A/N: I am not J. R. R. Tolkien, I do not wish to profit from this story.

Thank you to anthi35 for reviewing (and for reminding me to publish! I truly appreciate it!), and to Anon, kfirey, adanethel, and BrightWatcher for their reviews! You are the best!

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Life in Gondor was not the same as life in Rohan, Eomer noted, not for the first time. Though the differences had been present after the Battle of the Pelennor Fields, he had barely noticed them through his grief, his worry, and the many meetings that led to a sudden departure. The next time he had been in Minas Tireth was for Aragorn's coronation, and to Eomer seemed to be the city's and the country's rebirth. The last time he was in this city was to retrieve the body of his uncle, and the city appeared to still be aglow with their new found love for King and Queen.

This time was different, as though the old formal traditions his advisors had spoken of crept out of their tales and into reality. Eomer, to his embarrassment, sent the maid tending his fireplace running from the sitting room when he walked through it without his shirt on, as he attempted to find a basin to wash in. There was a page standing at full attention outside his rooms when Eomer, fully dressed, walked out to find the way to breakfast.

By the time Eomer was seated at breakfast he was convinced that he had been greeted as "Your Majesty" more times than he ever had in all of his time in Rohan as all of the household staff stopped their work to bow or curtsy to him as he went by, and by the looks on their faces his Marshals were equally uncomfortable with this over attentiveness to station.

The table was set, but no one ate. Imrahil was reading through a pile of notes left by his plate, a pile that was only dwarfed by the one at an empty place a few seats down. As Eomer sat, nodding a good morning to his sister on his left, Imrahil looked up and wished him a pleasant morning. "How did you sleep, Eomer, was everything to your liking?" Amrothos added.

As Eomer answered affirmatively, a man came up and whispered in to Imrahil's ear. Imrahil spoke when Eomer had finished saying, "It seems my daughter is delayed today, she asks that we begin without her."

Hirieth's eyes narrowed, but no one else seemed surprised by the news and breakfast began. Servants filled plates and poured drinks, and Eomer was about halfway through his meal when Lothiriel's presence was announced by her father and brothers standing up as she walked to her seat. Lothiriel gave a small curtsy to her father and brothers and apologized for being late.

"I sent a maid to help you, sister" said Hirieth, "She should have been able to to bring you here on time."

"I must have missed her," Lothiriel replied with a small smile, as servants filled her plate and glass. She thanked them and reached for the first note. "I rose early to walk through the house with Melinir, and we lost track of time as we planned for the upcoming weeks. I cannot thank you enough for caring for my house as I traveled." Lothiriel paused to take a small bite of food as she skimmed over another note and placed it in a separate area from the first when she was done. "Father, I must request the sitting room today, there are many people who must speak with me, it seems." Lothiriel barely looked up as she reached for another note.

Imrahil granted consent, then asked, "Are you sitting alone?"

Lothiriel laughed, "I will probably wish to be sitting alone by the end of the day, but I thought to ask Lady Eowyn if she would care to sit in and meet some of my friends in Gondor."

"Her presence might not be the deterrent you wish for, daughter." Imrahil commented.

"Perhaps Amrothos will be free from training in the afternoon, and will be able to join me then?" Lothiriel asked as she looked towards her youngest brother.

"If you want a deterrent you should ask for Faramir, and I am certain he would love an excuse to sit with his betrothed in the afternoon."

"I will write to him then." Lothiriel was halfway through the organization of her notes. "Father, I must also speak with you later about our party tomorrow night, I have a problem I must address first with you. I fear it is necessary." Eomer noticed how Elphir, Erchirion, and Amrothos all flinched slightly at those words.

Hirieth's eyes flashed. "You cannot mean to –"

"I fear this is between my father and myself, dear sister." Lothiriel's voice was like steel, though she barely looked up from her notes as she spoke.

"Will you see the children today?" Imrahil asked as a tense silence fell after Lothiriel's stern comment.

"I hope to see them after I have finished here." Lothiriel replied, almost finished with sorting her pile. "Would I be able to see my nephew without stealing from your family time, brother and sister?"

"He would hardly forgive us if we kept him from you for a moment longer," replied Elphir with a laugh. "He has been asking for you since he woke, I am told."

"It is the privilege of being his aunt. I am allowed to spoil him as much as our aunt spoiled you." Lothiriel had finished sorting her notes and handed half to a servant who stepped forward to take them. "The rest of these are for you, father," Lothiriel straightened a teetering stack.

"You accept my judgement on all of these?" Imrahil asked gravely.

"I believe that most of them are easy to deal with, the bottom three show very little merit, the top will make you laugh, and the rest are excellent fire starters" Lothiriel replied, now turning to her plate in earnest. "Forgive me, Eomer King and Lady Eowyn, for not greeting you until now. Have you slept well? Were the rooms to your liking?"

As Eowyn answered, Eomer watched as Imrahil read the top note. His eyes shot up and his bark of a laugh was quickly turned into a cough. "As I said, father." Lothiriel commented with a smile.

"May I?" Imrahil asked.

"Please," Lothiriel agreed.

"My friends," Imrahil addressed the Rohirrum, "Please understand that since Lothiriel has come of age, or perhaps even earlier, Elphir and I have received many requests for her hand in marriage, and though we have asked for all marriage proposals to be sent to our King for his judgement a few daring suitors have still tried to appeal for Lothiriel's hand directly."

"You are generous with them, sir." Erchirion commented. "I feel that any who cannot follow a simple direction should not be allowed even the courtesy of their appeal being read."

"Perhaps you will change your mind when you discover that I hold in my hand a chance to rid ourselves of your sister for merely one of the war boats in our fleet and new supplies every six months. A bargain, if I ever I saw one. Lothiriel, I am afraid your new husband does not leave a name or where to contact him, but since he seems to be sea-bent I shall send you off to find him like the daughters of old with a little grain in your pocket and my written consent in your hands."

"And the blessing of her dear brothers," Amrothos continued. "If this is to be a tale of old she needs our blessings"

"And three wishes," Erchirion added, "Which are only to be used in desperate times."

"Which of course you will use before you even find your husband, as often happens in these stories," Elphir concluded.

"But I will use them well," Lothiriel replied, pushing back her chair and rising. "Probably rescuing him from bandits, or something of the like. Lady Eowyn, I see that you have finished eating, would you walk with me? I would have you meet some of my friends today, and I would enjoy your company."

"Of course," Eowyn pushed her chair away and rose as well.

"I have enough time for a short tour of the house, if you are finished with breakfast as well Eomer King."

Eomer was already rising as he accepted, his Marshals stood with him.

"We will prepare for our meetings later, Eomer King," Erkanbrand told him, and with a small signal a servant stepped forward to guide them.

"We shall see you all again at dinner," Lothiriel informed the hall, and she walked over to Eowyn and Eomer and led them through the door Eomer had entered through.

Gondor was very different, Eomer thought as the door snapped closed behind him.

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Lothiriel concluded the tour of the house with the room that she would be occupying for most, if not all of, the day. "I have asked that the children be brought in for a few minutes before the day really begins." She explained as she opened the door and saw, to her relief, that the presents she had commissioned were already placed there. "Most households still honor this tradition, where once a month the lady of the house greets the children of the house no matter their station, though others are changing it to include only the children of the upper servants. In Gondor, children are working with their parents as soon as they are able to, or are apprenticed out as soon as may be, which makes time with them short."

Eomer could feel a headache beginning behind his eyes. Lothiriel had been chattering almost ceaselessly since the breakfast room. Though he did not know her well, this seemed unusual behavior for the talkative, yet not manic, woman he met in Rohan. What had changed since yesterday morning?

"I will be meeting with my friends in a short while, but if you would rather not meet the children of the house I can instruct a servant to bring you back here before my friends arrive." Lothiriel addressed the comment at Eowyn.

"I will stay, but only on the condition that you sit and perhaps breathe." Eowyn replied with a wry smile. Eomer almost sighed with relief that he hadn't imagined the frantic pace of Lothiriel's behavior.

"There is always a condition." Lothiriel laughed, but gestured for them to be seated first before selecting a seat for herself. "You need not stay Eomer, if you do not want to. I know you have meetings later today."

"I would meet Elphir's son if I may." Eomer commented, as Lothiriel nodded to the servant who followed them into the room. The servant left, closing the door behind.

"Alphros is a delight." Lothiriel informed him.

"I am certainly glad you think so, sister." Elphir said, entering the room with a small dark haired child in his arms, the servant behind him retook his post. "He certainly thinks the world of you. Alphros, look! It is your Aunt come back from her travels, and the King of Rohan, and the Lady Eowyn are here to see you."

The boy was no more than a handful of years old, and he warily eyed the strangers before gesturing demandingly to be brought to the floor. As Alphros gave a credible bow towards Eomer and Eowyn, Lothiriel cautiously slid to the edge of her seat. "Hirieth?" she asked slowly, eyeing the door.

Elphir shook his head, and Lothiriel sat on the floor and Alphros climbed into her arms, hugging her tight.

"Let me see you, beautiful child," Lothiriel said, slowly pulling out of the hug. "Yes, your eyes look the same, your hair is a little longer, but something is vastly different… now what could it be?"

"I turned four!" Alphros exclaimed.

"You turned four without me?" Lothiriel sadly asked. "I thought I asked you not to!"

"You promised me you would bring me presents, and that when you returned I could have another birthday." Alphros informed her solemnly.

"I suppose I did." Lothiriel replied, equally solemn. "If your father would find the blue bag on the table, yes that one." Lothiriel guided Elphir, who returned with the required bag and sat on the rug next to his son. "Let me pull out one," Lothiriel requested, taking the bag before Alphros could reach it. "All of these are gifts for you, but one is not a toy." Lothiriel pulled out a small dagger, not much larger than the one she wore in her boot. "The children of Rohan were horrified that I had not given you a weapon yet, as for young boys in Rohan it is a gift for their third birthday. This is not a toy Alphros, but next year, when you start weapons training, it will be yours to use wisely." Alphros nodded. "I will give this to your father for safekeeping for now. The rest of the bag are toys for you."

Alphros let out a shout of joy, and without abandon started pulling out carved soldiers and horses from the bag. Within a minute he lined them up for an impromptu battle.

"A dagger?" Elphir asked.

"Eomer King or Lady Eowyn can explain it to you, and possibly to me as well." Lothiriel smiled up at Eomer from her seat on the ground. "All I know is that when I asked the children what I should get my four-year-old nephew, they were adamant that this be a part of the gift, and were completely taken by the fact that I had not yet given my nephew such a gift."

Eomer started to explain, but a knock at the door, pulled Lothiriel's attention. "Excuse me," she said, and rose to the table as she nodded to the servant inside the room to open the door.

In entered a group of twenty children, ushered by a middle aged woman. The children curtseyed or bowed to the room at large before rushing to Lothiriel by the table. As Lothiriel greeted each child, most of them by name, she asked them questions about their apprenticeships, or studies, or families. To the boys she gave small kites, the likes of which the children of Rohan played with, and to the girls she gave small wooden dolls with dresses. After each child was greeted and given a gift, he or she thanked Lothiriel, bowed or curtseyed again and left the room. The last two were obviously twin brothers, and were the oldest, or at least the largest of the group.

Lothiriel laughed when she finally addressed them. "Annor, and Anun, are you not too old for this? Why are you not training?"

"Master Anardil sent us here. He said that if we were to be your knights one day then we were to start now." One of the twins said, and the other presented a woven crown of flowers from behind his back.

"Boys," the woman who had brought the children in stepped forward with a serious expression on her face. "We spoke of this, you know that you will not be – "

"Able to be my knights today, you must attend all of your trainings first. When you are sixteen, six years from now, you may then pledge yourself to me." Lothiriel broke in. "But I will accept your flowers for now," and she sank low in a graceful curtsy that put herself on level with the boys. The two had a small disagreement over which way the flowers were supposed to face, but Lothiriel remained perfectly still as they twisted the crown until they were satisfied.

Lothiriel rose, and said, "I know you must return to the yards now, but here is this" and she took one of the ribbons from each sleeve of her dress and offered them to the boys. "Tokens from me, as I acknowledge your desire to by my knights one day." The boys bowed and left. Lothiriel caught the arm of the woman before she walked out after them.

"The orders we placed this morning, Melind, will they be here on time?" Lothiriel asked in a low whisper, as Elphir helped Alphros put the carvings back into the bag.

"Everything should be ready, my lady," Melind replied, and was about to go, but stopped and asked in an even quieter voice, "Fifteen offers of marriage?"

Lothiriel sighed and shook her head. "I need you to spread the word that all messages sent here will not be treated with seriously. I need it known that my father laughed. This is out of hand, and it must stop."

Melind nodded, curtseyed, and left.

Elphir was on her heels, holding the bag in one hand, and Alphros's hand in the other. "I did not spend any time with you!" Lothiriel bemoaned, crouching down to her nephew's eyes. "Tomorrow morning, perhaps we can escape to the market, you and I. What do you think?"

"And find gingerbread?" Alphros asked hopefully.

"Possibly a few items first, but yes, gingerbread is always needed." Lothiriel laughed, and gave him a hug before standing up to Elphir's level. "If that is acceptable to you."

Elphir gently dislodged the crown of flowers and held it gently around the bag. "I will put this in your room," he said by way of an answer. "It is good to have you back."

Lothiriel smiled a little at that, though the smile was strained. As Elphir left the room she nodded to the servant who was at his post. "Please bring in the first appointment for today."

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A/N: Small delay, shorter this time. I'm narrowing the window between my goal for posting and what happens. See you in 20 days!

As always, all questions, comments, concerns, etc are good to hear about!