::disclaimer:: if i owned this, i'd be on my way to boston to celebrate in the streets. HOORAY FOR THE RED SOX!!! ahem...on to the story?
Chapter XIV
As it turned out, Imrahil decided to wait until the next day to speak with Lothíriel. She went to his study after the noon meal. Knocking quietly, she entered the room. It was filled with shelves of books and scrolls. Maps of Gondor and the surrounding lands were everywhere, some rolled out on the great desk, others tacked on the walls. It smelled musty, like a library of oft-read books, and in some respects, it was that. Lothíriel had always loved her father's study for that reason; she loved books and often spent hours searching through both the library and her father's collections for tales she had not heard.
"Lothíriel, you no doubt know why I have called you in here," said Imrahil, shaking his daughter from her musings.
"To discuss Lord Éomer, yes?" she returned, seating herself.
"To an extent," Imrahil allowed, coming around the table. "Lothíriel, I have spoken with your brother, and I must admit I am quite astounded by your behavior over the past week. I did tell you to befriend the emissary from Rohan, or at least make him comfortable while he waited for my return, but I did not want you to flirt shamelessly with him. You have compromised yourself, and possibly the alliance by doing so. Now, you know the Ethuil Mereth begins tomorrow night. Elphir suggested that I ban you from it entirely—"
"You surely wouldn't do that, would you?"
"—but I have decided that you may go, as long as you have a trusted chaperone with you at all times. You are not to go anywhere near Lord Éomer unless he comes to you first, and even then, you may only dance with him. I will make certain that proper seating arrangements are made so that you are not together." She tried to protest the restrictions, but Imrahil stopped her. "No, Lothíriel, you may object all you want, but that is my final word. All three of your brothers, as well as myself, will be watching to make sure you behave as a proper princess should."
"You do this only because he is not a noble of Gondor," she said, suddenly haughty. "If it had been Lord Aermaethor that was with me out on the plateau, you would not have said anything."
"That is not true, Lothíriel. You should not be on the plateau with any man un-chaperoned. It is dangerous. Now," he said, changing subjects, "I want you to go to your room. You are to stay there and think upon your actions until the evening meal."
"Why not lock me in a tower, then?" she cried. "That way, you would never have to worry that I might kiss a man!" She stood and spun around, stomping out the door.
"Lothíriel!" Amrothos caught up to her as she stormed through the private halls.
"Have you come to escort me to my prison?" she asked sullenly.
"Adar did ask me to follow you," he admitted. "But I wanted to tell you—Ethuil Mereth begins tomorrow night. You will need an escort for it."
"And?" She did not bother to say that she already knew all of this.
"Would you like me to take you?"
"No, but I'd rather you than Erchirion or Elphir—or worse, Adar."
"I'll fetch you an hour before sundown then?"
"Very well." She kept walking.
"Valar, Lothíriel, you make it sound as if you are consigning yourself to a horrible suitor or something! I'm trying to keep Elphir out of your hair!" He leaned closer to her, whispering urgently. "If I am your escort, Elphir will see no reason to follow you around all night. I can buy you some time with Éomer."
She looked at him. "You would do that for me?"
"So long as you promise not to compromise either yourself or him."
"I wouldn't dream of it," she said. "Thank you, Amrothos, you are wonderful!" She kissed his cheek and hurried off to her rooms, the wheels in her head already turning.
Meanwhile, Éomer was walking into Imrahil's study. "Ah, Lord Éomer," said the prince mildly, "please, sit down."
Éomer sat and immediately began to apologize. "Milord, I am terribly sorry for all the ruckus I caused yesterday. I had too much to drink and did not act responsibly. It will never happen again."
Imrahil waved his apology away. "I have no doubt of that, lad. I have already told Lothíriel that she is not to come near you. But that is not why I called you in here."
"It's not?"
"No. I know that you are the emissary for Rohan and that you were expecting our negotiations to take a week or so at most. But you have already been here nearly a week, and nothing has taken place, and for that I apologize. I was not expecting bandits. And I must apologize in advance for something else: tomorrow signifies the beginning of Ethuil Mereth, the spring festival. It is a week-long festival that our city celebrates every year, and it requires the constant presence of the city's rulers. That said, I apologize profusely for the second delay, but I must attend the festivities. I would, however, like to invite you to join us in them. They are an excellent distraction and a wonderful chance to show your prowess at several events, with everything from races to mock-fights to choosing the best wine from the many wineries."
"If it is not too much of an inconvenience," Éomer said, "I believe I should like to stay here in Dol Amroth until the end of the festivities, and then we can begin the negotiations."
Imrahil smiled, and Éomer recognized Lothíriel's broad grin. "I thought that would be your answer." He changed subjects. "However, I must ask you to stay away from Lothíriel. She is my only daughter, and I do not want her heart broken by a soldier that she will never see again."
"I understand, sir. And you do not have to worry. I will stay as far away from her as I possibly can." Éomer stood, feeling somewhat resigned, and exited the study. Not sure of what to do for the rest of the afternoon, he decided to explore the city. Lothíriel had only taken him to Saberman's, and he wanted to see the rest of the taverns before he left. Lost in his thoughts, he began walking toward the nearest gate into the city.
It was not long before Éomer was quite lost. He had been wandering through the winding streets of Dol Amroth for at least an hour and had absolutely no idea where he was. The layout of the city was entirely foreign: instead of the half-structured checkerboard of houses and stables he was used to, the streets seemed to branch out from the palace like a spiraling path up a mountain. Every now and then, Éomer would come to a temple or a market square that had even more streets branching out from it. Eventually, he found a fish market. It was filled with people trying to get the latest catch. Éomer was jostled as he tried to get through the throng, and people glared at the young man who got in their way. He searched for a landmark of some sort, anything to help him find his way back to the palace.
"Master Éomer!" a voice called out amid the hubbub of the crowd. Éomer turned, looking for the man who had called his name. "Master Éomer, where is the beautiful Lothíriel? Last time I saw you, the two of you were inseparable. Or did she leave you to fend for yourself?" Erulehton materialized out of the crowd, carrying a basket loaded with fish.
"I came into the city on my own and got lost," Éomer admitted sheepishly.
"Ah, well, you'll just have to come back to the pub with me." Erulehton smiled. "Follow me." The younger man quickly led him through the swarm and into the maze of streets. They seemed to back-track, but Erulehton insisted that they weren't. "This is the quickest way to the pub. The streets start at various points in the city. For example, the four main avenues all spread out from the palace. They in turn go to other landmarks, such as the temple to Ulmo, and more streets spread out from them. If you could see the city from the sky, it would look like several spider webs all meshed together. It's easy to see why someone who is unfamiliar with the city would get lost." By this time, they had reached the pub. "Come on in, drinks are on the house." They walked inside.
"I thought you'd never get back," said Aela as Erulehton walked in with the fish. "I see you brought a friend." She smiled at Éomer. "Suílad!"
"Suílad," he returned, unsure of what he was saying.
"I found him hanging around the fish market," Erulehton explained. "Thought I better bring him here, so he doesn't get into trouble."
"And where was Lothíriel?" Aela asked.
Erulehton shrugged. "He was alone."
"Lothíriel and I...are not allowed to be alone," Éomer said. He saw no reason to hold the information from these people; after all, Lothíriel trusted them completely.
"Not allowed?" Erulehton repeated, an eyebrow raised.
"It's a long story."
The other man smiled. "I have plenty of time. Why don't we sit and have a drink?" He gestured to a corner table.
Éomer nodded, and they sat. Aela brought ales over and took a seat as well. "After we came here the other day, Lothíriel and I went back to the palace. Apparently, I am allergic to crab, so your wonderful food did not stay in my stomach." He grimaced at the memory. "Lothíriel attended me, and we fell asleep in my bed." He continued to recount the events of the past several days, finishing with what Imrahil had told him. It surprised him that Erulehton grew angry at the prince.
"When will that man realize that Lothíriel is not a little girl anymore?" he said.
"Erulehton, she is only seventeen yet," chided Aela as she stood to attend some customers that had just walked in.
"She will be eighteen soon enough," he muttered, gripping his mug tightly.
"I take it you have a past with Lothíriel, then," ventured Éomer.
Erulehton looked up. "Oh aye," he said. "Her mother died when she was four or five, did she tell you that?" Éomer nodded. "Lady Mídhæriel drowned in a storm. The city mourned for weeks. And on the anniversary of her death, there is always a vigil for those who have died at sea. The docks are lined with candles and lanterns, and everyone gathers to feast and mourn. Two years ago, Lothíriel was drunk. We both were, but she was moreso than I. We went back to the palace, to her rooms, and—" he took a deep breath "—made love. Later, I snuck out by way of the balcony. I think Elphir discovered us, but he never said anything to me. Afterward, Lothíriel became more guarded around me than she had been." He looked down into his mug and then looked back up. "But that was then. We've both moved on. We're still good friends of course, but things have changed a bit." He looked into Éomer's eyes. "I just hope you have better fortune than I."
A/N: and there you have it. the TALK, the other talk, and a confession. and you guys thought i'd forgotten about my oc's down at the dockside pub. up next: lothiriel's plan, and then the festival.
Replies:
lady hades: after much thought, and a brief discussion with my inner demons, i realized you were right. the story was dragging. hope this chappie helped pick things up again.
lotr-nutcase: patience, preciousss...elphir will get his own in due time. it may not be what or when you expect it to be, but it will come. hope you liked the TALK.
hotdogfish: the whole problem is imrahil doesn't want lothiriel to go anywhere. stupid over-protective families.
prettyfoot: lol..i know the feeling. thanks for the review!
lady anck-su-namun: i don't know if i said this before, but i love your name. that said, i figured that if she's going to be semi-insane, she might as well start out that way. after all, she's on her homeground and has no reason to be anything but herself.
gypsyswordgoddess: your review had me giggling for hours. a guilty pleasure? i never thought i would become that. thanks, i think..lol.
lariren-shadow: johnny damon as aragorn? i don't know about that one...i was kinda thinking chewbacca..lol. and he rox my sox (hehe) off! yeah, amrothos is turning out to be the best of the brothers. elphir's a stuck-up git. i may or may not use the rain thing...at this point, it looks like i won't. and "serë mi eru" means (roughly translated from sindarin) "peace within god."
soccer-bitch: thanks for the review, as always!
dancin' over the edge: honestly, i have no idea why the website had the story. i think it was various love stories that they thought would look cool on their site (i think they had romeo & juliet, too). i don't know if eomer and theodred would have gone to dol amroth before. after all, they had to deal with orcs almost all the time. glad my story makes you feel better!
blue eyes at night: she didn't drug him, i promise! you'll find out more about the wine in the next chapter. thanks for the review!
desolateaznvamp: thankies muchly for the review!
elegantcouture: yes, damn elphir! but better elphir than her father, right? especially since he would have been a few minutes later....
c'est magnifique: glad you liked the last line...i enjoyed writing it. and please don't fail science and social studies because you're reading my stories! i'd feel awful if that happened! and yeah, tristan actually married another lady named isolde of the white hands (i changed the name to avoid confusion).