This was just his luck.
Or perhaps Éomer should have known that something like this would happen. Everything had been going so well that really, there was no way it could last for long. Surely somewhere Béma was laughing to his beard and making a mockery of him: foolish little king and his infatuation with the lovely princess...
One moment, he had been waiting for Lothíriel in the gardens to accompany her to a stroll before lunch. Prince Elphir, who had returned from Minas Tirith only yesterday, had been there conversing him when that girl had appeared and asked to speak with the young king. He should probably have seen it coming, especially when she made him sit beside her on a stone bench of marble.
He had thought Lady Glosswen and her father had already returned to Lebennin, but at his surprise she had merely chimed that they were still staying in the city because of some business. Éomer had tried to excuse himself and throw some distressed looks at Elphir in the hopes of the prince interfering, but things had quickly got from bad to worse. As a matter of fact, in the light of the whole fiasco, he barely even remembered what had happened before the girl had practically thrown herself in his arms and plastered her mouth all over his.
And of course that was the moment when Lothíriel arrived, and Éomer would never forget her look of shock and heartbreak on her face. Then, before he had been able to push the insufferable lady from his lap and call for the princess, she had already run away. He had effectively tossed Lady Glosswen into a flowerbed and never stopped to ask whether the girl was all right – in fact, that was the furthest thing from his mind – but raced after the princess.
However, she would not open her door when he demanded to see her. Instead, a voice of a woman shouted from inside that he would do well if he went and threw himself into the sea. He briefly considered climbing up to her window again, but he quickly came to the conclusion that if he tried such a feat again, she might empty a chamberpot on his head. She wouldn't come down for the dinner either, which of course made Imrahil worry if the girl was sick. Then some time after that, Amrothos and Erchirion approached the young king looking like they were actually going to feed him to the fish, and it was only with Elphir's intervention that a violent confrontation was prevented. To further discourage the young king Elphir reported she would not even listen to her eldest brother when he had tried to speak with her; the three brothers exchanged a dark look that spoke of some things in past Éomer had no knowledge about.
It was clear that she would not listen talk, whatever her reasons for that were, and Éomer realised different kind of approach was needed this time.
Technically speaking, it was Éothain's night off. And the man rarely had those these days, as he seemed to think no one was as qualified to guard the King of Rohan as he was. Éomer knew he'd have to repay the captain later for what he was about to make his friend do, but the undeniable truth was that Éothain was one of the best lutists he knew, including his own court musicians back in Edoras. Not to mention only Éothain was mad enough to comply.
In love and war, every move was a matter of life and death.
His other preparations were mostly done when he went to seek Éothain, whom he soon found back at the barracks, where the man was enjoying a cup of wine and sharing war stories and jest with other warriors – he had made quite a few friends after the Great War had ended. The noise in the common room where the knights gathered was loud, but Éomer had not been a Marshal and a leader on a battlefield for nothing.
"ÉOTHAIN!" he bellowed from the door – he might have exaggerated his voice a bit – and a total silence fell over the hall. Somewhere, a glass dropped.
"My lord", said the captain as he rose up on his feet and looked completely unabashed and evidently ignorant of all the staring eyes, "shall I muster the Rohirrim?"
"That remains to be seen. Hurry up and finish your wine. We have urgent business", Éomer told his captain, who drank the rest of his drink in one mighty gulp, told his friends they'd continue later, and strode over to the door where his king waited. As they exited, chatter slowly started to rise again.
"Well? What is it?" Éothain inquired. "Is something wrong?"
"You could say that", Éomer answered somewhat grimly and took the lute from behind his back. Amrothos had found it for him, but the prince's sneaky looks had implied he may have stolen it. But that could be dealt with later.
Éothain looked at the lute with incredulous eyes.
"You came to disrupt my free night because you want me to play for you?" he asked in disbelief.
"You certainly do have to play, my good captain, but not for me. A woman scorned needs to be wooed, and playing the lute is not a task I'd trust with any other man in the Mark", said the King. That made Éothain grin.
"Oh, I see", he answered, already in this little plan. After all, he was a man of Rohan. He didn't need to be explained the power of song, or the importance of singing for maidens. "I think she will be completely and thoroughly wooed once she hears you sing, because none of these Gondorian ladies seem to really be prepared for the lovely voices of singing men of the Mark. What do you need me to play?"
"Do you remember the tune for the song they call 'Greensleeves'?" Éomer asked.
"Of course I do. My Scýne back home loves that song – she often makes me play it for her. I could play that song forwards and backwards and even from top to bottom", said the captain.
"Stop bragging, Éothain. It's not me you need to impress, but the lady in question", said the younger man.
"It's a Rohirric song, if I may point out. She won't understand a word", Éothain said then.
"No worries – I've translated the verses I intend to sing. It took a moment to make it work, but I'm rather pleased with the result. Now follow me", the King ordered, and the two of them started for the garden.
Lamps had been Erchirion's invention. They were delicate little things that had been easy enough to bring to the garden, and once they started to lit them up, it looked like golden stars had fallen there down from the skies; Éomer just hoped Lothíriel would not look out from her window too soon and see the lights outside. At least her window remained dark as he and Éothain lit the lamps and the dark garden filled with light. The flower garland made the captain snigger of course, but only until he was presented with one too.
"Shut it, captain. She likes flowers and so it is flowers we must wear. At least I didn't make you dress as an elf", Éomer told his grumbling second in command. Éothain looked shocked at the mere idea.
Finally, everything was in place (Éomer had thought of doing this on horseback, but bringing Firefoot into the garden wouldn't have been so easy, not to mention the gardeners would no doubt have murdered him for trampling over their hard work). The two Rohirs glanced at each other and Éomer cleared his throat. He wasn't even sure when had been the last time he had sung properly - being a king did not leave much time for pursuing musical hobbies. Then Éothain ran his fingers over the strings of his lute and began playing the soft tune. And Éomer sang:
"Alas, my love, you do me wrong,
to cast me off discourteously
For I have loved you well and long
Delighting in your company
Bluesleeves was all my joy
Bluesleeves was my delight,
Bluesleeves was my heart of gold,
And who but my Lady Bluesleeves", he sang and let his voice soar. He had a strong voice, and some had said it had this soft and deep quality that was pleasant to listen to. Soon, a light appeared in the princess' window and a pale face appeared... and then another, the one he had been hoping for. He fixed his eyes on that face, wishing he could have seen her eyes... and that she was looking at him and seeing the honesty on his face.
The song itself was perhaps too long to be sung here in its entirety, so he left out some verses; he did, however, include parts about being "a lover in captivity", and that she might "see his constancy". Also, though the song originally spoke of "Greensleeves", it made more sense to sing of lady in blue, as that was her preferred colour. He just hoped this would not start yet another blasted fashion of amorous men yodeling under their lady loves' windows about "bluesleeves".
The two faces in the window did not disappear, not even when they realised who precisely was serenading there: in fact, they even opened the window to hear better. Éomer let just faintest misery and despair enter his voice, but also kept some faith there which he let swell with every chorus, and finally he came to the final verse:
"Ah, Bluesleeves, now farewell, adieu,
To Powers I pray to prosper thee,
For I am still thy lover true,
Come once again and love me", he finished the song, and Éothain too brought the tune to an end. Only then did the King of Rohan notice that many more windows had lit up during the song... an astonished silence hung over the garden for one moment until suddenly, someone started to clap. That gesture was soon imitated by others, and then it seemed like the majority of palace of Dol Amroth was applauding at this late night serenade.
The two Rohirs stood silently, gazing up at all the faces that were staring down at them in various states of amusement and bewilderment. Then they shared a glance, and Éothain laughed weakly.
"By Béma's beard, my lord, we are going to hear about this for a very, very long time."
"I know, Éothain. I know", sighed his poor love-sick king.
The song had already ended, but the princess was still sitting on the window board, staring down into the garden where the two men were putting out lights and gathering their lanterns. Her tears long since dried, there was now a pensive look on her face.
"It's late already. You should go to bed", said Aredhel quietly. The older woman had been staying with her for the most of the day (which was most selfish of her, Lothíriel felt, as her sister-in-law had only just returned to Dol Amroth) and was now looking rather tired.
"I think I'll sit for a while still. You can go if you want to. You should go, because you look exhausted. Elphir is probably missing you anyway", Lothíriel said softly. Aredhel gave her a concerned look, at which she smiled. "It's all right. I think I'm fine now. I just..."
Then she fell silent and looked once again down. It was dark now, but she could still spot the tall man in the dark garden.
Aredhel came to her side and lay a hand on her shoulder.
"If you ask me, no man sings to a woman like that unless he is sincere... unless he loves her. They're honest, his people. And your brother wouldn't lie to you for the sake of any king of this world", said the older of the two.
"Mmm", was all that Lothíriel could muster.
"I think you can trust in this one, sister", Aredhel said softly. "Well, good night then. I'll see you in the morning."
"Good night", Lothíriel answered absent-mindedly. Her sister-in-law patted her shoulder, and then Aredhel left to catch some much needed sleep.
As for the Princess of Dol Amroth, she sat by her window late to the early hours.
Come once again and love me...
A/N: Well. I must confess I enjoyed writing this one much more than I should have. :D We have seen flowers and midnight rides, so a serenade was in order of course. It is Valentine's Day, after all. Greensleeves is a favourite song of mine, and it seemed like a perfect piece to use here. It's a real song, by the way; it's a traditional English folk song and you can find more about it by googling. Complete lyrics are also to be found online. I changed Greensleeves to Bluesleeves for the obvious reasons, but I still think that sounds very nice.
You're probably wondering why Lothíriel would react so strongly, and I promise that will be explored sooner or later. It is an out of proportion reaction nevertheless, but people don't always act wisely when they're hurt. Let's just say for now that she's scared of trusting Éomer and she has her reasons for that.
I'm going away for the weekend and it looks like I'm not going to have an internet access, so there won't be any updates to my stories before Monday or Tuesday. Hopefully this will keep you occupied until then! And as always, thanks for the comments! :)
Talia119 - Lothíriel not having a really good horse is probably a mixture of overprotective father and that there simply isn't too many horses available, or at least not the kind Imrahil would approve of. I don't think Lothíriel really is a bad rider - in fact, I have a feeling Amrothos and Erchirion probably have let her borrow their horses every now and then. Which has done nothing to ease her frustration, really.