6: Stay
The morning had begun to wear away and Brin had not been awake long when Eomer came to call for her. They went together to the stables and Eomer saddled his horse but Brin only spoke to Mîrran and told her all that had happened since they parted and Thalion added happy rumbling noises when the meal was discussed.
They rode out together into the plains for Eomer wanted to show her some of his land and his only duty that day was to gather news from one of the villages on higher ground that his men guarded.
The sun was warm on their faces as they rode from the gate and all about them were the signs of spring. Brin thought to herself that the sky was much bigger here than it had been at home as she watched the clouds like swift white horses try to keep pace with them. She thought that this land would be fair indeed in summer, when wild flowers sprung up in the meads and the grasses of the plain turned golden in the heat. Fair too it would be in autumn when the harvest came and the orchards bore fruit and the leaves of the trees turned red and brown. She thought kindly also of winter in this land when the ground would be gold and red and brown from fallen leaves and dry grasses and hoped that it would snow here more than it did in the south and blanket the plains in white under a starry sky.
They rode all day, sometimes speaking sometimes in silence but always enjoying the company of each other. Thalion ran tirelessly at their side, even dashing off to bother the rabbits that hopped just on the edge of sight, and Mîrran seemed to be learning a thing or two about how to bear a rider from the horse of Eomer for she seemed at intervals to be imitating him in some ways though she still ran like a wild horse.
They stopped only when they came to the village and then only briefly for there was not much to tell.
They rode on past nightfall and returned to Edoras when the moon was high with the stars looking down upon them.
Brin awoke suddenly the next morning and flung open the door, stepping outside without bothering to wrap even a cloak about her. The north wind blew in through the open door and tugged at her hair and the hem of her liene, dragging her out into its embrace. Tears stung her eyes as she turned and went inside to dress but anyone who saw would think it was only the wind.
She found Eomer in Meduseld and when he saw her with her pack on her back a look came upon his face as of one who is grievously wounded. Before she could even say 'I am leaving' he said. "Stay."
She shook her head sadly. "Stay, please, just one more day, two, only two more days."
"I cannot stay even one more hour." It hurt her greatly to leave him but she knew it would destroy her to stay so she looked into his eyes and hoped he could understand, and that if she came back he would want her there just as much as he did now.
He looked back into her eyes and saw the starlight that shone there tremble and shiver. His spoke to her softly, barely above a whisper, and said, "Would you not stay for love."
Brin bit her lip and her heart beat faster just to hear him say the word. "Oh I would, if only it were in me to stay. But a tree that has no roots must go where the wind blows." The tears were returning and she fought to keep them from falling. "But I go to find my roots and when I am at last capable of staying, of holding on to something, I would hold to you, if you would have me."
"Today and any day." He took her in his arms and they kissed and when at last they parted he held her close and whispered in her ear, "Come back to me."
The morning had begun to wear away and Brin had not been awake long when Eomer came to call for her. They went together to the stables and Eomer saddled his horse but Brin only spoke to Mîrran and told her all that had happened since they parted and Thalion added happy rumbling noises when the meal was discussed.
They rode out together into the plains for Eomer wanted to show her some of his land and his only duty that day was to gather news from one of the villages on higher ground that his men guarded.
The sun was warm on their faces as they rode from the gate and all about them were the signs of spring. Brin thought to herself that the sky was much bigger here than it had been at home as she watched the clouds like swift white horses try to keep pace with them. She thought that this land would be fair indeed in summer, when wild flowers sprung up in the meads and the grasses of the plain turned golden in the heat. Fair too it would be in autumn when the harvest came and the orchards bore fruit and the leaves of the trees turned red and brown. She thought kindly also of winter in this land when the ground would be gold and red and brown from fallen leaves and dry grasses and hoped that it would snow here more than it did in the south and blanket the plains in white under a starry sky.
They rode all day, sometimes speaking sometimes in silence but always enjoying the company of each other. Thalion ran tirelessly at their side, even dashing off to bother the rabbits that hopped just on the edge of sight, and Mîrran seemed to be learning a thing or two about how to bear a rider from the horse of Eomer for she seemed at intervals to be imitating him in some ways though she still ran like a wild horse.
They stopped only when they came to the village and then only briefly for there was not much to tell.
They rode on past nightfall and returned to Edoras when the moon was high with the stars looking down upon them.
Brin awoke suddenly the next morning and flung open the door, stepping outside without bothering to wrap even a cloak about her. The north wind blew in through the open door and tugged at her hair and the hem of her liene, dragging her out into its embrace. Tears stung her eyes as she turned and went inside to dress but anyone who saw would think it was only the wind.
She found Eomer in Meduseld and when he saw her with her pack on her back a look came upon his face as of one who is grievously wounded. Before she could even say 'I am leaving' he said. "Stay."
She shook her head sadly. "Stay, please, just one more day, two, only two more days."
"I cannot stay even one more hour." It hurt her greatly to leave him but she knew it would destroy her to stay so she looked into his eyes and hoped he could understand, and that if she came back he would want her there just as much as he did now.
He looked back into her eyes and saw the starlight that shone there tremble and shiver. His spoke to her softly, barely above a whisper, and said, "Would you not stay for love."
Brin bit her lip and her heart beat faster just to hear him say the word. "Oh I would, if only it were in me to stay. But a tree that has no roots must go where the wind blows." The tears were returning and she fought to keep them from falling. "But I go to find my roots and when I am at last capable of staying, of holding on to something, I would hold to you, if you would have me."
"Today and any day." He took her in his arms and they kissed and when at last they parted he held her close and whispered in her ear, "Come back to me."