Hi readers! Well, I just want to say sorry for not updating sooner, but
you have to understand, I was having Final Exams. Now school is over, and
I don't have to go back for a few weeks (I'm taking summer school other
wise it would be nearly two and a half months) but I'll still be able to
write!
So here is my next chapter in this story. I hope you like it, and as
always: Review! You know you can!
I do not own Lord of the Rings. If I did, then I would have had to have a
sex change, aged more than 80 years, and been buried. I have not.
To my reviewers: Dragon: thanks for finding it interesting! I'll try and change how I display it, but for some reason, when I upload it, everything is different. For example, all of the part from the beginning to where I end responding to reviewers is italicized, but when I upload it, it isn't! If you know how to fix that, please help! bEtH: Thanks for complimenting my writing skills! But if you have a complaint about any part of my story, definitely tell me. And don't worry, this story isn't going anywhere! fghx: I definitely will! Thanks for reviewing!
Thank you all for reviewing; please come again. Oh, and would you like fries with that? (sorry, couldn't help it)
That's the Way Life Goes
Chapter 5
When she was no longer in sight, the prince turned back to Boromir. "We should - what?" he asked his uncle who was frowning at him.
Boromir raised an eyebrow and looked at his brother in arms Aragorn. "Should I tell him, or would you like the honors," he asked impishly.
The king looked at him and smiled playfully, "I think you should. After all, you are her father."
"Well, alright then," he replied. Boromir came and walked to a seat on the table. "So Eldarion, lad, you just felt like kissing my daughter," he accused, intimidating the uncomfortable prince.
By now, Eldarion was fidgeting with the sleeves of his tunic that had somehow caught his interest. He kept moving from foot to foot on the ground.
"Are you going to answer me or not?" Boromir asked skillfully.
Aragorn looked at his son seriously. "Answer the man, son. It is in your best interest."
Eldarion looked back and forth between his father and uncle. "wha-? How? I don't understand. What are you talking about?" he asked with a perplexed frown.
Boromir and the king scrutinized him. When the prince felt their hard eyes on him, he swallowed and cleared his throat nervously. "Ah.um.okay, so I did. I tried. I just wanted to see. you know."
The men's eyebrows skyrocketed. (A/N: ahem.) "No, as a matter of fact, we do not know," Aragorn said. "Enlighten us."
Eldarion's eyes widened. "Do I have to," he asked, his eyes remained towards the floor. "I really don't want to."
The men looked at each other and grinned. Aragorn walked around to the other side of Boromir and sat down at the table. "We have all day, son, if you would like some time to think about it," he commented while leafing through one of the heavy tomes.
Eldarion blanched. "I don't know what you are talking about," he repeated. He licked his lips nervously. Clearing his throat one more time, he scratched the back of his head. "I really do not have any idea," he nodded reassuringly, but it turned out to look more desperate than reassuring. All the while, he tried to inconspicuously inch over to the doorway.
Aragorn noticed this, and propped the book up on its base to keep his son from seeing his grin. Boromir continued staring at him with raised eyebrows and did his best to keep from bursting into laughter at the sight of the usually overconfident prince try to look innocent and leave the room at the same time. The young prince was unsuccessful, and ended up falling backwards after his foot caught under a small stack of books.
The two men couldn't help it; they burst into laughter. Eldarion, horrified, stood up and bolted out of the room. The laughter was so loud that it echoed throughout the library.
Readers looked up at the sound, and frowned when Eldarion rushed past them. Arianna, who was walking down the hallway in a lady like manner froze, turned around, and wondered to herself: What in all of Middle Earth makes a screeching noise like that? It sounds like the Nazgul have been reborn into shrieking babies.
She shook her head and continued down her path towards a small room with numerous entrances. Arianna sighed to herself. It just wasn't fair. How many people were sentenced to life as a perfect Lady? Okay, so basically every woman on earth, but that didn't mean she had to be one. Why, in all of Middle Earth, when she could have been anyone, did she have to be a Lady in the Gondor?
The biggest expectations for her were that she get married into a decent family, be a perfect lady, look beautiful, and make others jealous. She could do none of those - except possibly marry into a decent family (but the question was: who would want to get their son married to her?) That was the reason for why she had been sentenced to Lady Lessons.
The corridor, which led to the room in which she was to finally take her test on all that she had learned, was long. Praying softly to all the Gods that may possibly have been around to hear, she asked that everything go right. Please, please, please, don't let my mother be in a bad mood, she thought.
There, finally she had reached the door. She stood outside of it, staring at the handle so intently that it may have gone up in flames, or perhaps bent like a spoon. Either way, what ever it did, she would still have to go into that room.
She gathered all her courage, tried to recall everything that her mother had taught her, and grasped the handle with a death grip. It turned ever so slowly and made no noise. Biting her lip, she winced as she forgot what else she had to do.
She almost collapsed in relief as she remembered and stood up straight. Shoulders back, chest forward, and chin at a ninety-degree angle to the floor, she thought. Swallowing nervously, she followed through.
She opened the door and glided - yes, glided- into the room. Seated around her were twenty, maybe thirty people. Her eyes widened for a second in surprise before she remembered to remain cool, calm, and collected.
At the other end of the room sat her mother sitting on a chair, pretending to be the queen. Arianna whimpered softly before talking several light steps towards her and curtsying.
Her mother looked down at her regally. "You have forgotten to knock," she said in a cold, disappointed voice. Arianna's eyes widened as the people around her tittered.
"I'm sor-," she gasped. "I mean, I am very sorry my Lady. I will not forget to knock next time," she barely got out while her heart plummeted to the ground. She knew she had forgotten something.
The people around her shook in their laughter while a figure entered the room from the far left, unnoticed. The figure snuck past all the people and crept around the walls until it stood in the shadows behind Arianna's mother.
Arianna rose from her spot on the ground, concealing tears of frustration. This had been her one chance to prove to her mother that she was worth something. Ever since she had been born, it seemed that Arianna was never worth her mother's approval. It seemed that no matter what she did, she would never be good enough for her mother, and this one more time of failure was enough to make her cry. However, she still had a chance. Her first mistake was not going to let her down
Standing straight once more, she lifted her head high and then swept down into a graceful curtsy. "My Lady, I apologize for my failure to ask you accordingly to allow me to enter. I ask your forgiveness," she stated smoothly.
The 'queen' upon her 'throne' and her face just barely showed signs of a smile. The 'Queen' tried her hardest to keep from smiling proudly. She knew that this was not how a queen would act, but she wanted her only child to see that the real world was not an easy place to live in. She knew that her daughter would grow to be a beautiful and wise woman. All she was doing was helping her on that path.
As her mother, she knew that she was sometimes hard on her daughter, but all she wanted was for her daughter to have the life that she never had. When she was growing up, she had lived in neither the most loving family nor the richest. That was why she worked as hard as she did to give that to her daughter.
It had only been because of her mother's attempts to get away from her abusive father that she had ever met the son of the Steward of Gondor and fallen in love. But the son of the Steward of Gondor was a proud man, and making him fall in love with her was a hard thing to do considering she was of poor descent and not a sight to behold.
It was only because her mother had worked so very hard to rise in the ranks of her peers that she was given any sort of benefit in life. Even then, when she had a large home and servants, the son of the Steward did not fall in love easily. Only when she had saved his life did he give her a second glance.
Her mother died in the process of giving her children a better life. Lady Monien loved her mother for her sacrifice, and would always remember her forever. She wanted her daughter to remember her as well, and so always pushed to give her the best life that she could.
It did hurt her more than anyone knew when she had forgotten her only daughter's birthday. Birthdays were things to remember, being but mortal, and when they were forgotten it was hard to bear. She knew that she had hurt her daughter, but she had the best intentions. Still, it was not fair to her daughter.
That was why she sat on the 'throne', trying to teach her daughter how to be successful in life.
On the other side, Arianna was still low on the floor. She waited for her mother to give her a signal to rise. She did so, and Arianna lifted her head and looked right at her mother. Something caught her eye.
Behind her mother, there was someone; a figure stood silently in the darkness. It was half visible in the dim light that came from behind her. Her mother asked her to walk around the room once to test her posture, and she followed suit. When she came back to stand in front of her, she discreetly looked behind her mother to see who it was, but the figure had merged back in with the shadows.
Then, when her mother was about to call someone to dance with her to see her dancing skills, the King and the Steward entered. At the sight of her husband, Lady Monien smiled and ran up to him and invited him and the King to watch the testing.
Arianna's eyebrows rose as her mother flew past her to reach her father. 'It seems as thought the 'Queen' is sorely in need of lessons herself,' she thought. 'Although, of course, no one will laugh at her if she makes a mistake.'
Arianna was bitter at that thought, but then it hit her. She turned around to face her parents and the King. 'If father and King Elessar are here then Prince Eldarion must be.' she started in surprise and spun around to face the figure cloaked in darkness. 'He must be right here!'
She smiled in bitter knowing. Shaking her head, she turned back to face her mother, father, and King. As they approached, she smiled politely. Her father smiled and the King nodded courteously. She rose yet again, and turned to her mother.
Her mother squinted and said loudly enough for everyone to hear, "You should always curtsy to the King. Always." Arianna frowned and quickly dipped back into a curtsy to the King. Her mother sighed exasperatedly, "Well, its too late now!"
Arianna bit her lip as she rose. Her mother snapped at her again, "come on, stand up straight. No, straighter. Stop slouching! Finally. One would think that we were raising a ten-year-old boy who isn't getting his sweet instead of a young lady. It's just not good enough, Arianna." The crowd around her laughed at this analogy.
Arianna looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry mother, I can't do this," she choked out. She turned on her heel and fled. There, it had finally happened. Her mother had said what had been on her mind for years. Arianna just wasn't good enough. She never had been, wasn't, and never would be.
That's the end of Chapter 5! The next chapter's going to be a little unusual and you might think it's a little (for lack of better word) screwed. Nevertheless, it's an important part of the plot so be sure to check it out. Well, that's it! Over and out.
Wannabe
To my reviewers: Dragon: thanks for finding it interesting! I'll try and change how I display it, but for some reason, when I upload it, everything is different. For example, all of the part from the beginning to where I end responding to reviewers is italicized, but when I upload it, it isn't! If you know how to fix that, please help! bEtH: Thanks for complimenting my writing skills! But if you have a complaint about any part of my story, definitely tell me. And don't worry, this story isn't going anywhere! fghx: I definitely will! Thanks for reviewing!
Thank you all for reviewing; please come again. Oh, and would you like fries with that? (sorry, couldn't help it)
That's the Way Life Goes
Chapter 5
When she was no longer in sight, the prince turned back to Boromir. "We should - what?" he asked his uncle who was frowning at him.
Boromir raised an eyebrow and looked at his brother in arms Aragorn. "Should I tell him, or would you like the honors," he asked impishly.
The king looked at him and smiled playfully, "I think you should. After all, you are her father."
"Well, alright then," he replied. Boromir came and walked to a seat on the table. "So Eldarion, lad, you just felt like kissing my daughter," he accused, intimidating the uncomfortable prince.
By now, Eldarion was fidgeting with the sleeves of his tunic that had somehow caught his interest. He kept moving from foot to foot on the ground.
"Are you going to answer me or not?" Boromir asked skillfully.
Aragorn looked at his son seriously. "Answer the man, son. It is in your best interest."
Eldarion looked back and forth between his father and uncle. "wha-? How? I don't understand. What are you talking about?" he asked with a perplexed frown.
Boromir and the king scrutinized him. When the prince felt their hard eyes on him, he swallowed and cleared his throat nervously. "Ah.um.okay, so I did. I tried. I just wanted to see. you know."
The men's eyebrows skyrocketed. (A/N: ahem.) "No, as a matter of fact, we do not know," Aragorn said. "Enlighten us."
Eldarion's eyes widened. "Do I have to," he asked, his eyes remained towards the floor. "I really don't want to."
The men looked at each other and grinned. Aragorn walked around to the other side of Boromir and sat down at the table. "We have all day, son, if you would like some time to think about it," he commented while leafing through one of the heavy tomes.
Eldarion blanched. "I don't know what you are talking about," he repeated. He licked his lips nervously. Clearing his throat one more time, he scratched the back of his head. "I really do not have any idea," he nodded reassuringly, but it turned out to look more desperate than reassuring. All the while, he tried to inconspicuously inch over to the doorway.
Aragorn noticed this, and propped the book up on its base to keep his son from seeing his grin. Boromir continued staring at him with raised eyebrows and did his best to keep from bursting into laughter at the sight of the usually overconfident prince try to look innocent and leave the room at the same time. The young prince was unsuccessful, and ended up falling backwards after his foot caught under a small stack of books.
The two men couldn't help it; they burst into laughter. Eldarion, horrified, stood up and bolted out of the room. The laughter was so loud that it echoed throughout the library.
Readers looked up at the sound, and frowned when Eldarion rushed past them. Arianna, who was walking down the hallway in a lady like manner froze, turned around, and wondered to herself: What in all of Middle Earth makes a screeching noise like that? It sounds like the Nazgul have been reborn into shrieking babies.
She shook her head and continued down her path towards a small room with numerous entrances. Arianna sighed to herself. It just wasn't fair. How many people were sentenced to life as a perfect Lady? Okay, so basically every woman on earth, but that didn't mean she had to be one. Why, in all of Middle Earth, when she could have been anyone, did she have to be a Lady in the Gondor?
The biggest expectations for her were that she get married into a decent family, be a perfect lady, look beautiful, and make others jealous. She could do none of those - except possibly marry into a decent family (but the question was: who would want to get their son married to her?) That was the reason for why she had been sentenced to Lady Lessons.
The corridor, which led to the room in which she was to finally take her test on all that she had learned, was long. Praying softly to all the Gods that may possibly have been around to hear, she asked that everything go right. Please, please, please, don't let my mother be in a bad mood, she thought.
There, finally she had reached the door. She stood outside of it, staring at the handle so intently that it may have gone up in flames, or perhaps bent like a spoon. Either way, what ever it did, she would still have to go into that room.
She gathered all her courage, tried to recall everything that her mother had taught her, and grasped the handle with a death grip. It turned ever so slowly and made no noise. Biting her lip, she winced as she forgot what else she had to do.
She almost collapsed in relief as she remembered and stood up straight. Shoulders back, chest forward, and chin at a ninety-degree angle to the floor, she thought. Swallowing nervously, she followed through.
She opened the door and glided - yes, glided- into the room. Seated around her were twenty, maybe thirty people. Her eyes widened for a second in surprise before she remembered to remain cool, calm, and collected.
At the other end of the room sat her mother sitting on a chair, pretending to be the queen. Arianna whimpered softly before talking several light steps towards her and curtsying.
Her mother looked down at her regally. "You have forgotten to knock," she said in a cold, disappointed voice. Arianna's eyes widened as the people around her tittered.
"I'm sor-," she gasped. "I mean, I am very sorry my Lady. I will not forget to knock next time," she barely got out while her heart plummeted to the ground. She knew she had forgotten something.
The people around her shook in their laughter while a figure entered the room from the far left, unnoticed. The figure snuck past all the people and crept around the walls until it stood in the shadows behind Arianna's mother.
Arianna rose from her spot on the ground, concealing tears of frustration. This had been her one chance to prove to her mother that she was worth something. Ever since she had been born, it seemed that Arianna was never worth her mother's approval. It seemed that no matter what she did, she would never be good enough for her mother, and this one more time of failure was enough to make her cry. However, she still had a chance. Her first mistake was not going to let her down
Standing straight once more, she lifted her head high and then swept down into a graceful curtsy. "My Lady, I apologize for my failure to ask you accordingly to allow me to enter. I ask your forgiveness," she stated smoothly.
The 'queen' upon her 'throne' and her face just barely showed signs of a smile. The 'Queen' tried her hardest to keep from smiling proudly. She knew that this was not how a queen would act, but she wanted her only child to see that the real world was not an easy place to live in. She knew that her daughter would grow to be a beautiful and wise woman. All she was doing was helping her on that path.
As her mother, she knew that she was sometimes hard on her daughter, but all she wanted was for her daughter to have the life that she never had. When she was growing up, she had lived in neither the most loving family nor the richest. That was why she worked as hard as she did to give that to her daughter.
It had only been because of her mother's attempts to get away from her abusive father that she had ever met the son of the Steward of Gondor and fallen in love. But the son of the Steward of Gondor was a proud man, and making him fall in love with her was a hard thing to do considering she was of poor descent and not a sight to behold.
It was only because her mother had worked so very hard to rise in the ranks of her peers that she was given any sort of benefit in life. Even then, when she had a large home and servants, the son of the Steward did not fall in love easily. Only when she had saved his life did he give her a second glance.
Her mother died in the process of giving her children a better life. Lady Monien loved her mother for her sacrifice, and would always remember her forever. She wanted her daughter to remember her as well, and so always pushed to give her the best life that she could.
It did hurt her more than anyone knew when she had forgotten her only daughter's birthday. Birthdays were things to remember, being but mortal, and when they were forgotten it was hard to bear. She knew that she had hurt her daughter, but she had the best intentions. Still, it was not fair to her daughter.
That was why she sat on the 'throne', trying to teach her daughter how to be successful in life.
On the other side, Arianna was still low on the floor. She waited for her mother to give her a signal to rise. She did so, and Arianna lifted her head and looked right at her mother. Something caught her eye.
Behind her mother, there was someone; a figure stood silently in the darkness. It was half visible in the dim light that came from behind her. Her mother asked her to walk around the room once to test her posture, and she followed suit. When she came back to stand in front of her, she discreetly looked behind her mother to see who it was, but the figure had merged back in with the shadows.
Then, when her mother was about to call someone to dance with her to see her dancing skills, the King and the Steward entered. At the sight of her husband, Lady Monien smiled and ran up to him and invited him and the King to watch the testing.
Arianna's eyebrows rose as her mother flew past her to reach her father. 'It seems as thought the 'Queen' is sorely in need of lessons herself,' she thought. 'Although, of course, no one will laugh at her if she makes a mistake.'
Arianna was bitter at that thought, but then it hit her. She turned around to face her parents and the King. 'If father and King Elessar are here then Prince Eldarion must be.' she started in surprise and spun around to face the figure cloaked in darkness. 'He must be right here!'
She smiled in bitter knowing. Shaking her head, she turned back to face her mother, father, and King. As they approached, she smiled politely. Her father smiled and the King nodded courteously. She rose yet again, and turned to her mother.
Her mother squinted and said loudly enough for everyone to hear, "You should always curtsy to the King. Always." Arianna frowned and quickly dipped back into a curtsy to the King. Her mother sighed exasperatedly, "Well, its too late now!"
Arianna bit her lip as she rose. Her mother snapped at her again, "come on, stand up straight. No, straighter. Stop slouching! Finally. One would think that we were raising a ten-year-old boy who isn't getting his sweet instead of a young lady. It's just not good enough, Arianna." The crowd around her laughed at this analogy.
Arianna looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry mother, I can't do this," she choked out. She turned on her heel and fled. There, it had finally happened. Her mother had said what had been on her mind for years. Arianna just wasn't good enough. She never had been, wasn't, and never would be.
That's the end of Chapter 5! The next chapter's going to be a little unusual and you might think it's a little (for lack of better word) screwed. Nevertheless, it's an important part of the plot so be sure to check it out. Well, that's it! Over and out.
Wannabe