Excuses, excuses: OK, I have this book report due, and school starts in a little over a week, and I told myself that I wouldn't write any more fanfic until it was done, right? Well, it didn't work. So here I am again, typing until my mother makes me go to bed. I'm SO SORRY it took so long! I haven't looked at Orli, pics, I swear!

OK, maybe there was that one from the set of Elizabethtown...but that's it! Scouts' honor!

Distributes brownies, and vows to make this chapter extra-long

Oh, and some bonus lyrics:

Her daddy says

"He ain't worth a lick"

"When it comes to brains he got the short end of the stick"

But Katie's young, and then she just don't care

She'd follow Tommy

Anywhere

She's in love with the boy

She's in love with the boy

She's in love with the boy

And even if they have to run away

She's gonna marry that boy someday

-Trisha Yearbook, She's in Love with the Boy

"Father!" I cried, stepping out of Eomer's embrace to awkwardly curtsy.

Eomer grabbed my arm and yanked me back to his side, apparently perfectly at ease. "Prince Imrahil," He said, nodding in response to Father's look of disbelief. "It is good to see you again, for there are many matter of which we need to speak."

"Obviously." Father stroked his beard and glared at Eomer. He turned to me with the same look, but with a sigh broke down and wrapped me in a giant hug. "Thank the Valar you are safe!"

"I am sorry for causing you grief, Father, but I will not say I regret leaving. For much good has come of my escapade." I said the words solemnly, but with little sorrow. I was glad to be home, true, and I had missed my family...but Eomer was my life now, and always would be. Though we were not officially wed, in my heart, my first loyalty was to him.

"We will talk of this later, Ria. There are matters of state that must be seen to immediately, but as soon as they are finished I will come find you. For now, my guards will escort you up to the palace." Father motioned to his Swanguard to come forward, turning to greet Elessar formally. I squeezed Eomer's hand and remounted my mare.

"Will you be all right?" He asked.

I nodded. "It is best if I do what he asks of me for now. I will see you as soon as I can, but if not, meet me in the western-most garden an hour after dark." Pausing, I added, "I love you, Eomer."

"And I love you, my dearest lady."

Not ever aspect of my return to Dol Amroth was laced with the awkwardness of impending change. My room was just as I had left it, and I let out a cry of relief and joy upon seeing that a hot bath had been made ready for me. Tearing off my over-worn brown dress, I threw it on the floor and stepped into the steaming tub.

"I've become fond of you," I addressed the tired garment, "but frankly, you need to be burned."

The bath was just what I wanted. Water just under scalding-hot, scented with lilac oils, drew the aches and discomforts of travel out of my body. I soaked for a good hour, till the water was uncomfortably cool, before getting out. During that hour I did not let my mind dwell on the task that loomed ahead of me: explaining myself to my father.

Afterwards, I slipped into a long, fluffy white robe and sat beneath the canopy of my bed to comb the tangles out of my hair. Our short stop in Minas Tirith had been pleasant, but conditions on the ship had been somewhat lacking in hygienic necessities. I was just finishing up when a knock sounded on my door.

"Who is it?" I called.

"Us." Elphir's voice came through the heavy mahogany muffled, but I could tell he was anxious to see me.

"Come in!" I answered. Immediately, the door flew open and my three handsome brothers flew into the room.

"Where have you been, Ria?"

"We were so worried!"

"How could you do such a thing?"

"Was it worth it?"

"Did you have any adventures?"

"How did you wind up with King Eomer?"

"We heard about the plot. How did you discover it?"

"Did he truly kiss you? Can I kill him?"

"NO!" I yelled in response to Amrothos' last question, which I had barely managed to pick out from the barrage of queries being aimed at me.

"No, he didn't kiss you?"

"Yes."

"Oh, yes, I can kill him. Lovely!"

"No! Amrothos..."

"All right, all right. Quiet down." Elphir, the oldest, tried to bring us to order. "Ria, we're all dying to know: Where have you been? And why did you leave?"

I was silent for a moment. Then, quietly, "I'll tell you, but I only want to explain this once, so listen carefully. Afterwards, I expect you to help me figure out how to tell everything to Father." My brothers quietly took seats around the room. Amrothos lounged next to me on the bed while Erchirion and Elphir drew chairs up close.

"You know I wasn't too eager to marry Kutheia," I began, "But I was willing to do so, if the City needed it. I merely wanted to experience a little excitement first..."

And so the story spilled forth, slowly, from my memories of the past month. When I finished, the boys were decidedly more sober than they had been when they first entered my room. I waited for their reactions.

Silence.

"I'm glad you went." Amrothos blurted out with a defiant look at Elphir. I beamed at him.

"Really?"

"Yes. I think we pushed you too hard with Kutheia, and obviously Father made a bad decision there. I think..." He paused as if to gather his thoughts, "I think we've spent too many years managing your life, since Mother died, Ria. You're a grown woman now. You should be able to make your own decisions."

My eyes filled with tears. How I loved my youngest brother! Of course, I adored them all...but Amrothos and I had always been close.

"I agree." Erchirion added slowly. "It wasn't our choice to make. Perhaps it was our punishment for meddling that we worried so about you."

I shook my head. "I'm glad I went, but I should have let you know that I was safe."

"Yes." Elphir said abruptly. "You should have."

"Do you condemn me then, Elphir?"

He smiled at me. "Never, sister. I love you too much. You will be 21 in two days, and that is plenty old enough to strike out on your own when you feel the need, and I will say so to Father if he tries to punish you."

I giggled. "If he tries, he will have Eomer to deal with. By the laws of Rohan, I am now the responsibility of my husband-to-be."

Amrothos snorted. "And I'm sure we all wish him the best of luck in dealing with you."

I threw a pillow at him.

"I love him, Father. I will marry him, with or without your blessing. Will you not give it to us?"

Father was sitting behind his desk in his office, face bowed over clasped hands. I had related the same story my brothers had heard (without revealing Eowyn's involvement, of course), and was now at the point where I had to convince him to not lock me in a tower for the rest of my life, and instead allow me to wed King Eomer. He sat there, silent, for so long I feared he had died from shock.

I started when he finally spoke, not raising his head. "I wronged you in making a poor choice of husband for you, Ria. Yet you also wronged me through your lack of faith. Of the two, I perhaps owe you the greater apology. My first inclination is to allow you to marry Eomer, but to require a year-long engagement, to be sure that this is truly love and not childish infatuation."

I opened my mouth to protest, but Father lifted his head and silenced me with a look. "However, I fear this would be hypocritic of me, since I had originally intented to arrange your marriage to the man anyway." Here he cleared his throat and fnished formally, "Therefore, I give my blessing to the promise of this union, in the hope that it will bring my daughter joy."

I leapt up and ran around his desk to hug him. "Thank you, Father. This means so much to me!"