A/N: Sorry for not updating! I'm out of school now, but still my summer
schedule is crammed. But anyway, thanks for the reviews and let's get on
with the tale.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- A Taste Of Some Medicine ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Some time later that afternoon, when we'd finished our work, I decided to go through with my original plan to join Elfhelm and the hobbits for a game of chess. After asking permission to leave, I made my way out of the Steward's chambers with an additional mission in mind.
I was going to give Tonigil a good deal of trouble. I was going to make sure of that. Well, most of it depended on how Faramir would deal with him.
As I walked to the gardens, another thought crossed my head. Could it be possible that the more I pushed him away the more he would continue his advances.? After all didn't that sort of thing happen before between Éowyn and the late Grima Wormtongue?
Perish the thought.
By the time I found my friends, they'd abandoned playing and already moved to exchanging stories and cracking some jokes. To my surprise, Lothíriel was with them and Éomer and Elfwine too.
"Well, what took you so long?" Merry called when he saw me.
"I got a little sidetracked," I replied sheepishly as I sat down on the grass. "So how's everything?"
"As fine as ever," Lothíriel said, without a hint of sleepiness in her voice. "We were just talking about you when you came in,"
Leave it to Lothíriel to spread gossip. "Your cousin was looking for a piece of parchment." I began cautiously, hoping to find out how much she and the others knew.
"Oh we all saw it, and it had been written upon, a quite stunning declaration in fact. Do you know who the author was?" Éomer said.
"I do, and I have to give him his due," I said. Various possibilities were clicking in my mind on how to punish Tonigil for humiliating me twice in the span of several months. Well, I could always *borrow* someone's sword, or perhaps mix up something for him that would turn him green for a year.
"Is Niliwen here?" I heard that dratted voice call from the other end of the garden.
"Hide me!" I begged, trying to hide behind Éomer and Elfhelm.
"Come on Niliwen. If you aren't in love with him, then tell him so," Pippin said.
"Oh you are one to give romantic advice," Merry said, rolling his eyes.
"It isn't my fault Diamond says she can't marry me!" Pippin exclaimed.
"Now who's this Diamond?" I asked.
"His sweet-OUCH!" Merry began, before Pippin gave him a kick. Éomer had to restrain the angry hobbit. Lothíriel, Elfwine and Elfhelm on the other hand were laughing at the scene.
Knowing what I had to do, I got up and walked over to where Tonigil was. Quickly, I gave him a slap on the face.
"What was that for?" he asked me confusedly.
"That's for humiliating me in front of the whole court, twice no less! How many times do I have to tell you I am not in love with you?!" I screamed as I stormed off indoors. On my way in, I ran again into Faramir and Éowyn.
"What happened?" Éowyn asked.
"I-I don't know," I stammered sheepishly.
"Was that Tonigil we heard outside?" Faramir asked. I nodded as I let them pass to the gardens.
Instead of going to my room, I stayed to listen to what Faramir would tell my worst enemy. However, I couldn't hear anything, no matter how hard I pressed my ear to the keyhole. Suddenly, the door opened and next thing I knew, I was chewing grass. I'd forgotten the door opened outwards into the garden.
"I'm very sorry. Are you quite alright?" I heard Imrahil's voice ask. Looking up, I could see him bent over me with a rather worried expression on his face.
"Nothing broken," I said as I got to my feet. From where I stood, I could see that Faramir and Éowyn had joined the group. I decided to go and check on the twins.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sure enough, when I got upstairs, Elboron and Eäriel were sound asleep in their cribs, as we'd left them some time ago. Perfect. That meant I wouldn't be disturbed while I did what I had to do.
In a few minutes, I had a pocketful of herbs and a small jar of water on a table. With one of Éowyn's new herb lore books by my side, I set to my task. Carefully, I pounded the leaves I got and mixed them into the water. Shaking the jar's contents, I could see that the liquid had turned brown and was starting to thicken.
Yes, this was the recipe we used in the Houses of Healing to alleviate a coughing fit. It was quite harmless. However, this concoction tasted quite nasty unless one put a few sprigs of mint or some delicious culinary herb in it. Suddenly, Éowyn walked in the doorway.
"Niliwen, what are you doing here?" she asked me perplexedly.
"Watching over the babies," I said. It was a half-truth, I know.
"Thank you," Éowyn said. As she made her way to the dresser, I saw her glance towards the table where the jar of glop stood.
"Are you well?" she asked me concernedly. "By the way, Faramir had a talk with your friend, and the matter is taken care of,"
"I guess," I replied. Something in the back of my mind told me one thing: I was doomed.
"You're hiding something" Éowyn said to me sternly. "I see no reason why you would have that medicine here,"
"I think I have been exposed to something," I muttered. She nodded, but I had the feeling she didn't quite believe me.
"You'd better behave yourself. What really happened at the garden this afternoon?" she asked me.
"You and Faramir seem to be pairing me and Tonigil up. My lady, you know I am not the least bit interested in *that* man!" I blurted out.
"We're not doing that. Speaking about Faramir, where is he?" Éowyn said. Just then, Faramir came walking in quickly.
"There's going to be a banquet tonight for my uncle's birthday," he said.
"Why didn't anybody tell you until now?" Éowyn asked.
"My cousin Elphir is making it a surprise, and he only let everybody else in on it today," Faramir said as he went to the clothes chest.
"Your cousin is too good at keeping secrets. When are we expected?" Éowyn said as she joined him.
"In an hour. Though I daresay that is barely enough time for everyone to get ready," Faramir answered.
"Should I stay upstairs with the children or am I permitted to attend the celebration as your attendant?" I asked quietly. Two years ago, this would have been simpler. But since Éowyn and Faramir took care of the children themselves (as of now, the only servants in Emyn Arnen were a cook, a gardener, and two others in charge of cleaning up, and myself of course. Right now, the four other servants were back in Ithilien), this just complicated matters.
"Eldarion's nursemaid has offered to take charge of the children. She will also be taking care of Elfwine," Faramir said.
Éowyn smiled in relief. Eldarion's nursemaid was quite a trustworthy woman. We all knew Elboron and Eäriel would be in good hands.
"Go get dressed, Niliwen. We'll meet you in a few minutes," Éowyn said to me.
"Thank you," I said happily as I went to the door, scooping up the jar on the way. I promised to myself I wouldn't let them down. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- For some reason, I tried to look my best for that night. So I decided to wear my best dress, a simple pink gown, which I'd only worn on one occasion, on Éomer's wedding.
When I stepped out of my room, I saw Éowyn standing by the hallway window, clad in an exquisite white dress and her hair was bound neatly back from her face with a circlet of silver.
"You look lovely," I heard Faramir say as he walked into the hallway. Naturally, this was addressed to Éowyn.
"Once again, we don't match," Éowyn said ruefully. I looked to see Faramir, who was robed in blue. As this wasn't New Year or Ringday or any major festival, nobody was required to wear livery or bear a sword.
"Should you?" I quipped. Honestly, I didn't see the point of couples matching.
"But you still look handsome," Éowyn said to Faramir.
"In the years we've known each other, we never matched at any banquet," Faramir said as they walked arm in arm down the halls, with me following a short distance behind.
When we reached the banquet hall, which was aglow with lit torches and decorated in silver and blue, I saw it was filled with people. It seemed as if Elphir had invited the whole populace of Dol Amroth. Everyone was gaily dressed and mingling, except perhaps for a small group of women standing in full view of all. These women were more fancily adorned than most, and I guessed that they were the nobles of Dol Amroth. For some reason, Lothíriel wasn't among them.
"Have you seen Uncle anywhere?" Faramir asked his cousin when we met him.
"He hasn't joined us yet. I have a feeling he knows what I've been up to," Elphir answered, nervously twisting the buttons on his shirt.
Just then, we saw Imrahil enter in through a door. As he walked through the crowd, the guests were greeting him. I could see he was headed in our direction.
"Happy birthday, father" Elphir greeted Imrahil as the latter met us.
"Were you the one responsible for this?" Imrahil asked the younger prince.
"Umm.yes" Elphir answered.
"While this isn't the way I quite expected to celebrate my birthday, I'm still happy you threw this banquet," Imrahil said as he went off. I breathed a sigh of relief
"That went better than I thought at first," Éowyn said.
"We have a while before supper. Sorry I cannot stay; I have to go and see to some things," Elphir said politely. "Oh yes, Faramir, some of your old friends here want to speak to you. Care to come with me?" he added quickly.
"Go on," Éowyn whispered. Before we knew it, Elphir was off dragging his cousin.
"I guess that leaves me looking for the hobbits," I sighed. I noticed that the noble ladies of Dol Amroth were now looking in our direction and whispering among themselves.
"Now if you think Princess Lothíriel has bad taste, then what of her cousin?" I heard a woman whisper.
"You mean the Steward? Honestly, I don't think he was in his right mind when he proposed to that barbarian woman from Rohan," another voice said.
"You cannot deny she is a heroine," a lady added.
"Really, how unladylike of her to be wielding a sword like her brother! I tried to woo Lord Faramir while he was still unmarried, but it seems that he was too .blinded to see what was really good for him!"
"His father wouldn't have approved of Lady Éowyn, that's for sure,"
"I think Lady Éowyn is trying to save face. Rumor has it she was once in love with King Elessar himself! I think she married Lord Faramir just to cover it all up,"
By this time, I realized that Éowyn had heard every word that these horrid nobles had said. I cringed as I saw her walk up to the group. Hoping to avoid the confrontation I knew was inevitable I slipped away into the crowd, to where Legolas and Gimli were chatting.
"Trouble brewing?" Gimli asked when he saw me. I nodded nervously.
"I hope she deals with them nice and quietly. But knowing her, that isn't very likely!" I muttered.
Suddenly, I heard a shriek of outrage, and I saw Éowyn walk off with a triumphant look on her face.
"How did it go?" I heard Arwen ask Éowyn.
"Oh, let's just say all that court gossip my dear sister-in-law shared with me can come in handy," Éowyn answered nonchalantly as she took a small sip of her glass of wine.
Music began playing and some people began to dance. I decided to join Arwen and Éowyn for a while, just so nobody would ask me to dance. Lothíriel had already gotten (or is it forced?) her husband to share a dance.
"Shall we go and find partners?" Éowyn asked Arwen as I joined them.
"That will depend if my brothers will leave my husband for a second or so," Arwen laughed.
"Aren't you going to find a partner?" Éowyn asked me.
"I look worse than an Oliphaunt when I dance," I said.
"You never tried to dance," Éowyn reminded me. I saw in the corner Elladan and Elrohir pushing Aragorn in our direction.
"Would you care to dance, my lady?" Aragorn asked Arwen as he approached us. It seemed as if poor King Elessar was under duress.
"I'd be delighted, my lord," Arwen replied graciously as she took his hand and they went off to the dance floor.
"Now let's see if I can do one better. Wish me luck," Éowyn said as she went off in search of Faramir. I laughed to myself at this as I walked at the edge of the great hall. I was surprised to see that Legolas and Gimli had managed to get partners, and even Pippin and Merry were dancing.
As I stood in the back, I suddenly felt a hand on my arm. I whirled around to see the person I totally didn't want to dance with, not even if my existence depended on it.
"Would you do me the honor of a dance?" Tonigil asked me.
I felt a hot flush creep up my cheeks and my mind went blank. Did he just ask me to dance with him?! And it didn't help that he looked quite good in his green garments...and I knew some eyes were on us.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested!" I blurted out.
"Are you sure?" he pressed on.
"Read my lips. I am not up to it!" I said, and I could hear the dangerous tone in my voice.
"Niliwen." I heard him say, but by then, I was on my way to the other end of the hall.
An idea flashed in my head. I carefully took the harmless vial of goo I had in my clothes. Reaching for a full glass of wine, I poured a good dose of it in the goblet. I took it straight to where Tonigil sat, looking downcast. I think I wanted to kill myself on the spot, but I didn't know why.
"Would you like a drink?" I asked tentatively.
He looked up at me, a puzzled look on his face. "I don't understand it,"
"I saved you the trouble of getting another glass of wine, you half- orc," I said hotly.
"Perhaps you do care for me a little bit, Niliwen," he smiled as he took the glass from me.
My jaw fell. That wasn't what I meant!
"Umm, excuse me!" I said as I ducked into a crowd. I didn't want him to catch me. I saw him take a hearty sip and grimace a bit as he put the glass on a nearby table. After a while, I saw Elladan and Elrohir stop by the table, laughing. I noticed Elladan had a wine glass with him.
"Well, good evening," I said brightly as I joined them.
"It's a lovely night out, isn't it?" Elrohir said. I saw Elladan take a drink, and I realized he'd picked up the wrong wine glass!!
"By Varda, this wine tastes awful!" the elf exclaimed.
"It tasted fine to me," Elrohir said. I was speechless, torn between the desire to keep my secret and the nagging knowledge that I should admit what I did. When the elf had put down the glass, I quickly drank its contents down. I felt the bitterness of the decoction in my throat as I swallowed.
"It isn't very nice. Maybe you should take some fruit," I murmured.
"Right," Elladan said, looking at me suspiciously. I stayed away from them for the rest of the evening. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
The rest of the night went on uneventfully. It was after midnight when I finally sought the comfort of my pillows. It must've been about two hours after I slept when I heard a baby wailing in the next room.
"Oh please Eäriel, will you have mercy on your mother?!" I thought desperately as I buried my head under a pillow to muffle the little girl's fussing. Finding myself unable to sleep any longer, I sat up and went to my window. The setting moon shimmered over the sea, and the soothing sound of the waves pounding against the shore broke the stillness of the night.
"I don't know if I'm doing things right," I heard Éowyn say in the next room.
"I have full confidence in your abilities as a mother. Please don't doubt yourself," I heard Faramir say in answer.
"Could it be that Eäriel is having dreams just like you?"
"I don't know. I cannot perceive her mind yet; no more can I fully understand yours,"
"After two years of marriage, you still consider me a puzzle?"
"Sometimes, you can be. No matter what, though you are called Lady of Ithilien, you will still be my shield-maiden,"
"I no longer wish to go into battle, my lord. Being with you and our children is more than a thousand victories on the battlefield,"
I rolled my eyes on hearing this exchange. I couldn't understand why Éowyn and Faramir had chosen to fall in love. It seemed to be making one so.vulnerable!
As I glanced around my chamber, I saw a piece of paper on the floor. I was glad to realize that the paper didn't come from Lord Faramir's office. The scrap read:
"I sincerely wish to make up for my actions over the past few days. Will you allow me to make it up to you? From, Tonigil"
For some reason, I wrote "yes" on the paper before slipping it out under the door.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
The next morning dawned unusually well for me. After I washed and dressed, I went to see if I had any errands to run. As I stepped into the hallway, I heard this time the sound of a child cooing and chuckling. I saw Éowyn sitting on a chair, holding Eäriel, who was now happily giggling as she played with her mother's hair. Éowyn spoke to her child softly and sometimes tickled her gently.
"Good morning," I greeted cheerily.
"Good morning. Why, you seem to be in a better mood than yesterday" Éowyn observed.
"Perhaps," I said. I then saw Faramir come in carrying Elboron. Much to my dismay, a sort of sticky juice covered the baby's face and hair.
"So much for our jest, Faramir. I presume you haven't had any luck with him?" Éowyn asked her husband.
"It went fine, dear. That was until I decided to give him some fruit," Faramir sighed as he tried to clean up his son.
"Oh, we're all mortals," I said.
"Niliwen, can you be a good older sister and get some fresh clothing for Elboron?" Éowyn asked me teasingly.
"I'm not even related to you!" I said in annoyance. It was becoming a running joke in Emyn Arnen that I could pass off as Faramir's daughter. Not that I had a striking resemblance to him, or Éowyn for that matter. While they were both tall and graceful in bearing, I was short and rather rough. And for one thing, my hair was brown, not raven.
As I took some clothes out of a drawer, I wondered how it would be to have siblings. After all, I was an only child when my parents were around.
Perhaps I'd ask Éowyn and Faramir later.
Or perhaps, I was starting to experience it first-hand. In whatever case, the only thing I wanted for certain was just to simply have Tonigil as a friend, nothing more. And, I also needed a good night's sleep. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Next: return to Ithilien ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Yeah, maybe some of you were expecting Niliwen and Tonigil to get together. But I decided to sort of break away from my classic story format. Don't worry, we'll have more of the twins and the rest of the Steward's household when I next update. This is coming on quite slow, as I have a HASA challenge to answer and my other story. Please review!!
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- A Taste Of Some Medicine ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
Some time later that afternoon, when we'd finished our work, I decided to go through with my original plan to join Elfhelm and the hobbits for a game of chess. After asking permission to leave, I made my way out of the Steward's chambers with an additional mission in mind.
I was going to give Tonigil a good deal of trouble. I was going to make sure of that. Well, most of it depended on how Faramir would deal with him.
As I walked to the gardens, another thought crossed my head. Could it be possible that the more I pushed him away the more he would continue his advances.? After all didn't that sort of thing happen before between Éowyn and the late Grima Wormtongue?
Perish the thought.
By the time I found my friends, they'd abandoned playing and already moved to exchanging stories and cracking some jokes. To my surprise, Lothíriel was with them and Éomer and Elfwine too.
"Well, what took you so long?" Merry called when he saw me.
"I got a little sidetracked," I replied sheepishly as I sat down on the grass. "So how's everything?"
"As fine as ever," Lothíriel said, without a hint of sleepiness in her voice. "We were just talking about you when you came in,"
Leave it to Lothíriel to spread gossip. "Your cousin was looking for a piece of parchment." I began cautiously, hoping to find out how much she and the others knew.
"Oh we all saw it, and it had been written upon, a quite stunning declaration in fact. Do you know who the author was?" Éomer said.
"I do, and I have to give him his due," I said. Various possibilities were clicking in my mind on how to punish Tonigil for humiliating me twice in the span of several months. Well, I could always *borrow* someone's sword, or perhaps mix up something for him that would turn him green for a year.
"Is Niliwen here?" I heard that dratted voice call from the other end of the garden.
"Hide me!" I begged, trying to hide behind Éomer and Elfhelm.
"Come on Niliwen. If you aren't in love with him, then tell him so," Pippin said.
"Oh you are one to give romantic advice," Merry said, rolling his eyes.
"It isn't my fault Diamond says she can't marry me!" Pippin exclaimed.
"Now who's this Diamond?" I asked.
"His sweet-OUCH!" Merry began, before Pippin gave him a kick. Éomer had to restrain the angry hobbit. Lothíriel, Elfwine and Elfhelm on the other hand were laughing at the scene.
Knowing what I had to do, I got up and walked over to where Tonigil was. Quickly, I gave him a slap on the face.
"What was that for?" he asked me confusedly.
"That's for humiliating me in front of the whole court, twice no less! How many times do I have to tell you I am not in love with you?!" I screamed as I stormed off indoors. On my way in, I ran again into Faramir and Éowyn.
"What happened?" Éowyn asked.
"I-I don't know," I stammered sheepishly.
"Was that Tonigil we heard outside?" Faramir asked. I nodded as I let them pass to the gardens.
Instead of going to my room, I stayed to listen to what Faramir would tell my worst enemy. However, I couldn't hear anything, no matter how hard I pressed my ear to the keyhole. Suddenly, the door opened and next thing I knew, I was chewing grass. I'd forgotten the door opened outwards into the garden.
"I'm very sorry. Are you quite alright?" I heard Imrahil's voice ask. Looking up, I could see him bent over me with a rather worried expression on his face.
"Nothing broken," I said as I got to my feet. From where I stood, I could see that Faramir and Éowyn had joined the group. I decided to go and check on the twins.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Sure enough, when I got upstairs, Elboron and Eäriel were sound asleep in their cribs, as we'd left them some time ago. Perfect. That meant I wouldn't be disturbed while I did what I had to do.
In a few minutes, I had a pocketful of herbs and a small jar of water on a table. With one of Éowyn's new herb lore books by my side, I set to my task. Carefully, I pounded the leaves I got and mixed them into the water. Shaking the jar's contents, I could see that the liquid had turned brown and was starting to thicken.
Yes, this was the recipe we used in the Houses of Healing to alleviate a coughing fit. It was quite harmless. However, this concoction tasted quite nasty unless one put a few sprigs of mint or some delicious culinary herb in it. Suddenly, Éowyn walked in the doorway.
"Niliwen, what are you doing here?" she asked me perplexedly.
"Watching over the babies," I said. It was a half-truth, I know.
"Thank you," Éowyn said. As she made her way to the dresser, I saw her glance towards the table where the jar of glop stood.
"Are you well?" she asked me concernedly. "By the way, Faramir had a talk with your friend, and the matter is taken care of,"
"I guess," I replied. Something in the back of my mind told me one thing: I was doomed.
"You're hiding something" Éowyn said to me sternly. "I see no reason why you would have that medicine here,"
"I think I have been exposed to something," I muttered. She nodded, but I had the feeling she didn't quite believe me.
"You'd better behave yourself. What really happened at the garden this afternoon?" she asked me.
"You and Faramir seem to be pairing me and Tonigil up. My lady, you know I am not the least bit interested in *that* man!" I blurted out.
"We're not doing that. Speaking about Faramir, where is he?" Éowyn said. Just then, Faramir came walking in quickly.
"There's going to be a banquet tonight for my uncle's birthday," he said.
"Why didn't anybody tell you until now?" Éowyn asked.
"My cousin Elphir is making it a surprise, and he only let everybody else in on it today," Faramir said as he went to the clothes chest.
"Your cousin is too good at keeping secrets. When are we expected?" Éowyn said as she joined him.
"In an hour. Though I daresay that is barely enough time for everyone to get ready," Faramir answered.
"Should I stay upstairs with the children or am I permitted to attend the celebration as your attendant?" I asked quietly. Two years ago, this would have been simpler. But since Éowyn and Faramir took care of the children themselves (as of now, the only servants in Emyn Arnen were a cook, a gardener, and two others in charge of cleaning up, and myself of course. Right now, the four other servants were back in Ithilien), this just complicated matters.
"Eldarion's nursemaid has offered to take charge of the children. She will also be taking care of Elfwine," Faramir said.
Éowyn smiled in relief. Eldarion's nursemaid was quite a trustworthy woman. We all knew Elboron and Eäriel would be in good hands.
"Go get dressed, Niliwen. We'll meet you in a few minutes," Éowyn said to me.
"Thank you," I said happily as I went to the door, scooping up the jar on the way. I promised to myself I wouldn't let them down. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- For some reason, I tried to look my best for that night. So I decided to wear my best dress, a simple pink gown, which I'd only worn on one occasion, on Éomer's wedding.
When I stepped out of my room, I saw Éowyn standing by the hallway window, clad in an exquisite white dress and her hair was bound neatly back from her face with a circlet of silver.
"You look lovely," I heard Faramir say as he walked into the hallway. Naturally, this was addressed to Éowyn.
"Once again, we don't match," Éowyn said ruefully. I looked to see Faramir, who was robed in blue. As this wasn't New Year or Ringday or any major festival, nobody was required to wear livery or bear a sword.
"Should you?" I quipped. Honestly, I didn't see the point of couples matching.
"But you still look handsome," Éowyn said to Faramir.
"In the years we've known each other, we never matched at any banquet," Faramir said as they walked arm in arm down the halls, with me following a short distance behind.
When we reached the banquet hall, which was aglow with lit torches and decorated in silver and blue, I saw it was filled with people. It seemed as if Elphir had invited the whole populace of Dol Amroth. Everyone was gaily dressed and mingling, except perhaps for a small group of women standing in full view of all. These women were more fancily adorned than most, and I guessed that they were the nobles of Dol Amroth. For some reason, Lothíriel wasn't among them.
"Have you seen Uncle anywhere?" Faramir asked his cousin when we met him.
"He hasn't joined us yet. I have a feeling he knows what I've been up to," Elphir answered, nervously twisting the buttons on his shirt.
Just then, we saw Imrahil enter in through a door. As he walked through the crowd, the guests were greeting him. I could see he was headed in our direction.
"Happy birthday, father" Elphir greeted Imrahil as the latter met us.
"Were you the one responsible for this?" Imrahil asked the younger prince.
"Umm.yes" Elphir answered.
"While this isn't the way I quite expected to celebrate my birthday, I'm still happy you threw this banquet," Imrahil said as he went off. I breathed a sigh of relief
"That went better than I thought at first," Éowyn said.
"We have a while before supper. Sorry I cannot stay; I have to go and see to some things," Elphir said politely. "Oh yes, Faramir, some of your old friends here want to speak to you. Care to come with me?" he added quickly.
"Go on," Éowyn whispered. Before we knew it, Elphir was off dragging his cousin.
"I guess that leaves me looking for the hobbits," I sighed. I noticed that the noble ladies of Dol Amroth were now looking in our direction and whispering among themselves.
"Now if you think Princess Lothíriel has bad taste, then what of her cousin?" I heard a woman whisper.
"You mean the Steward? Honestly, I don't think he was in his right mind when he proposed to that barbarian woman from Rohan," another voice said.
"You cannot deny she is a heroine," a lady added.
"Really, how unladylike of her to be wielding a sword like her brother! I tried to woo Lord Faramir while he was still unmarried, but it seems that he was too .blinded to see what was really good for him!"
"His father wouldn't have approved of Lady Éowyn, that's for sure,"
"I think Lady Éowyn is trying to save face. Rumor has it she was once in love with King Elessar himself! I think she married Lord Faramir just to cover it all up,"
By this time, I realized that Éowyn had heard every word that these horrid nobles had said. I cringed as I saw her walk up to the group. Hoping to avoid the confrontation I knew was inevitable I slipped away into the crowd, to where Legolas and Gimli were chatting.
"Trouble brewing?" Gimli asked when he saw me. I nodded nervously.
"I hope she deals with them nice and quietly. But knowing her, that isn't very likely!" I muttered.
Suddenly, I heard a shriek of outrage, and I saw Éowyn walk off with a triumphant look on her face.
"How did it go?" I heard Arwen ask Éowyn.
"Oh, let's just say all that court gossip my dear sister-in-law shared with me can come in handy," Éowyn answered nonchalantly as she took a small sip of her glass of wine.
Music began playing and some people began to dance. I decided to join Arwen and Éowyn for a while, just so nobody would ask me to dance. Lothíriel had already gotten (or is it forced?) her husband to share a dance.
"Shall we go and find partners?" Éowyn asked Arwen as I joined them.
"That will depend if my brothers will leave my husband for a second or so," Arwen laughed.
"Aren't you going to find a partner?" Éowyn asked me.
"I look worse than an Oliphaunt when I dance," I said.
"You never tried to dance," Éowyn reminded me. I saw in the corner Elladan and Elrohir pushing Aragorn in our direction.
"Would you care to dance, my lady?" Aragorn asked Arwen as he approached us. It seemed as if poor King Elessar was under duress.
"I'd be delighted, my lord," Arwen replied graciously as she took his hand and they went off to the dance floor.
"Now let's see if I can do one better. Wish me luck," Éowyn said as she went off in search of Faramir. I laughed to myself at this as I walked at the edge of the great hall. I was surprised to see that Legolas and Gimli had managed to get partners, and even Pippin and Merry were dancing.
As I stood in the back, I suddenly felt a hand on my arm. I whirled around to see the person I totally didn't want to dance with, not even if my existence depended on it.
"Would you do me the honor of a dance?" Tonigil asked me.
I felt a hot flush creep up my cheeks and my mind went blank. Did he just ask me to dance with him?! And it didn't help that he looked quite good in his green garments...and I knew some eyes were on us.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not interested!" I blurted out.
"Are you sure?" he pressed on.
"Read my lips. I am not up to it!" I said, and I could hear the dangerous tone in my voice.
"Niliwen." I heard him say, but by then, I was on my way to the other end of the hall.
An idea flashed in my head. I carefully took the harmless vial of goo I had in my clothes. Reaching for a full glass of wine, I poured a good dose of it in the goblet. I took it straight to where Tonigil sat, looking downcast. I think I wanted to kill myself on the spot, but I didn't know why.
"Would you like a drink?" I asked tentatively.
He looked up at me, a puzzled look on his face. "I don't understand it,"
"I saved you the trouble of getting another glass of wine, you half- orc," I said hotly.
"Perhaps you do care for me a little bit, Niliwen," he smiled as he took the glass from me.
My jaw fell. That wasn't what I meant!
"Umm, excuse me!" I said as I ducked into a crowd. I didn't want him to catch me. I saw him take a hearty sip and grimace a bit as he put the glass on a nearby table. After a while, I saw Elladan and Elrohir stop by the table, laughing. I noticed Elladan had a wine glass with him.
"Well, good evening," I said brightly as I joined them.
"It's a lovely night out, isn't it?" Elrohir said. I saw Elladan take a drink, and I realized he'd picked up the wrong wine glass!!
"By Varda, this wine tastes awful!" the elf exclaimed.
"It tasted fine to me," Elrohir said. I was speechless, torn between the desire to keep my secret and the nagging knowledge that I should admit what I did. When the elf had put down the glass, I quickly drank its contents down. I felt the bitterness of the decoction in my throat as I swallowed.
"It isn't very nice. Maybe you should take some fruit," I murmured.
"Right," Elladan said, looking at me suspiciously. I stayed away from them for the rest of the evening. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------------------
The rest of the night went on uneventfully. It was after midnight when I finally sought the comfort of my pillows. It must've been about two hours after I slept when I heard a baby wailing in the next room.
"Oh please Eäriel, will you have mercy on your mother?!" I thought desperately as I buried my head under a pillow to muffle the little girl's fussing. Finding myself unable to sleep any longer, I sat up and went to my window. The setting moon shimmered over the sea, and the soothing sound of the waves pounding against the shore broke the stillness of the night.
"I don't know if I'm doing things right," I heard Éowyn say in the next room.
"I have full confidence in your abilities as a mother. Please don't doubt yourself," I heard Faramir say in answer.
"Could it be that Eäriel is having dreams just like you?"
"I don't know. I cannot perceive her mind yet; no more can I fully understand yours,"
"After two years of marriage, you still consider me a puzzle?"
"Sometimes, you can be. No matter what, though you are called Lady of Ithilien, you will still be my shield-maiden,"
"I no longer wish to go into battle, my lord. Being with you and our children is more than a thousand victories on the battlefield,"
I rolled my eyes on hearing this exchange. I couldn't understand why Éowyn and Faramir had chosen to fall in love. It seemed to be making one so.vulnerable!
As I glanced around my chamber, I saw a piece of paper on the floor. I was glad to realize that the paper didn't come from Lord Faramir's office. The scrap read:
"I sincerely wish to make up for my actions over the past few days. Will you allow me to make it up to you? From, Tonigil"
For some reason, I wrote "yes" on the paper before slipping it out under the door.
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The next morning dawned unusually well for me. After I washed and dressed, I went to see if I had any errands to run. As I stepped into the hallway, I heard this time the sound of a child cooing and chuckling. I saw Éowyn sitting on a chair, holding Eäriel, who was now happily giggling as she played with her mother's hair. Éowyn spoke to her child softly and sometimes tickled her gently.
"Good morning," I greeted cheerily.
"Good morning. Why, you seem to be in a better mood than yesterday" Éowyn observed.
"Perhaps," I said. I then saw Faramir come in carrying Elboron. Much to my dismay, a sort of sticky juice covered the baby's face and hair.
"So much for our jest, Faramir. I presume you haven't had any luck with him?" Éowyn asked her husband.
"It went fine, dear. That was until I decided to give him some fruit," Faramir sighed as he tried to clean up his son.
"Oh, we're all mortals," I said.
"Niliwen, can you be a good older sister and get some fresh clothing for Elboron?" Éowyn asked me teasingly.
"I'm not even related to you!" I said in annoyance. It was becoming a running joke in Emyn Arnen that I could pass off as Faramir's daughter. Not that I had a striking resemblance to him, or Éowyn for that matter. While they were both tall and graceful in bearing, I was short and rather rough. And for one thing, my hair was brown, not raven.
As I took some clothes out of a drawer, I wondered how it would be to have siblings. After all, I was an only child when my parents were around.
Perhaps I'd ask Éowyn and Faramir later.
Or perhaps, I was starting to experience it first-hand. In whatever case, the only thing I wanted for certain was just to simply have Tonigil as a friend, nothing more. And, I also needed a good night's sleep. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- Next: return to Ithilien ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------- A/N: Yeah, maybe some of you were expecting Niliwen and Tonigil to get together. But I decided to sort of break away from my classic story format. Don't worry, we'll have more of the twins and the rest of the Steward's household when I next update. This is coming on quite slow, as I have a HASA challenge to answer and my other story. Please review!!