Choices for the future
Year 3017 of the Third Age, Edoras:
There was little doubt that the Mordor would attack soon. It was impossible to tell exactly when, but few would deny that the threat of war laid in the air.
"We can only make ourselves ready with all the preparations that we have tried to make in recent years, and hope that not too many lives will be lost in the fighting," Théodred said as he and the Royal Council were overlooking the latest reports.
"How is it going with the attempts of young people marrying early and having their first children?"
Many of the Rohirrim around the same age as his two cousins felt the unspoken need to marry and have children, in the hope that even if many adult men would be lost in the war, some of the losses could be lessened if they had left children behind. Even pregnant widows would be valuable in this coming situation. Sure, it would take eighteen years before those children counted as legal adults by law, but if they had some older siblings, there would be a quicker population regrowth.
"Good, many young men and women across the social classes have gotten married over the past three years. Even if their firstborn children are only two years at the oldest, that is still hopefully only one and a half decade to wait before those children are old enough for marriage as well."
That was good news, at least in how the people of Rohan refused to let the coming war scare them from having offspring. Elia looked through the papers again to check if they had missed anything else, and found a letter that made her smile:
"Prince Imrahil has agreed that Éomer can make an offer of marriage to Lothíriel and perhaps they can even marry already next year?"
Her husband smiled at the reminder of the letter that he had read earlier this morning before the meeting.
"Yes, my cousin is at Dol Amroth to try a courtship with the Princess."
This was promising, a light of hope for the future despite the war that hung like a dark cloud over their heads. If the expanded House of Eorl got two new members, one by marriage the following year and hopefully one by birth before another twelve months had passed, then the common people would also find it an inspiration to keep going.
On the other hand, sadly, the same could not be said for Éowyn and Faramir who had started an indirect courtship since the coronation of her cousin and Elia as the new royal couple of Rohan. The female cousin of the King of Rohan sat on a wooden bench, looking down with sad eyes on the letter in her hands.
My dear shieldmaiden of Rohan, I must once again with deep regret tell you that my Lord Father refuses to let me marry before my brother. I fear that he truly can not wrap his mind around to understand why Boromir will not do his dynastic duty in marrying and having his own heirs sired by himself, no matter how much we both try to explain it. It seems like he still hopes that there could be a maiden somewhere to finally catch his eye, despite proof of the reality.
A similar letter from Boromir expressed apologies about being an obstacle for their relationship, but Éowyn did not blame her possible brother-in-law for this situation. Denethor was not the only head of family to insist that their offspring had to marry as per order of birth, it was seen as perfectly normal here in Rohan too.
"We need to find a legal way to allow us to marry…"
Suddenly she heard her grandmother's voice:
"Just do a handfasting at the wedding to your brother and the Princess of Dol Amroth with everyone as witnesses and get it done with making it clear that young Faramir is the one who will marry. That old goat to Steward is not going to live forever and better that his younger son is the one to give him grandchildren rather than wasting time."
Though the friendship to her oldest grandson, Morwen had seen on Boromir from an early age that he was the same as Laywyn, not the type to ever marry or feel attracted to either gender.
"Are you sure about that, Grandmother?"
Éowyn knew that Morwen and Denethor did not get along, something about that she once had been a choice for the position as his future wife but quickly ruined by that they honestly did not like the other alongside that Morwen had already fallen for Thengel who actually liked her despite being twice her age at the first meeting yet been charmed by that she could match the Rohirrim in horse-riding.
"With Boromir showing it so clearly for everyone to see that he is not the type for marriage, Faramir is the heir to his brother and the only way to continue their lineage in the form of grandchildren unless both of them die. And Denethor himself has not remarried since the death of his wife Finduilas 12 years into their marriage. With him turning grim after her passing, it would be hard for him to be charmed by a new wife after so many years, and the new wife may not enjoy being in the shadow of a previous wife either."
As a Dúnadan herself, Morwen did not doubt that her descendants would be long-lived if they managed to survive this war against Sauron, and she found Faramir the sort of man that her granddaughter would be happy with well into old age. So if they just could deal with Denethor, then the main obstacle for a marriage would be gone since Elia had warned Éowyn for the social scandal awaiting a elopement by telling her of several well-known examples from Westeros and both halves of this couple were not that reckless even in love.
"Grandmother, you are eight years older than Lord Denethor, surely you can not be holding a...childish grudge towards him after all those years?"
On the other hand, Denethor had been the awaited male heir after two older sisters. As the sole boy and the future Steward, some pampering might be expected.
"He was lucky that I did not break my hunting bow over his head for insulting the very same hunting skills that led to me meeting your grandfather. When you are not the most stunning beauty in a group of fair maidens, and acts as if you were a changeling from the neighboring kingdom switched in the cradle like in those fairy-tales sometimes used to explain odd behavior from a child, then gossip about you is not always kind. Denethor heard those stupid rumors in Minas Tirith and failed to remember the common saying that if you can not say something nice, then do not say anything at all."
Smiling at the response, Éowyn felt a little better. If her brother managed to find himself betrothed to the Princess of Dol Amroth, then she would write to Faramir and request a handfasting for the two of them at the wedding.
At the same time in Dol Amroth:
Becoming an aunt felt like a milstolpe in her life, especially as little Alphros was the first member of his generation.
"What do you say, nephew? Am I boring you into even deeper sleep by talking about my possible suitors?"
Finding herself alone in the nursery for a few moments with the peacefully sleeping infant in his cradle, Lothíriel had taken the time to talk in a whisper with him. Of course, he could not answer and remained firmly asleep, but it felt nice to at least tell someone about the thoughts she had for the future.
"I agree with my parents and brothers that marrying a first-cousin to the current King of Rohan is not a bad match. Eight years in age difference between two spouses is nothing for Dúnedain, and the Rohirrim are a strong ally to Gondor. My cousins have no sister of their own to offer in a marriage alliance, and I am the only girl of our generation, so I can not exactly act as if this is something an older or younger sister can do better."
Her maternal family hailing from Harad had always caused rumours about them, and Lothíriel did not like the idea of marrying a husband from Gondor that could very well be among those who talked badly about her when she was not around to hear this sort of talk within earshot. No, with Queen Elia being able to marry the future King despite being a widow with two small children from her first marriage, then Rohan looked far more promising.
On the day after her 18th birthday two weeks later, Lothíriel found herself surprised as she and Éomer were allowed to ride together along the beach because it was a nice, sunny spring day. But she was not blind to the possible meaning that they did not have an escort, he had been talking with her parents in private only a few days ago and she had not exactly been paying any attention to other possible suitors yesterday during the celebration.
"Lothíriel...how would you feel about moving to Rohan, as my wife? I know that it must be a difficult choice to make, especially as you became a legal adult only yesterday, but I want you to know what I would be able to offer as a husband."
She listened to him as the horses setted in a simple walk, all while Éomer tried to ensure that Firefoot behaved nicely towards her older gelding, about his duties as the Third Marshal of the Riddermark and what he hoped for the future if he survived the war.
"If I can help in some way, especially as a young wife that could have a child even among the danger of war, then I would try to take the chance. Becoming a widow is a great sorrow, yes, but it will be the same for so many other women in both Rohan and Gondor. I want to be helpful, to bring hope for those who will be in the same situation."
She untied her blue hair ribbon from her long braid, and held it out towards him.
"Éomer, son of Éomund and Théodwyn, shall we bring Rohan hope through an attempt to help expand the House of Eorl though the feminine line from your mother?"
He did actually smile when hearing what she told him, for Lothíriel had no idea that she had said almost identical words as Morwen on the day Thengel had hoped to offer her marriage and the position as his Queen, as per what his grandmother had told her descendants.
"A swan may seem graceful in the water, but can be dangerous towards any threats. Let us see what a swan from Dol Amroth and a stallion from the Mark can bring together."
As he took her hand as a sign of that they were in agreement about a betrothal and later marriage in a year as per the tradition in Rohan, neither one was aware of the small, invisible soul that just entered Lothíriel's womb, waiting for the day she would accept his seed and craft a new life inside her body. But just like Aegon had told Rhaenys only three years earlier, their grandmother Rhaella was fated for rebirth, to a set of future parents that would be a dramatic contrast to Jaehaerys II and Shaera Targaryen, the second son and oldest daughter of Aegon V who had taken up the family incest again after three generations of non-Targaryen wives to the Kings on the Iron Throne.
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Dorne, the Water Gardens:
At the age of nineteen, Arianne had chosen the former Daemon Sand as her future husband after some months of courtship between them. They intended to marry in half a year, and her father planned to abdicate the rule of Dorne for her at the wedding.
"It is great that my Rohirric adoptive family is invited as special guests, we never expected that to be allowed by your father."
"It is thanks to them adopting you as a legal son that we can marry. Dorne may treat bastards better than the rest of Westeros, but even we have a limit on what is acceptable about...the spouses for such offspring."
She knew that without the adoption by his Rohirric parents, Daemon would never have been able to court her, much less marry her. Even a ruler could not bend existing, often ancient rules as he or she pleased on a whim.
"Come on, we should keep checking on what happens in the capital."
By using the water pools to see distant places, the future ruling couple of Dorne saw how various scenes happened. Like that the wedding ceremony in which Lollys Stokeworth was married to Andrew Estermont, the maternal cousin to Robert and Stannis, because as the son of a second himself Andrew was unlikely to inherit the family seat Greenstone and with Lollys being the heiress to her childless sister Falyse, there was a promising future for him to become the father of a possible future Lord Stokeworth. The royal Baratheon children having either their school lessons or playing together in the castle gardens.
But it was not those scenes that Arianne wanted to see. She searched for the cousins of her father, as the two Sand sons of Lewyn Martell had came to King's Landing in order to visit Holly in secret.
"Oh, sweet sister! What a finding you have gotten your hands on! The very wildfire that Aerys had planned to use!"
In the waters, they saw Holly guide her brothers Arash and Morgan down to a hidden storeroom beneath the Great Sept of Baelor, where no less than two hundred jars of wildfire had been left undiscovered since the Sack.
"Not only that, Morgan. I have found another three hundred jars below the Dragonpit! Can you guess what I am going to suggest how to use them?"
Arianne could see what Holly must have been thinking when finding the jars on those two places; using the wildfire against the enemy armies from Mordor in the war, if they could just transport all those jars out from King's Landing to Dorne and Rohan without being found out.
"Hm? Ari, that pool is acting in a strange way," Daemon said when the water image suddenly changed. She knew what it must be, for it had happened very rarely since her coming-of-age ceremony where they had learned about the existence of Suleiman as the descendant of Neith. Indeed, the pool acted as a temporary portal where she saw him.
"Suleiman, what is wrong? Previously it has worked well to send letters through the portals as it uses less magical power?"
She had a bad feeling about why he did show himself like this, when they all knew the risks.
"Arianne, I have just found out some bad news that will request Dorne to help me become the sultan of Rûm! The unspoken sign of my father's and brothers' eventual deaths have just arrived in his harem!"
Oh, oh. That did not sound good given how alarmed Suleiman seemed to be, but she had no idea what he meant, so he had to explain it as good as he could:
"Among the girls with some magical powers that do not end up as one of his current mortal Consorts, Khamûl always sends a maiden from his Temple of Shadows to the imperial harem when he plans to replace the current sultan in less than two years. If I am to try taking the crown and freeing Rûm from his control without being killed directly, the coming war would be the ideal timing, because the Nazgûl are among the chief weapons used by Sauron against his enemies!"
Listening to what Arianne and Suleiman said in a hurry because he needed to close the portal again before it could be sensed by Khamûl, Daemon pulled out a clean parchment and wrote down a rough guess of the likely time when the sultan could meet his end; March 3019 of the Third Age.
"It seems like we need to be planning a little...what to call it? Distant family meeting masked as a palace coup? Is it even suitable to call it such, with the amount of time passed since the lives of Mara and Neith?"
Not that it mattered. It was clear that Suleiman cared for his father and all the unknown other half-siblings that were trapped in the palace, despite never meeting any of them before because only the daughters of the sultans left the palace when they were old enough for marriage. He knew that he was the lucky one to escape by a very clever yet also dangerous plot while still sleeping in the womb of his mother before it was visible that she was pregnant with the sultan's child, and had spent all his life needing to hide his true existence from Khamûl.
"Suleiman. We will help you, but we must agree on a plan on how to act. The timing, as well, since it would be worthless to come there if Khamûl is anywhere nearby."
It was all Arianne could promise for now, but better than nothing. Nodding in agreement, Suleiman vanished as the portal closed up. Taking a deep sign, the heiress of Sunspear knew that the whole family would need to gather in a family meeting about this. Suleiman had promised to try gathering a secret fleet with soldiers to help Rohan and Gondor fight against Mordor, but if he became the sultan of Rûm, he would have even more power to help his very distant Martell kin as the legal ruler than "merely" as the current governor of the port city of Manisa.
"Life sure is not boring, with other worlds and finding unknown relatives," Daemon joked in an attempt to light the mood, and Arianne gave him a kiss on the cheek as thanks for his effort.
~X~X~X~X~X~X
Author note: Both Boromir and Laywyn are asexual in this story, to explain their lack of relationships outside family and friends.
According to their respective birth years, Morwen was 17 years younger than Thengel but they still seem to have been a successful marriage as with their five children as proof of that the age-gap was not a problem in their relationship. So I think that they found some mutual interests at first and then simply fell in life. So for Morwen, the 12 years between Faramir and Éowyn is no problem about a possible marriage
Finduilas of Dol Amroth, the mother of Boromir and Faramir, died at the age of 38 in T.A 2988, four years after that her husband Denethor became Ruling Steward of Gondor. The shadow of Mordor filled her with horror while she never stopped missing the sea, so considering her heritage as a Dúnadan, Finduilas died at a very young age.
The Dúnedain (S: "West-men"), singular Dúnadan, were the Men of Númenor and especially their descendants who populated Middle-earth in the Second and Third Ages.
Yes, I wanted a different fate for poor Lollys Stokeworth than what happens to her in canon, so since Andrew Estermont, the cousin to Robert and Stannis, seems to be a nice guy, I chose to have him as her husband in this AU. Bronn will have a off-scene role as a bodyguard for this couple as Tyrion and Jaime is in Essos with their families