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Chapter 6: Friendly Discussions
The afternoon approached and Eowyn stood from the bed. "Please excuse me, Lilly, Eowirethien, but I must take my leave. I have some matters I must attend to and the mid-day meal approaches," Eowyn said with a smile. Lilly smiled brightly at Eowyn and nodded. Lilly really enjoyed Eowyn's company and she got along amazingly with her.
"Thank you Eowyn, for everything," Lilly said. Eowyn smiled kindly at Lilly.
"I shall see you later, but for now rest. I would like to show you Edoras before the first snowfall, which isn't far away," Eowyn said as she began to make her way to the door. Lilly nodded.
"I cannot wait." Eowyn smiled and left the room, her skirts swishing as she went. Lilly smiled and looked at Eowirethien who was looking at her with a kind smile.
"You did not smile much before did you, young one?" Eowirethien asked. Lilly gently shook her head.
"Never really had a reason to, until I came here," Lilly said quietly. Just then it hit her that Eowyn said she wanted to show her Rohan before the first snow fall. "Eowirethien, what is the date?" Eowirethien smiled and stood from the bed and took the disregarded book from Lilly's lap.
"It is October 4th, why do you ask?" Lilly's eyes went wide.
"My birthday is in ten days," Lilly responded quietly as she looked towards the window just past Eowirethien. Eowirethien smiled at Lilly.
"Really? How old shall you be?" Lilly looked at Eowirethien and smiled.
"Twenty-three." It was Eowirethien's turn to be surprised.
"You've already come of age. You are not as young as I thought you to be." Lilly shook her head and smiled. "Well, I shall return in just a moment." With that Eowirethien left the room and Lilly sighed. She looked over towards the window again and she longed to feel the breeze on her face. Lilly moved to the edge of the bed and looked towards the door. If Eowirethien found out she was out of bed, Lilly knew she would not be happy. She turned over the covers and her bare feet came in contact with the cool stone floor. Lilly shivered slightly but made her way over to the window with shaky legs.
Once she reached the window she braced her weak body against the ledge of the window and pulled aside the drapes. Her eyes were met with the once golden plains of Rohan that were now a light brown color because of the approaching winter. The long grass blew gently in the afternoon breeze and she looked down towards the homes. A smile made its way across her face as she saw a few children run inside a house right past their mother who was smiling at them as they went inside. Suddenly a gust of wind blew around her harshly and she nearly stumbled over. Lilly grabbed onto the ledge and steadied herself as she sighed.
"Well, I better get back into bed before Eowirethien finds me," Lilly said quietly to herself. She turned and went to step towards the bed when she became dizzy and began to fall. Lilly reached for a small table and tried to steady herself but just ended up knocking the table over and causing a vase to crash to the floor and for her to fall to her knees. Lilly whimpered and held onto her head with her free hand.
Lilly heard the door fly open but her head was still spinning. Someone ran over and grasped her gently around the waist and pulled her to her feet. Lilly blinked a couple of times to clear her sight and looked up to meet the dark eyes of Eomer. She swallowed hard and tried to give him a smile but failed when another waive of dizziness hit her causing her to close her eyes and lean onto him more. His grip tightened slightly, but not enough to hurt her.
"Lady Lilly, are you alright?" he asked quickly.
"Yes, I'm just a little dizzy," Lilly said quietly. Eomer nodded and practically carried her over to the bed and had her sit down. "Thank you, your majesty," Lilly said as she opened her eyes and looked at him as he knelt down in front of her.
"You are welcome, milady. However, I do not think you should have gotten out of bed so soon after recovering from your fever." Lilly gave him a slight smile and nodded.
"I suppose you are right, but I couldn't help it. I just had to look outside and at your beautiful land." Eomer smiled at her words and nodded his head. Suddenly, he saw her eyes widen as they glanced toward the window. "Oh, I'm so sorry, your majesty!" she exclaimed and looked back at him. "I broke the vase." He was shocked when he saw fear flash deep in her eyes. He shook his head.
"It is alright. It is just a vase that can be replaced, Lady Lilly," Eomer reassured her. He saw the doubt still in her eyes but she nodded at him. He gave her a slight smile, which she returned. Eomer stood to leave but Lilly stopped him.
"Your majesty, I would like you to call me Lilly or Lillyana. Like I told Eowirethien and Eowyn, I prefer either of those and 'lady' just makes me feel like I'm pretending to be something I'm not." Eomer gave her a slight smile and nodded his head.
"As you wish, Lillyana." Lilly smiled. No one ever really called her Lillyana. She loved her name, the only thing her mother ever really gave her that was decent. Eomer's smile grew at the smile she gave him. It was a warm and genuine smile and he knew from speaking to Gandalf earlier, smiling was something she never did. "Take rest and do not get out of this bed until your strength has returned to you. I will have Eowirethien clean up the mess so do not worry." Lilly's eyes went wide and Eomer chuckled. "Don't worry, I shall not tell her it was you that broke the vase. If she asks I shall simply tell her it was I." Lilly smiled and shook her head.
"You don't have to do that, your majesty, but thank you." Eomer nodded and just looked at her for a moment. Lilly began to blush under his gaze and he realized he was staring at her. He cleared his throat and made his way towards the door.
"Rest well," he said quickly as he turned and looked at her. She smiled and nodded her head and watched him exit the room. Lilly sighed and climbed back in her bed and laid against the pillows. She closed her eyes briefly and before she slipped off into a peaceful nap the last image to play across her mind were the dark brown eyes of a certain king with a kind heart.
Eomer made his way down the hall and spotted Eowirethien carrying a tray of bread, meat, and tea towards Lilly's room. Eomer held out his hand to stop her. She stopped and bowed her head to him. "I believe Lady Lilly may be asleep now, Eowirethien," he said to her. Eowirethien furrowed her brow at her king confused.
"What do you mean, milord?" she asked.
"I have just left her room and she looked rather tired after I had spoken with her, so I believe she may be asleep." Eowirethien nodded in understanding. "However, while I spoke with her I knocked into the table by the window and caused the vase to fall to the floor and the glass needs to be cleaned up."
"I shall take care of it immediately, milord. I will have to wake Lady Lilly as well. She needs to eat to maintain her strength." Eomer smiled.
"Very well. Good day Eowirethien." She bowed her head once more.
"Good day, milord." With that Eomer walked down the corridor with a smile on his face and Eowirethien continued on her way to Lilly's room, thoroughly confused as to why King Eomer was in Lilly's room.
When Eowirethien entered Lilly's room, she found Lilly asleep as Eomer said she would find her. However, unlike her feverish sleep or even her sleep the night before her face was not in pain. A small smile graced her lips and she was turned on her side with her face nearly buried in the softness of the pillow. Eowirethien sat down the tray on the bedside table and reached over and gentle shook Lilly's shoulder. "Lilly, I have brought you your mid-day meal," Eowirethien said quietly. Lilly slowly opened her eyes and looked up at Eowirethien.
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to fall asleep," Lilly said as she sat up and rubbed her eyes. Eowirethien smiled and shook her head as she placed the tray in front of Lilly.
"It's quiet alright, dear. Here, enjoy." Lilly smiled and nodded her head. She took a sip of her hot tea and smiled before she began to eat her meal. "King Eomer told me how he knocked over this vase," Eowirethien said as she kneeled down and began to pick up the pieces of glass. Lilly stopped chewing her bread and looked at Eowirethien. She quickly finished and swallowed.
"Actually, Eowirethien, it was me. I broke the vase." Eowirethien stood and looked at Lilly surprised. "I climbed out of bed to look out the window and when I turned around I became dizzy and knocked over the vase. King Eomer must have heard the crash because he came in and helped me to bed. I know I shouldn't have been out of bed so soon, Eowirethien, but I just had to look outside." Eowirethien smiled at her and shook her head.
"It's alright. It is true that you should not have gotten out of bed without aide but what is done, is done. You should be able to get out of the bed and out of this room by your birthday." Lilly smiled and returned to her meal as Eowirethien finished cleaning up the glass.
The days seemed to have passed quickly and it had been a week since Lilly had woken from her fever. She was finally able to move about her room without becoming dizzy, but Eowirethien still said she wasn't ready to leave her room yet. Lilly had spent the day talking with Eowyn and Faramir and as the sun slowly left the sky, she sat by the fireplace reading another book that Gandalf had given her about Rohan and Gondor. There was a light knock on the door and Lilly closed her book but kept her index finger in between the pages she was reading. "Come in," she said as she looked at the door. The door slowly opened and she heard heavy footfalls as the person stepped into the room. A smile made its way across her face and she sat the book down and quickly made her way over to the door. "Gamling!" she nearly yelled as she threw her arms around him.
The older man was surprised but wrapped his arms around her. Lilly pulled away and looked up at him and smiled brightly. "It is good to see you finally well, Lilly," Gamling said as he smiled at her. He noticed that her pale skin seemed to let off a healthy glow and now her eyes held happiness instead of sadness and fear, and she had regained the wait she had lost during her stay in the dungeons and finally looked healthy.
"Thank you for everything Gamling. If not for you, I would not have survived the first week in those dungeons." Lilly's smile faded as she thought about it, but she was doing better around others now. However, she was still weary around men that she had not known of before she came, but she was no longer flinching when a man held out his hand to greet her or assist her in something.
"You look much better." He cupped her cheek and smiled at her. Lilly smiled back and nodded.
"I feel much better. However, Eowirethien will not let me leave this room and I think I'm going to go crazy if I don't see something outside of these stone walls." Lilly paused and walked towards the window. "If I'm alone during the day, I spend most of my time wrapped up in a blanket staring out the window." She turned around and looked at him with a gentle smile. "Eowyn is planning on taking me around Edoras once Eowirethien says I've recovered enough."
Gamling smiled at her. She seemed to have come alive since waking from her fever and she seemed happy, so very happy. "Really?" he asked as he stepped closer to her. He smiled at her as she nodded like a small child telling of an exciting adventure. It was then that he realized he had begun to think of her as his daughter.
"Yes, and when I spoke with her and Faramir today, they even suggested a quick ride around the plains. However, I don't think we'll be doing that." Gamling furrowed his brow.
"Why not?" Lilly's cheeks blushed a slight pink and she looked up at him.
"I don't know how to ride." Gamling looked at her in disbelief.
"You don't know how to ride?" Lilly shook her head. "And you were brought to the home of the horse lords!" Gamling said with a smile on his face causing Lilly to chuckle quietly. "If you do not know how to ride, how did you travel great distances where you are from?" Lilly thought a moment on how to explain a car and shrugged her shoulders.
"We had these; well they were like carts that were powered by a liquid and other things that made them move fast." Lilly paused at the confused look on Gamling's face and smiled. "It's hard to explain when you don't have one thing here that was used to power the things." Gamling smiled at her frustration and nodded his head.
"I see." Lilly smiled but suddenly yawned. She quickly covered her mouth and Gamling smiled at her and patted her shoulder. "I should let you get ready for bed. I just wanted to see that you were well for myself." Lilly smiled and hugged him once more.
"Thank you again Gamling." She pulled away and he noticed she had tears in her eyes.
"Lilly, why do you weep?" he asked gently.
"You promise not to laugh?" Gamling nodded his head.
"You have my word."
"When you were taking care of me, I thought that you were so kind to do that for someone you didn't even know and I began to respect you greatly for it." Lilly paused and pulled away from his arms and began to play with her fingers in front of her as she looked up at Gamling. "I never knew my father, Gamling, and I've come to the realization that if I could have chosen the man I would have wanted to be my father, he would be someone just like you." Gamling smiled down at her and pulled her small frame into another hug.
"If you should ever need anything, anything at all, I shall be there for you Lilly. I promise," he whispered into the top of her head. Lilly closed her eyes tight and embraced him even tighter. She pulled away and smiled up at him. Gamling kissed her forehead and stepped away from her. "Good night Lilly."
"Good night Gamling." Gamling turned and left Lilly's room and Lilly with a smile on her face as she wiped away her tears. She removed her dark green robe and walked over to the bed. She draped the robe at the foot of the bed and removed her slippers. Lilly climbed into bed and laid her head against the soft pillows taking in the mysterious scent before she slowly drifted off into another peaceful slumber.
