Disclaimer: don't own LTOR, never have, never will. Don't earn money from this, never have, never will.
Wondereye: yeah I was actually planning to have Eomer come in this chapter. Thanks for your view though, I appreciate it a lot, let's me know what you expect. And about my writing,I thought it was not flowing enough. I guess it's partially because I think faster then I type, so I kinda miss out points here and there.
Lothiriel of Gondor: yeah, I have the whole thing planned out, but you'll just have to check in regularly to find out what happens in the story. Reviews chapters! Okay, probably sound totally disconnected, but I like reviews, gives me motivation to write
Deandra: Wow, I like your summary! I think I'll use it, you don't mind do you? Insipid suitors were the bane of Lothiriel's existence, until she met Eomer...
Perfect!
Starnat: well the reason why imrahil doesn't know that LL is like that is that LL acts very gentlemanly and noble in front of Imrahil. And Lothiriel in this story kinda has a history of turning down suitors, so Imrahil thinks that she's just trying to shrug out of this courtship. I guess it is a bit unclear, I think I shall explain it in the later chapters. Thanks for your feedback! I guess I still have to improve a lot.
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The Swan Princess and the Horse Lord
Lothiriel POV
I lay in bed, thinking of how to dispose of Lord Lanus. The only way I saw it was to find out his secret, uncover whatever he was hiding. But how? Perhaps I could use his arrogance and pride against him. Meaning, that I had to engage him in conversation, to make him boast about things, his accomplishments, perhaps it will reveal a little of his past to me. I then began to speculate about his past. Perhaps his father was just as arrogant as him, making him so. My thoughts, however, were then interrupted by Ala.
She shook her head at me as she entered my room, picking up my dress which I had left on the floor last night.
"Riel, honestly, you know better then to just laze around in bed while you are expecting guests around." She looked at me, still unmoving from my position.
"Ala, please tell Ada that I'm not feeling well toady," I mumbled, but Ala shook her head, and frowned. I had purposely stayed in bed longer, so that I would not face Lord lanus today. I planned to say that I was sick, and then sneak out with Ala to the markets to shop for a while before sneaking back, then spending the rest of the day in the peaceful library. With no Lord Lanus to accompany me. She shook her head again and approached me to pull me up. When she did, I went to wash my face from the basin at the other end of my room. I sulked a little, no wanting to have to see Lord Lanus.
"Riel, what made you lie here for so long? Did you know that your Ada was waiting for you downstairs to greet your guest? He sent me up to check on you, but seeing how you are fine, and even wanting to bail out on this meeting, I think all the more I shall drag you down."
"Ala! You know how much I detest Lord Lanus!" I reasoned, spitting out his name like poison. "Why drag me down to meet him?"
She gave me a funny looked, and replied," Did you not know that the king of Rohan was coming to visit your father? He will be arriving soon. That is why you have to get dressed, Riel"
"The King of Rohan? He is the guest?" I asked, why didn't Ada tell me before hand? But then I remembered that Ada had indeed told me of this before, but I was too occupied to think of a way to get rid of Lord Lanus. I let out sigh. Now I had to get up to change into nicer but uncomfortable clothing.
"What would you like to wear today Riel?" she asked, "the blue silk gown, or the green one?"
I mumbled something under my breath, signifying that I didn't care about the dresses, but Ala didn't catch the hint.
"I heard from the older maids that the king is absolutely dashing! Apparently, some of them worked in Minas Tirith before, and saw him when he was a young man, visiting the white city, with his cousin and uncle." She chatted, and then carried on dreamily," Tall, blonde, and piercing eyes of deep brown. He was just a budding lad then! Can you imagine what he looks like now? I'm sure he must be handsome!..." She looked into my closet, and pulled out several dresses, showing each to me. I shook my head to all.
I gave Ala a questioning look.
"Tall, blonde, with brown eyes practically describes all the men in Rohan, Ala! Could you be anymore specific?" I rolled my eyes at her excitement of seeing people who looked different from us, even if it was just hair colour. But I still could not keep the corners of my mouth from turning up, grinning at her enthusiasm. "And what about my brother? Have you forgotten him?" I asked cheekily, as I watched her face as red as a beetroot. She looked down at her feet, suddenly interested in the carpet.
"We both know that I am in no position to be courted by a prince of the royal family of Dol Amroth." She whispered immediately, but then looked up and smiled at me, "so which will it be? The blue or the green?" after taking out almost half my outfits, she settled on the original two dresses.
I looked over the two dresses. The green one was low cut and just a hint of ankle could be seen. The sleeves flared and it hugged the body. It was quite improper for me to own such a dress, but I had told the seamstress to have the cut made like that, when I was younger and much more naive. The blue was not low cut, but not high either. It covered enough but not all. It was comfortable and easy to move in. I chose the blue dress, it reflected who I was.
Ala helped me into the dress and she pulled my hair back from my face, twisting it to the center and securing it with a slender mithril clip. She seldom wore this style for me. She said it made me look elegant, like a true Swan Princess, but I rarely wore it like that, except to grand, official events. Since the smiling and curtsying wasn't what I really classified under "grand" or "official" – King Eomer was coming more as a friend than a king, which is why I didn't consider it official- I didn't think this hair style suited the occasion.
"Ala, why this hairstyle?" I asked.
"well, I sincerely think you look like a Swa.." she started.
"A swan princess, I know." I finished. I rolled my eyes but I caught her look of exasperation, and we both broke into giggles.
"Perfect!" she whispered, before breaking into a smile. I frowned. Why did she care so much about the way I looked? She wasn't so insistent with my hair, as she knew I didn't really care about appearances.
"Ala…." I teasingly said in a warning tone, making her tell me what ever information I knew she was withholding.
She gave me a shy yet cheeky grin. "I'm sorry, if I'm making you embarrassed, but I thought that maybe…" she trailed off, leaving my tottering on the edge of suspense. I gave her a quizzical look, prodding her on.
"Well, I knew that you have been distracted these few days, thinking about how to get rid of the evillordlanus so I came up with this wild idea that maybe if you flirted with the king, who is most handsome and a noble as well, the evillordLanus would be jealous and call off the courtship for the unscrupulous way you have been acting, flirting with a King and all." She said all in one breathe, giving me a coy smile. I didn't know how to react.
"Ala…" I started, "you want me to Flirt with a KING, to act cheap and unladylike in front of my family, not to mention the whole court, just to spite a man, a man who is courting me, so that he will call off the courtship." I said it more like a statement than a question. She nodded sheepishly.
"I love the way you think! I don't care what Ada thinks of me, he never should have put me in this situation in the first place." I said more to myself, grinning like a bride. She seemed surprised that I had actually accepted her idea.
"Riel, I think you'd better go downstairs to greet your guests, they are due anytime soon." She reminded me. I nodded, gave her a sly wink, and left the room.
I walked to the top of the steps, but quietened my footsteps, hoping Ada would not hear me, so that my arrival time would be ambiguous. I did not want him to reprimand me for being late again. I had repeatedly arrived late for functions and meals where Lord Lanus would show up.
Standing at the corner, I looked into the distances, spotting a group of riders in green, riding across the plain before the city gates. It wouldn't be long before they reached us. My eyes followed them, and I spotted the banner of Rohan. I couldn't read the details from so far off, but I knew from books that there was a white horse in the middle. The banner was grand, fluttering in wind, as if competing in an unforeseen battle with the strong current of sea air. I let out a sigh, alerting my Ada to my presence.
He turned around and gave me a dissatisfied frown. I knew he was not entirely pleased with me, especially with the way I've been treating Lord Lanus. I normally liked to please him, but I did not care this time. I gave Ada a smile grin, hoping that he would not lecture me later. He sighed to himself, and looked back to arrival of the rohirrim at the city gates. Now I looked at my three brothers.
Erchirion and Amrothos were bickering over who could win the most sparring matches with the rohirrim, while Elphir wore an amused expression on his face. I too join in the argument, saying that I could beat both of them at archery. They stared at me, and continued with their argument, as if I hadn't said anything at all. I turned to Elphir. He raised his eyebrows at me, and smiled. I missed that smile; it had a small hint of mirth in it.
"Well, I guess you two are slowly sinking into the pit of denial," he said with a smirking grin on his face, "Riel just stated that she was better than you at archery, and you know it, but not wanting to admit it, you ignore her comment. Is that not a indication of denial?" he asked, challenging them to refute by raising his eyebrows even more, if that was possible.
"That's not fair, we wouldn't want to hurt her feelings by mocking her lack of archery skill, and we were merely just being considerate to her by not putting her down with our replies…" Erchirion reasoned.
"I remember winning her once in an archery contest…" Amrothos argued, at the same time as Erchirion.
At Amrothos' reply, I laughed.
"If I remember correctly, Brother, I was recovering from an arm injury, thus that archery contest did not count as I was trying to correct my stance most of the time." I rebutted, giving him a challenging look. He opened his mouth to reply, but could find nothing to say, so he closed it, before giving me a friendly glare.
It was just at this moment that the rohirrim came through the courtyard. Most of them had blonde hair, with a tall and broad built. By the way they carried themselves; I could tell they were proud to be of Rohan. The King of Rohan was getting off his horse just as Ada was descending the steps to greet King Eomer. Seeing this, my brothers and I followed suit. I studied the King, taking in his long strides, the fixed look of seriousness on his face and the way he wore his hair, which was pull halfway. I could tell he was a straightforward man, and that he did not like to have things out of place.
Ada shook the King's hand, before pulling him to pat his back. At this, Eomer and Ada both broke into smiles. Ada treated the king as friend and seemed to ignore the stiff court greetings. At this, the king seemed relieved. I heard that the throne was intended for Eomer's cousin, but Eomer had to take the throne as his cousin died. So I guessed that he was not used to proper court behaviour, and was thus relieved that my Ada did not tax him with such.
Soon, Ada was introducing the king to us. He shook hands with my brothers. I knew that he was also studying them. He looked at them before smiling to each. I knew that soon I would be introduced, and I panicked inside. I was supposed to flirt with the king, but I did not know how. In a split second, an idea popped into my head; Kiss him. Not on the lips, but maybe on his forehead. I knew that a lady did not usually have direct contact with strangers, or especially Kings, which was why a kiss was perfect! It could be seen as flirting, but it could also be seen as a token of appreciation. Maybe if I said something to him about helping in the war, he might not suspect anything, but yet still feel that I was too bold for ordinary reasons.
"… and this is Lothiriel, My daughter, the princess of Dol Amroth." My father introduced. King Eomer bowed. I lowered my head and placed a kiss on his forehead just as he was coming up.
I wanted to lengthen the hapter a bit more, but I realised that I haven't updated for quite some time, so I decided to post these first.
Hope you enjoy and please review.