructed.
A/N—Well there's the first chapter/prologue. I think the next two chapters will be Eomer and Lothiriel POV about their feelings for each other after they have retired for the night in their separate chambers. Let me know what you think, and/or if you want me to cease and desist from writing immediately because it is so wretched to read.
So—this is my first fanfic after reading too many while I was supposed to be working at my thankless PR job. Please give feedback because, if nothing else, it will give me something to read while at work. Here's a little history—Eomer is my favorite character (horses + strapping blond man = hell yeah!) so I thought I would start writing about what I liked and see where it takes me. The language is much more common man than Tolkien, but hey, that's me in a nutshell...not so artsy, way more fartsy. Enjoy...
____________________________________________________________________________ _
Imrahil, the Prince of Dol Amroth strolled down the long curving hallways of the royal palace of Minas Tirith. His mind wandered to the day's events, long council meetings with the High King Elessar included and sighed to himself. It was barely a year after the great siege on the city by the armies of Mordor had ended with the crowning of the king. He was impressed with how quickly Elessar had restored the grand city. Dol Amroth was not untouched by the war, but had remained relatively unscathed by Sauron's doings. Imrahil had considered his people lucky. Minas Tirith, on the other hand, had taken the brunt of the Dark Lord's wrath. Dark scars where orc catapults had tore into the white stone of the city's walls, bridges and ramparts could still be seen, but all of the city's inner workings were now thriving under Elessar's hand. Minas Tirith's people were proud again because of the return of their king.
Imrahil looked out the arched windows of the corridor he was walking through, out past the torch lit upper ledges of the courtyard, and out into the royal stable yards. He spied two figures walking close to the wall of the courtyard entrance, and their familiarity stirred his thoughts from his earlier actions in the day to the present. Though their faces were masked by the twilight he instantly recognized them and silently swore to himself. "Those two will be the death of me," he hissed under his breath as he quickly turned around to head back to the courtyard entrance.
The two figures entered the palace through the large courtyard entrance as quietly as possible. They quickly passed the main entrance to Elessar's throne room and headed off, arm in arm, towards the main guest chambers the palace contained for visiting dignitaries.
"I suppose you have a good reason for entering the palace so late, without a chaperone and in dirty riding clothes with my only daughter, Eomer?" Imrahil said as he exited the shadows of a nearby doorway behind the two, cloaked figures. The two froze in mid stride as if statues. They crooked their heads to glance at each other for a second and then slowly turned to face the prince.
"Father...You startled us," the figure on the prince's right said rather sheepishly.
"That was my plan, Lothiriel. So...?"
After a moment's pause, "So...what, Father?"
"So what are you doing out after sunset, looking quite disheveled and with the unmarried King of the Mark, Lothiriel?" Imrahil demanded hotly.
"I think I can explain, my Lord Imrahil," said Eomer, the young King of Rohan. "What may appear inappropriate is actually very innocent."
"Oh really?" said Imrahil as he leveled a steely gaze at the younger man. Eomer appeared to wilt slightly under the stare and started to shift his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the next.
"Oh, yes...Absolutely," said Lothiriel with a high note to her voice.
"Absolutely," replied Eomer as well.
"Uh huh," said Imrahil, not believing a word. "So let's hear it. Come on...out with it!"
"Well," started Lothiriel, "I was in my quarters and was about to go to bed when I heard something out in the courtyard. So I...um...I went to my window to see what was going on and...um...I saw that there were horses loose. Loose in the courtyard, I mean. And...um...there were no guards around...it must have been during the watch change..."
"It was!" interrupted Eomer with a rush. "During the watch change, I mean," he said quietly as the prince shot him another hard look and turned his attention back to his daughter.
She was staring up at Eomer with an unsettled look on her face. "Right. During the watch change...so there were no guards around. So I threw on some clothes--"
"Your riding outfit," interrupted her father as one of his eyebrows raised slightly.
"Umm...it was the most sensible thing I could find," Lothiriel stuttered. "I didn't want to ruin any of my finer dresses catching horses," she said.
"Of course," said the prince archly. Eomer just stared at the princess standing next to him, his eyes a little wide.
"Anyway, I threw on my clothes and ran down to the courtyard to see if I could help catch any of the horses. I looked for guards on my way there, but there weren't any," Lothiriel continued.
"Because of the watch change..." the prince offered with a little sarcasm in his voice.
"Yes!" Lothiriel and Eomer blurted out at the same time. They glanced at each other quickly as Imrahil risked a small smile as the two looked at each other in front of him. His face grew serious again as they turned to face him once more.
"And I imagine the good King of Rohan is soon to make his appearance in this gripping tale of loose horses and poor watch keeping procedures. I imagine I will have to relay this to Elessar...he will want to re-evaluate his guards' candor during the watch changes. What with the city left so vulnerable and unguarded," Imrahil commented and watched with amusement as the faces of the princess and king blanched slightly at the thought of Elessar's involvement.
"Continue," Imrahil prompted the pair after they had stared blankly at him for a moment.
"Oh! Well, as I was saying, I ran out to the courtyard to see if I could help catch the horses and...and...you see I didn't know that Eomer was already out there trying to catch the horses too," Lothiriel fumbled along.
"Right! She didn't know I was out there catching the horses already...because...I had heard them in the courtyard too," Eomer said, his words getting quieter as he spoke to the stern Prince.
"I see," said Imrahil. "And how many horses were loose that it took both of you to catch them?"
"Two," said Lothiriel quickly.
"Six," said Eomer at the same time. Their heads jerked quickly to look at each other. Lothiriel recovered first.
"Well, I caught two and Eomer caught four so if you count all the horses together you get six," she said to her father, her eyes darting back and forth from Eomer to Imrahil.
"Six," Eomer repeated quietly.
Imrahil silently regarded the two in front of him for a minute. They were a sad sight, he noted to himself, his daughter blushing furiously and not able to maintain eye contact with her father. Eomer was unconsciously and nervously twiddling his thumbs, trying to maintain a neutral and relaxed expression, while both king and princess waited to see if Imrahil believed their unlikely story.
After a few minutes of silence Imrahil felt they had suffered enough and spoke, "Well, I trust you returned all the errant animals to their stalls safely?"
Eomer took a step forward and said quickly, "Yes, and I plan to speak to the stable master tomorrow about the incident. I'm sure the cause was simply a thoughtless stable boy. In any case, all is well now and I was just escorting the princess back to her quarters." Eomer paused for a moment to weigh Imrahil's reaction. The prince just stared impassively at the blond king.
Continuing hesitantly, Eomer said, "I know what some members of the court might think about this situation, but—"
"They would think the King of Rohan and the Princess of Dol Amroth secreted away from the palace, minus chaperone, for a ride on the Pelennor Fields far too late in the evening for it to be considered respectable!" Imrahil said heatedly at the two before him.
Lothiriel opened her mouth to say something in protest, but Imrahil held up his hand to silence her.
"Stop!" Imrahil said abruptly. "I don't want to hear it." The prince looked back and forth between his daughter and Eomer. He sighed and slowly lowered his hand, regaining his stately demeanor. Speaking to both as calmly as he could muster he said, "I know that you are betrothed, and you will be wed soon," he continued as he rolled his eyes skyward and half spoke to himself, "of which I am eternally thankful, for I know not of another lord or lady in Middle Earth that would tolerate either of you or your antics."
Lothiriel and Eomer glanced at each other, lopsided smiles flickering across their faces. Imrahil persisted, "However, that does not give you the liberty to gallivant together unescorted and at all hours of the night! Lothiriel, you should have more respect for the honor of your family. And Eomer, though you are a king, I hoped I had promised my only daughter to a man who would protect her reputation, not contribute to its degradation!"
"You are correct as always, Lord Imrahil," Eomer replied earnestly. "I do have great respect for you and for your family. And I would not knowingly do anything to harm the reputation of your daughter and my future queen."
Imrahil's tense look softened slightly at the King's confession and the sight of his daughter's gentle squeeze on the younger man's hand in response to his words. Imrahil had grown quite close to Eomer since their meeting during the war. He was impressed with how Eomer handled his sudden kingship.
In truth, Imrahil had become a father figure to Eomer in the past year what with the death of King Theoden, Eomer's uncle, from whom he had inherited Rohan's throne. And Imrahil found himself giving council to the young king more frequently now that Eomer was betrothed to Lothiriel. Not that he minded. He loved the boy as a son even before Eomer had announced his intentions toward Lothiriel.
Thinking on that, the prince said in concession, "In a few month's time, after we have made the journey to Rohan, and you are married, the horses of Edoras' stables can get loose anytime you wish," his voice tinged with sarcasm. "But until that time I expect...no...I demand that you respect the proper etiquette of courtship."
Eomer and Lothiriel stared at the prince, slightly shocked at his comments, their mouths agape.
"I will interpret your silence as proof that we have come to an accord," Imrahil said with certain satisfaction. "Eomer, you may continue escorting my daughter to her chambers. Lothiriel, I will stop by shortly to wish you a good night." And with that the Prince of Dol Amroth turned on his heels and walked off toward one of the palace's many libraries.
The king and the princess stood wordlessly and watched the retreating form of Imrahil walking regally down the corridor in front of them. Long after the prince had turned and entered the library doorway, Eomer broke the silence and said, "Well! That went better than expected...I don't think he bought our story though." He bore a half smile on his handsome face.
Lothiriel patted him lightly on the arm and said, "Not in an elf's lifetime. But I think he would have been disappointed had we not put in the effort, and instead confessed out right, don't you think?"
"Oh absolutely, my love," Eomer replied, his voice laced with laughter as he placed a light kiss on her hand. They smiled at each other and made their way to Lothiriel's chambers as instructed.
A/N—Well there's the first chapter/prologue. I think the next two chapters will be Eomer and Lothiriel POV about their feelings for each other after they have retired for the night in their separate chambers. Let me know what you think, and/or if you want me to cease and desist from writing immediately because it is so wretched to read.