Contact with family, part 1

As Elia wanted Éomer and Éowyn to know what her lessons was going to be about, she used a shared riding with the younger sibling duo outside Edoras to explain part of why they might need those skills later in life.

"As heirs to our fedra after cousin Théodred, I think it would be a poor idea to focus those lessons only on me, especially if there will be a war at some point in the future. While there never have been a ruling Queen of Rohan, Éowyn could possibly find herself in the role of lady Hild, the sister to King Helm Hammerhand by being the mother of a sister-son as a backup heir," Éomer said as they allowed their horses to grazing some of the new spring grass. His sister actually admitted that she would rather be happy to avoid a such responsibility for both herself and any future descendants of hers, because a son of hers ending up as King of Rohan would mean that her beloved uncle, cousin and brother had to die in order for that to happen.

Elia had to agree with the younger girl, when she thought of her own brothers and their children. A such position of power would not be worth the emotional pain, and the loss of many family members that Éowyn had known and loved her whole life in different ways.

"One important part of my lessons for you is to know how to behave in foreign courts, for while being honest is a good way, it may not always be welcomed because of different values and culture."

Despite that this was the first time she acted as a teacher, with actual lessons to teach students, Elia quickly found out that both Éomer and Éowyn did their best to understand what she explained in this first lesson of court intrigues. She agreed that with three healthy heirs, King Théoden were unlikely to let his son and nephew become rivals, but the situation could change with their marriages in the future.

"If Théodred have a fruitful marriage that gives him several children, that brings the two of you further down in the line of succession for each child that survives to adulthood. For example, my older brother have two children, but I would not be surprised if he might have fathered a third one, a second niece or nephew, by the time I returns home to Dorne. That would make me his fourth heir after his own children, as I am one year older than Oberyn, my second brother."

Her two students were smart, which she had found out many times before during her stay here in Rohan, and they in turn used this first lesson to tell her of what they had learned about their neighbor kingdom Gondor and Dol Amroth, a hereditary princedom.

"The youngest child of the current Prince of Dol Amroth is a daughter, so I think that if there were not a such huge age difference between them, she could have been a possible choice for Théodred as a bride."

"And how old are this young lady, then?" Elia asked, which caused Éomer to make a mental estimation, a movement that made him seem almost like a younger version of his cousin.

"If I am right, she is seven years old in a month or so."

Twenty-one years younger than Théodred, which ruled her out at once, since he would need a wife that was of age and able of falling pregnant with a child as soon as possible. Far too young to even be able to get offers of a future betrothal yet. Elia recalled what she had heard about Hoster Tully marrying his second daughter Lysa to Jon Arryn, old enough to be the poor girl's grandfather, as a way to bring in the Vale of Arryn into the Rebellion outside being the foster father of Eddard Stark and Robert Baratheon. She knew that Jon Arryn had lost a nephew, Elbert Arryn that had been a son of his brother and the original heir to the Vale of Arryn, because Elbert had been killed on the orders of Aerys because he had joined Brandon Stark on the foolish journey to King Landing where the Stark heir had doomed them all by demanding Rhaegar's head for vanishing with Lyanna Stark.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

The afternoon before the journey to Aldburg, Elia sought up Mereliss for a fairly private matter.

"You want to confirm for yourself that the male healers were wrong about you not being able to have more children after Aegon?"

Granted, Elia had gotten her monthly visitor nearly each month as she had stayed here in Rohan, as she had started to gain back weight so she were not so thin anymore, but she wanted to hear it from someone who knew about the female body.

"I also need some new linen cloth pads for the next one, I have used up all the ones last month and I have not managed to fill them all with softed grass."

Here in Rohan, with the endless sea of grass, it was perfectly normal for women to sew cloth pads to use during the monthly visitor and stuff them up with dry grass after rubbing the grass soft between their hands. Held in place by a T-shaped girdle made by long ribbons, the pads was washed and reused, but the bloodied grass was in general disposed in the hearth, since it was still useful despite the fluid.

"Are you familiar with having a midwife checking your private parts? I have had women visiting that have never let anyone look down there."

"My late maternal uncle's life partner is the middle daughter of a midwife, and she did learn a lot from that profession despite not really being a midwife herself. Still I preferred her help when it was something I wondered about, after the births of my children."

Elia was not sure if people here in Rohan would understand the role of a paramour, so she used a different word in the hope of that she would not need to explain why Lewyn and Rhoyne had been unable to marry outside their original social status.

Mereliss had a separate room in her house for female visitors that needed her help as a midwife in some form. It was not that big, but it did not feel cramped either. What surprised Elia, however, was the sight of a large mirror of stainless steel, polished so it really seemed like a glass mirror, on the opposite wall against the little window where the sunlight was pouring in.

"A gift from the King for helping with the birth of the Prince, despite that lady Elfhild did not survive the blood loss she suffered after that she had given Rohan a new heir."

A bed with a thick mattress, made by stuffing grass into the bed sheet before sewing it closed, was where the female visitors would lay on for examination after stripping down to only the chemise since many layers of clothes made it difficult to see clearly. Mereliss knew how to distract Elia by some basic questions, such as what she recalled from her two pregnancies and the births.

"Given that little Rhaenys and Aegon are born only fifteen months apart, and you needed a bed rest on six months her birth, I have to agree that you were not given enough time to heal. That you nearly died at Aegon's birth reveals some details as well. But I would not claim you barren yet, for with my over thirty years of experience as a midwife, I think that you would be able to survive a third pregnancy and childbirth, if you are waiting a few more years to make a bigger age difference between little Aegon and that child, as well not share a bed with a man during that time. But that pregnancy would likely be your last one, for based on your own health, a fourth pregnancy would be too much for you."

It felt as if a burden was lifted from Elia's chest at those news. That she was not barren yet, that her moonblood was a proof of that her womb was still able of accepting the seed of a man and hopefully have a third child if she did not suffer a miscarriage.

"I will ask Oberyn to give Pycelle a slow, painful death by poison for daring to claim that I became barren after the difficult birth of my son, since that was the excuse that silver fool used to vanish with that wolf-girl…!" Elia muttered in the Common Tongue of Westeros, though Mereliss could guess roughly what the younger mother must have spoken, based on the not so well-hidden bitterness in her voice. Besides, it was like Elia had kept her husband actions a very well-guarded secret, even if most of it was guesses for now until that Elia wanted to tell the whole story.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

The following morning, the royal family, their personal guards called the King's Guard and a smaller part of the royal court started the journey towards Aldburg two days after the vernal equinox, just as Théoden had said, while several of the advisors remained in Edoras to help Laywyn as she ruled the capital until that her brother came back. Originally the plan had been for Théodred to remain behind as regent so he would taste the huge responsibility that he would one day hold, but with his new goal of searching for a future wife and hopefully wed her during the celebration of the five hundred years that the Kingdom of Rohan had existed, which was happening in four years, it was better for him to come along so he could meet more maidens of suitable age and social status.

"Some of the ladies may also be more comfortable to be presented in their own home, without having to worry about any rivals that could steal the attention."

Elia could recall her own journey with her mother and Oberyn across the Seven Kingdoms to find a husband after that she had came of age. It had not resulted in a future marriage, but it had allowed the possible suitors to see her in person and find out how her personality was instead of being a stranger first met at the wedding.

"That was my logic as well. Being surrounded by other ladies with the same goal of becoming my wife, would affect our first impression of each other and that is not something I wish on any honest woman," Théodred spoke as he joined Elia, "unless it is someone with too much ambition alongside pride, lack of empathy and inability to realize that not all people can be terrified into doing something or…"

"Tempered by her body below the clothes?" Elia offered for him when he did not find a good term, and as he nodded in agreement she was already imagining how someone like Cersei Lannister would never survive in Rohan because of her father and her own personality, Elia had noticed the way the Lannister daughter looked at Rhaegar and guessed that she had desired to become the future Queen consort of Westeros by marrying the crown prince.

"Mama! Look, we managed to make my doll remain sitting up instead of falling over!"

Rhaenys and Aegon clearly enjoyed what they likely viewed as a new adventure through this journey as they travelled in one of the wagons, especially as many familiar servants came along as part of the travel group to help with cooking and other tasks to be done where they would make up camp for the night. Elia also saw it as a good chance of having her children become used to travel, since if they managed to return to Dorne from this other world, there was no guarantee that their place of return would be close to Sunspear.

As they made camp for the first night after leaving Edoras, Éowyn thought that something was odd with one of the smaller bags she helped to take off from a wagon. It was light-weighted, but something felt strange.

"Éomer!" she called to her brother who helped to groom the horses, "can you help me a little?"

As he was older than her and growing taller for each day after entering adolescence, Éomer held up the bag so his sister could open it with the opening towards the ground.

Letters fell out to land on the grass, the kind of rolled-together they used in Rohan between the royal court and the nobles. But the seal was different, the language one they did not know.

"Hold on, this looks like the words Elia embroidered under the sun sigil of her family...Elia? Can you come over here and look at those?"

When Elia saw the handwriting on the letters, she fought hard to not start crying in joy.

"They are from my brothers and father. My sister-in-law as well."

No one knew how the letters had ended up in the bag, as there had been no newly arrived letters to the royal court during the past days, but right now no one had any explanation for that mystery.

~X~X~X~X~X~X

Author note: There is very little information in RL Middle Ages about how women dealt with menstruation, but there is mentions of rags being used to stop the blood

While Elfhild did die in childbirth, there is many reasons to why she could have died given that Rohan is based on the historical Anglo-Saxon culture and there was no modern medicines or healthcare that could prevent the birth from ending badly

Trystane Martell, the second son of Doran, is born in 287 A.C so there will still be a few years before his birth, which is why Elia is only mentioning Arianne and Quentyn as the known children of her oldest brother. Since the Sand Snakes are Oberyn's bastard daughters and he also is behind Elia in the birth order, none of them would have a claim as a possible ruling Princess of Dorne