Part 187 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: Well, this was different – I used to get story ideas right before going to bed. This time I got one just as I was headed out the door and needed to be somewhere. I guess any situation when it isn't convenient to be writing will suffice!
Excursion
(Feb, 7 IV)
"Eomer? Elfwine and I are going riding." Lothiriel pulled on her gloves as she made this announcement from the doorway of Eomer's study. She did not look up to see the surprised expression on his face.
"Oh…very well, then," he replied, uncertain of the reason for her telling him this, and rather envious of her plans.
With a pert smile, she turned away to move down the hall, her son at her side, and she heard Eomer come to the doorway to watch their departure. Just before they stepped into the Hall, Elfwine looked back and waved to his father, calling, "Bye, Papa!" Eomer gave a rather halfhearted wave in response, a yearning aspect in his gaze.
As they went down the steps of Meduseld toward the stables, Elfwine asked, "Mama? Why did you tell Papa where we are going?"
"Oh, I thought he should know," she casually replied, suppressing a grin.
"But you do not usually do so," he persisted, and she smiled without looking at him.
"True. But I can do something different now and then, can I not?" There was a teasing expression on her face that Elfwine did not understand.
He eyed her with confusion, but then shrugged and giggled, observing, "Sometimes you are very silly, Mama!"
She laughed as they entered the stables. "I am indeed!" Pressing a kiss to his hair, they separated to get their horses ready.
It did not take very long for them to be mounted and on their way. Word had been sent previously to the king's guard, so two riders were ready and waiting as they exited the barn, and the foursome rode down through the city cheerily talking. The winter had been long and harsh, but the bright, sunny weather of the past few days, coupled with a warmer wind blowing in from the south, had cleared the last remnants of snow and dried out the soil so it was not so terribly muddy as it had been the previous month.
Soon after they cleared the barrow fields, Elfwine was itching for a run, and Greyflood eagerly snatched at the bit in anticipation. Lothiriel was a decent rider, though not the enthusiast that her husband and son were, and she did well just to keep pace with them. Even so, she tried not to curtail their pleasure. Glancing at the lad riding impatiently beside her, she suggested, "Race you to that tree?"
Before Elfwine could respond, she urged Elrothiel to a gallop and her son cried out, "No fair, Mama!" Despite his protest, however, he was soon gaining ground on her, and swept past several strides before they reached their goal.
They laughingly drew to a walk as Lothiriel commented, "Not fair, perhaps, but it is the only way for me to have any kind of chance when I race you!"
The boy beamed at the praise and then gave a shout. "Look! Riders are coming!" He pointed back down the road in the direction from which they had come, and then added, "It is Papa!"
Sure enough, Eomer and Gamling were riding to join them, and Lothiriel allowed a knowing smile to slide over her lips before she cleared her features. As the two men reached them, Elfwine called out, "I did not know you were going to come, also, Papa. If you had told us we would have waited for you."
Eomer's eyes were on his wife, and he spoke to her as he responded, "You knew."
"Knew?" she asked, raising a questioning eyebrow but unable to maintain the innocent expression she was attempting to present.
"Knew that I would follow. That is why you made a point of telling me where you were going," Eomer asserted, certain of his contention.
She shrugged, her eyes twinkling merrily. "On the contrary. I knew you needed to follow, and I was counting on your being unable to resist. But it does not appear to bother you so very much to be that predictable!" Her mouth twitched in a triumphant smirk and he let out a hearty laugh.
"No, it does not bother me," he conceded. "And thank you for the excuse to do as I wished rather than as I should."
Elfwine was watching his parents in puzzlement at this strange conversation. For a moment, he almost started to ask them what they were talking about, but then thought better of it. Mama was here and, even better, Papa was too. He would rather simply enjoy their company and not worry about the details.
"Come on, Papa! Greyflood still wants to run. Race me to that rock!"
THE END
11/11/09
Elfwine is almost 6 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.