An hour crept by. The three young men stood looking out at the horizon and mumbled quietly between them. Anticipation crept up on them.
Éomer approached his son: "Are you nervous", he asked.
"No, not really, father. I am wary of what is going to happen, but you have trained me to be a soldier as well as a king, and if you trust that I can do it, then I can and I shall."
Éomer put his hand on his son's shoulder "I do trust you; just as Faramir and Aragorn trust their sons. You are my son and I know what is in you; you will do just fine. And besides your mother will kill me, if anything happens to you so I will be looking after you." The king grinned.
Legolas had been looking towards the mountains. "Riders are approaching" he turned and said to Aragorn.
"As usual they are so far off that we others cannot see them, but I trust you to tell me the truth. Hopefully they are our scouts returning." Aragorn said.
Legolas affirmed: "They are."
Three riders approached rapidly; Déor, the young Rohirrim Rider was one of them; he halted his horse and dismounted. Walking up to the kings, he reported: "They are camped just around the hills before the place where the Black Gates stood. You were right", he said to the elf.
"How many?" Aragorn inquired.
"Seven or eight hundred at least, I should say." The young Rider answered.
"An easy task, then, usually we are up against several thousand", Éomer grunted.
"Yes, Sire, but they seem well-armed and trained." Déor proffered.
"Nevertheless" said Aragorn "we should be able to take them on. Mount" he ordered. Éomer donned his helmet with a grim look in his face.
They rode in absolute silence towards the Southrons' camp. Just before they reached the small ridge, Aragorn halted the column and turned his horse towards Éomer and the others.
"I think that the best way to do this is to place archers on top of this ridge. He nodded to his steward: "Faramir, you and your rangers will do this!" Faramir just nodded and beckoned at his men. They dismounted and started up the ridge.
Aragorn then turned to Elphir: "Elphir, you and I and our men will sneak up on them from behind, whereas …"
He did not get any further, as Éomer said: "Yes, and the Rohirrim will do what we always do, charge right in head on and confront the enemy. I know, My Liege that is what we do best! Why should we make any changes." Then he furrowed his brow, "And the boys?"
"They will take position here with the rearguard and watch anybody who might try to escape." Aragorn ordered, his face set – and the boys knew that arguing would be in vain.
"You will see enough action, as it is" Legolas said. "I think that I will join the archers," he added, and followed Faramir's rangers up the ridge.
By now, dawn was breaking. The men positioned themselves and Aragorn gave the sign to attack. Éomer signalled that the horns be blown, calling out: "Forth, Éorlingas!" and lead the charge. Faramir gave the signal and arrows flew and hit their targets. Very soon the Southrons' camp was a battlefield, a total mayhem.
The three young princes watched all this with horror and awe. "I know now why our fathers did not want us in this" Elfwine gasped "but what warriors they are", he said, as he saw his father hurl his spear, hitting an enemy right in the chest and then drawing his sword as in one movement.
Aragorn swung Andúril, slaying many enemies before him. Eldarion and Elboron caught their breath as he was attacked from behind, but an arrow from Legolas' bow hindered the attacker.
Eldarion, who had been looking the other way, suddenly called out: "Look, a party of them, perhaps more than a hundred, has escaped on horseback. And it looks as if they are heading for Minas Tirith! They have a good advance on us," He looked pale. "Mother and the girls!"
"Yes, but there are at least a hundred soldiers or more left in the city," Elboron said.
"But, you know as well as I that if they are taken by surprise, even that number will not be enough. We must warn them." Eldarion stated.
"But how will they get in through the gates?" Elboron asked.
Eldarion pondered this for a short while. "They won't be entering the city via the gate. They will leave the horses, enter over the wall and sneak up through the city. They are cunning; they must be if they could escape through the ring we left around their camp."
Elfwine looked determined "Then we will have to go the city. We shall gather some of the rear guard and go. There will be hell to pay, when our fathers find out, but I for one will pay that price!" The young heir of Rohan donned his helmet and looked at his friends "Our fathers are fighting together and so can we."
He called out to the commander of the rear guard of the Rohirrim. "Haleth, you and your men come with us. The rest of the Gondorians and the Swan Legion stay here."
Eldarion called out to the commander of the guard: "Tell our fathers that we are pursuing an escaped Southron party to Minas Tirith."
Elfwine called out: "We ride, Rohirrim. Come on!"
Haleth grinned at one of his men as they set off. "It is like seeing Éomer when he was just a young marshal. I am not afraid to follow him!" "Neither am I" said the older man.
The Southrons had, indeed, a good advance on them; their horses being less tired. But the three young men and the Rohirrim pressed on their horses. The sun was setting again. The last rays fell on the city.
Eldarion looked at his city and thought: "I hope we get there in time; Éowyn and Lothíriel can put up a good fight and Gimli is with them, as is Amrothos and Echirion, but still there are so many young ones! They will only go for our families; the rest of the city will be safe from them." He took a firmer grip of his reins, trying not to think of what the Southrons might do to their families.
As he was spurring on his horse, Elfwine suddenly saw an image of Celebrian before him. Unwittingly, he clenched his teeth, cursing under his breath. If he could prevent it, no damage would come to her or the others.
When they reached the gates, dusk was upon them. The Southrons was nowhere in sight. "They will be waiting for the cover of darkness and must be hiding somewhere." Eldarion said. "Let us hurry!"
The guards at the gate recognised their young prince and order the gate opened. "Have you observed anything?" Eldarion inquired "and you have let no one in?"
"Only a few travelling merchants, who wished shelter for the night", the guard answered. Elfwine and Eldarion looked at each other.
Elfwine cursed in Rohirric: "Bloody hell, they could be somebody they have sent ahead to open for the others," he exclaimed. "Hurry, to the citadel" he roared and charged ahead up the winding streets.
---oooOOOooo---Meanwhile, at the citadel Éowyn, Imrahil and Lothíriel's brothers watched the silent surroundings from a window on the first floor. They had been waiting all day and had tried to keep as calm and composed so as not to scare the younger kids. Lothíriel had told Haldred and his older cousins what was happening, but had sworn them to silence. Haldred had, however, as the only one of the younger children with weapons training joined his aunt and uncles and Gimli taking watches.
Lothíriel and Arwen had put the youngest kids to bed and had left the children with the servants and now joined Imrahil and the others.
"It is too quiet out there", the Queen of Rohan remarked, "and … " She did not get any further as she saw through the window a host of Rohirrim riding up to the citadel, a man with a flying horsetail in his helmet ahead of them.
"Éomer, but …." She exclaimed.
And then she recognised her son – and the sons of Arwen and Éowyn. On Elfwine's orders the Rohirrim dismounted and spread out over the area, taking cover where they could. He and his friends ran into the castle, hurrying up the stairs, removing their helmets as they ran. They burst into the chamber, where their mothers were.
"Elfwine – what is happening," Imrahil cried out to his grandson.
"A large party of Southrons escaped our attack on their camp and headed for Minas Tirith. It is more than likely that they will be attacking the citadel any moment!" the young man answered.
"We took some of the rearguard and followed them" proffered Eldarion "and told the others to inform our fathers that we had left in pursuit of them."
Imrahil nodded, "Well done! We must now organise the defence. If it is as you say that they will be attacking us, we must be prepared."
Amrothos left the room "I will spread out the soldiers of the Swan Legion." he said and Erchirion followed him along with Gimli.
"They won't get past this dwarf" he rumbled, clutching his axe.
Lothíriel embraced her son "And what about your fathers?" she inquired.
"Father was charging ahead of the Rohirrim as always; Aragorn was swinging Andúril and uncle Faramir had his archers high on the ridge above them. They were doing fairly well when we left them and must be here soon enough!" Elfwine grinned as roguishly as his father would have.
Lothíriel shook her head and sighed audibly: "It is a good thing that I am a woman hardened by eighteen years of living with you and your father; otherwise you would have been the death of me."
Éowyn came up to her sister-in-law, putting her arm around her shoulder. "I was thinking exactly the same thing, Lothy. And I suppose that Arwen has benefited from an upbringing with two brothers like Elrohir and Elladan – and a long marriage to Aragorn, having a son, who is so much like them".
Imrahil looked at his daughter and her friends, "If I did not know it before, I certainly know it now. It takes a great deal to shake the foundation of these families."
He smiled at his grandson "and what would you three young warlords suggest that we do now?"
The three heirs looked at each other. Elfwine cleared his throat "Well, the Rohirrim already guard the courtyard. I expect that they will attack soon. It is dark now. Grandfather, could you and some of the Swan Legion guard the children along with Amrothos and Gimli. Eldarion, you and Elboron and I will join the rest in the courtyard along with Echirion."
Eldarion grinned at his friend "Whoa, you, it is I who is supposed to be the son of a great leader, but it seems as if you are getting ahead of me."
Elfwine looked at him and said mockingly: "You seem to forget, my Liege, that also I am the son of a great leader of men!" The three friends stood silently for a minute, just looking at each other. Then they drew their swords and left the room.
Elboron looked at his mother "I trust, mother, that we won't have to tell you what to do." Éowyn clutched her sword hilt "You are quite right, my son". He turned and ran after his friends.
When they got out, Elfwine went to Haleth. "Have you heard any activity?"
"Yes" the Marshal replied. "We have heard some whispers and activity near the wall and I suppose that they are coming this way. Let them come, we are ready for them." The men drew their swords and waited.
Suddenly a large number of men appeared over the edge of the upper wall. Elfwine gave the signal and the men rushed to meet them. As he reached the first opponent and parried his blow, Elfwine mused that this was the real thing; no more training - and then he did not get time for more, as the next enemy threw himself forward. Elfwine also parried his blow and run his sword through him.
"Don't let them get in!" he roared. Eldarion and Elboron fought side by side at the stairs, slaying the Southrons as they came. Eldarion proved as able as his father when it came to sword fighting.
Elfwine had just turned to look for the others, when he suddenly heard a cry and a loud noise behind him; he turned around and saw his uncle Echirion pulling his sword from a slain enemy. He nodded at his uncle, who grinned at him. "Just watching your back, nephew."
They could not, however, prevent some of the Southrons from entering. But Éowyn and Imrahil soon fought off those who came in and Gimli and Amrothos handled the rest. They did not reach the children's quarters. Also Haldred proved to be a worthy warrior of Rohan, as he shot arrow after arrow from the windows of the castle.
The opposition in the courtyard was fought down; Elfwine lowered his sword and looked at the remaining enemies, who surrendered one by one.
Eldarion suddenly froze "I can hear some commotion on one of the lower levels; horses - they must have let someone in through the gates." He ran to his horse.
"Elf ears" said Elfwine and motioned to some of the Rohirrim. "Mount and follow us." He threw himself on his horse and followed Eldarion. They rode down through the street towards the noise at the lower level.
Some Gondorian soldiers was fighting a party of Southrons on horseback, who had come in through the gate, which had probably been opened by someone inside.
Some of the guards from the gate were later found with their throats cut. Elfwine, Eldarion and the Rohirrim threw themselves into the battle, fighting furiously even though they were slightly outnumbered. Elfwine had received a cut to his arm by a Southron blade, but did not seem to notice as he fought on.
Suddenly the gate opened again, this time pushed open and in rode the host with the kings in the forefront.
It did not take the united forces of Gondor and Rohan long to fight down the last resistance. Éomer halted his horse alongside his son. He looked at the blood seeping from the wound on his son's arm.
"Will this be a new habit of the Heir of Rohan," he asked, "to ride off and then have his old father chasing after him to save his skin," he said with a grin. "Are you hurt?"
Elfwine looked at his father, seeing the worry in the eyes despite the mirth in his voice. "Perhaps, it is actually a lot of fun. And yes, but it is only a scratch, which aunt Éowyn can fix in no time."
Aragorn ordered his men to secure the gate and to lock in the remainder of the Southrons.
"What about the citadel and our families?" he asked his son.
"Secure; all resistance was fought off, the Rohirrim and the Swan Legion guard the castle along with the Guard of the White Tower – and aunt Éowyn and Gimli are probably fighting over who slay the most." Eldarion quipped.
Legolas looked at them "By the Valar, has she taken my place! I must get to them, before she does something rash to Gimli. Poor dwarf!" He quickly rode off.
Éomer grinned, "He is probably right."
Elfwine looked at his father "I assume that you went victorious out of the battle."
"You assume rightly, my son. Faramir, Elphir and their men are hauling the prisoners to the city as we speak."
"Any casualties?" Éomer inquired.
"No, father. Only minor injuries."
"Good" Éomer thought "he does not have to learn how to handle deaths among his men at this early age."
Aragorn intervened, "Let us to the castle." They all rode up the city's street, where the citizens had gathered, summoned by the commotion. The Captains of Gondor reassured everybody, telling them to rest easy. Whatever danger there had been, it was over by now.
The men rode up to the citadel, dismounting at the bottom of the stairs. Éomer ran up the stairs, taking three steps at a time and hurried in, Aragorn following right behind. Inside, Lothíriel met them and flung her arms around her husband's neck. "It is good to see you back, all of you." she murmured against his shoulder.
"You are all safe?" Aragorn asked.
"Yes, apart from a few scratches, everybody is all right." Arwen replied, smiling at the sight of Lothíriel and Éomer. Haldred and the older girls approached just as Elfwine came in the door.
"See, they are at it again," Théodwyn snorted, as she saw her father kiss her mother's brow, and then lit up in a smile as she saw Eldarion enter. The children laughed, but Celebrian gasped when she saw the blood seeping down Elfwine's sleeve.
"It is nothing, little sister, he'll live," Eldarion quipped. He turned to his mother "I am so hungry; we have not eaten since yesterday, do you think that the servants will able to manage some food for us, Nana?" Arwen smiled at her son "I think that we may be able to."
---oooOOOooo---After supper, Aragorn looked at his son and his friends. "I would like to see the three of you in the King's Hall in an hour. I trust that you had not thought that I had forgotten about your escapades?" The three young men looked at each other, quite certain that they would receive the worst scolding that they had ever had in their life.
Elfwine looked at the others "If we can live through a battle, we can live through this. What is the worst thing that they can do to us?"
"Have mother cook our meals?" Elboron pondered. The three boys looked at each other and burst out laughing. They left the dining hall to go to their room to await their summon.
Faramir, who had arrived with the prisoners just before they sat down to eat, and Éomer, who overheard them, could not help laughing and Aragorn hid a smile behind his hand. He looked at his friends:
"Join me in this, let's give them a scare."
"A scare" the King of Rohan retorted "after this nothing will scare them."
"I am afraid that you are right," said the Steward of Gondor "and I cannot think of anything that might – apart from my wife's cooking, and that seems to be out of the question."
The two others laughed at this. Éomer shook his head, "No, not even that will scare them anymore. No, we will have to think of some else."
He stood for a while, contemplating the matter. "And neither will mucking stables; trust me I have tried that. No, my friends, I think that we should just accept that they are almost grown up. Weren't we at that age? What I suggest is that we take them out for a night on the town, the three of us. And then we can really test their stamina."
Faramir and Aragorn looked at Éomer. "Exactly right, that is what we will do." Faramir grinned.
Aragorn smiled "A good idea. Then we will face the wrath of our queens and the shield maiden when we come to it."
Hearing this proposal, Imrahil laughed out loud. "That is a very good idea; I did that once with the three pups sitting there, and I tell you it helped."
"At least for a little while" Amrothos, who was always the worst of Imrahil's sons, quipped. "I'm glad that my youngsters are not that age yet."
Éomer grinned, "Théodred took care of that part of my education – but I don't think that I will live long if I proceed as he did."
"Meaning what?" Faramir inquired, suspecting what it might be.
"Introducing me to the ladies of the houses of ill repute, my innocent brother-in-law; that I think I will leave for somebody else to tend to. I think Déor may be quite a good candidate for that! I have too much respect for Lothíriel to try anything of the sort." The three fathers laughed heartily and went to the King's Hall.
Aragorn seated himself on his throne. "It will be more intimidating that way," he grinned and Faramir placed himself in his steward's seat. Éomer stood beside him with his arms folded.
"And you try to keep serious" Faramir warned his brother-in-law; "I know you."
The three young men entered the hall and saw their fathers waiting. They strode from the door to the throne and came to a stop before it, bowing slightly.
Aragorn looked down at them: "First of all, I would like to thank you for your bravery. It is more than likely that you saved the lives of your families and for that I will be forever thankful. Moreover you fought like seasoned soldiers, which is of course the result of the training we have put you through since you were young, but nevertheless you did it, and we could not be more proud of you all. "
Then he furrowed his brow and his voice boomed "But – my young knaves, what were you doing in that tavern in the first place? In the middle of the night? Without our permission? Is that a way to behave for the crown princes of three countries? Eldarion?
Eldarion looked up at his father, with defiance in his grey-blue eyes.
"I had heard that it was a good place to frequent, as they would not question our age, nor our heritage there. And we, that is I, just wanted to see what it was all about – and perhaps have some ale."
Elfwine looked at his father and then up at Aragorn. "Forgive us, Sire, but we only thought about having some fun, after all we are not children anymore. And it was not Eldarion's fault alone. Elboron and I also were also in on it."
Elboron nodded his agreement. Éomer looked at the two young men, so very alike and very much like him, and smiled inwardly. "Oh, yes we can expect much trouble from these three yet," he thought to himself.
"Having fun and having some ale, I see," Aragorn said, "Well, then my young sirs, then I think that you shall be having a night on the town with your "old" fathers and their friends tomorrow night. You are right, you are not children anymore; you should be allowed to be with the adults now. But now I think that you should go to bed; you have had a very long day, indeed, and so have we. See you in the morning."
The three young men bowed and left the hall. It was a good thing that the walls and doors were thick, preventing the young men to hear the howl of laughter, which came from their fathers when they had left the hall.
"Oh, this was really something" Faramir caught his breath first "seeing the look on their faces when they entered – and then when they found out what their so-called punishment would be."
"Aye, let us go find Legolas and Gimli and tell them; Gimli will love being in on this," Éomer grinned.
"Should we tell their mothers? Faramir inquired.
Aragorn nodded "Yes, I think we should. Arwen may not approve entirely, but I am sure that Éowyn will."
Faramir nodded his consent and Éomer grinned. "I do not think that we would survive any of us, if we just went ahead without telling them anything; as I said before – I value my life."
---oooOOOooo---When they got back to the dining hall, the women and Imrahil had retired to their rooms and only Lothíriel's brothers, Gimli, and Legolas sat enjoying a goblet of wine and talking quietly. The two kings and the steward joined them, and as Aragorn poured himself a goblet, he told them what they had decided.
Gimli chuckled "I would be delighted to give you a hand." "And so would I" said Amrothos with a grin. The men, the elf and the dwarf emptied their goblets and agreed on going to bed; tomorrow evening they would have plenty of time for drinking.
Éomer entered the rooms, which they occupied in the palace to find his wife waiting for him. He smiled at the sight "Everybody in bed and sleeping soundly?" he asked.
"Each and every one" Lothíriel smiled "Well, I do not know about our eldest son; they probably have a lot to talk about."
Éomer grinned impishly, "Oh, yes they do; especially since their fathers are taking them out for a night on the town tomorrow night, teaching them a bit about holding their ale."
"You are what?" Lothíriel chuckled.
"Your father thought it was a grand idea; and Legolas and Gimli – and Amrothos will be helping us. We are going to get them so drunk that they will not even be thinking of a tankard of beer for the next many months."
Lothíriel grinned "Excellent idea; I remember father did that once to my brothers. It won't do them any harm – well, not a lot, and you will be with them."
Éomer went over to their bed and bent down to kiss his wife. "Are you not tired, my Lord, after all you have been battling for the sake of us all today" she asked, seeing the devil in his eyes.
"Not so tired that I cannot kiss my wife, but I need to wash up" he grinned and went into the next room. She heard the water splashing and leaned back against the headboard, and waited for him to get back, smiling tenderly as he jumped into bed with her and pulled her into his arms.
"I do promise you, my love, that I will not do as Théodred did to me when I was Elfwine's age. I will not introduce him to the pleasures of the bawdyhouses. I think that I will leave that up to somebody else," he grinned mischievously.
"Oh, I see, so that is where you learned your ministrations; I knew that it had to come from somewhere" his wife quipped.
"I have never made that a secret, have I?" Éomer looked at his wife.
"No, indeed – and, after all, it was way before my time and I have since had the benefit from it." She kissed him "However, I am not sure that I would like knowing that you were teaching our son such things."
"I would not dare" Éomer mumbled and pulled her closer as they settled down to sleep.
---oooOOOooo---Elsewhere in the castle, the three young men could not help being a little nervously expectant at the thought of their night on the town.
"You do know what we are up against, don't you? And what the purpose of this is?" Elfwine inquired of his friends.
They both nodded.
Elfwine continued "I can tell from a mile that this is my father's idea; it has got his signature all over it. And no matter what we do, we cannot escape our destiny. We will get so drunk that we cannot stand on our own two feet. I'm sorry, lads, but this is how it will end."
"Are you sure?" Eldarion asked.
"Oh, yes I am quite sure; they will not be taking no for an answer."
Elboron looked at his friends "It sounds like we may expect giant hangovers the day after tomorrow?"
"Aye, my dear cousin, that we will," Elfwine said "but we did want to be treated like grown-ups, so we will just have to endure."
And it went exactly as they expected. Every time the youngsters had finished one tankard, another was brought to them; Gimli was leading the charge. Their fathers and uncles knew what to expect and, being more used to it, they could hold their drink. The young men could not, as foretold. So late in the evening, two kings and a steward could be seen either carrying or supporting three young men to the castle and conducting them to their beds.
"I think that did the trick" Aragorn joked.
"For now maybe," Faramir said "until the next time. I could do with another one, what about you?"
Éomer grinned, "I will not say no, dear brother." Amrothos concurred "And neither will I, especially if you are buying, dear cousin." And the four of them went back into the city to enjoy the harvest festivities.
Next morning, much too early, the three young men were awoken by a loud, commanding voice: "Get up, you sorry lot, if you think yourselves old enough to drink, you are old enough to get up and get breakfast, hangover or no hangover."
Éomer was standing in the doorway, revelling in the sorry sight. Elfwine opened his eyes very reluctantly and looked bleary-eyed at his father.
"Father, at some point of your life somebody must have treated you very badly. Otherwise you would not be treating me so!"
Éomer grinned. "Aye, my son. Your great-uncle Théodred did exactly the same to me – until I got old enough to hold my drink. Now get up, you lot – or do you want me to fetch your younger cousins and siblings and have them wake you?"
The three young men quickly got up, and although they all felt both queasy and dizzy, they stumbled into their clothes, splashed some water in their faces and hurried down to breakfast. Although, to tell the truth they were not as hungry as usual.
Their mothers felt a bit sorry for them, as mothers tend to, but everyone else revelled in the sight, especially their fathers.
Elboron mumbled, "If it is like that to be grown up, I am not sure that I want it."
Haldred smiled at his cousin: "I am glad that I was not subject to that treatment. To be honest, you all three look like something, which has been dragged up of …." He did not get any further, as his mother intervened.
"Thank you, Haldred, that will be all. I do not think that we would like to know." Knowing her son, she had a very good idea of what he would have said.
Éomer grinned "Aye, and by the end of today you are going to look your best; all nobility from Gondor and Ithilien are arriving for the grand harvest ball. And you are going to be present and behave your best. Being royalty carries with it certain obligations."
Aragorn, who also had relished the look on his son's face, especially when he tried to force down some food, added "And that means caring for your sisters and cousins, dancing with them – and also dancing with the wives and daughters of the nobility. Sorry, lads, but that is the way that it is. I suggest that you take some rest while you can – or even better get some fresh air and some exercise. Somehow I think that you will need it."
He grinned at the others. The three young men finished their meal in a hurry and went to the stables to find their horses and go for a ride in the fresh air. They were quite sure that this was the best thing to do, under the circumstances.
"We may be able to fight like grown-ups, but we certainly cannot drink like them." Elfwine groaned, holding his forehead as he sat down on a crate in the stable before collecting his saddle and tackle. "Let us get some fresh air; hopefully we will feel better for it."
"Yes" said Eldarion "and perhaps our sisters and cousins will have stopped looking at us the way they did this morning by the time we get home. By the Valar, my head is killing me!"
---oooOOOooo---
The entire citadel was humming with excitement. The girls were busy trying on dresses and jewellery and discussing how to do their hair except for Amrihil, who did not cherish the idea of wearing a dress. She tried to plead her case to Lothíriel, but her aunt was on the side of her mother and was adamant that for once her niece should wear a dress.
"I did occasionally, and it is not that bad; dancing is so much fun." "What if no one will dance with me?" the girl said sullenly.
"Oh, I am quite sure that somebody will" Lothíriel said and made a mental note that at least one of her boys should dance with their cousin. Only the older children were allowed to participate in the ball, which meant that the youngest would be in their beds before it started.
"Luckily" Lothíriel remarked to her sister-in-law "it will be nice having an evening off and to get a chance to dance with our husbands."
"If they are up to it," Éowyn grinned.
"Oh, they will be. Neither of them could let go a challenge," the Queen of Rohan joked. "Even though Éomer probably will complain that his old legs cannot carry him around the dance floor, everybody knows that he is a man in his prime, and I tell you if he can fight Southrons, he can dance as well."
Her sister-in-law laughed at the petite queen; she knew by now that she could handle her big husband very well and she seldom accepted no as an answer.
The great hall of the king was filled with music, laughter and nobility from all over Gondor and Ithilien and was decorated with various objects, symbolising harvest. The young members of the various royal households looked at it all, the boys especially feeling quite out of place.
"It is certainly not like Meduseld and the celebrations there", Haldred whispered to his big brother.
"No, it tends to be a bit more informal back home" Elfwine admitted, "and a bit more comfortable."
Éomer and Lothíriel looked at their children and Lothíriel whispered to her husband: "They do look so grown up tonight; even Théodwyn and Ciera.
"Aye, but I wish that they would behave as such", her husband replied. And then he turned to look at her. "And before you say anything, my Queen, would you care to dance with me? After all, this is where we first danced all those years ago. I know that you would like to."
He turned to his children "And the four of you; go find your cousins and friends; dance with them – and behave yourselves!" He took his wife's hand and led her onto the dance floor.
"You must admit" Théodwyn remarked to her siblings "Father is very good at this, he dances like a courtier."
Elfwine smiled "Yes, and he once admitted to me that he had to be dragged to the hall to have dance lessons with aunt Éowyn, his uncle insisting that he be brought up to be royal."
"Just like he has done with us", Haldred grinned, "but I am sure that it will prove valuable tonight. I will go find Amrihil."
Eldarion came up to them; he looked straight at Théodwyn. "I am under strict orders from the King of Gondor" he smirked "to dance with the fair ladies of Rohan."
Elfwine laughed "Yes, and I am under orders from the King of Rohan to try to avoid treading on your sister's toes. Shall we get down to it?" He left them and walked over to Celebrian, asking her father's permission to dance with her.
Aragorn nodded, and Elfwine led the blushing princess out on the dance floor with the look of a Marshal of the Mark heading into battle. However, once he got the hang of it, and found out that it was not as difficult as it seemed with the elf-like princess in his arms, he mused "This actually feels rather good; it's quite different from dancing with my sisters."
"Will you look at that? It is like seeing Éomer and Lothíriel" Gimli shook his head. "What will come of this?" he asked Legolas, who just smiled "Probably only good things, but they are far too young."
Haldred had beaten his cousin to Amrihil, and Elboron therefore went to Ciera to ask her for a dance. "It is always better to start with someone that you know," he told her "although I know that I cannot compare to the Riders of Rohan, dear cousin."
Ciera blushed "And what would you know of that, you prat."
"Oh, a great deal, remember Elfwine writes me letters from time to time!"
Éomer and Lothíriel had finished their dance and joined Éowyn and Faramir and the others.
"It certainly looks like they are enjoying themselves in spite of everything" Lothíriel mused looking out over the dance floor. "And even Ciera is dancing; I did not think that she would. Her head has been full of a certain young Rider of Rohan for the past couple of months, sighing every time he is on guard or just walks past her. She is far too young, but it is a teenage girl's crush, so it is hard to do anything about it," Lothíriel sighed.
Éowyn looked at her "At that age, Lothy, I also had crushes on my brother's friends. Surely you must have had, too. But you are right; they are very young."
"As long as they are only looking." Éomer smiled. "But the young man in question is Elfhelm's eldest and I could fear that he is very much like his father in that respect; I do remember, sister dear, that he was one of the most ardent of the young men chasing you."
Éowyn almost blushed. "Remind me that I should never tell stories about my youth when you are around." She laughed, "Your memory is too good. Should I tell stories about you?"
"You already have told enough to Lothy, sister; you did quite early in our marriage, and she has been interrogating me about all the women in Rohan from time to time since then." Éomer laughed.
Elfwine and Celebrian had never found it so difficult to talk, as they did right now. Arwen looked at them and remembered a time very, very long ago at Rivendell, when her otherwise very eloquent husband had almost been struck dumb on a similar occasion. She leaned towards him: "Estel, look at your daughter and Elfwine; I have a feeling that the next Queen of Rohan will come from Gondor as well."
Aragorn looked at her: "Your premonitions usually come true, but they are very young, you know."
"Yes, I do know, my husband and they are not going to realise it, nor marry for years to come. But they will. And I think that the same will be the case for our son; the next Queen of Gondor will be a dark-haired Rohirrim. Look at him; he has that faraway look in his eyes, which I have only seen once before."
Aragorn smiled "I believe you, Love, you have the gift of your grandmother. But they have much to do before they should have to make that decision."
"And perhaps some wild oats to sow as well" he mused to himself. At least if they are anything like their fathers." He looked at his friends "but at least they might be spared the evil times that we had to live through."
Éomer looked up and caught Aragorn's eyes, reading in them what he was thinking and he nodded, acknowledging the thought. "Like fathers, like sons; it sounds quite ominous, but it is still quite an encouraging thought".