I am not J. R. R. Tolkien. I do not wish for any profit from this story.
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Faramir had noticed the crowd. It was impossible for him not to as his very survival as a Ranger depended on his ability to observe his surroundings even in the fiercest fights. Eowyn, he realized as she froze when she saw the crowd surrounding them, was never made to learn that skill.
His Rangers were the first to approach, they rushed forward to congratulate Eowyn on the match, and many of them begged to learn how to flip their swords like she did at the end. Faramir watched her closely, trying to discern if she needed space, but for the moment she seemed fine.
It was a perfect time to introduce her to some of the men she would see daily, however before he could give her more than five names the rest of the crowd seemed to move in. There were too many people wishing to shake his hand, or hers, and he watched her grow tenser and jump when people who didn't know better reached out to grab her arm.
"I like her," Damrod said, almost having to yell even though he stood next to Faramir. "It will be an honor to serve the two of you when we are in Ithilien."
"You can serve us now," Faramir replied, drawing him close and speaking in Elvish. "I need you to draw these men away, now. The Lady Eowyn does not like crowds of people, if you want to serve her now, get them out of here."
Damrod nodded and moved into the crowd. Within a minute cries for a late breakfast started to circulate, mostly being taken up by the Rangers who pulled along the Rohirric guards by asking them questions about their combat style. This reminded the people from Meduseld that they had their own meals to look too, or other jobs to do before the day wore on. Soon nothing remained of the crowd but Damrod, and Merry, Pippin, Lothiriel, Eomer and the King Elessar over by the fence.
Faramir was now able to get to Eowyn, and he gently pulled her close. "That wasn't so bad was it?" He asked gently.
"I hate feeling trapped. I hate it when people touch me." She responded through clenched teeth.
"I know, I know." Faramir murmured. "I'm sorry."
"Lady," Damrod spoke, causing Faramir and Eowyn to look at him. "I will tell the Rangers to make sure that no one gets too close to you if you do not like it."
"It is no trouble, it is nothing," Eowyn replied, trying to shake it off.
"It is not nothing if it bothers you, Lady. We will keep you safe, you will see. We are honored that you will make your home with us, and we will not let you down." He bowed to them both and then walked away.
"That was some match." King Elessar called from the rail. "We were sorry to miss most of it."
"We are most certainly not up to your abilities yet, my Lord King, but we thank you for the compliment," replied Faramir when it was clear that Eowyn was not going to answer.
"You have not lived long enough to be as good as me," the King Elessar laughed. "Give your self time, perhaps, and then see." He nodded to the two of them and left. Eomer hesitated and then followed.
"You were amazing!" exclaimed Lothiriel. The hobbits climbed over the fence and walked towards the couple, and after a quick glance reassured her that no one was around, Lothiriel followed suit. "Can you teach me how to do that?"
"If you like," Eowyn was hesitant. "But with your height, and considering that you did not start learning sword at a young age, you might want to use something smaller. A dagger, or a long knife might suit you better."
"That doesn't sound as grand as learning the sword, as you put it." Lothiriel remarked with a dry smile.
"The results are the same," commented Faramir, Merry and Pippin, at the same time to their surprise.
"Boromir?" Faramir asked softly, and looked away when Pippin answered with a soft yes.
Eowyn reached out and took his hand. "It's much harder than sword fighting in some ways. You have to be fast and truly aware of your surroundings. I never had much patience with it," she added with a shrug.
"Boromir taught it to us," Merry commented, "because, like Lady Eowyn said, we were not born fighting. He thought it would give us what we needed to survive, and he was right."
"He told us that it was the result that mattered, and that as long as you killed honorably it didn't matter if it was by a knife or a sword."
"He was a good man." Lothiriel offered, as Faramir looked back blinking hard.
"He was. He would be honored to know that you took his words to heart." Faramir kissed Eowyn's hand. "Now that we have made a scene today, what say you to sitting in your gardens and planning."
"I would enjoy that, my lord," Eowyn smiled.
"Then, my lady, let us change from our spar and meet there in a half hour?"
Eowyn agreed readily. The hobbits went off in search of their companions, and Lothiriel in search of her brothers.
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That night Eowyn and Faramir sat together at the banquet. Towards the end of the meal, the King Elessar rose and announced the Elves' intention to leave with in the next day or two, and with them would travel Mithrandir, and the remainder of the Nine Companions, though the King would return within a fortnight of their departure.
"I will miss Merry when he leaves." Eowyn remarked, looking over to where the hobbits sat together. "He was a true friend, a companion I will forever be glad for."'
"I understand you completely," Faramir agreed. "I am saddened that they will not be here for our wedding. If where they live is truly months away then they will scarcely be home by that time."
"We should travel there, someday," she tentatively suggested.
"I would enjoy that. I cannot imagine the beauty and prosper of their home if it produced four such remarkable hobbits." He hesitated, and then added, "I gave Pippin a small knife that belonged to my brother before we left Gondor. It's a poor thank you for my life, but he was very pleased to receive it."
Eowyn looked at him thoughtfully. "I had thought to give Merry a horn to remember the ride to the Pelinor Fields with, but perhaps he would prefer a knife to match Pippin's."
"Your brother did outfit him with a knife when they made him a knight of Rohan," he reminded her. "I think your gift would please him most."
"I know Eomer will want to give Merry more elaborate gifts before they leave."
"I wish him luck with that. I could not get Pippin to accept more than the knife, and I know that the King Elessar could not prevail upon Frodo or Sam to take anything. They are a strange and wonderful people."
The meal ended with a call for more music from Gondorians and the Rohirrum alike, and so Eowyn went to direct how the tables should be moved to allow the best space for dancing. By the time everything was arranged the crowd seemed to form a wall of bodies between her and where she could see Faramir standing.
Taking a deep breath, Eowyn began to walk around the edge of the room, when Damrod, and a few others she recognized from Faramir's Rangers approached her.
"My Lady," Damrod began with a bow. "I wonder if I could be so bold as to introduce some of the men you did not have a chance to meet this morning." She nodded as he gave the names of the men, who bowed low to her. He then offered her his arm, and with out thinking she took it. "We are serious in our wish to learn that sword trick you showed this morning." He added as he began to walk with her, the others seemed to spread around as if they were casually listening to their conversation. "You nearly had our Captain completely beat at the last, something that we do not take lightly. Where did you learn it?"
"My cousin taught it to me once. My brother never liked tricks in his swordplay, but I was smaller than he and I needed all the advantages I could get. I was impressed that my body remembered it after so long."
"Such tricks have been our very means of survival many times, Lady," said a man who was walking close, but not too close, on her other side. "We will have to show you some of ours."
They reached Faramir and after a few words the Rangers moved away into the crowds. It was at that point Eowyn realized that instead of taking the long way around the outskirts of the room she had been walked through the very center with out some one so much as touching the hem of her dress.
Faramir smiled at the look of wonderment on her face. "They like you a lot." He explained. "My men are very good at many things, it is one of the reasons why it is such a small group. To be one of the Rangers of Ithilien a man had to prove that he was as able to move silently through the forest as through a crowd, as we never knew where my father would send us next."
"They don't find it weak that I can't move through crowds easily?" She asked, fixing him with a piercing gaze.
Faramir thought of how best to frame his answer. "Eowyn, I wake screaming at night from dreams filled of fire and darkness. Standing too close to an open blaze makes me nervous. Damrod starts shaking when a strong wind blows through trees because that was all the warning we got before an ambush took his brother's life. Other men have left with in the last few months because the fear of normal things, such as twigs snapping under foot, or the call of trumpets brought back too much for them to function normally after hearing. No one will ever dare to think you weak after what you have gone through."
Eowyn gave a small smile. "Shall I move to Ithilien with you now, then? I seem to fit in so much better with you and your men."
Faramir groaned. "Don't tempt me." He laughed. "I still think we're lucky your brother is letting us marry at all."
"It's only because I'm of the royal family that there is this process at all. If I were just a maiden of Rohan the choice would be mine and mine alone."
"Really? What happens if the family does not approve of the suitor?"
Eowyn shrugged. "Then the maiden and the suitor might find a life for themselves far away from where that family lives, but there is no consequence. Bryn told me that it would be different for me. As the princess of Rohan I had to marry some one of high rank, possibly to secure ties with a part of the Riddermark, but that even with limited options I would still have a choice."
"And you chose me?" Faramir smiled bitterly. "There must have been slim pickings in Rohan."
Eowyn turned so that he could see her face directly. "I chose you because of all the men in this world you are the only one to love me for all parts of myself, to care enough for me to ask my opinions and to listen to them. You are a rare man, Faramir of Gondor."
Faramir gently lifted her hand to his lips. "Thank you," he murmured, kissed it and then tucked her arm through his. He traced the ring on her finger, and smiled down at her.
They stood there together and watched the start of the dancing.
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In the end it took three days for the Elves and the Companions to be ready to leave. Lothiriel privately told Eowyn that she thought it had much more to do with a reluctance to leave the Queen Arwen behind then any lack of preparation, which Eowyn could understand.
The day before they left, Merry found Eowyn alone looking out over the plains. "My Lady," he said with a courteous bow. "I wish to speak with you, if you are at leisure."
"I am always free to talk with you Merry, as I hope you know." Eowyn responded, matching his graciousness. "Is something bothering you?" She asked, when Merry did not instantly begin.
"I fear offending you," Merry replied frankly. "And, yet I must speak of this to someone to resolve it."
"Speak freely, you cannot offend me." Eowyn reassured with a smile, but still Merry shuffled his feet a little before coming to stand by her on the wall.
"My Lady, you perhaps know that your brother plans to send me away with fortunes untold. While I am honored by his kindness I do not wish to take away more than what I came with. Hobbits have no need for fortunes, I would feel foolish to return to my people weighted down with treasure."
"He does not wish to give you treasure from kindness, but because it is what is owed you," Eowyn pointed out. "You have won great honor for yourself and your people in many different lands, and we in Rohan keenly feel what we owe you for standing by… for standing by Theoden King in his last moment."
"Yet your brother does not wish shower you with the same reward, and you stood there too."
"I am the Princess of Rohan, what reward could he give me?"
"I am going home, my Lady, what more reward do I need?"
Eowyn thought on this for a second. "What do you wish me to do?"
"Would you intercede on my behalf? I fear giving offence to Eomer King, whom I greatly respect. If you spoke for me then he would listen and I would be able to return home the same as I left."
After a moment more, Eowyn said, "I do not know how much my brother will be swayed by my words, but I will go and speak with him about your wishes." She moved away from the wall, towards indoors.
"You are going now?" Merry was horrified. "I did not mean to disturb your time alone."
"You are leaving tomorrow, I must go now or soon. You do not disturb me, I owe you too much for that, and if you will not allow my house to show it through gifts then you must allow us to show it through deeds. Do you wish to come in with me, or are you off for more errands before you leave tomorrow?" She had seen Merry and Pippin all over Edoras the past two days preparing packs for themselves and for Frodo and Sam, who were still recovering.
"I will walk in and see what is still needed." Merry said falling into step with Eowyn. "I will miss this," He half murmured to himself as they stepped into the Golden Hall.
"I will miss you," Eowyn responded, and turned to face him. She knelt before him, and placed her hands on his shoulders. "I owe you so much, yet I would make this request of you. Promise me that you will come back to us some day, even if for a short while."
"I promise that if it is within my power I will come back." Merry replied gravely, and then broke the seriousness with a smile. "I would not miss seeing yours and Faramir's children for the world."
Eowyn gave a small laugh at that, and after a quick hug she stood. Merry heard his name called, and after a suspicious wipe of his sleeve over his eyes, he bowed to Eowyn and hurried off. Eowyn watched him go and then went in search of her brother.
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Eowyn at last found Eomer back in one of the storerooms, digging through one of the trunks.
"What in the name of Eorl the Young are you doing back here?" She exclaimed, completely bewildered.
"Recovering old relics." Eomer replied, entirely at ease, pulling out a long green dress. "This for example." He said as he gently tossed it to her.
Eowyn had never seen this dress before, but she knew what it was. "Mother's wedding gown." She murmured looking over the faded fabric and beautifully crafted embroidery. "Why was it put back here? And how did you know where it was?"
"I think you could guess the answer for who put it back here," he replied, turning back to dig in the trunk. "As for how I knew, I didn't know until they locked me up here as a makeshift prison. Idleness does not suit our family well, and so I explored."
Eowyn gently put the dress down and sat next to Eomer. "What are you looking for?" she asked, peering into the trunk.
"Nothing in particular." He replied, pulling out older and rattier clothes. "I was at loose ends and thought to come back here and look again."
She watched silently as he emptied the trunk, and began to pile the objects carefully back into it. There wasn't always this uneasiness between them, and Eowyn hated it.
"I spoke to Merry," she began hesitantly.
"Let me guess," Eomer interrupted. "He does not want any jewels or treasure, just to simply go home."
"How did you know?" Eowyn asked.
"Aragorn delivered the same message. Merry wanted to be doubly sure that I would hear his request I suppose." Eomer shut the top of the trunk roughly, and the sharp snap of it closing made Eowyn jump. "Am I so frightening to talk to?"
Eowyn mouth was suddenly very dry, and so she wet it a little before responding, "What do you mean?"
"You won't talk to me. Merry who faced down Ringwrathes would rather send messengers than talk to me. Am I so frightening?"
Twisting the ring on her finger Eowyn made no response and looked away.
Eomer swore and stood up suddenly. The motion was too fast for Eowyn, and she instinctively shied away from him. This is Eomer, she told herself. Eomer is your brother. He will not hurt you. But still it took her awhile to uncurl enough to look up at him, and a bit longer to stand up.
"What can I do?" He asked, almost desperately. "Eowyn, I can't bear this."
"Merry does not want to offend you, and so sent messengers so that he would be better understood." She offered.
"And you?" He pressed, and then sighed when she shook her head. Determinedly, he changed the subject, though his hands stayed clenched, showing his anger. "We should begin thinking of what you would like to take with you to Gondor. That was the real reason I was here. I don't know when I will have time to look through our parents' things again, and I wanted to make sure that everything was still intact for you to choose from. Mother's wedding gown for example you should take. She would've wanted you to have it, and we have nothing else from her that is valuable. Father's possessions are sadly missing, but if you find anything and want it, you should take it."
"What do you want?" Eowyn asked.
"I want my family back." Eomer replied shortly and left.
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A/N: Yet another long wait. I am sorry. There is really not much I can do, but to try to finish this as fast as is possible and never start uploading an unfinished story again.
Many people have commented on grammar errors, along with many other errors in my story. I am writing this with out a beta, so the faults are entirely my own. If you have time and wish to be a beta for this story let me know. I would appreciate any help or suggestions.
As always, I would love to hear what you thought of this chapter, delayed though it is. Thank you for reading!