DISCLAIMER: The names, places, things are Tolkien's. I think we can all figure out what is who's.
AN: the reviews are awesome =] thank you so much!
Chapter 2: An Introduction to a Misconception
"My Lady!! Oh my Lord, I am so sorry, she did not mean to... oh but is she unconscious? Her father would surly have my head if he..."
But Eomer seemed to ignore the frantic cries of the young woman pacing behind him, as he knelt down to the girl who had accidentally ran into him. Eomer had barely moved an inch in their small collision, and rightfully so, as the girl's body was slender and no match to his own grand build. Extending his arm to gently caress the girl's cheek and lifting her head slightly, he examined her, searching for any bruises or wounds upon her head, for it wasn't the collision but the fall that resulted that was the threat to the girl.
"...and her brothers! Maybe not the younger but the elder would surely have something to say about her scampering about all alone in such a..."
"MISS!" Eomer cried. Daerien, startled at the boom of his voice, jumped and quickly shut her mouth and stared at his gaze awaiting what he had to say. "Find water and a dampened cloth, quickly!" Daerien nodded sheepishly and ran to anyplace she could to find what she needed.
A crowd began to gather at the spectacle, and Eomer seemed to grow conscious of it. He could hear whispers all along the strands of people gathering and hoped that what they were whispering was in relation to the fact that a maiden was on the ground, and not because it was the king of Rohan at her side.
"Come on, wake up..." he mumbled under his breath, watching the girl as she slowly began to flutter her eyelids and gradually come to realize her surroundings. When she had opened her eyes completely, she sat up and Eomer backed away from her just a bit to give her some space. From the expression on her face, it was clear that the collision was rather strong for the girl. She began to look around for, it seemed, anyone she recognized. 'She looks so innocent, in a rather pretty way I suppose' Eomer thought to himself, but he quickly dismissed the thought. He looked around at the crowd, and noticed that the numbers had grown, and they began to push forward in an effort to see what was going on. "Please, give her room!" he cried out, and the people quickly obeyed.
Eomer watched as the girl rubbed her forehead, eyebrows furrowing in, confusion? Or fear perhaps? He could not decide, and thought that a few kind words would help to ease whatever troubled her. "You needn't be afraid miss, I wouldn't harm..." but before he could finish the girl shot a look at him and cut him off mid-sentence.
"Who are you? And what do you feed yourself? Stones?! For Eru sake! Honestly what were you doing just standing there?" the girl snapped as she rose to her feet.
Eomer looked up at her, a bit offended, and annoyed really that she would be so rude as to speak to him that way. "If I may, miss, it was not I who was carelessly running through the streets. You did not even look where you were going!" Eomer replied, raising his voice, keeping eye contact with the girl as he himself rose to his feet.
This only angered Lothiriel even more. "You would raise your voice to a lady, SIR?" she screamed, looking up to the man.
"I'm sorry, I meant no offense. I only intended on defending myself. You're being eccentric," Eomer responded, his voice still loud for the crowd to hear. The two were making quite the scene to see; a Princess and a King, screaming at each other, emotions high and tempers flying, and neither realizing just who the other was.
"ECCENTRIC? I should report you to the..." but Lothiriel was cut short by Daerien, who was horrified, if it was possible for the girl to BE anymore horrified, at the site of Lothiriel scolding the King of Rohan.
"MY LADY!" she cried, almost dropping the bowl of water in her arms. Both Eomer and Lothiriel turned to look at her. She turned pale as she slowly fell to the ground on her knees, watching them argue. Both looked at her puzzled, as she began to cry for mercy. This day was more than she could handle.
"...And that's when she ran into me." Eomer was explaining to his dear friend, Imrahil, what had happened. Both he and Lothiriel were standing before an audience of Imrahil, Faramir, and Eowyn in a hall of the citadel. Lothiriel stood quietly; hands clasped together in front of her as she listened to Eomer speak. Daerien was standing silently a few feet behind her, trembling, slightly, with fear. "I'm sorry my Lord, I did not mean to be such an inconvenience walking through the streets of the city," Eomer said to him, bowing in humility, looking to Lothiriel with an eyebrow raised. Lothiriel only scowled at him, for she could hear the sarcasm lining his voice.
"No apologies from you are needed, Eomer king. Nay, I insist that you accept my daughter's, and my own apologies," Imrahil responded, glaring at his daughter.
"Father you can't be serious? I would not think to apologize after the way he spoke to me earlier."
"Spoke to you earlier? Tell me, princess, were you offended by how I spoke before or after your outburst? Either way my tone was justified in both occasions, and I refuse to..."
"That is enough, please!" Lothiriel and Eomer were only inches apart, staring intensely at each other as they were, again, raising their voices. Eowyn could not take their bickering any longer, and ran to separate the two of them, pushing them apart and looking back and forth to both of them, expecting them both to of controlled their composures. "Please! I will not have you two fighting the length of our time here. My marriage is to be a day of complete happiness and I cannot have that if my brother and my future cousin are at each other's throats. Can you not compose yourselves, please?" Eowyn looked pleading at her brother, who only sighed and nodded quietly, feeling guilty for having upset his sister. She then turned to Lothiriel, eyes pleading as well, which surprised Lothiriel because she had met Eowyn in such a hasty way, and already the woman was pleading with her just as her father would.
"Yes, yes I am sure I can do that, my Lady. I am truly sorry," Lothiriel answered, bowing her head and curtseying for her in sincerest regrets.
"Good. I am sure you are both tired from such an... eventful day. I think it best if we all rested before tonight's festivities. Uncle, I take my leave," Faramir said, bowing to his uncle who bowed in return. "Eomer," he addressed in the same manner, smiling warmly. "Lothiriel," he said, as he had before. "Shall we?" he asked Eowyn, offering her his arm to escort her to their rooms. Eowyn complied and they walked ahead of the rest to their rooms, Faramir chuckling to himself and Eowyn only rolling her eyes in somewhat disbelief.
"And he called me eccentric! Am I eccentric Daerien?" Lothiriel was pacing her room as Daerien prepared her outfit for the feast later that evening. Daerien only looked up from what she was doing as Lothiriel paced heavily, giggling and raising an eyebrow at her. "Don't answer that. Ugh, did you see the look on my father's face? I'm not sure I've ever seen him so red, though, I admit I do not know whether it was anger or sheer embarrassment. I hate to trouble him so..." she trailed off.
Daerien paused to watch her friend sit on her bed then lay upon it, eyes filled with worry. She sighed, and was going to comfort her when there was a knock at the door. Daerien answered it, and took her leave at the sight of the visitor, but not before turning to Lothiriel and giving her a reassuring smile. Lothiriel sat up to greet her visitor, who ended up being her brother Erchirion. His soft blue eyes met her own and he smiled lightly at her.
He took a seat beside her on the bed and sighed before speaking with her. "So I heard of your day today. The king of Rohan, Lothiriel? Could you not have run into someone else? Or something else. A wall maybe?"
"Truthfully, Erchirion, that is what it felt like I ran into. And king of Rohan or not, he hadn't the right to raise his voice at me. I do not know what manners they convey in Rohan, but in Gondor you wouldn't dare address a lady in such a manner, dignified or not, it should not matter!"
"You are joking, are you not? Since when have you complied with manners and obedient behavior?"
"I suppose it has been awhile. But he could have been a gentleman about it," she said quietly, more so than she had spoke before, crossing her arms. She looked to her brother, who seemed to be picturing the ordeal in his head, as he was chuckling to himself, running his fingers through his short, brown locks as he did so. "Tell me, Erchirion, was father so angry at me? He is well, is he not?"
Erchirion paused for a moment, and saw that his sister was truly worried. He never could understand why she would misbehave, and worry about the consequences after. Like himself and his other two brothers, his sister adored their father. He knew she had no intention of hurting him purposely, and on some occasions trouble seems to find her though she tried to avoid it. "Why must you get yourself into trouble as big as the sea? Ever since you were young, you were untamable. Will you not grow up, Lothiriel?"
Lothiriel only stared at him blankly, hearing the words echo in her mind.
hope you like. the story is starting off a bit slow, but I ask that you just bare with me a bit. I don't want to make the chapters extremely long, so it's a challenge deciding where and when to end each one. thanks for the reviews, though!! I'm loving it, and please keep it up!! =]