A/N—I am so excited! We are off to Edoras for the wedding.

Eokat, to answer your question, I do plan to go past the wedding. A few children past the wedding, I believe. I also have plans for another story with the same characters, but many years in the future...sort of E&L-The Next Generation. I'm sure I will call on you to help me with the dialogue for the wee babes!

LOTR-nutcase, it is good that you should bring up the major antagonist...I have always thought of L's self-doubt about being a good queen to Rohan (and to a lesser degree, Eomer a good king) as the major antagonist(s). That storyline is slowly starting to unfold, but will swing into full gear when we actually reach Rohan, and she's queen. I know it should have been introduced much earlier, but in all actuality several of chapters 1-9 should be combined into a shorter number of longer chapters. And that is something I plan to do when the story is finished...reorganize chapters, fix a few phrases that bother me, correct any accidental typos I haven't caught already etc...I probably should be doing that as I go, but that's not how I like to write. If I don't move along in small clips, I get bad writers block, and then nothing gets done. So I do what I do, and here we are : )

Laureate, thanks so much for your reviews. I HAVE to share this with you...when I read your review with the story about your mother and the Pabst and peanuts—get this—I was drinking beer and eating peanuts! I nearly chocked to death. My husband thought it was quite amusing. I mean, really, what are the odds? Anyway, it was so good to hear from you again. You always pick the moments out of my story that I enjoyed writing the most...I'm glad they appeal to you as well. Your reviews were curiously void of any grammatical corrections, though. I know they're there...he he he...let's hear them! I need to start sending chapters to you again : )

FYI—I fixed the Queen of Gondor/Rohan error...that was unforgivable...sorry! ***********************************

The morning she was to depart for her future kingdom, Lothiriel felt sick.

She hadn't slept well the night before, but had instead tossed and turned in her canopied bed as she jerked in and out of overly detailed dreams about her upcoming journey and nuptials. She had tried everything to relax including warm milk, warm cider, and then finally resorting to warm rum in the cider, with no results. Around three o'clock in the morning, she had given up and started to rummage through the large trunks filled with her belongings, stacked in the center of her chambers, to make sure she had packed everything...the fact that she had performed this task four previous times was not lost on the weary princess.

Now it was dawn, and Lothiriel was already dressed in her blue riding habit for the long trip ahead of her. Outside her window, she could hear the stable hands rustling around the courtyard with bales of alfalfa and burlap bags of grain as they started their work for the day. Normally, such sounds pleasingly roused the princess, but on this day they caused butterflies in her stomach and an anxious tightness in her chest.

Quickly deciding she could not stand to wait in her chambers another minute, let alone the hour or two before her family and friends would gather for breakfast, the princess quietly exited her rooms and set off on a walk around the palace to settle her nerves. The halls she wandered were gratefully empty of nobles due to the early hour, and Lothiriel was allowed to gather her thoughts as she walked.

Occasionally, she would encounter a busy servant, who would bow low to her as she passed. One such servant Lothiriel recognized as Dora, Queen Arwen's maid, who had helped her dress for the harvest celebration's ball. "Good morning, my Lady," the little maid said as she curtsied gracefully.

"Good morning, Dora." Lothiriel said with a weak smile, her voice subdued.

"Today you travel to Rohan with Eomer King," said Dora as she rose from her curtsy and smiled softly at Lothiriel. "You must be very excited."

"Ah...yes," Lothiriel said as if she was trying to convince herself of the fact. She noticed a slight wave of puzzlement cross Dora's face, and then the girl resumed her pleasant expression as if she understood something Lothiriel did not.

"Of course, it must be hard to travel so far from your home in Dol Amroth," Dora said carefully, "but at least your family and friends will be with you in Rohan for several weeks. I'm sure their presence will make the adjustment to your new home all the easier."

Lothiriel contemplated Dora's words and realized the truth in them. She had been entirely focused on the part of her trip to Rohan that left her far from Dol Amroth, away from her family and childhood friends. The planning and preparations, packing and provisions she had thrown herself into headlong the last week had surprisingly made her forget the all important purpose she was traveling to Edoras; to spend a month with her family and friends, celebrating one of the most exciting events in her life...her marriage to Eomer. And she also hadn't considered that at the end of the month, when her family and friends left, she probably would not mind remaining in Rohan at Eomer's side, for more than a few reasons.

"If you'll excuse me, my Lady," Dora said interrupting the princess's thoughts, and she curtsied again to Lothiriel, "I have to tend to the queen and then prepare myself for the journey to Rohan."

"You're coming with us?" Lothiriel asked eagerly. The thought of Dora's presence in Rohan over the next few weeks suddenly made Lothiriel feel much more at ease.

Dora nodded and said, "I have been chosen to accompany the queen as her lady-in-waiting."

"Have you ever been to Rohan before?" asked Lothiriel, her spirits rising with the idea of Dora's companionship on the road to Edoras.

Dora smiled prettily at the princess, noticing her change in mood for the better, and she said, "No, my Lady, I haven't had that honor."

"It really is very lovely. Lots of rolling fields, and the horses! Magnificent!" Lothiriel said. "But you will discover Rohan's charms for yourself. I will let you tend to your duties, as I must tend to my own before we depart." She nodded at Dora and continued on her way down the corridor, her thoughts now a little brighter.

~

"Where is she?" Imrahil said quietly, but rather sternly, to Faramir and Amrothos. The Prince of Dol Amroth, his sons and nephew, as well as a multitude of nobles, including Elessar and Eomer, had gathered for their morning meal before the long journey to Edoras. Lothiriel was noticeably missing.

"She's not in her room, and she's not here. Where is she?" Imrahil asked again in an irritated voice.

"She's probably tending to some last minute wedding detail," Amrothos said in a non-convincing tone. "I'm sure she'll be along in a moment."

"What detail could she be tending to?" Imrahil shot back at his son. "Everything that could possibly be tended to has been tended to four times over—besides anyone she would talk to about anything regarding the wedding is here!" His voice rose slightly with each syllable.

"I'll go look for her," Faramir said suddenly as he tried to diffuse his uncle's increasing temper. "I'm sure she was simply waylaid by some well- wishers. She has accumulated quite a few friends during her stay here in Minas Tirith."

Imrahil relaxed a little at Faramir's words, and he settled back into his chair. It was true Lothiriel had many friends here in the palace, and he knew she would not willingly arrive tardy for such an important gathering. But the increasing glances coming from the nobles around the hall and aimed at Lothiriel's conspicuously empty seat made him rather agitated. "Where is she?" he mumbled to himself again.

Faramir rose from his chair and turned to exit the hall as discreetly as possible. Seated near Faramir, Eowyn started to question her husband about his departure until she saw him glimpse meaningfully in the direction of Lothiriel's vacant chair. Understanding instantly he meant to look for his cousin, Eowyn smiled sweetly at her husband and quickly engaged those around them in a conversation about the weather to cover his escape.

"That's my girl," Faramir muttered to himself as he heard Eowyn cover his tracks. He quickly headed off towards Lothiriel's chambers to see if she had returned there before heading to the hall.

When he reached her room the door was open, and servants were carrying the trunks filled with her belongings out into the courtyard for the trip to Edoras. As he entered Lothiriel's chamber door, he slid past two of the servants carrying the last of the trunks; Lothiriel was nowhere to be found.

"In one of the gardens, perhaps," he said to himself as he set out again.

He decided to hunt for Lothiriel in the west wing of the palace first and stretched his strides to increase the pace of his walk. As he passed the arched windows of the corridors he searched, he glanced out each one in the hopes of locating his cousin. Just as he was about to exit the palace to investigate the many royal gardens, a lone person sitting outside on a bench beside a familiar memorial caught his eye.

Faramir stopped abruptly and approached the last window in the corridor that looked out into one of the palace's larger gardens. To his relief, the person on the bench was in fact Lothiriel, and also to his relief, she didn't appear to be in any kind of distress. She was simply sitting on the bench, staring contentedly at the monument for his brother Boromir. After watching her for a few moments, Faramir left his position at the window and descended the three flights of stone steps that led from the palace to the garden.

Not sure what to say to his cousin, he sat silently next to her on the bench until she spoke to him.

"I suddenly realized I had been in Minas Tirith this whole year and had visited his memorial only once in all that time." Lothiriel said calmly to Faramir.

"You've been rather busy," Faramir said quietly. "And you're here now. That's all that matters, really."

"It's a nice memorial, isn't it?" Lothiriel said. "Elessar did a nice job." Her last words came out tense, from between stifled sobs.

Faramir turned to face his cousin as fat, wet tears streamed down her cheeks. "Lothiriel, don't—" he started to say, but she cut him off.

"Oh, I'm alright, Faramir," Lothiriel said as she continued to cry, "just a little overwhelmed, maybe." She made an attempt to wipe the tears from her face, but it didn't do any good. It was as if an unstoppable deluge had unexpectedly broken loose in her. "I didn't sleep last night, and I'm nervous about the trip to Rohan. And then there's the wedding—there's so much that has to be done once we actually reach Edoras, and it all has to be perfect, because Eomer is king. I'll be the center of attention—that's a lot of pressure. I mean, I'm ready to marry Eomer, but I don't think I'm ready to be a queen. There's still so much I have to learn about Rohan's people and traditions. I'm not going to know anyone, and all my family and friends will have to leave in a month." Her slightly incoherent rant tumbled out as fast as her tears.

Faramir inhaled deeply and then said with an absolutely straight face, "Well, you seem to be confident about the one thing I would be terrified to undertake...marrying Eomer."

Lothiriel stopped her crying and stared at Faramir for a moment before bursting into laughter mingled still with tears. "That's not funny," she said between jagged breaths.

"Then why are you laughing?" Faramir teased.

"Because I'm hysterical." Lothiriel said with a sob. "Can't you see that?" Even though she was still crying, Faramir caught the small smile on his cousin's lips.

"Clearly," Faramir said with a chuckle. He slid closer to Lothiriel and placed his arm around her slumped shoulders. "Lothiriel, listen to me. Everything is going to be fine."

"I know," she said through her tears, "and that's what everyone keeps telling me...my brothers, Eomer, the palace servants, for goodness sake! And I feel better for a while, but then I just start thinking about everything that is going to happen in the next month; how everything is going to change, and I just get all bothered again." She could barely get her words out through a new wave of sobs. She leaned into Faramir and let the tears come—strangely, it seemed to settle the nerves in her stomach.

Faramir squeezed his arm around her shoulders a little tighter, and he said, "Ah yes, waiting for the other shoe to drop. I remember going through that myself just before I wed Eowyn."

"What do you mean?" asked Lothiriel as she sat up straighter and looked at Faramir, eye to teary eye.

"I mean that I kept waiting for something bad to happen." Faramir said with a shrug. "We grew up in a time when nothing good lasted for very long, and that's a hard feeling to shake. But, Lothiriel, that's no way to live. Bad things are always going to happen...no one knows that better than us. It is the nature of life. The important thing to realize is that when the good things happen, which is also the nature of life, you have to enjoy them to the fullest—and not get so wrapped up in the consequences of enjoying them. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Lothiriel stared at him for a few moments and then said, "Yes...Don't ruin the good things in my life by worrying about how horrible I'd feel if they all went away."

"Exactly!" Faramir said with a broad grin. He cupped his hand under her chin and used his thumb to wipe her tear-stained cheek. "You have every right to be happy, Lothiriel. And so do I, and so does Eowyn and your brothers and, as much as I hate to admit it, so does Eomer." Lothiriel sniffled then giggled at Faramir's teasing, and he continued, "So try to be happy, and don't worry about a month from now, or a year from now, or ten years from now."

"I'll try," Lothiriel said smiling shyly at her cousin.

"Good," he said. He stood up and held out his hand to help her rise from the bench. "Now, let's get you freshened up and get to the hall for breakfast. Your father was concerned for your well-being."

"I'll bet," she said sarcastically and rolled her swollen eyes. "I'm sure he was frothing at the mouth because I wasn't there on time."

"Almost," Faramir admitted carefully, not wanting to upset his cousin again. "Amrothos can handle him though."

~

"I'm going to look for her myself," Imrahil said, a slight edge of concern in his voice, and he started to rise from his chair.

Amrothos clasped a hand down on his father's arm and said, "I don't think so, Father." He shot a meaningful look at the older prince. "Faramir can handle it, and something tells me Lothiriel needs time to take care of a few things this morning. I think it's best if we give her that time and not make something out of her lateness."

Just as Amrothos finished speaking, Faramir appeared at the entrance of the hall with a smiling, but slightly pale Lothiriel on his arm. The steward and princess entered the hall and headed toward the long table where Imrahil, Eomer, Elessar and their families were seated. Imrahil observed his daughter as she cheerfully acknowledged the nobles who watched her closely when she and Faramir passed by them. He suddenly became very aware of the intense scrutiny his daughter was under, and had been under for the past month, and his heart reached out to her.

As Faramir escorted her closer, Imrahil noticed Lothiriel's eyes weren't their usual shade of vibrant blue, but pale grey. It was a sure sign she had been crying; her mother's eyes used to turn the same way, he noted to himself. Imrahil stood with the rest of the men at the table as Lothiriel approached and took her seat. He wore a calm, agreeable face when he greeted his daughter; she greeted him with a slightly unsettled expression and then turned her attention to Elessar and Eomer.

"I apologize for my tardiness, my Lords," Lothiriel said in a voice clearly meant for all in the hall to hear, "but I have many friends in the palace I believe merited a personal farewell this morning before our departure. The task took significantly longer than I expected. It was certainly not my intention to arrive at this hour for such an important day."

To Lothiriel's surprise, it was Queen Arwen who replied first: "And you would have been quite remiss to ignore such a task, Princess Lothiriel." The queen, seated next to Elessar, spoke in a voice also meant for all to hear. "You have been a friend to all in the palace since your arrival early this year. You are indeed a lady of integrity, graciousness and beauty. I do not believe Minas Tirith will be as bright after you depart today for Rohan."

All heads turned from Arwen to Lothiriel, who was blushing, but looking dramatically more confident. "I thank you for your hospitality these past months, my Lady, as well as your kind words." She curtsied to the queen.

"It was our pleasure, Princess," Arwen said as she placed a calculated hand on her husband's arm.

Elessar glanced down at his wife's touch, and she gave him an encouraging smile. He cleared his throat and then said, "Of course it is our sincere wish you will return to your homeland as often as possible, Lady Lothiriel. And please know, while Gondor grieves your departure, it also yearns to see you in a station more befitting a lady of your exquisite quality...as a queen, of course."

"Thank you, your Highness," Lothiriel said, and then she drew herself up to her most regal stature. She regarded Elessar and Arwen with a composed look; a look that, to those around her, placed Lothiriel as an equal to the King and Queen of Gondor, and she said, "Though I have yet to be crowned Queen of Rohan, I can assure you when that day happens the Oath of Eorl will not only be honored by Rohan's king, but also by its queen." She chose to nod instead of curtsy to the royal pair and then quickly took her seat between her father, who had a slight look of awe on his face, and Eomer, who had been completely silent since Lothiriel's arrival, but was now grinning like a fox in a hen house.

"You *have* made friend's during your stay," Amrothos murmured to his sister. "That was quite an impressive show, little sister. I have a feeling Rohan's not going to know what hit them."

Faramir was smiling broadly across the table at Lothiriel, whose composure still rivaled any queen found in Middle Earth. She glanced at him through lowered lashes and flashed him a quick smile and telling wink before turning her attention to Eomer and the meal before her.

~

Two hours later, a large entourage of Gondor and Rohan's nobles, knights and riders set out from Minas Tirith on the Great West Road that would lead them around the Druadan Forest and on to Edoras. Elessar led the group on Brego, with Arwen at his side on her white palfrey. They were surrounded by the king's guard and followed closely by Faramir and Eowyn, Imrahil and his family, and Eomer with his elite guard of riders. The tail of the caravan was a mix of nobles, servants and vendors, either traveling back to their homes in Rohan, or venturing out of Gondor to test the market for their wares in another kingdom.

At the leisurely pace the high king set, it would take the group a week in the saddle to reach their destination. Elessar had provided enough knights to protect the travelers, for Eomer had not planned on returning to Edoras with a bride-to-be, her family and most of the nobles of Gondor in tow; and hit-and-run orc raids were still not uncommon along the road.

Faramir let his horse slow its stride until he was walking along side Lothiriel on Cyning. She seemed much happier than she had been earlier in the day when she had confessed her worries to him, and he was glad to see it. She looked to be enjoying herself on the ride, content with the mild weather and beautiful scenery of Anorien. "Feeling better, are we?" he asked her quietly.

Not noticing he had ridden back to join her, she snapped out of her dreamy state and turned to speak with him. "Much better, thank you. I'm not exactly sure why I was so worried in the first place," she said and smiled sweetly at him.

He flashed a wry smile back at her and said, "Give it time, I'm sure it will come back to you. We haven't even passed into Rohan yet."

She gave him a perturbed look and said, "I thought you wanted me to think happy thoughts, cousin. Make up your mind."

"You're right. That was in poor taste. Perhaps it was your brothers' influence...I will mind my manners from now on, my Lady."

"I should think so, Steward," she said with mock disdain and then gave herself away by giggling.

Faramir laughed heartedly and said to his cousin, "I've actually joined you, not to tease you, but to pass on a warning. I *might* have done something I thought was in your best interest, but could very well end up being your undoing."

Lothiriel paled slightly at her cousin's words and mumbled, "What are you talking about? What did you do?"

"Well," Faramir said, "I *might* have let it slip to Eowyn that you were concerned about the wedding preparations and your lack of knowledge of Rohirrim customs, and that you *might* like more of her help in those areas."

"Oh," answered Lothiriel with relief, "that is fine. I actually would like her assistance, if she is willing to give it, that is.

Faramir chuckled to himself and said, "Willing to give it? Your wedding is all I've heard about every night in our chambers since you and Eomer were first betrothed. My wife, and your future sister-in-law, is absolutely bursting at the seams with ideas for your wedding. She didn't want to step on your toes though. But now that she's got the go-ahead to help you..." He directed Lothiriel's gaze ahead in the entourage to where Eowyn was riding on her large, black mare that Eomer had gifted to his sister when she had wed Faramir.

The blond princess had tied her reins in front of her on the mare's neck so they would not fall, and she was steering the animal with her legs so she could write in a blue, leather-bound journal she was holding. She was scribbling in the journal rather furiously, and her brow was creased from deep concentration.

"Oh my," murmured Lothiriel.

"Oh my, indeed," replied Faramir.

**********************************

A/N—So we will probably be on the road for another chapter, and then we arrive in Edoras, in time for drunken wooing and the wedding.