::disclaimer:: i own none of the characters mentioned in this chapter. i only own their personalities. the rest is © tolkien enterprises.
Chapter XI
Éomer awoke to the sound of someone singing outside his window once again. He rubbed his eyes and rolled out of bed, making his way to the balcony. He stuck his head over the ledge and glared down at Lothíriel. "Do not tell me that you have forgotten already that this is my room," he called down to her. "I thought you promised not to wake me like that again."
"I never promised you anything," she answered, grinning up at him. "Besides, I thought you'd appreciate it if I woke you before Elphir did. He has a habit of beating down the door when he wakes people. Much ruder than singing them awake, wouldn't you agree?"
Éomer merely grunted and began to walk away when suddenly someone started banging on his door. The sound startled him, and he knocked over a small table.
"Lord Éomer, are you awake?" It was indeed Elphir, beating down the door as Lothíriel had said he was wont to do.
"Aye!" Éomer shouted back, cursing under his breath.
"Good. I'm coming in." The doorknob turned and in walked Elphir, fully dressed and looking as if he were going to observe his troops. "You are not dressed," he said, sounding surprised and a bit annoyed.
"You will have to excuse me for not waking before the sun. It is not my habit to wake early merely to dress myself in finery." He clenched his jaw.
Elphir scowled. "I will see you at the training fields in half an hour. I have no patience for late arrivals."
"Indeed." Éomer scowled back. Elphir drew himself up self-righteously and left. Éomer returned to the balcony. "Lothíriel," he called, "where have you gone?" He looked around, but it appeared that the princess had gone her own way. He sighed and turned to go back inside. He jumped back almost immediately.
"You should be careful on these balconies," said Lothíriel, who stood in front of him, "you could fall off, and then what would we say to your uncle?" She smiled widely.
"H-how?" sputtered Éomer.
She shook her head. "A princess should never reveal her secrets. She might be telling an enemy the fastest way out of the palace." She kissed his cheek. "Maybe I'll tell you when you're older."
"I'm older than you," he countered. She walked into his room and headed straight for his chest of clothes.
"Yes, but it doesn't mean you're smarter. What you just said to Elphir is likely to get you into more trouble than you're worth. I won't be at the training grounds, and even if I was, I couldn't stop Elphir from beating you to a pulp."
"I am not weak, princess," he said, suddenly defensive.
"Yes, but neither is Elphir. You have never seen him fight. I have. Listen to me, he doesn't like you."
"I know it well."
"Here, put this on." She threw him a shirt. She continued as he pulled it over his head, "He does like Erchirion, but that doesn't stop him from taking every possible advantage when they train together. Be careful when you fight. It will just be a mock-fight, but you will both walk away with bruises. Elphir does not tire quickly; he has great endurance, though his blows are not as strong as some. He will favor his right side, it is his stronger arm. I do not know what kind of weapon he will choose, so I hope you know how to wield a glaive."
"A what?"
She sighed exasperatedly. "A glaive. It is like a short spear with a cutlass blade instead of a spearhead. You can use it as you would a spear, a sword, or even a sword if you know what you are doing. Believe me, Elphir knows what he's doing."
"You make this sound like a duel to the death."
"It could be."
"But you just said that it will be a mock-fight."
"Yes, but I doubt that either of your egos will come out of it un-harmed."
"You worry too much, Lothíriel."
She scowled. "If I knew that one of you would keep a cool head, I wouldn't worry so much. I know how Elphir gets, and I suspect you are the same way. Now go, Elphir will not forgive you if you are late."
"Very well. Do I have time to eat something?"
"I brought you this." She held out an apple. "Take care, and meet me in the fountain garden afterwards. I'll be waiting for you with bandages and a needle and thread. Who knows what injuries you'll be afflicted with!"
"Thank you, I think."
"Take care."
He kissed her forehead. "I will be fine. I promise."
"I was beginning to wonder if you would arrive before luncheon."
"You gave me half an hour. I still have five minutes," answered Éomer.
"Then I suggest you find yourself a weapon," said Elphir. "I have chosen a glaive. What will you take? A stick? A rock?"
"Have you any decent practice swords?"
"We only use the best."
"Good, I would expect no less from the famed Princes of Dol Amroth." Éomer paused. "Will you show me where they are?"
"This way." Elphir led him into the armory shed. "The smaller ones are over here." He indicated the left side of the wall.
Éomer smiled and moved directly to the right. "Thank you for pointing that out. Those are much too small for my taste." He chose a large wooden sword, obviously supposed to be a long sword. "I believe this one will do."
"Very well, if you will join me in the practice ring?"
"With pleasure."
The two men exited the armory and went to an empty practice ring. Elphir was the first to speak. "The rules are simple. You face off as in a normal fight, but do not inflict more injury upon the opponent than necessary. The last to fall is victor."
"Do we shake upon it or do we take each other's word for it?"
"Is your word good?"
"Is yours?"
"Then we shall begin," answered Elphir.
The two men circled each other, neither trying to spar with the other. "How is it," Elphir said, a glare on his face, "that one so young and inexperienced became one of the highest-ranking officers in Rohan's cavalry? Whose wives did you bed to get your position?"
Éomer snarled and attacked Elphir's left flank. "I bed no man's wife."
Elphir parried Éomer's blow and returned it with an overhead slice. "And why should I believe that? You bedded my sister quickly enough."
"I did not bed your sister!" They thrust and parried, neither giving leeway. "I was ill. She took care of me. That is all."
"If you say so." Elphir did another overhead thrust; this time, Éomer barely parried in time. "That still does not explain your promotion. Did you kill for it?"
"I would never kill one of my own people. How dare you insult my honor by even suggesting such! If you must know—" he accented his words with a series of blows "—my uncle is the king. I trained with the best soldiers in the land and moved up quickly in the cavalry. The former marshal retired last wintertide. He appointed me to take his place." The moment he said this, Éomer knew it was a mistake. He had let Elphir distract him. The next thing he knew, he was lying on his back, looking up at Elphir.
"Some soldier you are," he sneered. "I worry for your people if you are one of the highest-ranking soldiers. I can only imagine how weak the rest are."
That was the last straw for Éomer. He pushed himself up and tackled Elphir, pinning him to the ground. "Why do you not trust me?" he asked, holding the older man beneath him.
"I trust no one who deals with the Dark Lord, rochir," Elphir spat.
"I do not deal with the Dark Lord."
"Then your king does. Where else would He get so many swift horses?"
"My uncle is not so far gone that he would trade with the Dark Lord." Éomer began to punch Elphir in the face. "You know nothing, if that is what you think."
"Then you agree," said Elphir, throwing Éomer over his head, "that your uncle is quite mad?" The older man stood, his fists clenched.
Éomer crouched on the ground, glaring up at Elphir. "My uncle is not mad. Elderly, yes, but not mad."
Elphir laughed out loud, despite the blood pouring from his nose. "He is not that much older than my father, and you call him elderly?"
Éomer scowled. "You have no respect for your betters, princeling. My uncle is a king, and he is not as strong as he used to be. You hold that against him."
"I am far better than you, marshal. I am no barbarian."
"My people are not barbarians!" Éomer shouted. "No, we are not as regal and arrogant as you in your marble palace, but that does not mean we have no pride. We are just as proud as you, you filthy nædre!"
"How dare you call me that!" exclaimed Elphir. In an instant, he was on top of Éomer, punching at him. They scuffled around the courtyard, throwing hard blows at one another.
"Elphir! What are you doing?" It was Saeriel, and she ran toward the two men with a distressed look on her face. "What in the world—? A page came to me with news that a fight had broken out in the training grounds and that you were involved in it, but I had no idea...." She trailed off while the two men stood looking at the ground rather sheepishly. "Honestly, I don't know what to make of this. Lord Éomer, go to the healing houses, you have blood all over your face. Elphir—" she glared at her husband "—I will take care of you."
Éomer was rather glad that Saeriel had given him leave to find a healer; he was quite certain that Elphir was wishing that their places were switched. He bowed his head slightly to the formidable woman and left the arena with as much dignity as he could muster. Once out of sight, he began to half-run to the fountain garden where Lothíriel was waiting.
A/N: dang, that took a while. this is a nice, long chapter (nearly five pages typed!) for you guys, i hope you appreciate it. i've decided to stick with the happy ending. i may write a dark fic sometime, but it won't be attached to this one. and since several of you reviewed my ficlet, i've got replies for both last chapter and it. speaking of which, i'm not sure if you all caught on to this or not, but it's a companion piece to this story (remember aela?). it takes place later on (obviously)...just as the rohirrim make their charge on the pelennor and eowyn defeats the witch-king. but, i haven't decided if i should add to it or not. i need your suggestions!
Review Replies:
eokat: i'm glad you enjoyed the ficlet. i enjoyed writing it. i'm also glad you liked the head-bumping. and you were right, elphir was up to no good.
soccer-bitch: as always, thanks for the reviews. but i don't know if the ficlet will be continued. it might just stay a one-shot. i haven't decided.
dancin' over the edge: i'm glad you think she's becoming more and more real. it means i'm escaping the black hole of sue-ism. it seems like that passage is everyone's second-favorite. my fave is the passage right after the defeat of the witch-king, when eomer finds eowyn on the field. it's so beautiful.
pretty-foot: thank you!
lotr-nutcase: as i said to soccer, i'm thinking about continuing the ficlet. it depends on the plot bunnies. thanks for the reviews! and we really need to get that e/l blogring started.
lady hades: i laughed so hard when i read your review. i was having a bad day and it really cheered me up. and yeah, she's sneakier than smeagol/gollum. haha.
hotdogfish: i don't know if this update is that much quicker than the last (i don't remember), but i think i'll definitely stick with the happy ending. and i'll try to keep updating on weekends...it depends on how busy i am.
angelofthenightwatchers: quick! get out your family tree! ::points at random place on tree:: do you have a cousin named horacio ignacious codswallop? because i do... thanks for the review!
lirima tindomiel: i'm a romantic, too, but every now and then, i have a dark streak. and yes, evil characters should always die! thanks for the review!
c'est magnifique: the reason eowyn was going to die was because that's what happened in tolkien's original drafts. she and aragorn fell in love, and she dies, and he wanders middle earth for the rest of his life. mine was going to be similar, but eomer would have died and lothiriel ended up being the one that wandered m-e forever. also, i don't think i mentioned boromir in my ficlet, did i? i couldn't find it...
lariren-shadow: you have no idea how convenient it is that they keep falling asleep together. i haven't decided if it'll happen again...but it might.
rana ninque: don't worry, they'll get married. and the title kind of signifies that it's before the war, like the calm, happy time before the storm falls. make sense? and i hope i exceeded your expectations with the training grounds. i enjoyed writing this chapter a lot.
holly arwen granger: you reviewed the ficlet, but i don't know if you'll see this. i'm glad you liked it, but as i said before, i haven't decided if i'm going to continue it or not.