Later that night, a tremendous feast was taking place, Rohan was never one to miss a chance to hold a feast for whatever celebration, and the visitation of the King, The Steward, and half of Gondor's council was not an oppotunity to pass up. The last feast that had been seen to this magnitude was in Gondor after the crowing of Aragorn. The Golden Hall was packed full of the visitors and all of Edoras. The chatter was loud, and hearty laughs were heard frequently from the drinking men.

Up at the head table, Aragorn sat at Eomer's right hand side. Eowyn had given up her place for the King, and had seated herself on her brother's left. Faramir sat beside her, and opposite him, beside Aragorn, was Legolas, and next to him, Gimli. They were all taking wary glances at Eowyn when they thought she could not see them, yet nothing escaped the watchful eye of the Sheildmaiden. She did not have the enegry to argue with them all about her health, however, and she laughed along with the men to convince them of her recovery.

Talk turned from Gondor, to Eowyn and Faramir's impending marraige. "When are you planning to wed?" Aragorn asked them.

They looked at each other, neither had given any thought to a precise date. They had wanted a summer union, when the lands were warm and beautiful, and indeed the summer was only a month away, yet they had not once spoke of a certain day. As she looked into his eyes, she felt the urge to marry him at that exact moment.

"You are surely not suggesting that you have not set a date?" Eomer asked his sister in disbelief, suprised at how she had not exerted her usual organised manner into the most important day of her life.

As the couple shook their heads, Aragorn almost dropped mug of ale. "Valar! I would have thought that you were both counting the days!" He exclaimed.

"We are," Faramir said, looking to Eowyn once again and smiling. "But we do not know what day we are counting to just yet." He explained. This only startled the Kings even more. Both Eowyn and Faramir were organised, orderly and more importantly, thinking non-stop about one another, however neither of them had set the date for their wedding.

"Well, come now!" Eomer announced. "Let us set a date now. What time of year were you hoping for?"

"Summer." Eowyn said gently. "When the lands are at their most glorious."

"Summer is but a few weeks away." Legolas reminded them. "Is that not too soon?"

"Too soon?" Faramir exclaimed. "We have been awaiting this for months, ten seconds away would not be too soon for us."

Aragorn raised an eyebrow at his Steward. If there was one thing to make Faramir more protestive and opinionated, it was to talk about Eowyn before him. There would be a glaze in his eyes as he spoke of her, and he would not see the objects before him, but would instead be lost in a world of his own, where an image of Eowyn was permenantly planted before his eyes.

"If I am not mistaken, the lands are at their most wonderful at the second day of Summer." Legolas observed, Eowyn smiled, if there was ever someone to ask about nature, it was their dear elf friend.

"The lands will be nothing in comparison to the beauty of the one I shall wed." Faramir said softly, causing Eowyn to blush, and Eomer laughed at his sister's blossoming cheeks.

"Very well. If that be your will?" They both nodded. "Then it is decided, Lord Faramir, Steward of Gondor, you shall take Lady Eowyn of Rohan as your wife on the second day of the Summer." Eomer announced, and the two kings toasted their mugs to each other. "May this union bring our realms ever closer."

"I believe that the amount of time they shall spend together, we shall have no choice but to be allies." Aragorn mused.

"Now that serious matters are out of the way, Eomer, King, perhaps we can get started on this magnificent food!" Gimli said, almost salivating at the feast before him.

"I believe that is a good idea." Eomer said, rising from his seat. "Ladies and Gentleman of Rohan, and Guests of Gondor." The room feel silent at the call of the King. "It is long since our lands have had reason to celebrate. Today, not only do we hail the visit of the King of Gondor," There was a cheer from the crowd, "But we also celebrate the fact that Lady Eowyn and Lord Faramir have set the date for their union. On the second day of the Summer, in but a few weeks time, Rohan and Gondor shall be ever united through their marriage." Their was an applause this time, in which time Faramir sought out Eowyn's hand under the table and clasped it in his own. "Now, let us not let the hard work of the cooks go to waste, and enjoy this delicious food."

Simultaneously, the room began to reach into the trays in the centre of the table to fill their plates with a mixture of meats, fish and vegetables, all hand prepared that very day under the care of the finest cooks in the land. Eowyn did not take as much food as she usually would have done; her appetite had not yet returned in full. Only a few slices of beef, accompanied by roast potatoes and a minute selection of vegetables was chosen to satisfy what little hunger she felt. Had it not been a celebratory occassion, she most likely would have retired long ago for the evening without eating, however she knew that both Faramir and Eomer would not allow her to go without food, particularly when she needed it most to keep up her fallen strength.

Gimli was soon drunk, with no suprise to Eomer, who had initiated the drinking game between the dwarf and Legolas upon their return from Helm's Deep. Legolas had drunk twice as much as Gimli, however, and was barely half as intoxicated as his friend. The two friends were involved in some drunken disagreement over something which no one else was listening too, particularly as last time everyone else had joined in in their dispute it had turned out that they were arguring on the subject of whether or not Eowyn would kiss Faramir ten or twenty times before the night was out, so they all, especially Eowyn and Faramir, left them to their petty arguements.

Faramir no longer held Eowyn's hand under the table, seeing as he was now using his hands to ease his extensive hunger, yet he remained close enough to her side so that his knee was leaning against hers comfortingly. He was glad to see her smiling again, and enjoying herself amongst friends. He smiled sideways at her as she engaged in a friendly bicker with her brother.

"Eomer! I did no such thing!" She protested.

"You certainly did." He confirmed, before speaking to Aragorn once again, his eyes still locked on Eowyn's fuming face.

"Eomer, if you tell them I will personally see to it that you can never produce children!" She threatened menacingly.

"Anyway," Eomer continued. "She was sitting in her lessons, only about seven years of age and she was reading a book from our father's personal library. The library keeper was taking our lesson that day, and she refused to put the book down." Eowyn hid her face in her hands, ashamed at what they would think of her afterwards. "He asked her where she had got it from, and she told him it was classified, and he had to ask her again what she meant by that word, if only to test her vocabulary, and she said: 'I said it was classified. It means I could tell you but I would have to kill you." Aragorn and Eomer were laughing heartily, and Faramir was about to laugh had Eowyn not been within better reach to fufil her threat on him that her brother. "The poor old man never questioned her again!" Eomer finished.

Eowyn had a scowl on her face as she glared at her brother. "Careful what you tell them, brother dearest," She said calmly yet forcefully. "I am sure it wound your pride considerably if they were to learn of your swimming in the trough." Of course now she had thus, everyone was interested, and even Legolas and Gimli held silent to listen. Eomer looked creastfallen, and completely suprised. "Yes, Eomer, I saw you."

Eomer cursed under his breath, he had not thought that anyone had seen what had happened that day. However he should not have underestimated his little sister and her habits for seeing things she shouldn't.

"He came back from a ride at night. He had been told by Uncle not to leave the city, but he had done so anyway," She spoke with an evil glint in her eyes, and this alone brought Faramir laughter to see the merciless Eowyn in action. "He knew that Uncle was going to punish him for this when he found him, and as his dismounted his horse he saw Uncle up ahead, coming close to the stables. In a panic, he tried to get swfitly off his horse, only to get his foot caught in the stirrups." The men could only imagine what happened next, and Aragorn already had a clear picture in his head of Eomer getting caught up. "He fell from the horse, his foot still caught, and landed straight into a trough of water." Laughter rang louder than ever from the top end of the table as Gimli collapsed over the table in loud dwarf chortling. "Not only that, but at this moment, his beloved horse decided to relieve itself, and as he stood, he was drenched in horse urine. The smell lingered for days, I think Theodred was forced to burn the clothing he had worn that evening to get rid of the smell."

"At least Uncle was too humoured to punish me." Eomer pointed out.

"Surely what happened then was punishment enough." Faramir reasoned.

"Until today I did not know that anyone save Uncle had seen me." Eomer said with a sideawys glare at Eowyn. Eomer reminded Faramir of Boromir more and more every time he saw him. He would tease his younger sibling, much alike Boromir had, and yet when it was needed, he was a very protective of Eowyn, sometimes more like a father than a brother. The similarities were endless, save when it came to one simple truth. Boromir was dead. He was no longer around to be the older brother and friend that used to dress Faramir when their mother died. He was not around to throw stones in the river anymore, in competition to see who could throw the furthest. He would never again sneak food up to his bedroom in the middle of the night when father had sent him to bed without supper. As a result of his father's hatred, Boromir would never get to be a real father though. His memories of the child he loved would always remain that of his younger brother, and left at that. While he was old enough to go out courting the ladies his father matched him with, he would instead be teaching a young teenage Faramir how to do the most complicated sword techniques, or racing their horses across the Pelennor.

"Faramir?"

Eowyn melodic voice brough him back to reality. Leaving the memory of his brother laughing as he overtook him at the last second on horseback, he smiled at Eowyn.

"You were off in thought." Eowyn told him, he noticed that everyone else was talking once again. "Is everything all right?"

"Never more so." He smiled assuringly, taking her hand in his and raising it to his mouth, letting his lips place a chaste kiss upon her creamy knuckles. She gazed back lovingly. "Is it too early to retire for the evening?" He wondered.

Eowyn nodded, though she was eager to return to her bedchamber herself. It had been decided more by Aragorn than themselves that Faramir remain with Eowyn again that night incase she suffered from a releapse of the fever. Of course, this was good news for the pair of them, as they wanted nothing more than to lie in each other's arms for another night. "It is, though I must share your reckoning." She looked thoughtful for a moment, then her eyes lit up once again. "I have an idea," She leaned forward to whisper into his ear, and as she did so, Aragorn and Eomer watched them curiously. Faramir saw them watching and smiled mischeviously at them, as Eowyn pulled away, he looked down at her face worriedly, having heard the full extent of her plan and immediately putting his part to plan.

"Eowyn, you look tired." He said, attracting the attention of the two men already watching them as two young children would watch their older brother disappearing around a corner with a pretty young maiden.

She shook her head, "No, I am not weary," She told him, "I am, however, feeling rather warm in this crowded room. I am going to step outside for a little air, if you do not mind, brother?"

Eomer shook his head. "Not at all, Eowyn. You are looking a little warm, and I do not want you to collapse on us again." He gave her a reassuring smile.

"Would you like me to come with you?" Faramir asked her.

"Yes." She answered slowly, "Just in case."

He rose from his seat, offering his hand to her. She took it, and he gently pulled her into a standing position, before linking arms with him and they walked in the direction of the veranda. In the puddle of moonlight, illuminated a silvery colour from the shining orb in the sky, combined with the blossoming flowers in the pots on the stone floor, the veranda was a scene of romantic class. The stood on the edge, a few steps away from the stone wall on the edge. From here, they could see the mountains that seperated Rohan from Gondor. Eowyn leaned her head on Faramir's shoulder as they stood together, silence hung on the air for a moment, letting them completely cut themselves off from the roused talking and music starting up in the hall behind them and lose themselves in each other.

"It seems that Rohan has kept much of her beauty through this war." Faramir observed, noticing how the grasses outside of the walled city were growing healthily and showed no telltale signs of a battle ground, unlike the feilds of the Pelannor surrounding Minas Tirith. Already, the flowers from the spring were in full bloom, yet their colours were hidden from them in the moonlight, preparing to open their buds alongside the rising of the sun in the morn.

"Gondor shall grow." She assured him. "It shall again see a bright summer filled with beautiful things."

"It shall do this summer." He said aloud. "For nothing more beautiful than you has passed through our lands." He moved, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her close to him. She was about a head shorter than he was, his shoulder giving perfect support to her head from any angle, yet now, she held her head high, staring up into his love filled eyes, bathed in the romantic radiance that shone from them when she was in his arms. "Eomer seems keen that we marry." He said with a small laugh. "Do not get me wrong, I am not complaining. I would wed you tomorrow if I could. I was simply admiring how his ideas on our relationship were changed from when we first informed him of our intention to marry."

Eowyn laughed herself. "There are too many preparations to make for us to wed tomorrow." She told him. "I would wed now. Just us, me and you, if we in our own eyes, married, would that count for nothing?"

Faramir nodded. "It would count for us, yet we would need a witness. As is the way of our lands." He let his hands drop from her waist, and held both her hands in his between them. "If only..." He trailed off.

"If only, what?" Eowyn asked.

"It would not work, It does not matter." He told her, looking slightly sad.

"No, it may work, what was it?"

"I simply wondered if there was a chance we could marry in the eyes of the two Kings tonight, seeing us as married in both Gondor and Rohan, yet keep the public ceremony for the second day of the summer."

Eowyn smiled. "Wait here."

He remained on the veranda, watching her every movement as she disappeared back into the hall.

"Eomer, Aragorn, might we have a word with you both outside?" She said, as she bend low in the gap between them. Thankfully, neither of them had began to drink their stronger ale yet, and they were still very much sober. The two kings raised eyebrows at her before following her obediently outside to the veranda. Eowyn returned to Faramir's side, and the couple stood with a hand clasped to each other before their rulers. "Brother, I know that you may disagree with our idea, yet there is something that Faramir and I ask the both of you to do for us."

Eomer looked confused. Aragorn was smiling, he knew what they spoke of, and he had expected as such since they had began speaking of the wedding during the feast. "What is that you so dearly wish, sister?"

Eowyn looked up at Faramir, suddenly filled with nerves. How would Eomer react, she had not though this through entirely, she realised. She looked back to her brother, who stood awaiting their answer. "We wish to be married." She told him.

"And so you shall be, Eowyn. I have known this for some time now, everyone in our lands knows of your impending wedding." Eomer said, and Eowyn became slightly irritated that her brother was not catching on to her meaning.

"That is the only problem, brother. We wish for it to be impending no longer." This time, he understood her clearly, and his face was a picture of curiosity. "We ask of the both of you to marry us tonight."

There was silence between them in which both Eowyn and Faramir feared the rejection of Eomer. "T-tonight?" He stuttered. "But Eowyn, why not wait for the summer like you wanted?"

She shook her head. "I have been seperated from Faramir long enough," she said, leaning her head against his shoulder. "I can go longer without him as my husband." Eomer was about to speak again, but, fearing the worse, Eowyn spoke up again. "Please, brother. If I ask you for nothing else in my life, grant me this wish. I love Faramir. He saved me from a darkness no healer could clear from me, and I no longer regret not being slain by the Witch-King, as he made me realise that there is more to honour than dying in battle. He showed me that there are people, still, who care for me..." She looked up into Faramir's eyes. "...and love me." Silence returned. "Please, Eomer?"

For a moment, Eomer thought he was staring at his sister when she was a small child and she had begged to go infront of him on his horse, or, as she had got older, for him to teach her the sword. The look in her eyes had changed since then, though. She was no longer the innocent six year old, with her head buried further in books and the adventures of fictional chacters than into reality, she was now a grown woman, in love with what he could not deny was a fine man who would take care of her.

Aragorn had stayed silent throughout. He knew that his consent would be unquestioned, yet it was obvious that Eomer would have to be won over. For a fleeting second, they all feared that Eomer was about to refuse, yet his gaze softened, and Eowyn instantly knew that this was his acceptance. She released herself from Faramir's arms, and stepped forward into her brother's arms.

"Eomer, please understand that while you are my brother, and I shall always love you, my heart also belongs to Faramir." She said so softly that Aragorn and Faramir had to strain to hear her words. "We have had many hardships in our family, and they shall forever stay in my heart, but my fate no longer lies in Rohan."

"I know." Eomer sighed, pulling back a little to look at his sister. "I promised our father that I would look after you."

"And you have." She told him. "You have looked after me."

"That responsibility does not lie to me any more." He told her, and Eowyn's eyes shimmered with tears of joy and she grinned up at him. Eomer wiped away a tear that fell. "Come now! What are these tears for? You cannot be married with tears stained cheeks!"

Eowyn hugged her brother tightly, almost flying at him. "Thank you." She whispered. As she clung to him. After a few moments, she pulled away and smiled at Faramir, who was looking blaitently suprised that Eomer had agreed. She put her arms around him and he lifted her from the ground, swinging her around in a circle as he embraced her. She laughed as they did so, the happiest she had been for some time.