AN: This chapter has been edited for POV consistency, typos and other such errors. No major plot points were altered, just phrasing and directions.
It was in fact three days before she had opportunity to tell Faramir what she had said. At dinner on the second evening, Faramir's cousin Lothiriel, who was a renowned horseman in Dol Amroth, challenged Eomer's claim that only Rohirric horses had any value. Inevitably, a long and spirited debate ensued, and in the end Eomer insisted that nothing would do but for Lothiriel to ride a horse of the Mark and judge for herself how superior the race was. Eowyn and Faramir were chosen as witnesses, and chaperones, and it was decided that they would ride out at the third bell, taking a picnic dinner with them.
The arrangements made, Lothiriel bad them all a goodnight and retired for the evening. As she turned to leave the hall, her back to Eomer, she gave Faramir a saucy grin and a wink, letting him know that she had planned this from the beginning. He laughed quietly and shook his head, and then it was his turn to whisper only "Later" in answer to Eowyn's questioning glance.
Eomer left the hall soon after, and from the look on his face Eowyn assumed he was reviewing the pedigree of each of the horses that had been brought from Rohan, weighing the flaws and merits of each in order to determine the perfect horse for Lothiriel to ride.
Faramir began to laugh in earnest once Eomer had left the hall, and grinned widely to his bride, leaning over to speak in a low voice that only she would hear. "I believe my cousin has intentions towards your brother."
Eowyn gave a small start, then frowned in thought as she reviewed the conversation, and slowly began to grin, and then finally to laugh. "I believe you may be right! Poor Eomer… If she is anything like her cousin he has no chance!" Faramir chuckled, and took advantage of Eomer's absence to kiss her fingers a little more lingeringly than he should have.
The morning was a fine one, warm but with a pleasant breeze that blew over the Anduin. Faramir met Lothiriel at the stables on the 6th level, and they led his horse through the city to the gates. They met Eowyn and Eomer by the temporary paddocks that had been constructed to house the horses of the Rohirrim. Windfola and Firefoot were already saddled, and Eomer also held the reigns of a beautiful mare of blue dun coloring. Lothiriel smiled as soon as she saw the horse. After a barely polite greeting to Eomer she held out her hand, palm up, as a greeting to the mare, and spoke to her quietly in Sindarin. The horse's ears twitched, then she gave a slight toss of her head before giving Lothiriel's shoulder a soft nudge with her nose. Lothiriel laughed as she started to run her hand along the mare's neck, and looked to Eomer. "She's beautiful! What is her name?"
Eomer replied "Twylicht," then raised a brow when Lothiriel looked sharply at him. She quickly smiled, and turned to look at the mare again.
"Would that translate to Twilight in Westron, my lord?"
"It would."
Lorithiel's smile turned into a soft grin. "That name certainly suits you, doesn't it, muinthel?" The mare's ears twitched again at the elvish word, but after a moment she gave a nod of her head that made both Lothiriel and Faramir laugh.
Faramir explained the jest to Eowyn and Eomer, and they also chuckled, though Eomer grumbled good naturedly about how disloyal the mare was in siding with a woman she had just met against her master.
They divided the blankets and baskets containing their dinner between Eowyn and Faramir's horses, as they would not be racing, and the foursome rode slowly south and west across the Pellinor, leaving the road and staying well away from the bustle of the Harlond. In time they came to a small bank beside the river which offered a view of the plains and hills of Ithilien across the water. There was a wide expanse of open, level field, which would serve well for Lothiriel and Eomer's purposes, and which would also leave Eowyn and Faramir in full view at all times. Though it was only a matter of days until the wedding Eomer would take no chances.
They spread the blankets over the soft grass and laid out the food. Since Lothiriel and Faramir each knew stories about the other from when they were younger, and of course Eomer and Eowyn also had many such stories they could share, they spent an enjoyable hour over the meal and laughing together. Finally, Eomer turned to Lothiriel with a slight smirk. "Well, my lady, we came here with a purpose, did we not? Are you ready to see how truly superior a horse of the Riddermark is?"
Faramir choked on the sip of wine he had just taken, and Eowyn used the excuse of being concerned for him to hide her own grin. Lothiriel merely arched an eyebrow at Eomer and rose, shaking her head in amusement as she crossed to where Twylicht stood. Soon she and Eomer had mounted again, and rode a short distance away as they debated how to best put the horses through their paces when the open field presented few obstacles to make their course interesting.
After clearing the picnic things, Faramir stretched out on the blanket, ankles crossed and his hands stacked under his head for a pillow. Eowyn shifted so that her legs were curled to her left while she leaned on her right hand, so that her shadow fell over his face and shaded his eyes. He smiled, and reached out to idly wind the ends of her hair around the fingers of his left hand, and for a long while they are content to simply be alone and away from the noise and constant activity of the city.
Finally he broke their silence. "You never did tell me what you said to your brother that made Aragorn laugh so." She blushed at the memory, but then told the story of how Eomer had intended to help her adjust to the culture of her new home but had in fact increased her anxiety until she had snapped at him. Faramir laughed, and gave her hair a gentle tug. "Still my wild shieldmaiden!"
He then asked her to say something simple in Rohirric, and had her repeat it again before he made a guess at a translation. Eowyn laughed and shook her head, and he asked her to repeat the phrase once more. After his second attempt was still inaccurate, she laughed again and declared him hopeless. Pretending affront he tugged at her hair once more. "Let us see if you can do any better with Sindarin!" And the game was on. He would say a phrase in Sindarin, which she would attempt to translate, earning a tug on her hair for poor guesses. He would then give her the correct translation and repeat the phrase for her until she pronounced it correctly. Then their roles would switch; she gave him a phrase in Rohirric and gave his forearm a playful slap for silly guesses at the translation. They laughed often, and not a few of the phrases that were taught that afternoon contained words of love or happiness.
After about an hour the pounding of rapidly approaching hooves caused them both to look towards where they had last seen Eomer and Lothiriel riding. Faramir sat up quickly, looking slightly concerned, but Eowyn just rolled her eyes as the two horses swept past them on either side and Eomer gave a cry of victory as he edged Lothiriel out in their race.
The afternoon had worn on, and though it would be hours before the sun set they knew they should be returning, so they would have time to prepare for that evening's supper. Eowyn and Faramir repacked the picnic supplies and blankets as Eomer and Lothiriel slowed their horses and circled back around at a walk. Eowyn and Faramir fell in behind Eomer and Lothiriel, and exchanged amused glances as they listened to their good natured bickering over whether or not Eomer cheated during their race.
Faramir brought his horse close to Windfola and leaned close to whisper to her. "We are the ones who will soon be wed, but they are the ones that sound like an old married couple!"
She threw back her head and laughed loud and long, and he thought he had never seen or heard anything more beautiful.