A/N: I really need to update sooner on this. But this is six pages here, so it's pretty long, for me anyway.
Disclaimer: I don't own them.
Lothíriel made her way to the stables, after changing into one of her riding outfits. She walked over to one of the grooms and asked to have her horse readied. Celegbein, her horse, noticed her when she entered. Her horse moved her head to the stall next to the one that she was in, and shorted. Lothíriel looked at the occupant, and saw that she had not seen that one before. The horse was proud and looked hard to handle. Lothíriel cued to him in elvish and pet his nose.
Éomer walked in to see her patting his horse, and his horse liking it. Apparently, he can charm her better than I can, he thought. He walked over to the stall, and coughed to show he was there. Lothíriel stopped her motions and gave him a sour look.
The groom that was to attend to Lothíriel's horse was about to offer to do the same for Éomer's when Éomer took his horse out himself. Lothíriel looked at him, as the groom took hers and began to brush her horse down.
Éomer had always liked preparing his horse for a ride, and always took great care in it. He looked at Lothíriel watching him. "I always ready my horse." He said calmly.
Apparently, Éomer realized, Lothíriel took this as a challenge. Lothíriel walked over to the groom, told him that she could ready her horse, and dismissed him.
Éomer brushed Firefoot down as Lothíriel did the same to Celegbein. She had a determined look in her eye, that she could show him a lady of Gondor could ready a horse as well.
Éowyn and Faramir walked into a scene neither thought that they would ever witness. Lothíriel was struggling with putting the bit in her horse's mouth, while Éomer stood by, apparently trying his hardest not to help. All the while, Lothíriel took opportunities to shoot Éomer looks that could kill.
Éowyn walked over to the stall that held Windfola and brought him out to prepare him for a ride. She saw that Lothíriel had managed to get the bit in her horse's mouth, and was now working on the saddle. Éowyn tethered Windfola and walked over.
"Would you like some help Lothíriel?" Éowyn offered. Lothíriel nodded, as she placed the saddle on her horse. Lothíriel brought the strap under Celegbein's belly, and hooked it to the other side of the saddle. Éowyn ran her fingers under the strap, and looked at the horse's face. She loosened the strap a little, and moved two of her fingers between the strap and the horse. "You should always be able to do that, or else it is to tight." She smiled.
"Thank you." Lothíriel said, and she walked her horse out to the courtyard.
Meanwhile, Faramir had already brushed his horse, Scurleof, who had been a gift from Éomer when he had married Éowyn, and was about to offer to do the same for Windfola. Éowyn took the brush from him and began to stroke Windfola. "Éomer," She said, "why did you not help her?"
"She did not want my help. I thought that a groom was going to do that for her, but then I made a comment and she thought that I did not think that she could saddle a horse and decided to do it herself." He exclaimed.
"Did you offer to help?" Éowyn asked.
"No, but I could see that she did not want it." Éomer said, tightening the strap on Firefoot's saddle.
"She wanted you to say something." Éowyn said.
"She is right, you know. I know that my cousin has never done that, and that even with those looks she was giving you, she wanted you to help." Faramir added.
Éomer grunted. "Then she could have said something. How was I to know that she wanted help?"
"Because she started it in front of you." Éowyn said as if telling a child. She finished brushing Windfola and moved to put in the bridle. Windfola took it without any resistance, and Éowyn gave him a pat on the nose before getting her saddle.
Éomer finished and looked at Faramir. "She could have said something, you know."
"And that would not have been her way." Faramir said, sliding the saddle on to his horse. Éowyn returned with her saddle and saddled Windfola.
She turned to Éomer, who had his horse, ready and seemed to be waiting for them. "Are you going to wait for us because you do not want to be alone with her?"
"No, sister, I was waiting to go out with the both of you." Éomer said nonchalantly.
"Of course, that is the reason." She said with a smile. She led Windfola out of the stable and Éomer and Faramir followed.
The day was bright and a cool breeze off the ocean was in the air. Lothíriel stood by the gate, waiting for them. Once she saw them, she placed her foot in the stirrup and lifted herself up. Once up, she realized that her stirrups were to long, and was about to dismount to change them, when Éomer came over.
"Let me." He said. She took her foot out, and he shortened the stirrup and then went to the other side and did the same thing.
"Thank you." She said.
"It is nothing, my lady." He said.
Éowyn gave Faramir a small smile as she placed some of the food in her saddlebag and handed the rest to Faramir. He took it, and before mounting, he leaned over and kissed her.
Once they were all on their horses, they headed out of the palace and into the streets. Lothíriel and Faramir began to take a lead, since they knew this place more than Éowyn or Éomer. Once they passed the gates of the city, Lothíriel looked at Faramir.
"Where do you think we should go?" She asked.
"I think I know a place, the one where we used to go." He said.
Lothíriel smiled. "I think that would be good."
"Which way is this place?" Éowyn asked.
Lothíriel pointed to her right. "That way, about a mile. Not to far." She said with a smile. "Should we race, like we used to?"
Faramir smiled. "I do no think we should, unless we are prepared to lose. We have the King of Rohan and his sister with us."
"And that does not mean that we would win." Éowyn said with a smile.
"Then it is a race." Éomer said.
"Aye, it should not be hard to find, it is glade by a stream. Once you get to it, you should be able to find it." Lothíriel said.
"Then let us begin." Faramir said as he urged his horse forward.
Éowyn followed suit, and so on. Faramir was out in front, but Éowyn soon was up to him. She smiled at him as her horse took the lead. Éomer appeared at Faramir's side as well, closely followed by Lothíriel. Faramir urged his horse on, and soon it was Éomer and Lothíriel out in front. Éowyn and Faramir had given up on racing the others, and were more racing each other.
Éomer and Lothíriel were about even when they saw the stream come into view. Firefoot was about to take the lead, when Éomer nudged him to slow a little. Lothíriel noticed, and when she arrived at the spot first, she quickly turned her horse.
"You let me win!" She said.
"I did not, you won." Éomer said as Faramir and Éowyn arrived.
"No, you told your horse to slow down just as you saw the stream." Lothíriel accused.
"Lothíriel, my brother would never do that on purpose. He takes to much pride in the speed of his horse." Éowyn said calmly. She dismounted and looked at her brother. She addressed him in Rohirric at the look in his eyes. "Did you let her win?" She asked.
Éomer, knowing to keep an expressionless face, replied in his native tongue. "I did, but I did not think she would notice."
Éowyn walked over and hit him on the shoulder. Faramir and Lothíriel looked at each other and then back at the siblings.
"So?" Lothíriel said.
"He says Firefoot slowed down with out his will." Éowyn said, still looking at her brother.
"Oh." Lothíriel said surprised. "That is the first time I won." She said. Éowyn went back to her horse and began to unpack some of the food. Faramir walked over, and made sure the other two would not hear his words.
"What did your brother say?" He whispered into her ear.
"That he let her win." Éowyn replied in the same whisper. "He most like her, he would never let me win." She said with a smile.
"I always let you win-ow!" He said when she hit him. "All right, you always win." He said smiling at her. They gathered the things they needed to start lunch.
They set out the bread, cheeses, and dried meat they had brought. Lothíriel set out the blanket to sit on. She seemed very pleased with her win, and none of the others wished to spoil it. Éowyn lay her head against Faramir and they began to eat. Éomer and Lothíriel sat opposite each other, not talking much. She poured all of them ale form the flask that they had brought. She handed glasses to everyone. Éowyn drank half of hers in the first gulped. Lothíriel stared at her, but said nothing. The sun streamed through the trees, glistening off the water. Silence reigned and Éowyn decided to break it.
"Lothíriel, you said that it that was the first time you had won a race. Did you race often?" She asked.
"I would always race my brothers here. And when Faramir would come to visit, we would all race. I, being the youngest and only girl, would always lose or get a later start than the others. They always seemed to conspire to leave me behind." Lothíriel said with a smirk.
"You always wanted to go, even when your father did not want you to. So we had to take care of you. Of course we would conspire to leave you home." Faramir said.
"Reminds me of what Éowyn would do." Éomer said, looking at his sister. "She would sneak out and follow me and my friends everywhere." Éowyn scowled at him. "One time, my friends and I had to tell out nurse to wait in the stables to stop her. When we got back, Éowyn was sitting looking at the door waiting for me."
"What happened?" Lothíriel asked.
"Nothing." Éowyn replied. "I was in too much trouble for sneaking out with them anyway. I did not want to get into more by hurting my brother." Éowyn said with a smirk.
"And I appreciate that everyday." Éomer said.
They finished their meal and sat for a little more, talking about old memories and other such things. Lothíriel was the first to move to get up.
"We should return soon, the sun is past its highest point." She said looking around. The others stood and they gathered the things. Éowyn and Faramir packed up their saddlebags with what was left of the things they brought.
Lothíriel, meanwhile, walked over to the stream and slipped off her shoes. She went out a little, holding her dress up, letting the cool water was over her feet. She turned to the others, who were looking at her, and said, "I always do this. The water is fine today if you want to join."
The others took off their shoes and joined her in the water. The rocks were slippery and it took some effort to balance. Éomer lost his balance when he stepped on a particularly wet stone and fell. The grabbed on to the nearest thing to try to balance himself, which was Lothíriel. She fell under his weight as well, but not with out grabbing on to Faramir. He dropped to his knees, and Éowyn was the only one left standing. She burst out laughing at the sight of all of them.
"You think this is funny, my lady." Faramir said. Éowyn could not find her voice to reply, and nodded her head between fits of laughter. "Well, we shall see how you like it."
"No!" She screamed has Faramir grabbed her hand and pulled her down as well. She sat up in the stream and glared at Faramir. "You will pay for that." She said. She splashed him when he had opened his mouth to reply, which sent the others into fits of laughter.
Faramir chocked out the water. He turned to the others. "See how you like it." And he splashed them as well. They continued to splash each other until the shadows lengthened and the light was dimming.
"We should go back now." Éowyn said, standing. She wrung out her hair and dress as best she could before she headed over to the horses. The others followed. They mounted the horses, and began a slow ride back, cursing whenever a wind blow over their soaked clothes.
A/N: This is officially the longest chapter in the story so far. I hope it was worth the wait and please review! And I will try to update sooner. I promise...
Reposes:
Gaerwen: Thanks for the review!
Blue Eyes At Night: It did, and now Éowyn and Faramir are trying to help them out. There was a race, and such a nice one it was too. Thanks for the review!
lady scribe of avandell: I hope you get your disk back soon. That's really bad about your computer. Thanks for the review!
FoolishlyBraveDarkStar: I think that they could be helpful too. Thanks for the review!
Queen Arwen: The grudge is over now right? And now I update again. You should do that too! Thanks for the review!
Evanescent Dawn: I know you are banned from the computer at the moment, but I am still responding. Yes, opposites do attract. I have been going over that in physics for the past few days. Anyway, thanks for the review!
