To Lossenrhos : That's dumb! We all know that statues don't come alive! I bet the statues must have been laughing at Ovid when he was writing about them. Wahahahaha.
Chapter 21 : Most Heartfelt
Lothíriel sat in bed, cradling her bowl of hot soup. She had been feeling better and better everyday for the past two days, and Caira had been most pleased. She was getting a little tired of staying in bed all day, but Caira wouldn't let her get up. "Tomorrow, perhaps, my lady, but not today. You need at least one more day of rest," she had said sternly. Since she was the expert, Lothíriel had not bothered to argue.
Besides, staying in bed did have its merits at times. Especially when Éomer came to see her, after fulfilling his duties for the day. Then he would fuss and worry over her, and even though she had never really enjoyed being fussed over, she had to say that this time it was rather pleasant. Just the thought of him brought a blush to her cheeks.
Their first kiss was definitely something that she would never, ever forget. It was her very first kiss, and it had been so much more magical than anything she had ever been able to imagine. She had felt so much happiness, feeling his arms around her, his lips on hers, and everything that they felt between them, hanging in the air. She had never felt so much warmth before, and she had never felt safer, even though it felt as if the ground was sliding away from beneath her feet, and that the earth was tilting, and everything was spinning.
Once, so long ago, her mother had spoken to her of love.
"Love is not something anyone can prepare for, my precious daughter. It just comes to you all of a sudden, out of nowhere. At first it's not there, and then you blink, and it's there, bright, bold and beautiful. Seize it, Lothíriel. You must remember to seize it, because it's the best thing that will ever happen to you, and you will never regret it. Even if it makes you cry, makes you hurt, hold on to it, and everything will be all right."
At that time, Lothíriel had only been ten, and had simply nodded, but did not understand how much truth was in her mother's words. Now she saw how truly spoken they were. "Oh, Mother," she whispered. "I wish you could be here to see me now, to see how happy I am."
There was a knock on her door, and Éomer poked his head in. "Oh, you're awake," he said with a bright smile, stepping into the room.
Lothíriel put aside her bowl and giggled like a dizzy child when Éomer promptly put his hands on her waist and kissed her forehead. She turned bright red when she realised that they were not the only ones in the room, and pushed him away (though not too hard). "Éomer… we have company!"
"That's all right, princess, perfectly all right," Éothain said with a broad smile.
Lothíriel looked at him seriously. "Éothain, you have the worst taste in soldiers."
Éothain's face fell, and he looked down at his feet. "I'm sorry…" he began.
At the same time, Freda rushed to her brother's defence. "I'm truly sorry, my lady, but it wasn't my brother's fault…"
Lothíriel stopped them both by bursting into laughter. "Don't worry so much, the both of you! It was simply a joke," she said after she had managed to stop her laughter. "It's good to see the two of you. I was beginning to think that Éomer and Isindil spent their hours at my door, beating away other visitors."
Éothain laughed. "Glad to see you in high spirits, my lady. Those two men…" He stopped abruptly, catching Éomer's death glare, and then began to apologise. "I'm so sorry… I wasn't supposed to talk about it…"
But something else had caught Lothíriel's attention. "Two?" She shook her head. "There were three."
Éomer's eyes widened. "We only saw two, didn't we, Éothain?"
Éothain agreed, and the two man instantly began fretting about the one they had let get away. Apparently they felt that justice had not been properly dealt, since not all the hearts of the kidnappers were stone cold.
Freda made a sound. "What does it really matter?" she asked. "The princess is safe in Edoras, with the King himself watching over her. I doubt anyone could reach her. And certainly one man, finding both his accomplices killed, would not dare try to abduct the princess? Perhaps we should just forget about him, and let him go. With no one to help him, he will not be able to carry out such a crime again."
Lothíriel would not have been so merciful. In fact, she would probably have wanted to plunge her dagger in his heart personally, but after hearing Freda's words, she realised that she agreed. After all, everything has turned out right, and I'm safe in Edoras. "I think Freda might be right," she said. "Even if he does find new friends and wants to try kidnapping again, who is he going to kidnap? And how? Halen is dead. I've learnt my lesson, and Éomer, you probably won't be letting me very far out of your sight."
"But… but… we have to at least find him!" Éothain protested, and Éomer added in his similar opinion.
"He's probably already in Dunland. Rohan has given them that land to keep as theirs, you could not just barge in with soldiers and demand an arrest," Lothíriel reasoned.
"What if he tells some false tale to rouse the people against Rohan? If he wanted to create strife, he could have found other ways." Éothain argued, but Éomer kept silent, considering the politics.
"The Dunlendings have vowed never to invade or attack Rohan. They will not do so just because of one man's wild tales," he said finally.
"Exactly," Lothíriel agreed. "And they will never dare to try such a thing, as if they do, they will face not only Éomer and Rohan, but my father, bearing the flag of Dol Amroth and fighting in the name of Gondor. It is too big a risk for them."
"Perhaps it is best to leave him be for now. But if he tries anything else, there will be no mercy for him," Éomer said.
"If he tries anything else, I will personally cut his throat," Lothíriel vowed.
Éothain laughed. "Forgive my saying so, princess, but you are a vicious one!"
"Thank you," Lothíriel replied with an impish grin.
The problem so quickly solved, they all fell silent, and finally Freda spoke up, if not timidly, "My lord, brother, could I have a word with the princess in private, please?"
Éomer shot Lothíriel a look, knowing her feelings about Freda, but Lothíriel smiled and nodded. Now that she knew Éomer loved her with all his heart, she hated Freda no longer. And Freda had come to see her, and meant well, after all.
Éomer nodded. "Of course, Freda. Éothain, what say we go and get some work done in the hall?"
The two men left the room, and Lothíriel gestured for Freda to sit down in the chair by the bed. Freda took the seat, and was silent for a moment, while she came up with what she really wanted to say. Lothíriel saved her the awkwardness of starting first.
"I'm glad you came to see me, Freda," she said. "And I want to apologise for that last day, how I spoke to you. It was really rude of me."
Freda started, and shook her head. "No, no… I was not offended, my lady," she said.
Lothíriel cleared her throat. "The truth was… I was jealous of you."
Freda frowned, not understanding. "Jealous? Why would you be jealous of me? You're a Princess of Dol Amroth."
"Yes, I am princess. But I was still jealous of you, because you seem so perfect. You're always so proper, and polite, and lovely, and everyone loved you. You made me feel uncouth, crude. And I didn't know what I could do to get people to like me the way they like you."
Freda leaned forward earnestly. "But they do like you, princess. Your warmth… it brings something to those around you. When you were gone, everyone was so worried, and everyone was so afraid that you would never be seen again. So many people had sleepless nights. That's how much people love you, princess."
Lothíriel shook her head. "That wasn't exactly what I meant. What I meant was… I was jealous of you because Éomer seemed to like you so much more than he liked me. It seems so silly now."
Freda was quiet for a moment, then she said, "Actually, the night you ran away, I… I confessed my feelings to Éomer, hoping that he would accept me." She laughed softly. "He turned me down, just as Éothain predicted. He didn't mention your name, but I could see that he rejected me because of you. He already loved you more than he could understand. Finding that you had left just made him wake up and realise it."
Lothíriel's breath caught. Éomer had not mentioned that to her. She didn't know what to say, but reached out and took Freda's hand.
"I'm just a friend to him, someone to talk to and laugh with occasionally, but you hold the key to his heart, and always will. That's the truth, princess. My manners affect him not, but your laugh, your smile, and your light… all that, it's everything to him. And I wish the both of you happiness."
Lothíriel leaned forward and wrapped Freda in a hug. "Thank you."
"The time it takes to get from Rohan to Dol Amroth in winter" later…
A servant girl brought a letter into the hall where Imrahil was having breakfast with his sons. "My lord, a soldier riding from Rohan brought this." She handed him the letter, curtsied, and left the hall.
"Must be from Lothíriel," Elphir remarked.
Imrahil read the letter, and then read it again, and again, not believing what it was he was reading. Lothíriel… run away? Well, she was capable of that, but he was horrified that it had happened. At least there was nothing to be worried about anymore. However, she would be in trouble when she returned after the spring. He frowned. He should never have let her go to Rohan like that. And he never would allow such a thing to happen ever again.
"What is it?" Erchirion asked.
Imrahil handed Elphir the letter, and he read it out loud to the table. "I can't believe she actually ran away. That girl doesn't use her brain at all, sometimes," he commented when he had finished.
Amrothos grinned. "Well, well, well… that's interesting. 'Certain matters of the heart', eh?"