A/N: thanks for all the great reviews everyone!

lintered--chemistry's a bitch, innit?

The next morning, I woke just before dawn and high-tailed it back to my room. No doubt there would be an awkward moment or two if I were found asleep in the hay. With pale morning light creeping through the window, my room didn't seem nearly so large and intimidating.

I sat down in front of the mirror and combed my hair, picking out stray bits of hay and humming to myself. When I finished, I opened up the wardrobe and found a dress without laces in the back and pulled it on, jumping only slightly when the door opened to admit a young, plump maid with freckles and rosy cheeks. She looked just as startled.

"Oh--" she curtsied hurriedly "my lady, I thought you were still abed...I've brought you washing water."

"Thank you..." I waited expectantly for her name, but nothing was forthcoming. "What's your name?"

"Freda, my lady," she replied, curtsying again. She couldn't have been more than fourteen or fifteen. It was odd to think that she would be a freshman to my junior and yet she was treating me like an adult. "Beg pardon, my lady, but what are you doing up so early? No one will be awake for hours."

"Oh—I couldn't sleep," I said sheepishly. "This place is very...very new."

Freda nodded and smiled. "I couldn't sleep the night through for a full week when I first came here. Twill pass, my lady, never fear."

"Thank you," I said with a smile. As she turned to leave, I called, "Freda! Would you mind showing me around after I get cleaned up a bit?"

"Oh...of course, my lady," she replied.

"I'll only be a moment," I assured her, splashing water on my face and cleaning my teeth with my beloved toothbrush.

Freda proved to be quite nice, if a little shy, and very helpful. I was sorry when we met Gandalf and he ushered me away to work with the chemistry book. I remembered my light bulb from the night before and was glad that I could talk to him alone. He led me to a rather dusty but well-lit library that likely hadn't been used for some time and opened the chemistry book.

"There is something useful in this book," he stated. "Something you did not want to speak of in front of everyone."

"Yes," I agreed, and flipped through the book until I found what I was looking for. "There. Gunpowder."

"What do you say?"

"A powder that will explode and rain fire on everyone around it with a single spark," I explained. "If you're going to have a war, it might be more than a little helpful. But it's very powerful and very, very dangerous. You could blow apart a stone wall or kill dozens of people with the right amount. Now, I'm not sure if you can get all the ingredients, but it's worth a shot."

"You were right to come to me with this," Gandalf said after a moment, staring at me thoughtfully.

"What?" I asked nervously.

"Forgive me," he said, shaking himself a little. "You just remind me of someone, that's all, but I can't think who."

"Oh..." I said uncertainly.

"It's no matter," he said briskly. "Now, to work."

I spent the next few hours teaching Gandalf my "runes" as he called them and explaining various principles of chemistry. He was remarkably quick, grasping in a few minutes what had taken me ages and ages to learn. Time flew by, but I wasn't sorry when Freda came to fetch me. She looked nervous.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"The king wants you, lady," she blurted. "And he doesn't look happy. Lord Eomer is with him." She lowered her voice. "I heard them shouting at each other before. I heard your name."

"What could I have done?" I wondered, thinking frantically. "I haven't even been here a full day!"

"I don't know," Freda said, wringing her hands. Wordlessly, she opened a door and gestured for me to enter. As I passed, she whispered, "Good luck."

"Not happy" was an understatement. Both the king and his nephew looked ready to kill. When I entered, however, Theoden made a visible effort to calm down.

"Lady Sky," he said courteously. "I have a matter of some import to discuss with you."

"Am I in trouble?" I blurted, then blushed.

"Nay, lass," Theoden told me kindly. "Let me explain to you what is happening in the world. There is a dark and evil power far away in the East called Sauron who desires to control all of the West...all of the world. His minion, the wizard Saruman, does his bidding in these parts. It is Saruman that we must fight now. But even if we defeat Saruman, there is no guarantee that the war will be over. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I said, "but what has this to do with me?"

Theoden sighed heavily and Eomer's scowl deepened. "My son is dead and Eomer has taken Theodred's place as my heir. But there is a good chance that both Eomer and I will die."

I shot a glance at Eomer, who had closed his eyes as if to make the whole thing go away. I did not like where this was going.

"Eomer cannot go into battle without a heir," Theoden softly. "I cannot endanger my House and my kingdom in such a way."

Oh, shite. Christ, I didn't have to ask what that had to do with me. Eomer was very carefully not looking at me.

"Why me?" I said clearly. "Why not a soldier's daughter or some other woman?"

"You are of noble blood," Theoden explained patiently.

"What in the world makes you people think that?" I demanded, to angry to balk at interrupting a king. "My father runs a stable and my mother was a librarian—there's nothing noble about me."

"There is," Theoden argued. "It is in your face, lady, in your eyes and in your movements. In any case, the only daughters of marriageable age in Edoras are already betrothed and I simply do not have time to...to import a bride for my nephew!"

"My lord," I said in a would-be calm voice, "I cannot. It is ludicrous. I'm not of marriageable age at all—I shouldn't even be thinking about marriage for another five or six years. I hardly know Eomer and he's seven years older than me! And," I said, shooting a look at Eomer, "he promised to help me go home after the war is over."

"Eomer," Theoden said, clearly annoyed, "is not yet his own master. He still has me to answer to."

"I refuse," I said coldly.

"Tell me, my Lady Skyla, where will you go if I do not allow you to stay?" Theoden asked dangerously. "And how will you get there if I do not permit you to use a horse from my stables? You are here at my sufferance, girl, and you would do well to remember it."

"What kind of king are you, that you have to resort to blackmail to get your nephew a wife?" I shouted furiously. "I am not a brood mare to be mounted by the stallion of your choice. I'll not be used as breeding stock, even by a king."

Theoden rose from his chair and glared at me. "I will do whatever it takes to secure Rohan's throne. If it means inconveniencing you for a time, then so be it."

"Inconvenience?" I shrieked. "Inconvenience? You call marriage and childbirth a fucking inconvenience?"

"Foolish girl!" he yelled. "Any woman would kill for such an honor and I am handing it to you!"

"And what have you to say to all this?" I demanded, turning on Eomer, who stood braced against the wall with his head bowed. Slowly he raised his head and looked at me.

"Believe me," he said dully. "I have no wish to wed. But I cannot risk civil war by failing to provide an heir to the throne."

"So I have no choice," I whispered. Louder, I said, "What you do is little more than rape, Theoden King."

"I will do what I must," Theoden said harshly.

"Aye," I said bitterly. "And how much time do I have before my life is ruined?"

Theoden sat back down and rubbed his beard tiredly. "I'm not without some compassion, lass. I can give you three weeks to prepare...and to become more familiar with your betrothed."

"And I will never go home," I stated softly.

"I'll strike a bargain with you," he told me. "When you bear a healthy male heir, you have my word that I will do everything in my power to help you find your way home, provided that the war is over and I am alive to help you."

I nodded grudgingly. It seemed that that was the most I would get. I very carefully avoided thinking about what it all meant—I mean, Christ, having a baby? I was seventeen, for fuck's sake. And that meant...with a pale face I looked at the man who, in three weeks, would take my virginity from me. And father a child? It was simply too much. Without another word I fled the room, tears streaming down my face.

How had this happened to me? My cousin was dead, I was being forced to marry and—procreate—with a complete stranger seven years older than me, and it looked like I wasn't going home for a very, very long time. If ever. For all my talk of going home, I didn't really believe that it was ever going to happen. I'd almost accepted that I was probably going to live out my life here—but marriage? To the king's nephew? That was a bit harder to accept.

I sped up as I heard footsteps behind me, but Eomer caught up quickly and caught my hand.

"Sky, wait--"

"Eomer, I really, really don't want to talk to you right now," I said through gritted teeth. I found myself staring somewhere over his shoulder, unable to look him in the eye.

Eomer sighed and grasped my shoulders. "Lass, we are both of us being thrown into this, but there is nothing to be done. We must make a marriage between the two of us, somehow, and I am willing to try. Please, Sky. I don't want to feel like a monster on my wedding day."

I forced myself to look him in the eye and saw sincere regret and...hope? Finally I sighed and looked down. "Alright. I'll try to make this work. But as soon as that kid shows up, I'm going home."

"We have a bargain," Eomer said with a relieved smile, and we shook on it.

What the hell am I getting into..?

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>.

"Sky, where are you going?" Eowyn stood in the doorway, watching me worriedly.

"I'm just going running," I said, a tad bitterly. "I'm not trying to escape or anything."

I braided my hair and pulled on my warm up jacket over my freshly washed track uniform. It was still chilly out, but it seemed that spring was on its way. I'd be warm enough once I started running.

"For what it's worth, Eomer was furious when he found out," Eowyn said softly as I tied my shoes.

"Probably because he has to wed—and bed—a little girl," I muttered.

"Because he has no wish to force you or take your freedom from you," Eowyn retorted sharply. "If it were not for that, he would not be averse to the match."

"What?" That startled me. He was so much older than me...

"You are no little girl, Sky," Eowyn said firmly, then smiled. "And he thinks you are beautiful."

I snorted. "Twill make the wedding night easier, I'll wager—for him, at least."

"And you do not find him attractive?" Eowyn asked shrewdly.

Attractive? Hell yes, but... "Eowyn, I only just met him two days ago and now I'm being told that I must marry him. I—I never thought about getting married, but I always assumed I that I would marry a man that I loved and wanted to be with."

Eowyn placed a gentle hand on my shoulder and smiled. "He is easy to love, Sky. If you give him half a chance, I think you can be happy with him. I know that he will do everything in his power to make you happy."

"I hardly know him," I insisted.

"Well, then go to him!" Eowyn cried. "What are you sitting here alone for?"

I sighed and rubbed my face. "I will—but I need some time to myself now. I'll be back before dark."

Now, as much as I hate running, sometimes I just have to. It either helps me sort out my feelings or simply wipes my mind blissfully blank. I don't know how far I ran, but when I finally stopped, I realized that there was no way I was going to make it back before dark. I set off in the direction I came from at an even faster pace, hoping that the city on the hill would at least be in sight by the time night fell.

Well, I had wanted a work out, I told myself bitterly. This, however, was more than I'd bargained for. The sun had set and it was getting hard to see. And the city was no where it sight. I pushed myself harder, a trickle of fear giving me a little extra strength. Now, I run at night all the time, but this was completely new territory. Getting lost in the dark was not a good idea. Soon, however, I saw a horse cantering toward me. Biting back a cry of relief, I stopped and waited, panting.

"Sky!" I was so relieved that I didn't even care that it was Eomer. "Gods, where have you been?"

"I went running," I panted. "I'm sorry—lost track of time and then ran too far..."

"Where were you?" he asked with a frown.

"I stopped at an odd rock formation overlooking a lake," I replied.

"What? That's more than a league away—nearly two!"

"Oh..." How much is a league, anyway?

"Come, then, lass, I'll bring you home," Eomer said, extending his hand down to me.

Too exhausted to even think about it, I grasped his hand and let him pull me up behind him. I don't think I'd ever run that far or that hard in my life. Every muscle in my body right down to my eye lids and lips had turned to mush—hell, even my ears were tired and I don't think that they even have muscles. My impromptu workout combined with about six hours of lost sleep joined forces to make me doubt that I would make it back without falling off the horse. And now I was getting really, really cold. However, I forced myself to stay awake and hold on to Eomer for all my life was worth to avoid an awkward "damsel in distress" moment.

"Sky, would you like to go riding with me tomorrow afternoon?" Eomer asked suddenly. "I will be in council with my uncle and Aragorn all morning, but once that is finished..."

"Sure," I heard myself saying. "I'd like that. As long as I get some sleep first."

"Ah, yes." I could hear the grin in his voice. "Would you like me to escort you to your rooms or to the stables, my lady?"

"Hardy har har har," I said grumpily. "So funny. My rooms, if you please."

Eomer stopped in the stable yard and caught me as I half slid, half fell from Firefoot's back. Beckoning the stable boy, he took my arm and led me toward his uncle's hall.

"Eamon said you tend your own horse," I remarked, shivering, and quickly disengaged my arm.

"Aye, well, I think I'd best be tending you, else you should fall and break your head. Whatever possessed you to run that much, lass?"

"I would have gone mad," I replied seriously. "I would have driven myself to insanity thinking about...everything. At least now I know I'll sleep."

Eomer stopped and faced me. "Lass...Sky...I do want to make this work, for both our sakes. If there's anything I can do to make this easier for you, you have only to ask."

Immediately I felt like a complete brat. He was caught in this as much as I was and all I could do was complain about it—to his face—while he was trying to make things work.

"I'm sorry, Eomer," I said, hanging my head. "You're already doing all you can. It's just...I've only known you a few days and we're going to be married in three weeks."

Eomer touched my cheek gently. "We haven't much time, I know, but enough to learn a little about each other before we wed."

"I hope so," I sighed, and yawned. "Sorry."

"Come, you look half-dead," Eomer said, and led me to my rooms. At my door, he bowed and kissed my hand, murmuring, "Until tomorrow, my lady."

I smiled crookedly. "I'd curtsy, but I haven't got a skirt to curtsy with."

Eomer winked and flashed me a roguish grin. "Believe me, I noticed."

He beat a hasty retreat while I sputtered incoherently, glaring after him indignantly. I shoved open my door, muttering darkly, and washed my face before pulling on a nightgown and dropping into bed. I should have remembered the whole bare-legged thing, I realized. I had my fiance's reputation to worry about now, not just my own. It wouldn't do for people to think their lord's betrothed was a floozy. Hey, that's not a bad idea...Whoa--down, girl. You promised to try. Growling into my pillow, I punched it and fell asleep thinking evil thoughts about a certain horsemaster.