Soriel gazed lovingly down at her swollen belly. She caressed it with her hands, putting all the love she felt for her child into the touch. Éomer was convinced it was a boy, but she had a feeling this one was a girl. They had already discussed names for both cases and prepared a nursery. All that was left now was for it to arrive.
Soriel pondered her life. She had never expected that she would be a queen, but here she was, Queen of Rohan, and she carried a prince or princess inside her. Her husband was King Éomer, who had also not expected to be king, but his poor cousin was slain during the War of the Ring. They were together now, though, and the king and queen were as happy as either of them could remember.
As she looked down upon her future family, Soriel felt a sharp pain in her lower abdomen. Orcs were suddenly all about her, mounted on Wargs, which snarled at snapped at her. She tried to call out for Éomer, but her voice was gone. She looked down again, and an arrow was sticking out of her. She was bleeding from her belly, and her child was surely dead.
Emotion began to overtake her. This could not be! She could not lose another baby! This could not be happening again!
Her eyes suddenly snapped open and she bolted upright in her bed. Breathing heavily, Soriel looked about her chambers. Éomer stirred beside her and sat up, rubbing his tired eyes. She was afraid to look down, in case her dream was true, and her baby was dead.
"Soriel?" he questioned. "What troubles you, my love?"
She turned tearful eyes on him. "The baby…"
"What about him?" he wondered, looking her up and down. "Are you alright?"
She placed shaking hands on her belly before glancing down at it. To her immense relief, there was nothing there. Éomer placed his hands on it as well and rubbed soothingly.
"A bad dream?" he asked.
She nodded, blinking back her tears. "I dreamt I had been shot with an arrow. The same as my first baby."
Soriel's first child had been that of her former lover, Boromir of Gondor, who died early on in the quest of the Fellowship of the Ring. She had lost the baby on the way to the fortress of Helm's Deep shortly after meeting Éomer.
"There are no Orcs to harm us now," he assured her. "Our child is very safe."
She nodded, and took deep breaths. Then, she felt movement from her belly.
"Éomer!" she gasped. "Did you feel that?"
He beamed. "Yes! He kicked!"
"He did!" she cried. "I feel as if he is reassuring me of his own life!"
"You see?" he said. "He is strong."
She smiled at him and took his hand. "Strong like his father."
"So, are you starting to believe it is a boy?" he asked, a smirk dancing on his lips.
"Well, I do not know that," she said, rolling her eyes. "I only know that a powerful prince or princess of Rohan is almost ready to see the world."
Éomer pressed his lips to her stomach.
"Whenever you're ready, little one," his whispered.
She grinned. Her heart felt as if it could burst from the overwhelming love she had for her baby and husband. She combed his hair with her fingers, and they both slowly drifted back to sleep.