Ivriniel and my father decided to settle us in a small house very near Meduseld. Or perhaps the more truthful way of telling it is to say that Alwil decided on the house and Ivriniel and my father supplied the funds. The proximity to Meduseld would allow Amrothos easier access to the training ground and myself better access to the large gardens (though it sported a small garden of it's own and a rather fine little yard behind). She had also made sure that our front door was only a few steps from her own. "I think I can persuade Gallen to continue on as Lothíriel's lady's maid now that you are no longer to be her escort Lady Ivriniel," Alwil said as she took tea with my family in our parlor the first day we moved into the house. "She's a good girl from a reputable family and you're not likely to find another lady's maid with better Westron."

It had not, of course, occurred to anyone at all that I would need a lady's maid now that there were no large parties anticipated but once she had said it no one seemed inclined to question that I should have one. "I think with her and a cook you shall only need one or two lads who can tend to Amrothos and fetch water and firewood for you," she told my father with the casual air someone might adopt arranging flowers at their leisure. "I'm sure I can find you good people if you need any additional help for them."

Amrothos and I, who had not thought to have someone to do more than cook for us and fill our cisterns and empty our chamber pots, exchanged schooled glances and then hid them behind our cups as Ivriniel decided that we should certainly need at least another girl to do the laundry and help the cook as Gallen couldn't be expected to do too much and would almost certainly be needed to accompany me on herb-gathering expeditions. "Perhaps another lad wouldn't be out of place either," my father chimed in pensively. "To help with the laundry and carry any larger specimens Lothíriel might find."

"He could also take her somewhere on horseback should she need to go and Amrothos be unavailable." Alwil added helpfully.

"I'm surprised at how much Ivriniel seems to have taken to your new friend," Amrothos said when we had both escaped into the garden after tea to laugh at the veritable household of servants Alwil had decided we needed. "I would have thought them natural enemies with so little in common."

"That puzzles me as well," I admitted. "She is very clever though, which Ivriniel never fails to recognize or appreciate in another."

"I would have said the same thing only about her response to another person with a will of iron," he said with a smile. "Though truth be told I'm rather fond of her too after this afternoon. I think we'll end up living better here than in Dol Almroth with all the retainers around to wait on us!"

The house itself was simple but more than large enough for us, with a small solarium that Ivriniel had converted into a laboratory for me. She left me most of what equipment and resources we had brought and promised to send more of what I would need when she arrived in Dol Amroth. She helped me carefully lay out my labeled jars, mortar and pestle and various instruments for distillation, two herb presses, a set of cooking crocks of various sizes plus a large quantity of grain alcohol before she nodded with satisfaction. "Yes this will do. You will need more jars of course but I'm sure you can find those here. I shall send you a larger herb press and more drying racks from Gondor, as they will be hard to commission here. And you'll need this."

From her box she drew a large package wrapped in heavily oiled paper and unwrapped it on the counter. It was a large plain but very finely bound book. There was no ornamentation except for the initials LDA and a tiny swimming swan that were branded in the corner in small neat letters. I flipped open the pages and found that they were blank. "For you to record your findings. I shall look forward to reading so mind that your hand is neat."

"Thank you, Aunt Ivriniel... thank you very much, for everything."

She considered me for a moment. I wonder if she thought I meant for the gift, for my education or for my unexpected freedom. To be honest I wasn't sure even I knew what I was expressing gratitude for. Finally she said, "I've never given you anything, Lothíriel that you did not earn."

I hardly knew what to say to that so I simply nodded and accepted the book, putting it high up on a shelf where I wouldn't inadvertently get it dirty. "Nevertheless... thank you."

Amrothos and I watched from the steps of Meduseld as the carriage that took Ivriniel wound it's way down the main road and across the plain for as long as we could see it, my father riding beside. For a long time after the column of carriage and riders faded into the color of the plain we just stood together silently. Amrothos had been in training with my father as a warrior since he was younger than I had been training with Ivriniel as a healer. Though he'd had more freedom than I had, neither of us had ever felt this far from our family before, set loose on the sea of life to chart our own course.

Once when I was very little, before our mother had passed to the veil, Amrothos had woken me from my bed to take me sailing in the middle of the night. We'd sailed out together on a calm sea and come across what sailors call a "burning sea" where mysterious lights seem to shine on the tops of waves, coming brilliantly awake as the boat cuts through them and then fading back into the dark still sea once it has passed. He cut the skiff again and again through the sea as I watched in stunned amazement. "I found it last night and knew you had to see it," he had told me.

"It's incredible Amrothos." I had breathed.

He'd pointed out over the dark water. "We could sail to Edhellond by morning with this wind you know."

"Could we?"

"I think so."

But instead we'd turned the skiff around and headed back out of the burning sea to sleep and be found in our own beds the next morning, with none any the wiser. But at this moment it felt as though we really had turned our prows towards unknown waters.

Amrothos finally turned to me and said, "There's a picnic on the banks of the Snowbourn this afternoon. We should go ask the cook to prepare us a hamper."

I laughed. "I really should dry the rest of the heather-moss today."

He shook his head. "I'll not take no for an answer, Lothi. Don't make me toss you over my shoulder like a raider."

For a moment I felt torn between the familiar old impulse to do what was expected and an unexpectedly strong swell of wild, elated freedom. "Alright then."

"Good girl, now go get your cloak on."

I rode behind Amrothos while he balanced the hamper in front of him. It was quite a large party and festive, with most of the Rohirric court still in Edoras and in the mood for celebration. I was quite content to gawk at the ladies in their beautiful dresses as we joined the stream of horses going down to the river. The party settled itself on a fine little swell with a grand view of the Snowbourn. Amrothos tied up the horse and spread out a large blanket for me to sit on, then gallantly unpacked the hamper. Our new cook had spoiled us with cold chicken, good bread and double stuffed eggs and very good cold white wine. He poured me out a generous helping of wine and then joined a group of men who were hunting with bows and arrows in the nearby forest. Unable to help myself as ever, my eyes searched for Éomer amongst the men but he was nowhere to be seen.

Luckily I had anticipated that I would not keep Amrothos's undivided attention for long and fetched a book out of the saddlebag and spread it on my lap to enjoy with the wine and sunshine. Around me I let the pleasant, lilting and unfamiliar sound of Rohirric intermix with the sound of the river and the heady, slow feeling of the wine and the unusual freedom of an afternoon outside with no plants to collect.

Amrothos had thoughtfully spread the blanket beneath the shade of a great tree which I could lean against and watch the world go by over the top of my book, just the way I liked it. I watched my brother stalk the scrub brush at the edge of the forest and bring down a running rabbit with a shout of joy. I watched two women fishing at the edge of the Snowbourn.

A great swell of contentment and glorious freedom seemed to wash over me. I put the book aside and lay down on the blanket to watch the cloudless sky for a moment. Alwil found me there a little later and invited herself to enjoy the wine and picnic with me and it was even more pleasant with company. When we were tired of simply watching the clouds she worked on a pretty little bit of elaborate embroidery and I returned to my book. Wídwine joined us, then Amrothos and Elinior (who he had somehow managed to run into during the hunt) and for the first time in my life it was up to me to play hostess, dishing out food and drink and making sure none were wanting for anything.

It was an unexpected joy to be so central to the party, pouring out the wine when someone's cup neared its finish and making sure all had enough of the chicken, eggs, bread and even oranges which Ivriniel had given the cook. It gave pleasure to make sure I had seen to all. "Where is Fraca?" Amrothos asked as I turned my attention to packing up the basket when the sun began to fade and the party broke up. "I would have liked a try using that fine bow he has this afternoon."

Alwil, who had been helping me to put the remnants of food back, went suddenly still. "He went to the western border just this morning. There is some small trouble with those Wild Men, I've been told." Her smile was a little too bright. "I told him as a wild man himself he was perfectly suited for such a mission."

There was no need to ask where Éomer was then either. I fought not to shiver, suddenly feeling as though I had been plunged into cold water despite the warm spring air. In Gondor the destruction of Sauron had meant a definitive end to the fighting but the wild men and orcs who had fought for the White Head of Saruman had only lost a portion of their strength. They were not the threat to Rohan they had been, particularly not now that the King was no longer under the influence of Wormtongue, but there was still raiding and encroachments on the western border.

Alwil, who had been in fine spirits before, laughed uproariously on her way back up to the keep, listening to a story that Wídwine told her with apparent good cheer. But I couldn't help but feel that some of the spark had gone out of her eyes when she had been reminded of where her husband had gone. Nor did it escape my notice that Elinior had been careful to take her arm on the walk back and gave it a reassuring squeeze as they parted. She did not speak any words of false reassurance, only offered an arm.

Amrothos and I fell into a happy routine during the days that followed. We both woke early and took breakfast together. Then he would go to the training yards or out to ride or hunt with the other men while I spent most of my mornings either riding or walking out to look for and collect herbs. My afternoons I spent preparing them and quantifying and cataloging their properties. In addition to my work in the book that Ivriniel had left me a healthy part of my day was also spent tending to the sick. Word always travels quickly of a skilled healer and soon my days were even busier than they'd been in Dol Almroth. Without Ivriniel to share the load I was sometimes up all night with a difficult labor, only to get back in time to be told of an elderly person with putrid lungs who needed tending.

Gallen soon became an invaluable companion. Though I had no need of many of the usual tasks a ladies maid might perform she took quickly to compounding potions and helping me to create and organize my apothecary. She was a quick study and I found she had an exceptional memory and sharp eye for detail, two traits that I had acquired only by great pain and labor. Even without being able to read and write I found that she had a prodigious ability to remember many complicated methods of compounding the materials I needed for healing after being shown the procedure only once.

Alwil had less patience and enthusiasm for the menial tasks we performed, grinding up herbs and waiting for various kettles or pans to boil and adopt the proper consistency. She could sometimes be pressed into service if it was a grim day outside or if the work was not too tedious or malodorous but she took no true pleasure in it. It was she who decided that Gallen should be taught to read and write Westron and that task she fell to with more conviction that she ever showed for watching a kettle boil. Rohan was blessed with prodigious rains that summer—a boon for both me and the farmers for it trapped both of my assistance in my solarium for many hours at a time.

One such rainy morning found us watching a compound for a failing pulse that required careful management of the flame so as not to bring it to a full boil. Or rather if truth be told it was I who was watching the fire. Alwil and Gallen were arm in arm on the only comfortable seat in the room, both enjoying the seat together as it was large enough to fit them both comfortably and positioned to receive the best light filtering in from the window. It was such a dark day however they'd lit three candles beside them and were pouring over a book that Alwil had brought – a romantic tale about an Elven queen whose lover was transformed into a wolf by dark magic. Gallen was sounding out the words slowly with Alwil helping her over the more difficult syllables and meanings.

So entranced were they in their task that it was only I who heard the knock on the door and went to answer it. It was one of the servants from the Meduseld kitchen looking shyly down at his feet. His name was Boron and I knew immediately why he had come. I had tended to his grandmother just the week before as she suffered from a chronic cough, typical for a woman her age who had spent so many years working in the kitchens. The smoke of burning wood had left her vulnerable to inflammation of the lungs. He bowed deeply, still not meeting my eyes. He was a timid lad, large for his age but with a gentleness that I did not find was typical in a lad of fourteen. I had the impression that he did not find it easy to come and find me when his grandmother needed me and only his clearly apparent love for her allowed him to find the will to do so.

I did not make him ask. "Come in, Boron and give me a moment to fetch my cloak and medicines," I told him. "There is some tea left from the morning. You should have some if you haven't eaten yet."

Gallen looked up at my words, finally managing to drag herself from the story. "Oh, my lady! Let me help you!"

I waved her off. "No, Gallen, don't come with me today. It doesn't make sense for all of us to get soaked in the storm. Besides I shall need someone to manage the flame and complete the recipe or the morning will have been wasted."

"All of us?" Alwil snorted, looking out at the rain that was lashing the windows. "I certainly didn't offer my services to accompany you. I can send for Fraca if you wish to go on horseback however." Her husband had returned just two days previously with news that the fighting had died down some and half the men had been allowed to return to Edoras.

I shook my head. "Don't trouble him. Amrothos is at the stables already, helping Elinior and her father with the foaling. I'll ask him to take me."

I arranged my medicine bag with all I felt I would need and donned my cloak. Though Ivriniel did not care much for fashion she at least cared a great deal about keeping dry on a rainy day. The cloak I had for rain was fur lined and rubbed with a compound we made from duck fat that kept the water from soaking through to the inside. I also donned my thickest leather boots and laced them up tightly against the water. But in a storm there was no way to keep from getting wet entirely. The short walk to the stables soaked my face and the bottom of my skirt making it cling indecently to my legs and boots. I wrung out my skirt as best I could upon entering the stable and a kindly stable boy lent me a cloth to dry my face.

The stable was mostly empty except for the boy. The horses were all in from the pastures of course but he seemed to be the sole human occupant I could see. "Where is my brother Amrothos? The other Gondorian?" I asked the boy in Rohirric when I was as decent as I could make myself.

"The last of the foals for today was born just an hour ago. The men all went to a tavern to celebrate afterward."

I fought the urge to swear. Amrothos could be anywhere in the city and I didn't have the time to look for him! If Boron had come to me it meant that his grandmother couldn't wait for Amrothos to get back from who knew how many hours, much less for him to sober up to a degree fit to mount a horse. Nor was there even any guarantee that Amrothos might return at all that night. Without remark or explanation he had taken to coming home from visiting Elinior at increasingly late hours.

Neither did I want to walk back to see if Fraca could be found to take me. I didn't doubt that he would volunteer immediately but it was not the same as imposing on my own brother, particularly as he had returned so recently from the fighting.

At least I had been a number of times to visit Boron's grandmother and was fairly sure I could find my way, even in the dim light and driving rain. So I squared my cloak as best I could and set back out into the rain. The village was not far, no more than an hour's walk on a fair day but in the inclement weather I had to walk more slowly and soon I was soaked through. The water splashed up from puddles or wicked up my dress from the bottom and soon it was as if I had on no cloak at all and I was shivering despite the fur. At least there were no horses passing me on the road to splash more mud on my boots I thought ruefully in an attempt to console myself, as I seem to be the only one foolish enough to be out in this storm.

I was glad indeed to see the village come into focus out of the haze and darkness and I was able to locate the small cottage where she lived easily enough. I knocked once and then door was opened by a pretty young lass named Glírher, Boron's younger sister. "Oh, my lady! Bless you for coming, please come in and let me take your cloak."

She ushered me in and helped me out of my cloak. When she saw the state of my dress beneath she nearly gasped. "Oh, my lady, you never should have come without a horse! You'd better take that off at once or you'll catch inflammation yourself. Come and sit close to the fire while I find you something of mine to wear."

"V...v...very kind of you," I managed through chattering teeth.

The cottage was only a single room and even over the storm I could hear that the old lady was not breathing well but tending to her with cold and dripping hands would do no good. Glírher went to the dresser and fetched out a simple cotton shift and dress for me as I wrung out my hair as best I could. "I'm sorry I have nothing finer to offer you, my lady."

"I can only offer my sincere thanks for the thought," I told her honestly as she helped me out of my sodden dress and shift.

She was perhaps a little taller than me but overall the clothes fit well, though unfamiliar and tight due to the proper bodice. It was a Rohirric style so had looser sleeves then the dress Alwil had let me borrow for the wedding ride but still it provoked the unfamiliar sensation of having the femininity of my body emphasized rather than hidden.

But I had little enough time to dwell on that for there were tasks to be done. I put on a kettle of water and began to parcel out the various teas I knew I would need. With the teas set to steep I went to the woman to examine her. She wasn't fevering but the pulling of the muscles at her neck and belly gave away how hard she was working to breathe. Even her greeting seemed to cost her breath and she spoke in short bursts of words through pursed lips I raised a hand, waving off further formalities she might feel obliged to observe. I took her pulse and listened to her chest, pressing a small metal horn to her breast to hear the sound better.

As the afternoon wore on and I was able to coax her into drinking some of the teas and rub some unguent on her chest that smelled strongly of mint. The labor of her breathing broke, dimming down to the chronic wheeze she would have until the end of her days. Outside the weather seemed to mirror her condition, the rain slowing to a dull mist. When I was satisfied she was out of danger I turned my attention to sorting out the various teas and oils she would need for the next few days and laying them out in a particular order so that her granddaughter could administer them. "I shall come back to check on her the day after tomorrow to make sure that she continues to improve," I promised as I packed up the rest of my medicines into my case.

"Thank you, my lady!" the girl said. "Thank you for coming!"

I turned my attention back to my dress and frowned. The girl had hung my dress and shift by the fire but both were still filthy and damp. I did not relish the thought of putting the cold, clammy cloth back on for the walk back. The rain had let up but it would be a miserable walk in the dirty garments. The girl followed my gaze and seemed to guess my though. "Oh no, my lady! You must allow me to launder them and bring them back to you! It will only be a few days if the sun continues to be fair tomorrow I shall bring them to you as soon as they are dry.

I hesitated, knowing that the dress I was wearing was likely her finest, judging by the little embroidered flowers at the collar and hem, and not wanting to take it from her. "I shall return this dress of course," I said hesitantly.

"Yes of course, my lady. And you must take some apples for your trouble as well, our tree has the sweetest in the village." She found a sack and filled it generously from a basket by the door. She hesitated. "I should walk you back to Edoras however..."

I shook my head. "Stay here and tend to your grandmother. The walk back isn't far and it will be pleasant enough since you've been kind enough to lend me fresh clothes."

As I walked back the sun broke finally and seemed to burn up the clouds. The puddles of water on the road and dew over the fields made the brilliance of it even greater and suddenly I felt quite cheerful. I pushed back the hood of my cloak and threw it open to let the sun shine on my arms and face. It had been a few days of miserable weather and it felt good to be outdoors again. I wagered that by the time I got back Alwil would have taken the opportunity to go for a ride. I was sorry to have missed the chance to accompany her and sorry too that I had trapped poor Gallen in the solarium tending the fire while I was our enjoying the world.

The noise of horses drew my attention and I turned to glance back, wondering how far off the road I could get to reasonably assure myself I wouldn't get too much mud on Glírher's finest skirt. But then I saw him and all thought froze.

He was in full armor but had taken off his helm. His hair was still slightly damp from the rain, darker than it's usual dark blond. He had tied it back in his usual style for riding or fighting so that it was out of his face. He was dressed in a simple tunic and riding breaches. Like me he seemed to be determined to enjoy the sudden sunshine as he wore no cloak at all. After so many days I might have hoped that the effect he had on me would have diminished but if anything I found I had not remembered the potency of it correctly. My heart lurched, contracting in painful longing at the sight of him and already I could feel myself calculating the distance between us, how many paces it would take to be in his arms. He had clearly been riding for days in the rain for Firefoot's hooves were filthy with mud and his tack and equipment, though he had clearly taken pains to tend to it showed the marks of time spent without anywhere that was truly clean.

It was strange to see him in the flesh again. I had thought of him so much in his absence that for a moment I wasn't sure that I was really seeing him. It might only be another dream or daydream of mine, for though he had been away my thoughts had never been able to stray too far from him. But the effect of him was clear enough, ringing like a great bell through my senses.

Behind him rode close to thirty riders, not enough to represent a full éored but more likely some portion of it that had been chosen to accompany their king back to Edoras. They all looked in a similar state to him, having no doubt ridden for many days and slept out in the rain when they could not find an inn.

I might have wondered if he would notice me on the side of the road but the second I turned he lifted an arm. "Lothiriel!" His voice carried down the road to me, seeming to root me in my tracks. I raised a hand to wave back timidly.

At a motion from him the troop picked up their pace slightly and crossed the remaining distance to me in a trice. The troop flowed forward, surrounding the two of us—perhaps out of force of habit from practice accosting strangers, perhaps out of curiosity. Éomer swung down off the horse and bowed.

"Westu hal, Lothíriel," he said. The smile he gave me made something below my stomach clench and my toes curl in my boots. He caught one hand and pressed a kiss to my knuckles.

"Westu hal, Éomer," I managed to stammer back. "You're back? Does that mean the fighting has ended?"

"Yes, for the moment I'm pleased to say it has." His gaze flicked over my form and I had to struggle not to squirm. "Have I been gone that long? You've become a proper Erolingas in my absence."

"The clothes were lent me by the granddaughter of a woman I was tending. I'm afraid I got caught in the storm on the walk there." I was intensely aware of the ridiculousness of the clothes I was wearing, both uncharacteristically womanly and far too informal. I shifted the sack of apples I had been given awkwardly in my hands, wishing I wasn't holding the sack and was still concealed by my own frumpy dress.

"What a pity. They suit you so well."

I had not the first idea what to say to that. I tried to imagine what Nibeneth would say if it were her who he was greeting on the road dressed in the clothes of a common girl of the Mark. But it was impossible to imagine her in such a situation. So instead I fell back on formal correctness. "I'm glad you're back in Edoras, my lord... that is to say I'm glad that the fighting must be over, or at least died down for you to have returned."

He did not follow my lead however, but leant forward to touch the braid lying over my shoulder. "Still wearing your hair up I see. And no flowers to adorn you yet."

"You are the only one who remarks, my lord."

"And how is your arm? Healing well I hope. And I trust you've not got up to anything worse than walking through a rainstorm in my absence."

I laughed at that. "You return from battle to ask me about a scratch from ages ago? Should I not be the one asking you if you are hurt, my lord?"

He grinned. "I told you I would always rescue you, Lothíriel. I would scold you for walking through the rain without coming to fetch me to take you if I had been in Edoras."

"You would scold me for not finding the King of Rohan to take me riding to a village in the rain?"

He winked. "You're lucky I'm not scolding you now, lass. It's only to maintain your air of aloof and refined culture in front of my men that is preventing me."

"Oh? Well I do thank you for that. I should hate to lose face in front of such fine looking soldiers as these."

"No that would never do. Come now, be a good girl and let me take you back to Edoras."

He lifted me onto the back of Firefoot behind the saddle. His hands went about my waist and it felt like lightening flashed through to my toes from where we touched. This close I could smell him. Beneath the scent of the rain and soaked wool and dust from the road his own particular masculine smell made my heart pound and clouded my senses more than a strong draft of spirits. And the feeling of large hands lifting me up almost effortlessly made my stomach lurch thinking of how it would feel to have him do the opposite. It was so easy to imagine those large fingers tangling in my hair, pushing me back onto the thick carpet of grass by the side of the road or into a soft bed, skimming down my form and then pulling me flush against his own strong length, claiming what it found.

He swung up in front of me and gave another command in Rohirric that I didn't quite catch but produced the effect of having the men re-order themselves into the column they had previously been in. I slipped a slim hand around his waist to anchor myself, trying not to think about how good it felt to be this close to him or how much I wanted to press my cheek to his shoulder. If I could have, I would have swept his damp hair to one side and pressed a soft kiss to the back of his neck to let him know how much I had missed him, how much I wanted to take off the armor, piece by piece and examine him head to toe. If I were his woman I would have taken slow time to assure myself that he was not hurt, that he was the hale and healthy man he seemed to be once he had taken his fill of food and drink and any pleasure I could offer him.

"So, lass, what have you been doing since I left? Tell me news of the hall."

"Are you not too weary from the journey?"
"I am bone weary indeed. Tell me of your exploits to keep me from falling from my saddle."

"Very well then."

I told him all that I knew of what had gone in Meduseld and Edoras since he last left but when I ran out of that I began to tell him about my own adventures, which he surprised me by taking great interest in. He wanted to hear about the plants I'd found, babies I'd helped birth and people I'd tended to.

"Lady Alwil is teaching your maid how to read?" he asked with real interest. "In Westron?"

"She is indeed. She's picking it up at a prodigious rate too."

"Éowyn mentioned that one of the reasons she chose her as your ladies maid was her quick wits and her eagerness to learn."

"She did me a blessing then."

"Gallen too by the sounds of it."

"What do you mean?"

"Being able to read and write Westron will be a boon indeed for a girl of her station. She could go into business writing letters for merchants if she wished with that skill or transcribing books for noble lords or even teaching others to read and write. If she wants a family she might marry someone quite a bit above her station as well, a horse breeder or a trader perhaps."

"I should be happy to think so. She's done so much to help me, I should like to think I might leave her with more than just her wages... even if it is mostly Alwil who thought the project up in the first place."

"I wonder if Lady Alwil might be persuaded to teach a few other girls in Edoras the same way? It would be a great help to trade if there were more scribes available."

My eyebrows raised. "Do you think their parents would spare them for such a project? Would they not send their sons instead do you think?"

"They might... an educated child would be a blessing for many families regardless of sex. I only think that there might be... fewer sons in surplus these next score of years."

I felt like a fool. Of course I knew that many young men had been killed in battle. It was easy enough to see simply by walking around Edoras. Women carrying water, butchering meat, splitting wood... tasks they might not have had to do if a husband, brother or son was still breathing. It would be difficult to justify sparing a strong back to learn to read and write while his sister might be available to earn the same. "Oh, of course. I hadn't thought of that. Forgive me, Lord Éomer. It's only in Gondor it might not be seen as quite proper for a girl to be educated while her brother was not."

"Why not?"

"It's only it would not be the proper order of things. I think many families would think the girl would not take the task as seriously perhaps? Or that it would hurt her chances of making a favorable match if she was seen as spoiled or above her station."

"It has not been my experience that girls take things less seriously than boys." His was the queer almost playful tone that I had seen heard before, a remnant of what had to have been a troublesome and wild boy who had not been wholly subdued by the years and tragedies. "Particularly not when it comes to tasks that require them to sit still and concentrate for many hours in a day."

"Might you speak from personal experience, my lord?" The words were out in a little mocking tone before I could think better of them.

He turned, to regard me from the corner of his saddle as he rode, appearing to size me up before answering. "I may have driven a few tutors to resign." His smile widened. "Only one or two, mind you, a mere handful."

"Oh?" I raised a quizzical eyebrow. "And pray tell how did you manage that?"

"The usual methods: gifts of toads in their dressers and horseradish in their porridge. One I put whole a plague of animals, serpents and insects in his room but had failed to consider which might be natural predators of the others, as I had never paid much attention to taxonomy lessons. In the end there was only one rather full and happy ferret left, curled up and digesting at the bottom of his bed. Fortunately that was enough to convince him that there were easier ways to earn his bread than to try to teach me mathematics."

"Oh what a horrible thought! I cannot believe you would do such a thing."

"You surprise me! Given that you have three elder brothers."

I gaped at him. "You played tricks on Lady Éowyn too? But you never... you would never have dared put something in her room."

He struggled to keep his cheeks from rising still higher. "Have you never wondered lady what first inspired her to the sword?"

I burst into laughter. "Are you telling me that she had to fight off the creatures that you left for her?"

He chuckled too. "Well I wouldn't say she had to do so for very long. She punched me once, square in the face, for a single innocent spider I put on her desk and I relented after that for she split my lip and blackened one eye well enough that for weeks the other lads mocked me quite mercilessly." He frowned. "Did your own brothers never tease you so?"

I thought back, trying to recall. "Amrothos did once lure me onto a pier by promising me some candied walnuts and then pushed me off," I mused. "And then for a while he liked to pour ink into my blackberry cordial so my teeth would be stained for days... and then there was the time he cut off part of my hair while I was asleep... but Erchirion and Elphir I think are blameless. And that was all before our mother passed. All the fight had gone out of me I suppose, so I think it rather took the fun out of tormenting me."

I glanced up and found his expression had changed. What I had said was really quite an intimate thing and I had said it almost without thinking. But to my relief he had none of the pity or awkwardness I might have feared in his regard. Instead he seemed almost waiting for more but afraid of startling me away, much as a man might feel with his hand outstretched to first catch hold of a wild deer that might at any moment either submit to his hand or flee. It was a startlingly tender expression.

But when I said no more he did not press the manner. "You did not, I take it, ever split his lip for his troubles."

I laughed. "No I did not. Though perhaps I might have... if anyone had ever suggested it to me as a possibility. No one in my life ever told me that I could throw a punch I suppose."

"No one in your life likely will, Princess of Dol Amroth. But I don't think that should deter you."

About his own adventures he was more tight-lipped. I asked a few questions about the state of the conflict but his answers were too short and jovial to hold any truth. The stories he told in detail of what had happened were all humorous little anecdotes about life in a military camp—dogs getting into the venison or escaped horses. He did not mention any of the wounded, though a few of them had made it back to Edoras and I had tended them in their homes.

When we returned through the gate he broke off from the main party with a word to one of the other men and turned up the hill. "Oh no, my lord, you must be exhausted. You must let me walk from here."

But he paid no heed to my words. He seemed to know where we had been settled in the city for he didn't hesitate, guiding Firefoot's clattering hooves up the steep little street where we had been stationed. He swung down at my doorstep then lifted me gently down after him.

Though I was tall for a woman, a gift from my father for my mother had been a small creature, he was more than a head taller still. I curtseyed dutifully. "Thank you for bringing me home yet again, my lord."

He didn't respond to my formal words. Instead he hid a yawn behind one hand. "Tomorrow I think I shall start a project that I should have liked to start the day after Éowyn's wedding."

"What project is that, my lord?"

"Teaching you to ride."

TBC

Well ya'll it's been a hell of a week for me personally. I lost a beloved pet since the last chapter and I'd like to dedicate this chapter to him. He had a good heart and loved, was loved and will be loved until the end of time. He deserves an epic poem but this is all the creative talent I have to offer. And as always thanks eternally to Lady Bluejay for kindly editing this for me as she always deigns to do. She is the best on her own but is traveling and meeting friends these days and had help from Lialathuveril, Thanwen, and Haarajot. I am humbled (obviously) that they took the time and so extraordinarily grateful to them for doing so! XO Spake