To lady scribe of avandell : Don't worry! When I am about to finish a story, I have a tendency to say so like 3 chapters in advance, and start getting nostalgic already. But I'm not done yet, not by a long shot. Muahahahaha.

Chapter 24 : Initiation

Éomer stood before Imrahil in his study. Erchirion and Amrothos were sitting in a corner, studying the account books intently. Éomer had been told that despite being extremely fond of trouble, the two brothers were very good at managing accounts, and it was the only time they were ever serious. Therefore, Imrahil often set them the task of managing the accounts of the city, if only to keep them out of trouble for a while.

Éomer swallowed. He had expected to only be speaking with Imrahil, and had not counted on the presence of Lothíriel's two brothers as well. What does it matter? He finally asked himself. They will hear of it soon enough, anyway.

"What is it that you wanted to speak with me about, Éomer?"

Éomer shifted, feeling nervous. He took a deep breath, and opened his mouth, making sure to think through his words first. Never had he been in such desperate need to impress. "I would like your permission to ask for your daughter's hand in marriage."

A sound was heard; Amrothos had dropped his quill. "Don't drip ink on the paper!" Erchirion whispered furiously, pulling the quill away. Otherwise, the room was silent. Imrahil stood behind his chair, his eyes on Éomer, trying to let what he had just heard sink in.

Imrahil spoke at last, but slowly. "You want to marry Lothíriel?"

Éomer nodded. "I haven't asked her yet, because I thought I would like to get your blessing…"

A smile broke across Imrahil's face. "Of course you have my blessing, Éomer. A better man for my daughter I could not imagine."

Éomer heaved a great sigh of relief. He had known that Imrahil would agree, of course, but a small part of him had been worrying, keeping him up all night. He gave Imrahil a bright smile. "Thank you very much, sir. Well… I won't keep you from your duties any longer." He turned to go.

"Father, we've finished," Erchirion announced before Éomer even opened the door. "I think we shall be going too."

"Here's the books, Father, perhaps you would like to check everything once over, and we'll be somewhere in Dol Amroth if you need us back," Amrothos added, putting the stack of books down on his father's desk. The brothers started to the door as well, and left with Éomer.

Erchirion put an arm around Éomer's shoulder. "So, you're going to join our lovely family," he said, exchanging a glance with Amrothos.

Éomer wondered what they were up to now. Lothíriel had warned him to beware of them. "They're like twins, only born a year apart," she had said with a laugh. "And they usually aren't up to any good."

So now Éomer watched them warily as they chattered on and on, leading him down the hallway, and eventually even out of the great hall. Nodding to the guards as they passed them by, the two did not even stop talking. "Where are you taking me to?" Éomer asked uncertainly. Although he had a few good years over the both of them, and he was the King of Rohan, he was beginning to feel very helpless, walking between the two of them.

Amrothos grinned. "Don't worry so much, nothing bad is going to happen to you."

"Relax," Erchirion chirped. "You'll be just fine."

They had rounded the great hall and were quite a distance from it now. Éomer saw a little shack in front of him, and it seemed as if they were going towards it. "Where are we going? What are you doing?" He really didn't want to offend them or anything, since they were Lothíriel's brothers, but he was really starting to get desperate for a getaway now. But they were both strong men as well, and so all he could do was follow obediently and hope that Lothíriel, Elphir, or Isindil would walk past, and stop Erchirion and Amrothos.

"This shack has been abandoned for a really long time, and only Amrothos and I spend much time here. We've been playing around here since we were children," Erchirion explained.

"Well, we don't play, not anymore, but we still come here a lot."

Éomer eyed the shack, wondering what plan they were concocting. "Yes, and so…"

Before he could finish his sentence, he felt two hands pushing him, and he stumbled into the shack. Before he could turn and make a run for it, the door slammed shut and he heard the lock turn. "Erchirion! Amrothos!" he yelled. "What's this for? I didn't do anything!" He kicked the door, but it held. There was silence, but he knew that the two brothers were still outside. Probably waiting to see what he would do.

He clenched his jaw. Well, he would show them, if they wanted to see what he would do. He felt the hinges of the door, and grinned. He knew how to deal with this. He began to search the shack for something hard that he could use, and found a rock in one corner. He didn't know what it was doing in there, but he was grateful for it. Going back to the door, he used it to hit the hinges, pulling out the pins.

Eventually, he had dismantled all the hinges, and simply swung the door open the other way and stepped out, planning to give Erchirion and Amrothos a piece of his mind about how to treat guests, even if the abovementioned guest was planning to marry their sister. But his anger melted away when he saw the amazed faces of the brothers, and he began to laugh. Tossing the rock to Erchirion, he said, "Please, don't do that to me ever again. This time we can probably fix the door back, but I'm not sure about the next."

The brothers exchanged glances, and smiles began to spread across their faces. "Very good!" Erchirion said enthusiastically, coming over to thump Éomer on the back.

"Excellent!" Amrothos agreed. "Now you have our blessing."

Éomer frowned at the brothers. "Excuse me?"

"Our blessing," Erchirion repeated. "We're saying that we completely approve of you marrying Lothíriel. You've just proved yourself."

"You're smart, and have a sense of humour. And you didn't throw any tantrums," Amrothos explained.

Éomer raised an eyebrow. "What if I had?"

"Then we'd leave you in there," Erchirion said easily, putting one arm around Éomer's shoulders again. "But since you didn't, we give you our blessing. Which is something you'd want to have, if you don't want strange things happening to you."

"All right…"

Amrothos looked at him seriously. "So, have you thought about how you're going about it?"

"Going about what?"

"The proposal!" Erchirion said impatiently. Turning to Amrothos, he said, "Maybe he's not so smart after all."

"Oh, the proposal," Éomer said hastily, before they could try to push him back into the shack, or try something else. "No, I actually haven't thought about it. I thought I'd ask your father's permission first…"

"That's all right," Amrothos said brightly. "We'll help you!"

Éomer looked at them suspiciously. "You'll help me? What do you know about proposing to girls?"

"We had a nurse who was a hopeless romantic," Erchirion said. "Anyway, it's not like you know so very much yourself. But don't worry. Your brothers-in-law will make sure that it's the best proposal ever. Something our dearest sister will remember for the rest of her life."

Haha, what's a good tale without some mischief?