-THE GAMES OF THE GODS-
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Hmm...It's a holiday. I believe I shall enjoy my holiday and leave the disclaimer to my characters...*disapears*
Glorfindel: *sighs* She always makes us do all the work!
Rachel: Dude, you haven't even been in the last FOUR disclaimers!
Bloomer: That's actually rather sad, since he IS one of the main characters...*fixes gaze on Glorfindel and watches him avidly*
Rachel: *blink*
Glorfindel: CRIMSON STARLIGHT! WARN US BEFORE YOU HAVE REVIEWER CAMEOS! *waits for a response, and finally a note appears*
Rachel: *picks up note and reads out loud* 'But it's much more fun not to. Sincerely, CS. P.S. Look out for Ainu Laire.'
Glorfindel: Who?
Ainu Laire: *appears* Scary Elf-lord! *starts whacking Glorfindel with a pool noodle*
Bloomer: *goes to Glorfindel's rescue*
Rachel: Uh...*eyes the reviewers and Glorfindel nervously*
Glorfindel: Ai, enough of this! *disapears*
Bloomer: Aw, the Elf-lord went away...*pouts*
Rachel: And I think I'm going to follow him...*disapears*
Ainu Laire: Uhm...
Bloomer: Are we the only ones left?
Pool Noodle: No.
Ainu Laire: GAH! *disapears, dropping pool noodle*
Bloomer: *eyes pool noodle, then follows Ainu Laire's example and disapears*
Pool Noodle: *sighs* And none of them even bothered to do the disclaimer while they were here...I guess I shall have to do it. Crimson Starlight owns nothing, though she wishes she did.
(CS: Because a talking pool noodle would be freaking cool!)
-73: Farewell-
"Faramir?" I poked my head into Faramir's study early the next morning, and smiled wryly at the sight that was presented to me - a sleepy Faramir blinking blearily as he lifted his head from his desk, where he had obviously fallen asleep.
"Rachel?" he asked tiredly, and then let out a jaw-cracking yawn. I tsked as I entered the study.
"I shall have to have a talk with that king of yours for overworking you like this." I said, and Faramir gave a small wince.
"That is not necessary, I assure you. It is my own fault for not knowing when to quit." he said.
"Ah. I shall have to inform Éowyn of this tendency then." I said with a smile. Faramir shook his head.
"You worry too much, Rachel." he said with a roll of his eyes. "It was only this once."
"Uh-huh. And how quickly will once become twice, and then thrice, and then the next thing you know, you'll know your desk better than your wife." I said, crossing my arms. Faramir looked mildly insulted, though he knew I was half jesting.
"It is only that there were many preparations to make for the King's departure, and I lost track of the time. When I become more used to my office, I shall be able to handle things better." he insisted, then looked down with a sad frown. "I was not prepared to be a Steward of any type, after all." I winced slightly and came around his desk, leaning up against the back side so I was facing Faramir, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I would have saved Boromir if I could." I said softly. "As it was, it nearly killed me to let him go." Faramir looked at me in surprise, and I gave him a sad smile. "I do not know what you have been told of my recent sickness, but I know you must have guessed by now that I was fading. The direct reason was a fight with Glorfindel - but the fight only came into being because I was a tiny bit over-reactive from excessive grief over Boromir." My wry smile let Faramir know just how not-tiny my over-reactiveness was. He let out a sad smile of his own.
"I do not doubt you found him hard to let him go. Most who knew him would." Faramir said softly.
"For all that the people love you better." I said, my lips twitching in an attempt to smile. Faramir gave me a dry look, silently signaling that this was a topic better left alone.
"At any rate, I didn't come here to talk about what I shall be telling your future wife, nor to talk about your honorably dead brother." I announced, abruptly straightening.
"You had me fooled." Faramir said, a teasing twinkle in his eyes. I whapped him lightly on the arm.
"I AM here to discuss something serious, however." I warned him, and Faramir nodded solemnly.
"What is it that my lady tutor wishes to discuss with me, then?" he asked seriously. I gave him a light glare, and he flashed me an impish grin before turning his gaze quizzical as he looked at me. I bit my lip for a moment, then took a deep breath and spoke.
"I wanted to say good-bye to you now, and to warn you that I might not be coming back." I said. Faramir looked at me in surprise.
"I thought you were going to follow the King and Queen to Isengard, and then return with them?" he asked, and I shook my head.
"I know I told you - and everybody else - that my knowledge of the future was exhausted with the end of the War of the Ring, but I'm afraid that was a small bit of a fib - I know a few more things, and one of them is that Elrond will be going to Valinor in a little over two years. Glorfindel is bound to follow him, and by extension, that means I'll be following." I said, and then sighed slightly before continuing.
"There are, however, still a few places I'd like to see. I had thought to visit Mirkwood, the Lonely Mountain, and Laketown, then go down to Ithilien and Dol Amroth, and afterwards follow the sea shore up to the Grey Havens. I'm also hoping that somewhere in there Glorfindel will get around to proposing, and that will leave a one-year betrothal period during which I will have to occupy myself to keep my mind off of missing him." Faramir looked at me silently for a moment, his face a mix of many different emotions, and then he reached over and hugged me.
"I will not try to persuade you otherwise," he said when he pulled away. "I doubt I could make much of a difference, anyways, as you have been wandering where you will for the past 800 years." We exchanged wry smiles. "I would remind you, however, that Minas Tirith is on the way between Laketown and Ithilien, and I am soon to be in Ithilien myself."
"I know." I said with a small smile. "But I wanted to be sure that you knew that if I'm not back by September two years from now, you can give out my room."
"Never." Faramir said emphatically. "Even if I see you leave for the West with my very own eyes." I chuckled.
"Most definitely as stubborn as Dior." I said, and then I frowned lightly as I eyed him critically. "I must remember to tell Éowyn that story and that you have the same amount of stubbornness." Faramir gave an exasperated sigh.
"By the time you are through filling her with tales, it will be a wonder if Éowyn even still wants to marry me!" he said.
"Oh, she will." I replied cheerfully. "Trust me. Even if Kari and I have to beat her with a blunt object to make her agree."
"You shall do nothing of the sort." Faramir said sternly.
"Alright, fine." I said with a pout. "We'll just point out all your good attributes, then."
"And all their flaws, as well." Faramir said dryly.
"Agh, you are such a pessimist in the morning!" I declared, making a face. "Come on, let's go get breakfast, then it will be time for me and most of the other important people in Minas Tirith to leave."
"Though some may not wish to." Faramir commented as he stood.
"Oh? Who's complaining?" I asked curiously, taking Faramir's offered arm as we left his office.
"Lothíriel." Faramir said with a roll of her eyes. "She has never gone this long away from the sea, and she says it is irritating her. She can't - won't - understand why she must go all the way to Rohan instead of back to Dol Amroth." I blinked.
"Lothíriel? When did she get here?" I asked curiously. I had met Imrahil's daughter only a few times before, and she had seemed to be quite the little lady - not a good thing, in my mind, but hey. She was, basically, a Princess of one of the biggest Kingdoms of the world of Men. She did have her father's adventurous spirit, though, which was good.
"Just a few days ago. Weren't you told?" Faramir asked me curiously.
"Not as far as I know." I replied with an amused shake of my head. Then I turned a mischievous look on Faramir. "But you say she's complaining about going to Rohan, eh?" Faramir glanced at me and sighed.
"No match-making, Rachel! Imrahil would be extremely annoyed if you managed to match his daughter up with a Rohirric lord. And don't even think of matching her with someone with less rank than that, because you know full well I would have to kill whoever it was, by order of Elphir, Erchirion and Amrothos." he said, naming Lothíriel's three brothers.
"Actually, I wasn't thinking of match-making. I was merely being amused by another tidbit of future knowledge." I replied with a smile. Faramir arched an eyebrow at me in a silent comment. "Oh shush. Most of what I know from here on in is personal information, which I could not very well advertise that I had." There was a pause.
"So, if I may be so bold, why have Lothíriel's complaints caught your sense of humour?" Faramir asked finally, as I knew he would.
"Oh, you'll see. You'll see." I said with a smile. I waited until we were right at the hall where we would be having our breakfast before I shot Faramir an amused look and said, "He will be MUCH more than a Rohirric lord, I assure you." Then we were inside the hall, and I detached myself from Faramir and re-attached myself to Glorfindel, who was already sitting and eating. Faramir, to my great amusement, was then snagged by Éomer, who apparently wanted to get to know his future brother-in-law better.
As we were not on that tight of a schedule - Elven magic was making sure Théoden's body was not going to start rotting, stinking, or do anything else similarly gross on us - we didn't actually leave Minas Tirith until mid-morning. The party that headed out was somber, as was fitting, and most of those we passed in the streets were respectfully wearing black, though it was supposedly a time of celebration in the city. It was a touch of respect, however, that visibly touched Éomer, and I knew that if good relations hadn't been cemented between Gondor and Rohan before, they sure were now.
The column of riders was eerily quiet during the first day of riding. I probably could have livened it up a bit if I'd had access to the hobbits and not somehow ended up right behind both Elrond AND Creepy Lady and Celeborn, but there I was. We'd formed up in a rather specific ranking to leave the city, and no-one seemed inclined to break it that first day, though I suspected that tomorrow, those who were not actively guarding would mix around their arrangements a bit so that they could ride near those they wished to talked with. I myself planned to find the hobbits. But that day, I settled for riding along quietly beside Glorfindel, speaking quietly when at all.
We camped late in the evening, and the camp was as subdued as the ride. I contemplated seeing about getting a few musicians going, and livening things up a bit by prodding Celeborn into doing a jig with me, but I figured that there wasn't all that much of a need - and we WERE a funeral escort, after all. I could save the shock of Lothlórien's lord knowing a Rohirric jig for the feast after Théoden's funeral.
The next morning, as expected, riding arrangements got mixed up. The guards remained where they were, for the most part, but those there were guarding went every which-way, so that the guards were quite often no longer guarding anyone of the same race as them, let alone kingdom. The Fellowship, however, seemed to be wanting to stay close to each other and talk today, and they were all clustered back around Aragorn. One did not need to even approach them to know that those not in the Fellowship would not be welcome.
I pondered going and bugging Kari and the twins, but they were apparently trying to keep Elrond from kidnapping Arwen, and Arwen from hitting Elrond over the head with Sam's frying pan, so I decided to let them be. Especially since Creepy Lady was nearby, keeping a close eye on the situation. So that left, unless I wanted to go bug Haldir in his place with the guards, the Rohirric or Dol Amroth contingents.
I had no preference to either contingent, and Glorfindel seemed inclined to go wherever I wanted to - he was eyeing the Elrond/Arwen situation a little warily himself, obviously not wanting to get involved. So, I decided that Rohan was odd, Dol Amroth was even, and went to a random guard and asked him to pick a number between one and twenty-eight. He picked 16, so Glorfindel and I wandered off to the group from Dol Amroth.
Imrahil was pleasantly surprised to see us deciding to ride with him and his daughter - the only one of his children that had returned to Minas Tirith with him for Aragorn and Arwen's wedding, though she looked as if she was regretting doing so now - and welcomed us heartily. His knights, I noticed to my great amusement as we rode, kept shooting sort of hero-worshipping glances at Glorfindel - apparently they'd heard tales of the Balrog-slayer. Lothíriel openly stared, blushing with embarrassment whenever she saw that Glorfindel or I had seen her staring. Finally, late in the morning, I eased Glorfindel into my conversation with Imrahil, then eased myself out and dropped back to Lothíriel, leaving the Elf-Lord and Prince talking.
"And how is Lady Lothíriel enjoying the ride?" I asked her pleasantly. She mumbled a response, her cheeks red. I arched an eyebrow at her. "You know, in my capacity as Tutor, I can only ever remember teaching Boromir and Faramir how to get out of lessons, but I am pretty sure ladies of the realm are not supposed to mumble." Lothíriel sent me a glare.
"The ride is enjoyable, if a little boring." she said stiffly.
"Ah, good. I had heard you were not entirely happy about having to go farther inland instead of back to the sea." I said. "I am glad you are finding the ride enjoyable, however. The scenery is most definitely excellent, wouldn't you agree?" Lothíriel blushed hotter, and I could see she really didn't want to answer. I would have made her do so, but a small acorn bounced off my forehead at that moment. I looked up at Glorfindel with mild annoyance.
"Stop teasing the poor girl, love." he said in Elvish, giving me an amused smile, and then returned to his conversation with Imrahil. I mock-pouted for a moment, then sighed.
"Never mind, don't bother answering." I told Lothíriel, turning back to her. "I was teasing, anyways. Even your knights can't keep their eyes off of him, so I'm not surprised you can't - though I'm sure that there are two rather different reasons involved there." Lothíriel blushed again.
"I suppose." she muttered. There was a moment of awkward silence.
"So I hear that your brothers have recruited help in fending off unworthy suitors." I said finally.
"They have?" Lothíriel asked in surprise.
"Faramir commented that he was supposed to kill anyone less than a Lord who got near you." I replied with a shrug, and Lothíriel groaned.
"Those three will never leave me be!" she said with despair. "Every man I show an interest in, whether or not he be a lord, they have decided is not worthy of me and scared him off!"
"Thus your attraction to my Elf-lord, who your brothers could not possibly disapprove of." I commented with a grin, and Lothíriel blushed again, shooting me a light glare. "Completely understood. But he is MY Elf-lord, and the only such one around here unmarried, anyways - well, except for Elladan, and I don't think you'd want to risk his father's wrath. So we shall have to find you someone else." Lothíriel blinked in surprise.
"What?" she asked, with something akin to horror in her voice.
"Come now, didn't your cousins warn you? I'm a horrible meddler and match-maker." I said with a grin. "Now, how would you like to be a Queen?" And from there, I'm afraid, things just went downhill for Lothíriel.
----To be continued...with more fun with Lothíriel and Éomer!----
(And why one should be careful when matchmaking!)
-Y'know you write too much LotR FanFiction when:-
Your spell-checker corrects the accents on characters' names. ('Theoden' to 'Théoden')
-Authors Note:-
Well, the reviews of the last chapter has shown me one thing: You are all going to really like the chapter(s) where Glorfindel and Rachel get engaged...Heck, I like 'em. But then, for some reason I always like writing those engagement-type chapters...The funnest chapter in 'No Eyes Needed' was the proposal chapter...and I wrote about three or four chapters in a row just to get to the proposal chapter in 'Sightseeing in Middle-Earth'. Guess I'm a romantic at heart. (Not like THAT'S a surprise...after all, one has to be a romantic at heart to write Mary-Sues. And don't try to tell me 'Sightseeing in Middle-Earth' wasn't a Mary-Sue.)
*sings along to Great Big Sea's 'Ordinary Day'*
*cough*
Yeah, I'm feeling the holiday...
So, once more, thanks to all my reviewers, you're absolutely wonderful! Without you, this story probably would have petered out and ended unfinished, or be much much much much MUCH shorter...Sometimes I think that's the reason why my other two fics kinda petered out at around 30 chapters or so...or maybe it's because TGotG actually has a plot other than 'get OFC and hot male together'. Not much of one. But it's there...I mean, hey, the romance factor didn't even enter the story until Chapter 30! (Unless you count Kari and Elrohir. I don't, since the story didn't follow or focus on their relationship...)
Yeah. I'll stop rambling now.
I'll see you all on Sunday. Hopefully. My parents might decide to ban the computer, since it's a holiday Sunday...in which case, I'll be back on Monday. Either way, you'll get an update soon.
~Crimson Starlight
-Disclaimer:-
CS: Hmm...It's a holiday. I believe I shall enjoy my holiday and leave the disclaimer to my characters...*disapears*
Glorfindel: *sighs* She always makes us do all the work!
Rachel: Dude, you haven't even been in the last FOUR disclaimers!
Bloomer: That's actually rather sad, since he IS one of the main characters...*fixes gaze on Glorfindel and watches him avidly*
Rachel: *blink*
Glorfindel: CRIMSON STARLIGHT! WARN US BEFORE YOU HAVE REVIEWER CAMEOS! *waits for a response, and finally a note appears*
Rachel: *picks up note and reads out loud* 'But it's much more fun not to. Sincerely, CS. P.S. Look out for Ainu Laire.'
Glorfindel: Who?
Ainu Laire: *appears* Scary Elf-lord! *starts whacking Glorfindel with a pool noodle*
Bloomer: *goes to Glorfindel's rescue*
Rachel: Uh...*eyes the reviewers and Glorfindel nervously*
Glorfindel: Ai, enough of this! *disapears*
Bloomer: Aw, the Elf-lord went away...*pouts*
Rachel: And I think I'm going to follow him...*disapears*
Ainu Laire: Uhm...
Bloomer: Are we the only ones left?
Pool Noodle: No.
Ainu Laire: GAH! *disapears, dropping pool noodle*
Bloomer: *eyes pool noodle, then follows Ainu Laire's example and disapears*
Pool Noodle: *sighs* And none of them even bothered to do the disclaimer while they were here...I guess I shall have to do it. Crimson Starlight owns nothing, though she wishes she did.
(CS: Because a talking pool noodle would be freaking cool!)
-73: Farewell-
"Faramir?" I poked my head into Faramir's study early the next morning, and smiled wryly at the sight that was presented to me - a sleepy Faramir blinking blearily as he lifted his head from his desk, where he had obviously fallen asleep.
"Rachel?" he asked tiredly, and then let out a jaw-cracking yawn. I tsked as I entered the study.
"I shall have to have a talk with that king of yours for overworking you like this." I said, and Faramir gave a small wince.
"That is not necessary, I assure you. It is my own fault for not knowing when to quit." he said.
"Ah. I shall have to inform Éowyn of this tendency then." I said with a smile. Faramir shook his head.
"You worry too much, Rachel." he said with a roll of his eyes. "It was only this once."
"Uh-huh. And how quickly will once become twice, and then thrice, and then the next thing you know, you'll know your desk better than your wife." I said, crossing my arms. Faramir looked mildly insulted, though he knew I was half jesting.
"It is only that there were many preparations to make for the King's departure, and I lost track of the time. When I become more used to my office, I shall be able to handle things better." he insisted, then looked down with a sad frown. "I was not prepared to be a Steward of any type, after all." I winced slightly and came around his desk, leaning up against the back side so I was facing Faramir, and put a hand on his shoulder.
"I would have saved Boromir if I could." I said softly. "As it was, it nearly killed me to let him go." Faramir looked at me in surprise, and I gave him a sad smile. "I do not know what you have been told of my recent sickness, but I know you must have guessed by now that I was fading. The direct reason was a fight with Glorfindel - but the fight only came into being because I was a tiny bit over-reactive from excessive grief over Boromir." My wry smile let Faramir know just how not-tiny my over-reactiveness was. He let out a sad smile of his own.
"I do not doubt you found him hard to let him go. Most who knew him would." Faramir said softly.
"For all that the people love you better." I said, my lips twitching in an attempt to smile. Faramir gave me a dry look, silently signaling that this was a topic better left alone.
"At any rate, I didn't come here to talk about what I shall be telling your future wife, nor to talk about your honorably dead brother." I announced, abruptly straightening.
"You had me fooled." Faramir said, a teasing twinkle in his eyes. I whapped him lightly on the arm.
"I AM here to discuss something serious, however." I warned him, and Faramir nodded solemnly.
"What is it that my lady tutor wishes to discuss with me, then?" he asked seriously. I gave him a light glare, and he flashed me an impish grin before turning his gaze quizzical as he looked at me. I bit my lip for a moment, then took a deep breath and spoke.
"I wanted to say good-bye to you now, and to warn you that I might not be coming back." I said. Faramir looked at me in surprise.
"I thought you were going to follow the King and Queen to Isengard, and then return with them?" he asked, and I shook my head.
"I know I told you - and everybody else - that my knowledge of the future was exhausted with the end of the War of the Ring, but I'm afraid that was a small bit of a fib - I know a few more things, and one of them is that Elrond will be going to Valinor in a little over two years. Glorfindel is bound to follow him, and by extension, that means I'll be following." I said, and then sighed slightly before continuing.
"There are, however, still a few places I'd like to see. I had thought to visit Mirkwood, the Lonely Mountain, and Laketown, then go down to Ithilien and Dol Amroth, and afterwards follow the sea shore up to the Grey Havens. I'm also hoping that somewhere in there Glorfindel will get around to proposing, and that will leave a one-year betrothal period during which I will have to occupy myself to keep my mind off of missing him." Faramir looked at me silently for a moment, his face a mix of many different emotions, and then he reached over and hugged me.
"I will not try to persuade you otherwise," he said when he pulled away. "I doubt I could make much of a difference, anyways, as you have been wandering where you will for the past 800 years." We exchanged wry smiles. "I would remind you, however, that Minas Tirith is on the way between Laketown and Ithilien, and I am soon to be in Ithilien myself."
"I know." I said with a small smile. "But I wanted to be sure that you knew that if I'm not back by September two years from now, you can give out my room."
"Never." Faramir said emphatically. "Even if I see you leave for the West with my very own eyes." I chuckled.
"Most definitely as stubborn as Dior." I said, and then I frowned lightly as I eyed him critically. "I must remember to tell Éowyn that story and that you have the same amount of stubbornness." Faramir gave an exasperated sigh.
"By the time you are through filling her with tales, it will be a wonder if Éowyn even still wants to marry me!" he said.
"Oh, she will." I replied cheerfully. "Trust me. Even if Kari and I have to beat her with a blunt object to make her agree."
"You shall do nothing of the sort." Faramir said sternly.
"Alright, fine." I said with a pout. "We'll just point out all your good attributes, then."
"And all their flaws, as well." Faramir said dryly.
"Agh, you are such a pessimist in the morning!" I declared, making a face. "Come on, let's go get breakfast, then it will be time for me and most of the other important people in Minas Tirith to leave."
"Though some may not wish to." Faramir commented as he stood.
"Oh? Who's complaining?" I asked curiously, taking Faramir's offered arm as we left his office.
"Lothíriel." Faramir said with a roll of her eyes. "She has never gone this long away from the sea, and she says it is irritating her. She can't - won't - understand why she must go all the way to Rohan instead of back to Dol Amroth." I blinked.
"Lothíriel? When did she get here?" I asked curiously. I had met Imrahil's daughter only a few times before, and she had seemed to be quite the little lady - not a good thing, in my mind, but hey. She was, basically, a Princess of one of the biggest Kingdoms of the world of Men. She did have her father's adventurous spirit, though, which was good.
"Just a few days ago. Weren't you told?" Faramir asked me curiously.
"Not as far as I know." I replied with an amused shake of my head. Then I turned a mischievous look on Faramir. "But you say she's complaining about going to Rohan, eh?" Faramir glanced at me and sighed.
"No match-making, Rachel! Imrahil would be extremely annoyed if you managed to match his daughter up with a Rohirric lord. And don't even think of matching her with someone with less rank than that, because you know full well I would have to kill whoever it was, by order of Elphir, Erchirion and Amrothos." he said, naming Lothíriel's three brothers.
"Actually, I wasn't thinking of match-making. I was merely being amused by another tidbit of future knowledge." I replied with a smile. Faramir arched an eyebrow at me in a silent comment. "Oh shush. Most of what I know from here on in is personal information, which I could not very well advertise that I had." There was a pause.
"So, if I may be so bold, why have Lothíriel's complaints caught your sense of humour?" Faramir asked finally, as I knew he would.
"Oh, you'll see. You'll see." I said with a smile. I waited until we were right at the hall where we would be having our breakfast before I shot Faramir an amused look and said, "He will be MUCH more than a Rohirric lord, I assure you." Then we were inside the hall, and I detached myself from Faramir and re-attached myself to Glorfindel, who was already sitting and eating. Faramir, to my great amusement, was then snagged by Éomer, who apparently wanted to get to know his future brother-in-law better.
As we were not on that tight of a schedule - Elven magic was making sure Théoden's body was not going to start rotting, stinking, or do anything else similarly gross on us - we didn't actually leave Minas Tirith until mid-morning. The party that headed out was somber, as was fitting, and most of those we passed in the streets were respectfully wearing black, though it was supposedly a time of celebration in the city. It was a touch of respect, however, that visibly touched Éomer, and I knew that if good relations hadn't been cemented between Gondor and Rohan before, they sure were now.
The column of riders was eerily quiet during the first day of riding. I probably could have livened it up a bit if I'd had access to the hobbits and not somehow ended up right behind both Elrond AND Creepy Lady and Celeborn, but there I was. We'd formed up in a rather specific ranking to leave the city, and no-one seemed inclined to break it that first day, though I suspected that tomorrow, those who were not actively guarding would mix around their arrangements a bit so that they could ride near those they wished to talked with. I myself planned to find the hobbits. But that day, I settled for riding along quietly beside Glorfindel, speaking quietly when at all.
We camped late in the evening, and the camp was as subdued as the ride. I contemplated seeing about getting a few musicians going, and livening things up a bit by prodding Celeborn into doing a jig with me, but I figured that there wasn't all that much of a need - and we WERE a funeral escort, after all. I could save the shock of Lothlórien's lord knowing a Rohirric jig for the feast after Théoden's funeral.
The next morning, as expected, riding arrangements got mixed up. The guards remained where they were, for the most part, but those there were guarding went every which-way, so that the guards were quite often no longer guarding anyone of the same race as them, let alone kingdom. The Fellowship, however, seemed to be wanting to stay close to each other and talk today, and they were all clustered back around Aragorn. One did not need to even approach them to know that those not in the Fellowship would not be welcome.
I pondered going and bugging Kari and the twins, but they were apparently trying to keep Elrond from kidnapping Arwen, and Arwen from hitting Elrond over the head with Sam's frying pan, so I decided to let them be. Especially since Creepy Lady was nearby, keeping a close eye on the situation. So that left, unless I wanted to go bug Haldir in his place with the guards, the Rohirric or Dol Amroth contingents.
I had no preference to either contingent, and Glorfindel seemed inclined to go wherever I wanted to - he was eyeing the Elrond/Arwen situation a little warily himself, obviously not wanting to get involved. So, I decided that Rohan was odd, Dol Amroth was even, and went to a random guard and asked him to pick a number between one and twenty-eight. He picked 16, so Glorfindel and I wandered off to the group from Dol Amroth.
Imrahil was pleasantly surprised to see us deciding to ride with him and his daughter - the only one of his children that had returned to Minas Tirith with him for Aragorn and Arwen's wedding, though she looked as if she was regretting doing so now - and welcomed us heartily. His knights, I noticed to my great amusement as we rode, kept shooting sort of hero-worshipping glances at Glorfindel - apparently they'd heard tales of the Balrog-slayer. Lothíriel openly stared, blushing with embarrassment whenever she saw that Glorfindel or I had seen her staring. Finally, late in the morning, I eased Glorfindel into my conversation with Imrahil, then eased myself out and dropped back to Lothíriel, leaving the Elf-Lord and Prince talking.
"And how is Lady Lothíriel enjoying the ride?" I asked her pleasantly. She mumbled a response, her cheeks red. I arched an eyebrow at her. "You know, in my capacity as Tutor, I can only ever remember teaching Boromir and Faramir how to get out of lessons, but I am pretty sure ladies of the realm are not supposed to mumble." Lothíriel sent me a glare.
"The ride is enjoyable, if a little boring." she said stiffly.
"Ah, good. I had heard you were not entirely happy about having to go farther inland instead of back to the sea." I said. "I am glad you are finding the ride enjoyable, however. The scenery is most definitely excellent, wouldn't you agree?" Lothíriel blushed hotter, and I could see she really didn't want to answer. I would have made her do so, but a small acorn bounced off my forehead at that moment. I looked up at Glorfindel with mild annoyance.
"Stop teasing the poor girl, love." he said in Elvish, giving me an amused smile, and then returned to his conversation with Imrahil. I mock-pouted for a moment, then sighed.
"Never mind, don't bother answering." I told Lothíriel, turning back to her. "I was teasing, anyways. Even your knights can't keep their eyes off of him, so I'm not surprised you can't - though I'm sure that there are two rather different reasons involved there." Lothíriel blushed again.
"I suppose." she muttered. There was a moment of awkward silence.
"So I hear that your brothers have recruited help in fending off unworthy suitors." I said finally.
"They have?" Lothíriel asked in surprise.
"Faramir commented that he was supposed to kill anyone less than a Lord who got near you." I replied with a shrug, and Lothíriel groaned.
"Those three will never leave me be!" she said with despair. "Every man I show an interest in, whether or not he be a lord, they have decided is not worthy of me and scared him off!"
"Thus your attraction to my Elf-lord, who your brothers could not possibly disapprove of." I commented with a grin, and Lothíriel blushed again, shooting me a light glare. "Completely understood. But he is MY Elf-lord, and the only such one around here unmarried, anyways - well, except for Elladan, and I don't think you'd want to risk his father's wrath. So we shall have to find you someone else." Lothíriel blinked in surprise.
"What?" she asked, with something akin to horror in her voice.
"Come now, didn't your cousins warn you? I'm a horrible meddler and match-maker." I said with a grin. "Now, how would you like to be a Queen?" And from there, I'm afraid, things just went downhill for Lothíriel.
----To be continued...with more fun with Lothíriel and Éomer!----
(And why one should be careful when matchmaking!)
-Y'know you write too much LotR FanFiction when:-
Your spell-checker corrects the accents on characters' names. ('Theoden' to 'Théoden')
-Authors Note:-
Well, the reviews of the last chapter has shown me one thing: You are all going to really like the chapter(s) where Glorfindel and Rachel get engaged...Heck, I like 'em. But then, for some reason I always like writing those engagement-type chapters...The funnest chapter in 'No Eyes Needed' was the proposal chapter...and I wrote about three or four chapters in a row just to get to the proposal chapter in 'Sightseeing in Middle-Earth'. Guess I'm a romantic at heart. (Not like THAT'S a surprise...after all, one has to be a romantic at heart to write Mary-Sues. And don't try to tell me 'Sightseeing in Middle-Earth' wasn't a Mary-Sue.)
*sings along to Great Big Sea's 'Ordinary Day'*
*cough*
Yeah, I'm feeling the holiday...
So, once more, thanks to all my reviewers, you're absolutely wonderful! Without you, this story probably would have petered out and ended unfinished, or be much much much much MUCH shorter...Sometimes I think that's the reason why my other two fics kinda petered out at around 30 chapters or so...or maybe it's because TGotG actually has a plot other than 'get OFC and hot male together'. Not much of one. But it's there...I mean, hey, the romance factor didn't even enter the story until Chapter 30! (Unless you count Kari and Elrohir. I don't, since the story didn't follow or focus on their relationship...)
Yeah. I'll stop rambling now.
I'll see you all on Sunday. Hopefully. My parents might decide to ban the computer, since it's a holiday Sunday...in which case, I'll be back on Monday. Either way, you'll get an update soon.
~Crimson Starlight