DISCLAIMER: All things LOTR belong to J.R.R. Tolkien. I'm just attempting to wax lyrical with them.
Glad you liked the previous chapter! Here's the update...
(I shall be on holiday in Canada for three weeks, so unfortunately future chapters will have to wait till I get back!)
Morithil.
XII
"Though your body be confin'd,
And soft love a prisoner bound,
Yet the beauty of your mind,
Neither check nor chain hath found,
Look out nobly, then, and dare
Even the fetters that you wear".
Fletcher, (source unknown).
When we were children, as I have said; my brother was my protector. He was also my competitor, many sparring matches fought and drawn on the steps of Meduseld when frosty winds blew clean and purifying through Edoras, many summer mornings found our clothes dusty and our hands begrimed with earth. Soil under our fingernails, and gentle but firm scolding from our uncle, who would watch us go, little shoulders slightly sagging with shame. Bemusement in his kind eyes, always a fatherly word for both of us.
When came my wedding feast, my brother would not be tempted, it appeared, though oft I challenged him, laughingly and in a singing voice I scarcely knew to be my own, as if the sun had caught in my throat and left my mouth golden.
"Come, Eomer; you would begrudge your sister a friendly match?"
He had glowered half-heartedly over his goblet at me, not risking further dark in his expression when Faramir stood near, watching us with a knowing glint in his eye. My brother surprised me that day, clearing his throat in the fashion that made the company directly around us hush to listen to his speech.
"I value my life too much at this time to risk it in combat with the slayer of the Witch-King, who has well earned her place in the history of song"
I must have gaped at my brother. This was not Eomer that I knew, who would jokingly challenge me to move the sword in his hand with my own thin arm and then move it himself if only to make me feel better. I struggled to find the words that were escaping my grasp.
"And I would not fight a princess of Gondor on her wedding day"
I walked to him, smiling. My brother looked at me with his stern eyes over the rim of the goblet, and sipped.
"And what of a Lady of Rohan, for such I still am, and will not cease to be?"
Rippling murmurs in the crowd around us. Faramir smiled in the face of questioning looks sent his way, asking if he would tolerate such brazen loyalty to her homeland from his new wife. His face spoke reams, and I blushed to see pride and acceptance in it.
"Sister, as I said many times when we were children; perhaps another day"
Good-natured laughter in the hall. I grinned as Eomer bowed and swept past me to relieve himself of his empty goblet. In doing so he spoke in my ear.
"Perhaps before I return to Rohan, Eowyn"
I laughed merrily at this remark, which went unheard by others. However, a hand slipped round my waist and a low voice murmured against my cheek.
"If so, would my lady permit me to be mediator in this display of Rohirric swordsmanship?"
Does nothing escape Faramir's sharp hearing? I think not, and would not have it any other way. He met the celebrations with a gracious acceptance, smiled warmly at his people and more so at me. I had feared that the wild shieldmaiden from the North would not be greeted with such easy welcome into Gondor, strange as I am to their people and their ways. All proved otherwise, and I became almost shy in the friendly sentiments and amiable wishes that were given to me, unsure of how to answer such unlooked for acceptance and love.
"Of course, my lord", I teased, "Providing you do not allow your new status to affect your judgement on awarding points, of course"
"I could be persuaded" Faramir left me with a faint kiss on my cheek, walking forward as the King clasped his hand with all the camaraderie and warmth of a brother, which Faramir a little taken aback, accepted. They walked together to a less populated part of the hall where I now know sincere words and a friendly hand on my husband's arm were exchanged. I have married the Prince of Ithilien, Steward of Gondor, a valiant leader, and a man whose goodness I shall spend my days grateful for. That day seems bathed in a heady light, still fresh and clear in my mind as if we were married but yesterday.
"I can but echo the words of my friend, in wishing you and the Lord Faramir joy, Lady Eowyn"
Legolas Greenleaf, the Elven Prince lifted a toast to me, his fair head crowned with a circlet of precious silver. At his side, the much loved figure of Gimli the dwarf, whose strong hand gripped a large tankard.
"Hear, hear", Gimli agreed. The renown of the Nine Walkers grows, with the stouthearted dwarf surely a lord among his people. For now, he and the heir to the Woodland Realm are but two friends wishing joy to another, and I bowed to them, for much have they achieved, and courageous were their deeds as is their friendship.
"My lady!" the cry came from the small, child-like being in the garb of the Rohirrim.
"A song!" Merry proclaimed, "to the happy couple!"
At which he and his kinsman Pippin sprang onto a table and, on the latter producing a small wooden instrument with five strings, began a lilting and cheerful song that danced in its lively melody, to the applause of all present.
I clapped with the rest of the hall, having never laughed so freely, smiled so frequently and beamed so unwittingly as that day and all that followed it. The days of the King are, as Gandalf wished them; blessed.
I brushed back damp hair from my face and smoothed the blanket over my knees. The rain peppered down on the roof of our tent, and outside the horses stamped under their leafy shelter. Faramir brought me close to his chest and kissed me, much as he had one day upon the parapet for all to see.
"What were you remembering?"
"Our wedding day, and how I teased Eomer in front of the men"
"You were quite merciless, Eowyn. I almost pitied him"
I laughed, remembering the stern-eyed look my brother had given me; a warning, should I choose to continue in my hassling.
"Did you spar after all? I do not recall my presence being demanded to invigilate"
"Yes, and no. We talked more, of days gone by and those to come"
And so we had. Eomer brought wooden swords, as we had used in Rohan as children, and in an abandoned courtyard little disturbed by others, we shared brief clashes of dulled weapons. Mostly we talked, sitting side by side in the back of a stationary wagon, its horses in the stables. We sat, legs hanging over the side, the King of Rohan and the Princess of Ithilien, for all the world two siblings sitting in the hay strewn lap of a horse drawn cart being pulled up the hilly side of Edoras. We spoke of Rohan, and our uncle. Eomer recalled his admiration for him at Helms Deep, as fearless and deadly as any man not half his age, unafraid by the tremendous odds stacked against that brave defence. I remembered his face on awakening from his dark dreams, the recognition in his eyes, the protective slant in his smile on seeing me. Oft our conversation stilled into contemplative silence, a brother and sister watching the panes of sunlight travel slowly across the white walls.
On Eomer standing I rose as well.
"I will not say govern our people well, Eomer, for that I know you will do"
My brother is often uncomfortable with praise, and shifted his tall frame from one foot to the other.
"I would not say this, Eowyn, but for I must, as a brother should; be happy. May Faramir make you happy as you deserve to be, lest my wrath be borne by him"
I smiled, trying not to laugh at his serious face. My brother; my lifelong protector.
"Do you not trust my husband, Eomer?"
"I trust him as I trust all men; as far as the distance I can throw him"
My shocked laughter rang in the courtyard, and I looked about for any ears that may have overheard his bluntness.
"And what of the King, Eomer, to whom you would fain swear brotherhood and friendship? You would visit this trust upon him also?"
Eomer looked offended before grinning at the stone flagons.
"But for Aragorn not having proved himself King, and stronger than the Paths of the Dead, the same would apply to him also, brother though he is"
I tried to imagine Eomer bodily lifting the King of Gondor, and the notion was so outlandish that I had to hide a laugh in my sleeve.
"But do not take offence, Eowyn; as I have said, I trust Faramir as I do all men. He is a good man. Should you continue to be as happy as you are now, I shall hand over the title of protector of the White Lady to him with all my heart"
I was moved by his sincerity. I made to touch his arm, but as usual, my brother's infallible humour cut short any prolonged display of sibling affection.
"He is welcome to it; such an arduous duty I have borne through my youth"
We laughed even as I thwacked the arm I had been about to take gently.
"Let another take it!" he called as I pursued him, avenging hand lifted to strike, both of us spluttering with laughter as we ran out of the courtyard.