The long journey from Minas Tirith to Edoras was made longer by the revered burden that they carried. With Éomer and his éored came the King and Queen of Gondor, Merry, King Théoden's esquire, as well as Frodo, Sam, Pippin, Legolas, Gimli, Gladriel and Celeborn, Elrond, Prince Imrahil, Prince Faramir and many other Knights, elves and honored guests. On the nineteenth day of traveling, the group finally reached the gates of Edoras.

The Golden Hall was a flurry of activity to make the final arrangements for the arrival of the guests and their honored burden. Éowyn, though kept busy by affairs of state and preparations for the group, remained quiet and kept to herself whenever possible. When King Éomer and the guests arrived, the people of Rohan lined the streets to honor the late King Théoden.

Éowyn stood outside of the golden hall and watched as the entourage approached, looking for her brother among them. Éowyn had been given a list in advance of everyone who was to accompany the King, but her eyes instantly went to the one whose name had not been mentioned before. From a distance she recognized Faramir and saw that he alone was looking up at her. Éowyn's eyes went wide and the blood drained from her face. In near panic, she turned and went back inside. "Do they conspire to torture me?" she thought to herself. Éowyn paced the floor, putting one hand to her forehead. Willing herself calmer, the young woman took a deep breath and opened the door once more. Éomer and his guests were making their way up the stairs and Éowyn greeted them one by one, trying hard to look at them and not Faramir, who entered last. At last he came up the stairs and stopped at the doorway into the hall. Both looked at each other for a few long moments as though they expected lightning to strike them down at any second. Éowyn could feel her heart racing, though she could not think of anything to say. "My lord," was all she finally managed to utter, bowing her head in greeting and looking intently at her own feet. Éowyn looked back up into Faramir's eyes, though neither could think of anything adequate to say.

"Éowyn, are you going to shut the door or not?" Éomer finally interrupted, "It is very windy outside and I would rather not blow all of the food off the table." Like the breaking of a twig, Éowyn's attention was snapped suddenly back to the world around her. She inhaled sharply, her first breath in what had surely been hours. Everyone was seated at the long table except for her and Faramir. Without a word, Éowyn and Faramir went to their places: Éowyn next to her brother and Faramir next to Prince Imrahil. At Éomer's bidding, everyone began to eat.

Éowyn felt as though she were in a haze throughout the meal, though she tried to carry on a conversation with those around her. Éomer was telling her of his journey and though she was looking at his face, her attention was focused on another man, one that she would not let herself stare at. Éowyn smiled and nodded at what she guessed were appropriate points in the conversation but she had not the slightest idea what her brother was telling her. She was relieved when the meal was over and excused herself as soon as was proper. She walked down the long hallway, intending to go out the back door for some fresh air, but then realized that she did not have a coat and turned back towards her own room.

As Éowyn rounded the corner, she found herself face to face with Faramir. She drew in a sharp breath involuntarily and swallowed hard. It was difficult enough to refuse Faramir when he was far away in Gondor; she was not sure if she could do the same in his presence. Éowyn made an attempt to walk by him slowly, but Faramir took her by the hand as she passed and she froze in place. "Don't go," he whispered, leaning towards her golden hair.

Hot tears streamed down Éowyn's cheeks and she covered her eyes with her free hand. She gulped down a sob, "I cannot come back to you, Faramir. I cannot leave my people," she whispered, her voice cracking.

"I know, Éowyn, I know." He reached his hand up and wiped the tears from her face. Éowyn looked up at Faramir and saw that he was crying as well. She turned and kissed the hand that was upon her cheek, placing her own on top of it. Unable to hold back any longer, Éowyn wrapped her arms around Faramir's back and hugged him for a moment, breathing in his scent as though it were some drug she had been denied. She then reached one hand up through his dark hair and kissed him on the lips. The taste of his mouth and the feel of his hair between her fingers and his strong hands on her back brought back a rush of emotion and Éowyn felt that she could live her entire life in that moment. In silent consent, both agreed to continue their love affair in the short time that was given to them, though they risked breaking their hearts twice over when duty called for them to part once more.

Hearing footsteps approach from down the hall, Éowyn pulled Faramir into her room and shut the door. Éowyn put her finger to her lips to signal silence, but then giggled and kissed Faramir quickly on the lips. There was a knock at the door. "Éowyn?" It was Éomer. Éowyn put her finger to her lips again and then walked to the door, opened it and then closed it quickly behind her again.

"Yes, Éomer?" she replied, sounding a bit more cheerful than she meant.

Éomer seemed surprised by her sudden change in mood. He cocked his head slightly to the side, his eyes darting to the door, then back again. "I was going to ask you if you were all right," he said after a moment, "but you seem to be feeling better." He scratched his head where the crown rested upon it, looking again at the door to Éowyn's room and then her poor attempt at feigning innocence. Her hair, which had been tied back neatly, was now disorderly and partially down. Éomer's eyes went wide. Éowyn raised her eyebrows at him. "Well, I should get back to the guests," Éomer finally said, then turned to go. "I'm glad you're better," he said, as though in shock, to the hallway in front of him as he left.

Later that night, when everyone else had gone to bed, Éowyn and Faramir left Edoras by a path behind Meduseld and walked, hand in hand, out to the tall grasses nearby. They lay there watching the stars as they wheeled overhead, Éowyn's head resting on Faramir's shoulder. They spoke of their time apart and of times together, but they did not speak of the future. As the stars began to fade and light began to grow in the east, the couple returned in secret to Meduseld. Faramir walked Éowyn back to her room and kissed her good night. "Is this wrong?" Faramir said quietly as she began to shut the door.

"No," she replied, "The whole world is wrong. This is the only thing in it that seems right." With that, Éowyn ran her hand along Faramir's cheek and then shut the door. "Hang the future," Éowyn thought to herself as she leaned against the door, "For a few days, at least."

Later that morning, Éowyn woke up feeling refreshed, despite only a few hours of sleep, and joined her brother at breakfast. "Good morning," she said cheerfully, patting Éomer on the shoulder.

"Morning," he replied, looking up at her briefly before returning his gaze to what he had been reading. As Éowyn ate Éomer looked at her through the corner of his eyes, a funny half-smile on his face, but whenever she looked over at him he was engrossed in his papers once again. They sat there for a few minutes, eating in silence until Éomer, without looking up, said, "You are no longer my Advisor, Éowyn."

Éowyn did not think that she could possibly have heard him right. "What?" she replied.

"You heard me. I simply cannot allow the King's Advisor to behave in such a manner. It is embarrassing."

Éowyn's face turned red. What had he seen? Why would he do such a thing? "What 'manner,' Éomer?" she stood up, her temper ignited, "what are you suggesting?" She knew exactly what he was suggesting.

Éomer finally looked up from the document he was pretending to read, though he really had no idea what was on it. "It is quite simple, Éowyn. I cannot allow my sister, my only family, whom I love dearly, to make herself unhappy for my sake. So I have decided to release you from my service. You are no longer the King's Advisor; you are now 'Ambassador to Ithilien'. It is a new position. I hope you enjoy it there, for I am sending you into exile." Quite proud of himself, Éomer grinned and looked up at his sister.

"You knew? About Faramir? But how." She was incredulous.

"Éowyn, I'm the King, my spies are everywhere." Éowyn stared him down. "Actually, I opened this by mistake," he stood up and handed her the letter from Faramir. "Sorry, I thought it was about the provisions from Gondor."

"You would open a letter about food," she shot back.

"Come now, that is hardly a complimentary thing to say to a brother, especially since I am still considering whether I should kill this Faramir, prince or no, for daring to corrupt the sister of the King without my permission."

Éowyn considered hitting Éomer in the stomach, but hugged him instead. She was elated, but then forced herself to calm down and step back from her brother. "I can't do this, Éomer, I can't break my word and fail our people a second time."

"Fail? Fail? When could you possibly have failed us a first time, let alone a second? First you killed the Witch King, saving hundreds of our people, maybe more. Then you took a thickheaded soldier and turned him into some semblance of a ruler." Éomer took his sister by the shoulders. "All the time, though, I have watched you decline into sadness and wondered what I could possibly do to help. Éowyn, I have never seen you so happy as you were when you were in Minas Tirith. When returned home and you became unhappy again it kept me awake at night wondering why. I think I speak for all of Rohan," he added, smiling, "when I say that you have earned your right to happiness in this world. It would kill me to know that I was responsible for your sorrow."

"Are you sure this is all right?" she asked, "I could not dream of leaving you if you still needed me."

"I am a leader of men!" Éomer said, quoting his sister, "I only pretended to need your help to be nice." Éomer put his hand on his sister's shoulder, "Actually, I could never have come this far without you, but with all that I have learned and now that we have been promised enough food to see our people through the winter, I think that I can manage all right. Besides, King Aragorn and I have already agreed on a plan. Faramir has been assigned the task of negotiating the food agreement for Gondor, and I have assigned you to negotiate on behalf of Rohan. Aragorn and I estimate it will take several months at least for the negotiations to finish, during which time you may marry here, if you please. After that I will, however, have to send you to Gondor to carry out your duties in Ithilien, though you may return and report to me whenever you wish."

Éowyn was still not sure if all that she heard her brother saying were true. She hugged him again. "I am going to miss you," she whispered.

"Éowyn, I thought I lost you that day on the battlefield, but in truth I had abandoned you long before. You took on the troubles of our Uncle, of our people, without complaint. Though you carried the weight of the world on your shoulders, it was you that spurred me on when everything seemed dark and hopeless. You felt alone and I did not see it, I was not there for you.

"In Faramir you found happiness again, and I saw a light in your eyes that I had not seen in years. I thought that it was the war's end that had brought you back from the shadows. I did not realize that I, in my need, was dragging you away from that happiness once again. You have sacrificed enough for Rohan, sister, and I could not bear to allow you to sacrifice yourself once more. Do not think you can fool me with forced smiles and confident words. I love you, Éowyn, and I want you to be happy, wherever that requires you to be."

"But Gondor is so far away, Éomer, when will we ever see each other?"

"It is Gondor, Éowyn, not Númenor. I think we will manage. Now, if you will excuse me, I had better go ensure that this betrothed of yours is worthy, though he did not see fit to ask my permission first." With that, Éomer left the room and Éowyn was left, bewildered, in the great hall.

Éomer found Faramir in his room, looking out over the plains of Rohan as he wrote at the small desk by the window. Éomer knocked to announce his presence. Faramir stood and turned. "King Éomer," he said, "good morning."

"Good morning, Prince Faramir. I would have a word with you, if you have a moment."

"Of course, my liege."

Both men stood awkwardly in silence until Éomer continued. "I do not know what the customs are in Gondor, but perhaps you are unaware of ours." Faramir raised his eyebrows. "If you intend to marry a woman of my country, Faramir, it is tradition that you ask the permission of her father or, if the woman has none, then her brother. Did no one inform you of this?"

"My lord, you have been misinformed, for Lady Éowyn has refused my offer and will not be returning with me to Gondor. We do not plan to marry as we both are called by duty to our own homelands."

"Hmmm," Éomer said thoughtfully, "I suppose that is a problem, then. There is something you really should know about my sister, Faramir: once she gets an idea into her head, it is nearly impossible to convince her otherwise. She is too logical: her head always wins out over her heart."

"I did realize that," Faramir replied, smiling sadly at the ground.

"I always thought my sister content before the war. If there is one thing that Éowyn can do flawlessly, it is convincing people that she is all right when she is not. She had been overseeing the rule of Rohan for many years, watching helplessly as our Uncle faded. She was here, while I rode around the countryside thinking that I was the hero.

"I did not see the despair in her eyes until after she was wounded. My sister had been unmasked, and the darkness that surrounded her frightened me. I promised myself that I would not allow her to be pushed aside again. When we returned from Cormallen, however, I found that she had changed. My sister has not been that happy since we were children, though I only realized it when I saw her in Minas Tirith. She was not pretending- she was genuinely happy, though she did not tell me why." Éomer looked at Faramir with a wry smile.

"When we returned here," Éomer continued, "all of that changed, and she hid her feelings again, but this time I could see through the mask. I will not be the reason for my sister's unhappiness, Faramir. She has sacrificed more than enough for me, for our Uncle and for our people. I saw my sister in Minas Tirith for the first time in many years, and that is the sister I want to see again, even if it means I rarely see her at all."

"Éowyn is not easily dissuaded once she has made up her mind," Faramir replied.

"This is true, but I would not allow her head to win out over her heart this time. I named her 'Ambassador to Ithilien,' and though I would like to say that I won an argument with my sister, I believe that it was instead her feelings for you that persuaded her to go along with my scheme. So, Prince Faramir, though you failed to ask me yourself, you have my permission to wed my sister under one condition: that you always keep her as happy as she is now. Break this vow, and I will find you."

Éowyn, not having seen her brother or her betrothed for some time, walked towards Faramir's room. Half expecting to hear either yelling or the clash of swords, she pressed her ear to the door, which popped open slightly, the latch swinging down noisily. Éowyn froze. Suddenly the door was flung open and she looked up to see her brother staring down at her, holding the door. "Éowyn," he said, "I knew you'd come sooner or later. Well." he turned towards the other man, then back towards Éowyn, though the two lovers were looking only at each other. Éomer, feeling awkward, scratched his head. "Lord Faramir, I will speak with you later, but I, uh, really must get back to our guests." With that, Éomer walked out of the room. "I suppose he'll do," he whispered as he passed his sister. Éomer, quite proud of himself, smiled as he walked back towards the great hall.

Éowyn and Faramir were left together in the room. For a moment neither moved and they stood there in disbelief, smiling at each other from a distance. Then they laughed and Éowyn ran into Faramir's arms. Faramir picked up his betrothed and spun her in a circle. As they kissed, golden sunlight streamed in through the open window and shone upon them both. It was a new day.