Things are peaceful...for a time shifty glance but then, we all knew that, lol
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.Edemer was standing by his sister as she tended to Faramir and Eowyn and Merry, telling her in hushed tones of the battle. He cast his eyes on Eowyn every few moments, shaking his head every time.

"It is hard to believe she lives." He whispered, and Lothiriel nodded.

"She would speak in her dreams now and then, but now she is entirely silent." She nodded to the Hobbit. "And Meriadoc would have me tell him of the battle outside, but now he too has gone silent." She shook her head. "And not a word from Faramir." But Edemer had his gaze fixed on Eowyn, with a bit of wonder.

"All day, King Eomer believed her dead." He murmured, as Lothiriel pulled a blanket up around the Lady, who now shivered even in her deathlike state, as if the room were frigid. "He fought as a man with nothing to lose..." Edemer trailed off as he remembered. Lothiriel bit her lip, worried slightly at the look on her brother's face.
"You speak as if you admired such."
"I did." Edemer smirked, still lost in his memories of the battle. "He was fearsome, Lothy. Fearless."
'Hopeless' Lothiriel wanted to say, but she didn't. She'd seen the young King's eyes as he'd ridden away from her that dawn hour on the fields. Edemer noted her silence, however.

"How fared you this morning, Lothiriel?"
She gulped, shutting her eyes. Her memories of battle were grand...but before it...Lothiriel opened her mouth to reply, but did not get a chance to speak, as Imrahir was entering the room.

"Lothiriel..." He embraced her, with a soft smile, though Lothiriel could see in his eyes little humor. "It is good to see you well." Imrahir did not seem himself, not at all. He seemed weary yes, but also shaken...disconnected from the world. He glanced at where Faramir lie, and sighed. "Did you not know that Denethor met his end today as well?" He said dully, and Lothiriel gasped. "It is true...dead by his own hand, those in Ecthellion say."

Lothiriel closed her mouth, not quite sure how to feel. She remembered Denethor's eyes as he looked down at her, startled, from the Walls. She remembered the words of the soldier she'd tended...but Imrahir was still speaking, in that tired, empty voice.

"And so, until Faramir wakes, our father has been given command of Gondor."

"From whom?" Lothiriel frowned, and Edemer and Imrahir shared a glance. They seemed to silently debate, then drew Lothiriel nearer to speak.
"Strider, the stranger who walks with Gandalf the White, the captain of the Dunedain..." Imrahir said quietly, "He is the rightful heir to Gondor's throne, the heir of Isildur. But tell no one! He has not yet deemed it time to be made known to all."

Lothiriel let this rest in her mind slowly. Gondor did not have a King, had not for an Age so the books said. Until now...though, nothing should surprise her any more, she thought wryly, glancing at Merry. And then she turned, as Eowyn made a slight gasp in her sleep, and then was still. Lothiriel knelt at her side, hoping for something more...but no, The Lady Eowyn was silent as ever.
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.The doors opened again, and the two young Lords and the Lady looked up as Imrahil, Eomer and Gandalf entered, the Dunedain Captain Strider behind them. At the sight of his sister, Eomer strode to her side swiftly, kneeling to look upon her, to hear the breath that still stirred weakly within her.

"How fares she, Lady Lothiriel?" An echoing, commanding voice asked, and Lothiriel looked up to see the Wizard Gandalf addressing her.

"She has not uttered a word since this afternoon." She replied softly, her eyes on the fallen Lady's brother. "It was indeed a welcome sound, she called for you and for one named Theodwyn."
"Our mother." Eomer nodded, his voice slightly choked as he brushed at his sister's golden hair. His eyes looked up then, sharp blue meeting Lothiriel's soft grey. "Have you watched over her all day, Princess?"
"I have." Lothiriel nodded. "As you asked me."
He smiled softly, his gaze lingering on her a moment, before he looked up to Strider, who was inspecting the three wounded closely.

"Here I must put forth all my skill in healing." He said gravely, and Eomer frowned.
"Surely you must rest Lord, and eat a little before you take on this task?"
"Nay, for these three..." He nodded to Faramir, "...and most soon Faramir, time is running out. All speed is needed."

"Then you know what medicine they need?" Lothiriel rose, looking at the stranger hopefully, "You know what will heal them? For I have seen them try all."
Again, an old memory was returning to Aragorn...of a young woman who bid his mother farewell from the City walls... "Yes," he nodded, "I know what they need. Black Breath is indeed upon them."
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She had not stayed within. Lothiriel had heard that Strider needed as few distractions from his task as was possible, so she stole away from Eowyn, Faramir and Merry. Ioreth...and indeed, all who took a notice to the Princess...had encouraged her to take some rest. But she could not sleep. Edemer and Imrahir surely could and did, collapsing on empty beds right there in the House, but Lothiriel could not. She wanted to know the news of the gravely wounded as soon as it came, or else she wasn't sure if she would be able to sleep at all.

And so she found a place to sit, upon the stairs to the lower levels. The stars hung in a cloudless sky, their light soft and casting gentle shadows on a land that had been so harsh and ravaged looking not too long ago. Now it seemed ethereal, silver and blue and dreamlike.

It did not change her memories, however. Lothiriel shut her eyes tightly as she remembered how the day began...in those moments before dawn. Already, the streets had been cleared of much rubble, but she remembered vividly what littered them before...

Remembered vividly the feel of her sword hitting flesh for the first time before that. Remembered vividly how fearless and strong she'd felt when the Rohirrim had come...such a gambit of emotions to run in the space of maybe twelve hours. And now...she felt as if she was floating in the world, weariness lending her release from feeling the strong, disturbing emotions of before quite so keenly. But she still remembered them.

She did not hear the steps coming up behind her until they were very near. Lothiriel turned her head slightly, and then jumped up when she realized that it was Eomer. Hope lighted her face, as she took him in. Tears had surely been upon his face, but now he smiled.
"Are they well?" She breathed, "Have the King's hands indeed lifted the fever?"

The King nodded, "Yes, for all three of them." His voice did indeed betray the fact that he had wept at his sister's side, "They sleep now, but Eowyn made me promise to ask you to come and see her in the morning. She heard of how you were by her from the time she fell."
"Oh be sure of it." Lothiriel laughed, tears now in her eyes, "I will stay by her until she is running again should she ask it of me! And my cousin? He rests peacefully?"
"Yes, indeed he does." Eomer replied, but he was caught on what her words had been, "Until she were running again?"
"If she asked it of me." Lothiriel repeated, still laughing slightly, rubbing at her eyes. They were well...it was as if everything that had happened that day was lifting from her spirit. "She was brave, courageous..." She took a breath, "She was braver then I was in the face of the same enemy."

"I believe, Princess Lothiriel, that she was braver then any on that battlefield could have been." Eomer said softly, finding himself take up her hand in his own. "Why did you come here, Lady?" He asked, "I know why my sister was driven to, but you?"

"Maybe for much the same reasons." Lothiriel said softly, "My people, my country...my family." She sighed, "Though Imrahil is my kin, Edemer is all I have left of my family."

"Perhaps that is why my sister came." Eomer murmured, "Not just because she was left behind...but because she watched Theoden and I ride away from her, with a chance of never returning."

"Perhaps." Lothiriel nodded, and they were silent for a time...studying their linked hands, wondering at them, yet enjoying them. It was pleasant not to feel alone, to feel companionship, on the night after such a terrible and dark day...

"Tell me..." Eomer asked after a time, "For I have not gotten to speak very much with your older brother, though I do find that I like him very much. When did Eodier pass?"

Lothiriel looked up at him, the starlight upon her making her seem luminous, lighting the gentle smile on her face. "Eight years ago." She told him, "I was ten, Edemer fourteen. Da's heart gave out on him..." She trailed off, "He told us to go to Dol Amroth, where we would find my mother's family."

"You had no kin in Rohan?"

"Nay." Lothiriel shook her head, "My father was the last of his line, as now Edemer is." She sighed. "Do you...do you remember my father at all?"

Eomer shook his head. "I was barely old enough to walk when he left The Riddermark for the Seaside Halls. I had heard stories of him, obviously...I had always imagined he'd stayed on there, and would return someday." He looked out on the City then, his eyes glazed as if taken by memory. "When my father died, and Eodier did not return when news must have surely reached Dol Amroth, I was sure in my heart that he had died. Or sailed away to some unknown land."

"He was right in Rohan." Lothiriel whispered, "He'd taken a wife and gone to live in the mountains." Eomer turned back to look at her, smiling softly.

"I know that now." He nodded, "He took a bride of The Seaside People..." He took in the face of the girl before him, lit in starlight with hair as dark wood, eyes as the pale mornings over the grassy plains of Rohan... "And most fair she must have been, to have given him such a daughter." The words left him before he could check himself, and the Princess had the grace to smile even as she blushed slightly in the night, looking away from him. And then glancing back up...Lothiriel felt her heart give an unmistakable skip.
"I thank you." She managed, and Eomer suddenly felt more shaken by her then the armies of Mordor had ever managed. He smiled back.
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"Now how's that for a pretty sight?" Edemer grinned, glancing out from the doors of the Houses of Healing. No one had been able to stay asleep after the jubilant cries that went up when word was spread that the Lord Faramir would live. Of course he'd gone to see if his sister had heard...only to see her standing in the starlight with the young King of Rohan. At Edemer's side, halfway between sleeping and waking, Imrahir yawned, his eyes still having that odd, glazed look.

"Very pretty." He mumbled.

"Yes," The two were silent for a moment, watching the pair as Lothiriel moved to leave, Eomer pressing a kiss to her fingers.

"So I trust we'll start hounding his steps tomorrow?" Imrahir smirked, showing humor that had been so rare that day. Edemer grinned.

"But of course."
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Lothiriel woke the next morning early, rising from her bed in Ecthellion and looking out her windows to see the sun upon the city. The walls gleamed white and smooth, save the telltale spots of ash and rubble on the lower level. Still, already the rubble was being cleared, and soldiers milled about white tents on the Pelennor, with a blue sky and gossamer clouds above. It promised to be a fair day.

She turned away then, a soft smile on her face. It faltered only a little for a moment...the enemy was gone...but to what end? She shook her head. Best not to think about it at that very moment.

Pulling her nightshift off over her head, Lothiriel put on a new set of men's clothes she'd managed to steal before she'd gone to bed. She couldn't help smirking...whoever had owned them before her must have been a youth, for they fit her far better then her brother's old castoffs. She braided her hair back now and pinned it up...letting it fly free in the days before hadn't been the smartest move vanity-wise, and the women of Dol Amroth would have fainted dead away at the sight of her beautiful dark hair the previous morning. As it was, Ioreth had had to sheer off a good four inches of her once waist-long mane due to the tangled mess it had still been after she'd washed it.

She pulled on her boots and strapped on her sword, then hurried out down the halls to the stairs that would take her outside. Lothiriel paused before leaving the tower...

Stepping softly into the still throne room, she beheld the seat that had been her Uncle Denethor's perch for so long. Never again...she kissed her fingers, then touched the armrest softly in respectful tribute, a rueful sigh escaping her lips.
"I'm sorry I did not know you, when she who shared my blood did." She whispered, then turned, and made her way out into the sunshine.
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Eowyn had been given her own room, one that overlooked the green courtyard the Houses of Healing enclosed. She sat up in her bed now, her arm in a sling and one of the maidservants feeding her breakfast. The Shieldmaiden of Rohan's eyes looked dulled, the light within them faint. As the maidservant was leaving, Lothiriel came to stand in the doorway. She saw Eowyn's gaze drifting out her windows, open to the fair, sunny day as if she were trying to soak in the sunshine, let it drive out what lingering darkness was within her.
"Lady Eowyn?" Lothiriel asked timidly, and Eowyn turned, a smile swiftly taking over her face.
"Princess Lothiriel." She said softly, yet warmly. Her voice sounded so weary, her face so fair and yet so pale...as if she'd borne a heavy grief for years between now and the morning when Lothiriel had first seen her. "Come and sit by me, look out on the courtyard."

Lothiriel did so, sitting on the windowsill close beside Eowyn's bed. The Princess smiled...already, Merry was back on his feet. He looked up to see her, and smiled, giving her a wave. Beside him, Pippin looked up too, and did the same. Lothiriel grinned, waving back. "So fair a day, it's hard to believe what happened on the Pelennor Fields was yesterday." She murmured.

"Yes," Eowyn nodded slowly, "to me it feels as though it were years..."

"They told me downstairs not to let you dwell on it." Lothiriel looked back at her with a smirk, "So I tell you not to. Look instead on the blue skies above, at the birds that have returned to their nests to sing for you."
Eowyn let out a quiet laugh, and smiled. But she did not look out the window, she looked upon Lothiriel's own face.
"I did not have the time to see it on the battlefield, but my brother speaks the truth." The golden haired Lady of Rohan grinned. "You are indeed fair."
Lothiriel felt her face blush, and she hid it by looking back outside, though she could not hide her smile.

Eowyn smiled as well, but decided to switch the subject. "I thank you, Princess, for watching after me when I fell."
"It was my honor, Lady." Lothiriel tipped her head. Eowyn smiled again.
"Call me by Eowyn, if I may call you by Lothiriel?"
"Of course." Lothiriel smiled. "We are kindred spirits, you and I."
"We are." Eowyn nodded, a light returning to her eyes. "We both took up swords when we were told to stay at home and bite our nails." She chuckled. It was a good sign, Lothiriel decided, that she was finding heart to laugh. The black fever would indeed lift fully from her...
"I believe my aunt, The Lady Deliann was very proud of me for going." Lothiriel said, watching the birds darting back and forth. "It was her armor I wore to battle."
"You are lucky." Eowyn groaned, "I had to fit myself into a man's armor...too big in some places, far too tight in...others." She smirked, and they both laughed. "I tell you, my arm was not the only part of my body aching when I awoke!"

"Well, even Deliann's armor is a bit snug on me up here." Lothiriel replied, "The Seaside women are so lithe, even those who are allowed to learn to ride and swordplay."
"You're built like a woman of Rohan." Eowyn noted, and the younger woman started a bit, which she also noted. "Yes, Eomer told me that as well..." Her voice went soft, "That you are the younger child of Eodier."
Lothiriel nodded. She noticed the flowers in the courtyard below, where the Hobbits were talking, and smiled gently. "And so the children of Eodier have found the children of Eomund."
"So it would seem. Eomer and Edemer already regard each other as if they'd grown up as boys together." Eowyn laughed, then reached out to take Lothiriel's hand. "I would like for us to be good friends as well."
"As would I." Lothiriel nodded happily, "So you have seen them together then?"
"Ah yes. They came in together soon after I awoke this morning."
"I'm glad." Lothiriel sighed, "We may be brother and sister, but it was harder for Edemer not to feel somewhat isolated in Dol Amroth. For sure, he had friends, but still." She smirked, "All that blonde hair is hard to miss among our mother's people."

"He's most welcome among his father's." Eowyn leaned back on her bed with a sigh. "Oh this gives me hope...seeing the two of you."
"I'm glad." Lothiriel looked at her warmly, "Please stay in such a mindset...they say it's the only way you'll ever be better."
"I'll try." Eowyn promised. The two were silent then for a time, letting the warm spring breezes waft in through the windows, carrying with them laughter and the scent of green growing things.

"My brother very much admires you, Lothiriel." Eowyn said after a while, and Lothiriel started. Eowyn grinned. "And though these are strange times for such, he would like to be in your company, when circumstances allow?" The Shieldmaiden of Rohan arched an eyebrow as the Princess of Dol Amroth smiled shyly, that flush creeping back up to her cheeks.
"Tell him that I would enjoy that as well." She murmured...

"Lady Lothiriel?" Lothiriel looked up, and nearly every thought left her head.
"How good to see you, Legolas, Elf Friend." Eowyn exclaimed, and the seemingly young man who stood at he door smiled kindly at the Lady of Rohan.
"And it is good to see you in better health, my Lady." Legolas dipped his head, and Lothiriel was suddenly reminded of her Uncle and cousin...only with hair golden instead of dark, and a countenance unlike any she'd ever seen. Elven-kind. He turned to her then, still smiling. "Princess Lothiriel, Lord Imrahil has bid you join him on the fields, for there is much yet to be discussed."
"Thank you." Lothiriel smiled back at the handsome Elf, then turned back to Eowyn, rising. "I will see you soon, Eowyn." She embraced her, "May your heart stay lightened."

"Yours as well." Eowyn smiled her farewell, and Lothiriel followed the Elf Prince out into the halls.
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