Chapter 26 : A Cousin And A Sister
One month later…
Lothíriel hugged Éowyn when she came to the top of the steps. "It's so good to see you again, Éowyn!" she exclaimed. "It's been so long since we last met."
"Yes, and soon you will be my sister, as well as a cousin!" Éowyn replied, laughing. She turned to Éomer. "I always knew you had good taste in women, brother!"
Lothíriel blushed and turned to Faramir as Éowyn hugged her brother. "Lovely to see you again, cousin. I missed you."
Faramir laughed. "You did? I thought you had much more to occupy your time," he teased. "Congratulations, cousin. I could not have wished better upon you."
The four entered the hall together, chatting pleasantly. The wedding would be in two weeks, and already had all the King's staff excited. The cooks were beside themselves planning the feast, and the seamstress and her assistants were delighted to have been asked to make Lothíriel's wedding dress, and a new set of clothes for Éomer. The women were eagerly planning on the best way to decorate the hall, and what flowers would be the best. Faramir and Éowyn would be attending, and Lothíriel's whole family, and Isindil, and Legolas, and Gimli, and even Aragorn and Arwen had sent word saying that they would never miss such an occasion, which put the people involved in the wedding into a deeper state of anxiety and excitement.
Éomer would be making the formal announcement at the celebration tonight, but Lothíriel already had the feeling that the gossiping had started, and most of Edoras knew already anyway.
Benches and tables had already been arranged in the hall, for all the people who would be there at the celebration, and the four of them wound their way through. They were just about to enter Éomer's study when Diora, the seamstress, approached Lothíriel. Curtsying politely, she said in a soft voice, "May I request the presence of the princess for a moment? I need to take her measurements for the dress."
"Of course," Lothíriel replied, smiling. Her wedding dress. It felt like such a fairytale. She had never really thought of marriage before she met Éomer, and imagining herself in a wedding dress seemed a little too much for her imagination. But it was going to be real.
Éowyn took her hand. "Come, I will accompany you. Let's leave the men to talk of their boring manly things," she said lightly. "Diora's the best dressmaker I've ever met, she made my wedding dress too. Come, let us go."
The women walked off, Diora walking proudly before the other two; her head lifted high by the great compliment Éowyn had paid her. Lothíriel turned back to see Éomer smiling after her, and returned his smile.
"'Boring manly topics'." Faramir laughed. "That is just like Éowyn, always such regard for the talk of men!"
Éomer joined in the laughter. "My sister believes that men gossip more than women. I have no idea where she got that idea."
Faramir nodded thoughtfully. "You know, I heard that Legolas found himself a lovely elf maiden."
"Really?" Éomer asked, interested.
Faramir shrugged. "I'm not sure, could be just a rumour. I overheard the women gossiping while they were hanging up the sheets. Some of them sounded rather disappointed. Oh well, we'll be able to ask him when he comes for the wedding."
"Yes, we will," Éomer agreed. Then he frowned. "The wedding… I can hardly believe it sometimes. I can't believe I'm getting married. I never thought about it before."
Faramir patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry about it, I never thought about getting married either. And now I'm married. It just happens."
"Does anything change much?"
"Well, you have to share your bed, if you have any disagreements, you can't just walk away and assume that she will disappear, or forget about it the next time you meet. But don't you worry, you'll learn to adapt fast. I know I did."
Lothíriel stood in the middle of the room, letting Diora take her measurements. Éowyn sat in the chair before her, smiling approvingly. "You're going to be a beautiful bride, Lothíriel," she said reassuringly. "I know it."
"That she will be, my lady." Diora gave her agreement. "And a better queen for our king there will never be."
Lothíriel blushed. "Thank you, Diora." She looked over at Éowyn. "Éowyn… what is it like to be married?"
Éowyn nodded knowingly. "I wondered the very same thing when I was marrying Faramir. Somehow I believed that there was going to be a huge change, and my whole life would be turned upside down, but that wasn't how it turned out. Marriage, for me, just means that I get to spend my days with the man I love. It's that simple." She paused. "But of course, there are some changes."
"Like…?"
"I baked a cake once, when Faramir invited Legolas and some of the Elves to Emyn Arnen."
Lothíriel laughed. "Is that it, Éowyn?"
"For me to bake a cake willingly is a great change, Lothíriel. Ask Éomer and he'll tell you it's true." Éowyn stepped forward as Diora announced that she had obtained all the measurements she needed, and hugged Lothíriel. "Don't worry about a thing, Lothíriel, you will be fine. Your life with my brother will be a good one."
The hall was filled to the brim with happy, cheerful people, awaiting the expected announcement from their king. Just before they ate, Éomer stood up, taking Lothíriel's hand. Looking over the faces of all his people, he smiled, and said, "Seeing all your expectant faces, I suppose you all already know what I am going to say. I journeyed to the city of Dol Amroth about a month before, and Princess Lothíriel has accepted my proposal, and has consented to be my wife."
A great cheer went up among the people, and Lothíriel turned red at such an overwhelming acceptance. Éomer smiled fondly at her, and kissed her on her forehead, which roused an even greater cheer, and a few whistles. Lothíriel thought that it was impossible to turn even redder than she already was.
The feast that had been prepared was most grand, and everyone tucked in without hesitation. Lothíriel sipped her wine and looked at all the people, and looked around the hall. When she married Éomer, these people would become her people, and this whole place would be her home. Of course, she would still be able to return to Dol Amroth, and the sea, but her home would be Rohan. Was she ready for such a change? She looked over at Éomer, who was laughing over something with Faramir, and something stirred in her heart. Of course she was ready. She had been waiting for it for so long.