In the wee hours of dawn on the vernal equinox, Rhaenys was wandering around the hall of Meduseld in search of a nice bronze mirror or anything else she could watch herself in. The reason was simple, yesterday she had seen some of the adult women here at court wearing their hair in long plaits down on either side of the front of the body. And Rhaenys wanted to prove herself a big girl by trying to make her hair neat in that style.
"Mirror...mirror…"
There was some round wooden shields neatly resting towards the wall, but the boss in the center was of iron and not good for what Rhaenys was searching for.
"Rhaenys, it is a little too early for a young lady like you to be up yet," Théodred spoke as he spotted her there in the corner, her white nightgown of linen naturally standing out against her skin tone. He had needed to answer the call of nature, and the four-year-old had left the bed shared with her mother and brother while he was there.
"I want to make my hair pretty like on the ladies yesterday," she admitted at seeing who it was, even holding up the bone comb to show her plan.
"Ah, you mean those plaits with ribbons, right? I agree, you would be very pretty in them."
He sat down on a bench, Rhaenys in his lap as he started to comb out her hair as a preparation for the braids. As the Rohirrim favored long hair for both men and women, Théodred was no stranger to helping others in taming their hair in order to look nice for a important event. A well groomed appearance played a important role in a first impression, and helped to bring out not only natural beauty but also if someone was healthy. Besides, Rhaenys was in a age where she wanted to spend a lot of time with the other girls around her own age who she had befriended here in Edoras.
"There. Be careful when you dresses and it should be no worry."
Rhaenys was overjoyed when she got to see the final result in a bronze mirror Théodred brought from a shelf in a storeroom where he once had found the maids to hide extra stuff which they shared between themselves.
"Thank you! Thank you!"
As she dashed off to show Elia and Aegon, who happened to still be asleep, Théodred made a mental notification of how her behavior seemed to hint about this was the first time she got her hair fixed by a man instead of her mother. Had Elia's husband actually ignored his daughter to the point of neglecting her, despite Rhaenys being the oldest of the two siblings, for not being a son?
"I am seriously tempered to give that man a punch to the jaw about how his family was treated…!"
He could hear from the kitchen that the maids had started to make breakfast, and returned to his own room to dress for the day.
Since Arda had changing seasons instead of one season for several years, Elia knew that the customs of this world had to be vastly different from what she was used to. She had managed it so far, and looked forwards to the summer, if last year was any promise. Today was promising to be yet another lovely day with sunny weather, and she even found herself caught by the eagerness of her daughter as Rhaenys proudly showed off the plaits Théodred had helped to create.
"Mama. He...father never did anything like this, right? I..do not remember anything about it…"
Elia drew a quick breath to steady herself. Rhaenys had never asked about Rhaegar before, not since the day they learned about his death and she had needed to explain that death meant that he would never come back.
"No, Rhaenys. He never spent time with you and Aegon as Théodred does. He loved his books of old lore and harp far more."
Her daughter was bright for her age, but Elia was not ready to explain about the whole drama with Rhaegar and Lyanna Stark yet. Rhaenys was still too young to properly understand how complex it was, and Aegon even more unlikely to do so.
"Lady Elia, come on! It is breakfast!"
Thankfully one of the maids gave them a reason to think of something else.
"I need to finish dressing first, then we will come."
Aegon only needed some help in getting his tunic and shoes on, then all three of them were ready.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
The sunny weather brought out a sense of celebration in the air, especially as it was warm for being in March. And no wonder, there was different kinds of entertainment for people of all ages, competitions both with riding on horses and other physical activities, and even a market with various stands. The food was seasonal, naturally, but Elia enjoyed the sight of more rare goods imported from Gondor. Like that bundle of beautiful silk fabric in a warm orange colour, making her hands itch to make a beautiful embroidery on it. Yet she kept herself under control for now, she needed to ensure that her children was enjoying the day while tiring them out enough much to be left in the care of a trusty maid and hope that the silk fabric had not been sold at her return.
"Lady Elia! Would you allow Rhaenys and Aegon to ride on the ponies?" one of the stable grooms asked, and both her children responded by running towards the group of rider-free ponies before she could say anything.
"They act as if they are truly Rohirrim…"
Well, that was not something Elia could change, being away from Dorne and her homeworld altogether. Rhaenys did not have much memories of their lives on Dragonstone, and their life here in Rohan was forming Aegon's first memories. If she could say it without being selfish, then Elia would prefer her children to basically forget who their sire was. Rhaegar's actions had nearly killed them for being his family, and she would find a way to poison any fool who dared to claim that he had been a loving father to his two children.
"Elia?" Théodred asked as he came up to her, Balerion purring against his leg for attention, "would you and the children like to share a early midday meal with me?"
Small children needed a snack between meals to not grow a bad mood, so Elia accepted his invitation with a smile.
They went outside Edoras, to a few food stands at the river banks of the river Snowbourn, since it would be less people there yet also peaceful in its own way.
"Here is one of my favorites."
Holding a large iron plate in one hand so he could show what food it was, the crown prince of Rohan revealed something that surprised Elia with pleasure, as it was a dish she had loved to eat in Dorne too: Roasted beets with goat cheese, honey and pine nuts.
"This used to be served at home at feasts! It is more common with goats in Dorne because they can survive the dry landscape better than cows."
Rhaenys and Aegon quickly joined their mother and protector in likening the dish, as the two adults had to avoid that the red beet juice strained their clothes. As for Elia, it was wonderful to eat this dish again because of the memories she associated it with, and for a moment she could almost feel the warm sun of Dorne on her skin. Elia herself was not aware of it, but as she enjoyed the mix of beets and goat cheese in her mouth, her black eyes turned dreamy in great pleasure to the point of licking her lips in an unplanned seductive movement with lips and tongue. Théodred, who had been caught all unaware of her enjoyment, stared at her without managing to say a word.
"More!"
Aegon broke the trance, demanding more food by both speaking loudly and holding up his little spoon in one fist.
"Yes, I will bring something more to eat since you requests it. Would you like lamb or chicken?"
Rhaenys and Aegon wanted a different kind of meat, which he was not surprised by. Having different opinions and personalities was good for their future sibling relationship as they got older, since that meant a natural training in being around people who could be vastly different from yourself.
"Elia, which one would you like?"
"Why not both? It can be fun to explore the different tastes with a nice sauce that matches both," she joked in a friendly manner, having finished to clean off some tiny beet juice stains on Aegon's cheek with a piece of cloth she had carried in her belt.
As they ate of the new food, Elia supported her upper body by her arms while leaning slightly back, and Théodred noticed something else:
"Elia...have you...added in weight? I mean, you do not seem to be as thin as when we first met…"
Realizing that he must have noticed her waistline, Elia responded:
"Actually, yes. I have always been on the thin size because my health have always been affected by being born one month too early. Both my pregnancies were not easy ones, and I had trouble finding food that I could keep down, especially as I also grew a craving for fresh fruit, the kinds that is found in Dorne, when I carried both Rhaenys and Aegon. It did not help that our place of residence was...horrible. It was out in the sea on a island, which made it feel horrible damp in contrast to the heat of Dorne, cold winds which lowered the temperature even more…"
Théodred recalled how he once had been at the Bay of Belfalas when visiting Gondor a few years ago. The island of Tolfalas had almost been destroyed during the Drowning of Númenor, and was left like a barren and lonely mountain in the waters of the bay. If Elia had lived on a such place after her wedding, unable to easy travel to visit her birth family, then it was no wonder that she had been miserable.
"But since I came here to Rohan, I have added in weight, yes. Everyone here is nice, trying to help me if there is any problems with the children or if my stomach protests against some food. I can rest if I want, do things that I enjoy like sewing...I feel a lot more happy, and that is the background to it."
If Elia had to contrast her life on Dragonstone and here in Rohan, she would prefer her current life, given that both her children were alive and healthy, there was no way Tywin Lannister would be able to find them here in a different world.
"That is good, that you can add in weight as a sign of not having to feel unhappy anymore. I have heard that sorrow and other such feelings can affect someone's general health, and outside times of a bad harvest or illness, it is often a alarming sign of someone being very thin and not eating well."
It was a friendly, honest smile he gave her, and Elia smiled in return.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
After the meal, Théodred showed them to an entertainment that could fit the whole family of three:
A storyteller, who was already telling a tale for a group of listeners as they arrived.
"What story is he telling?"
But when Théodred told her about the theme of the story, how a Princess and her lover had been out on a quest in order to be able to marry alongside other events such as a rejected suitor and some drama in a kingdom, Elia's smile changed into a displeased frown.
"You do not like romance tales of the style when the pair of lovers are the central characters, then, I guess?" Théodred wondered as Rhaenys got to ride on his shoulders.
"With the turn of time, likely in a hundred years or a few generations, my idiotic husband and that foolish girl are likely going to become the stuff of romance songs and legends, while all they mentions of me is the role of a unworthy wife, for my poor health and where I am born."
He made a face at realizing how it likely would turn out a few generations down the line when no one truly knew what had originally happened, no woman deserved a such legacy.
"Then...I think you might like this one better, despite it being from around the same time in history. I learned about it when I visited Gondor a few years ago and got the chance to hear about really old stories."
It was the tale of Aegnor, a Elven prince, and his mortal lover Andreth from many thousand years ago. How they had fallen in love as the first known romance between a Elf and a mortal, but been unable to marry because Elves did not marry in wartime, yet still remained loyal to each other by never marrying another, Andreth becoming a wisewoman famous even among the Elves for being very learned in the lore of men. And how, in a cruel twist of irony, the elderly Andreth had been the one to outlive her immortal prince, if not for long, when he fell in battle.
Elia felt her eyes becoming dangerously close to crying when Théodred finished the tale. Yes, this was more of a tale in her taste since it showed how powerful loyalty could be, despite the tragedy of that they did not even share a afterlife.
"Thank you for telling that story. It is such tales of loyalty that have caught my attention better than tales of the "love is the most important thing of all" kind that I have never liked anyway. After all, how can love be worth the lives of innocents if it leads to war?"
Besides, young people with very little experience of the real world outside the safe walls of home, those who were encouraged to be naive without understanding how disastrous it could be, how could they understand the difference between real love and plain lust?
"Did you see anything on the market that you liked? I can distract Rhaenys and Aegon for you if you want to go shopping by yourself for a little while."
"Oh, that would be joyful, because there was that lovely silk fabric…"
This was one of the best days in Rohan so far, Elia felt as they returned to the market after that she first had hurried back to Meduseld for a few of her own embroidery pieces that she could try to use as barter for the silk fabric. Now she only needed to return home to Dorne somehow with her children, and she would be content.
The day ended with Gandalf showing off some firework once the sun had set and the stars showing up on the night sky, which was a grand completion of a nice day for everyone in the royal family and their household.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
author note
A shield boss, or umbo, is a round, convex or conical piece of material at the centre of a shield. Shield bosses (or sometimes, just "bosses") are usually made of thick metal but could also be made of wood. The boss was originally designed to deflect blows from the centre of round shields, though they also provided a place to mount the shield's grip.
The Bay of Belfalas, also called the windy Bay of Bel, was a great gulf of the Great Sea lying to the south of Gondor, within whose waters stood the island of Tolfalas; the River Anduin flowed into the Bay. Directly north of the Bay was the Gondorian region of Belfalas.
Given that the whole story with Rhaegar and Lyanna is more or less the ground for possible songs that will simplify it into becoming a classical "forbidden love" theme with Elia as a villain in the form of the unwanted wife in a arranged marriage, I do not think Elia herself would like the famous story of Luthien and Beren because if you take away the romantic part, the Quest for the Silmaril is actually a political disaster that made the relationships between the Elven realms worse when they needed to stay together against Morgoth.
