To Lossenrhos : Who's Ovid? Haha… see I'm much worse than you.

Exam Update : I totally botched up the 1st Additional Math paper on Wednesday. Went home depressed and shell-shocked because I was counting on my Math subjects to pull up my grade. The 2nd Add. Math paper on Thursday was much better, and the History paper rocked, I just hope I do well for it, because sometimes when I think I was good I don't do too well anyway. The Physics paper today wasn't too bad. Now I can relax because Monday is a public holiday and after that I just have a few more multiple-choice papers to do. And oh yeah, tomorrow I have my Chinese O Level Listening Comprehension exam. BORING! Hahaha so I'm in pretty good spirits, you could say. Yay!

I haven't updated in a really long time. Okay it's only been 2 days but after my intensive writing in the hols it feels like a long time. So it's good to be writing again!

Chapter 20 : Things Will Be Just Fine

"My Lord? Sir?"

Éomer all but leapt up to see Caira standing by his bed. "What is it?" he asked, bleary-eyed. He tried to rub the sleep away from his eyes.

"The princess of Dol Amroth, my lord. She's awake."

All traces of exhaustion evaporated. He nodded briskly to Caira. "All right, thank you, Caira," he said. "You've taken very good care of her."

Caira waved away his polite praise, but she was evidently pleased that she had been able to serve her king so well. "Her guardian is with her right now, but I'm sure they wouldn't mind if you joined them," she said. "I shall take my leave now, my Lord, but I will be around if any help is required."

Éomer nodded briskly, and held open the door for Caira to leave before stepping out of his room himself. Then he rushed towards Lothíriel's room, suppressing the urge to burst into a run. He almost burst into the room, but checked himself and knocked first. No use bursting in like barbarian, he reasoned with himself. He knocked, waited a moment, and then opened the door.

The sunlight of the morning streamed in through the windows, and so did the winter breeze, but the steady fire kept the room warm enough. Caira had taken everything into consideration.

Isindil was sitting by Lothíriel's bed, holding a bowl of soup, and he had turned to look at Éomer when the door opened. But nothing caught Éomer's attention. Nothing except Lothíriel. She was lying in bed, and although a smile had been on her face, she was pale, and she looked so helpless. And it was then that Éomer truly realised that even though Lothíriel was not like the other girls he had ever met, she wasn't that different from them. She was strong, but not invincible. All he wanted to do then was to wrap his arms around her until she was better again, until she was back to her old self. Now she looked so tired, so… broken.

Isindil glanced at Lothíriel, who seemed to have frozen in place, and yawned. "I suppose I should get some rest, I'm really tired. And I have to tell the men that their princess is all right, so that they can get some rest. They've been really worried as well," he said, standing up. He gave Éomer a look and said significantly, "I'll leave the soup here."

Éomer gave him a grateful look, and seized his chance. "I'll… I'll take over." He took the bowl from Isindil.

"Why, thank you, my lord, you are most kind." Isindil smiled. Turning to Lothíriel, he said, "Rest well, princess. I'll be back to see you again later."

Lothíriel said nothing, staring ahead of her into thin air. Isindil nodded to Éomer, offering him silent encouragement, and closed the door behind him when he left.

Éomer turned back to face Lothíriel, who had not moved at all, and then took Isindil's seat. It occurred to him that he had not really thought about what he was going to do in this situation. Just seeing Lothíriel awake had been his main concern, but now he wished fervently that he had given this moment a little more thought. Sitting here like a piece of stone wasn't going to help matters at all, and it seemed like all he could be at the moment was a piece of stone. He looked down at the bowl of soup, and laughed awkwardly. "Ah… you seem to have taken a lot of it already. That's good. Caira would be glad." He cleared his throat. "It's good that you're back in Edoras… everyone's very glad about that. We're just really happy that you're safe." Stop, you're rambling, he told himself, but still he babbled on, feeling obligated to fill the silence. "You're looking quite well, and soon you will be just like your old self, and we can go riding again. Unless, of course, you want to do something else…"

"I'm sorry."

Éomer almost dropped the bowl at that almost inaudible whisper. "Excuse me?"

"I'm sorry," Lothíriel said in a slightly louder whisper. She turned towards him, and he saw that her red-rimmed eyes were brimming with tears. "Isindil told me about how you saved me." A tear spilled down her cheek. "I… I had lost hope, and I was prepared to die."

Éomer put the bowl aside, moved to sit on Lothíriel's bed, and gingerly wrapped his arms around her, worrying that he would hurt her if he held her too tight. "It's all right, there's nothing to be sorry about," he told her gently. "Anyone would have lost hope. You were strong, Lothíriel, and that's why you made it back." He laughed softly. "If anyone has to be sorry, it should be me. If I hadn't behaved the way I had, you would never have left in the first place."

Lothíriel pulled away from him, and wiped her tears with a shaky hand. "One isn't wrong when he doesn't pretend to love."

"But one is wrong when he loves, but doesn't realise it, and doesn't admit it."

Lothíriel's eyes widened in surprise, and she stared at him for the longest time, not believing what she had heard. Unsure of what more to say, Éomer just let her stare, and sat before her with a small smile on his lips, taking in everything that he noticed about her. She was beautiful even when she was so ill. A tear was sliding down her cheeks, but neither of them made a move to wipe it away.

This time, the silence was beautiful.

Isindil sat in his room, writing a message to send to Imrahil. It would not do to let the Prince know of this whole escapade only when they returned after the winter. And they would definitely be returning only after the winter. Lothíriel was in no condition to travel even if she wanted to. And I doubt she will want to, he thought, smiling to himself.

To my dearest friend,
Éomer is treating us with the utmost respect, and his hospitality is very gratefully accepted. I would have written earlier, if not for certain circumstances that have come to pass, the most serious and grave of those to be the runaway of your daughter Lothíriel.
Upset by a misunderstanding with the King of Rohan, regarding certain matters of the heart, Lothíriel had taken it into her head to run away, and for three days we knew not where she was. Search parties were sent, and everyone was worried, and on the lookout for any possible sign of where she could have gone. Finally King Éomer recalled something that he had said to her in passing about the Gap of Rohan and the Misty Mountains, and was convinced that she would be able to be found there. Thus he and his most trusted guard went out of search of her.
They found her after two days of hard riding hidden at Isengard. Apparently she had been kidnapped halfway on her lonely journey, kidnapped by a corrupted Rohirrim and a Dunlending. We still do not know their purpose. I suppose that the princess knows it, but have not asked her since I did not want to remind her too much of her ordeal.
This is not an easy thing to put in a letter, and therefore I will not go into details. There is no longer a cause for worry, as the princess is safely back in Edoras, and recuperating very well under the care of the best healer in Edoras. She will be all right very soon and we will be returning to Dol Amroth in the spring.
Till we meet again,
Isindil

He folded the letter, and sealed it. Later he would pass it to the best of his twelve man, someone who would be able to make it back to Dol Amroth with all speed.

He wondered how things were going on between Éomer and Lothíriel, then laughed to himself. They would be just fine, two young people full of pride, finally jerked back to reality. Things would be just fine.