Chapter 10
And so our journey began. I had a wide range of emotions vying for dominance – both sadness and excitement over Eowyn's wedding, pleasure at the idea of more time with Lothiriel outside of council meetings, and even...conflicted feelings...about returning home alone, knowing that I would not see Lothiriel or Eowyn for many months. It would be a long, cold winter without either of them around.
When we stopped for the night on our second day of travel, after I had seen that the camp was set up, I went in search of Lothiriel and saw her on a nearby hillock. She stood gazing over the land of the Riddermark, as the sun set in the distance, lost in her thoughts. I made my way to join her, quietly coming up behind her and slipping my arms around her shoulders from behind.
She was startled for a moment, until she realized it was me, and as she relaxed in my embrace, I knew it was too good an opportunity to pass up. I began to kiss her neck and tickle her ear with my breath, but I quickly noticed that she was not responding to my caresses as I had expected, and her mood was far different than mine.
"What is the matter?" I asked softly in her ear.
She sighed, and took a moment to answer, finally saying, "I do not wish to tell you, for I fear you will hear only the words and mistake my meaning."
I turned her to face me, becoming a little concerned at her words. "Try me," I encouraged.
She chewed on her lip briefly before making an attempt. "Do you ever wonder if my father might be right – that we are rushing into this too quickly?"
My eyes darkened with suspicion and I asked, "You are feeling uncertain about us?"
"No!" she pulled away from me, waving her hands frustratedly in the air. "This is what I mean! You misunderstand!"
My face must have reflected my confusion, though I did earnestly desire to discern what she was trying to say, so she made another attempt. "When we met, right up until I left to return to Dol Amroth, we were in a separate world. You were king, but you...you had special matters to attend to, rather than the day-to-day problems of running a kingdom. You had more time to relax, enjoy the company of friends, even make a new friend of a Gondorian's daughter." I couldn't help grinning at that.
"But those several weeks were not representative of your life and your daily activities, and neither was I acting in the manner which a prince's daughter is normally called upon to act. At home, I have duties and responsibilities, and Father even has involved me in council matters so that I would have experience with how such things are done. All you ever saw was a lady of leisure, who, other than being taken to task by her father for her casual behavior, did little more than idle away her time seeking her own amusement. I may have proven myself an amiable companion, but do you know my capacity to stand at your side as a queen? Are you confident I have the knowledge and skills needed to support and help you, rather than just lounge around being waited upon by servants?"
She still seemed frustrated, afraid that she wasn't making much sense, and she turned away from me. I considered her words for a few moments, wondering how best to respond. At length, I looked up and my gaze met hers.
"What I know is that you are intelligent and diplomatic and, despite your preferring casual behavior, I have seen you 'act the part of a prince's daughter' on more than one occasion. I cannot believe that Imrahil's daughter is a lazy layabout who lets servants wait on her endlessly. I cannot believe you are like that. And you forget, I have seen how you would fare at my side. You sat in council meetings with me, and made intelligent, well-thought-out comments and suggestions appropriate to what we were discussing. You raised issues which deserved our attention but, for whatever reason, did not have it. I do not doubt for one single moment that you will make an excellent queen, as I am confident you are an excellent daughter of Dol Amroth's prince. And I am absolutely certain there is no one else I want at my side – as my queen or, more especially, as my wife. My life is not worth living if you are not in it." I had spoken from the heart, but I could only hope it was what she wanted to hear from me, that it gave the answer she sought.
She seemed overwhelmed by my words, and the next thing I knew, her eyes teared up and she flung herself into my arms, clinging to me as she wept for joy. Apparently, I had gotten it right. I wasn't sure how she could ever have thought I doubted her ability to stand at my side, as a queen and as a wife, but something in our time together recently must have made her question it. All I knew was, I couldn't imagine finding anyone better to fit the roles proscribed. Arguably, there might be women who would make better queens, but Lothiriel completed me. As my queen, she would make me a better king, and I was richly blessed that she would have me.
As her tears eased, she pulled back slightly and began wiping at her face, though the front of my tunic had already absorbed most of the moisture. I caught her chin and raised her head to look in her eyes. "Is this debate settled?"
When she smiled weakly and nodded, I gave her a rakish grin and whispered, "Then can we go back to the discussion I was trying to have before you raised this issue?"
With a laugh, she caught my face in her hands and kissed me soundly. When we paused for breath, she murmured against my lips, "Gladly!"
xxxxx
The journey to Minas Tirith was slower than I could have made it with an eored, but certainly much quicker than on the funeral march. The roads were still not in good shape, so it made it difficult for the wagons and they bounced jarringly along.
Lothiriel and Eowyn tended Lissa during the day and she shared their tent at night, but she spent the evenings with her brother. I think the responsibility of looking after her helped distract Eowyn from her nervousness, and Lothiriel readily let her have the greater share of the task to keep her mind off other things.
With Eowyn watching Lissa, that provided more opportunities for Lothiriel and I to spend time together. Occasionally, Amrothos would annoyingly dog our heels, pretending to act as chaperone. But whenever he got too obnoxious, Lothiriel would fetch Lissa and he would make himself scarce rather than risk being turned into a babysitter.
And then we were at Minas Tirith. Clearly Eowyn had an internal battle going between nervousness and excitement, and Lothiriel tried to stay close by and keep her calm. I knew I would be little help to her, so I hovered nearby but let Lothiriel take the lead in these matters.
The day of Eowyn's wedding finally arrived, and I was almost as nervous as my sister. Though we had been parted much in recent years, when I was away with my eored, we had become close once again after the War of the Ring. While I was joyous on her behalf, and pleased that she had found such a good man, who clearly cherished her, it would be hard for me to part company and not see her for long stretches.
Surprisingly, even the usually calm and easygoing Faramir was on pins and needles as his wedding day approached. Though he did not speak of it, I think he regretted that his brother could not be there to stand with him on this important day, or share in his happiness. I was pleased that his cousins seemed to realize his feelings and were spending much time with him. It surely wasn't the same as having Boromir there, but Faramir seemed to appreciate having family around him.
The wedding was beautiful and Eowyn was radiant. Once she looked into Faramir's eyes, her nervousness was forgotten as she basked in the overwhelming love emanating from his gaze. Faramir seemed like a man lost in a dream and never wanting to awake. I had heard much of the unhappiness of his life and the mistreatment by his father. I could not even comprehend how a father could treat a son so ill, and I admired him that he had become such a fine man in spite of it. I truly believed he deserved this happiness, and needed it, as much as my sister did.
I managed to keep my emotions in check, but shortly after the ceremony ended, when I stepped to Lothiriel's side, she burst into tears of gratitude over Faramir's joy. Her emotional response nearly undid me, and I distracted myself by enjoying the opportunity to hold her close without anyone looking askance at us.
As was traditional, the Rohirric men and I had a marvelous time doing everything in our power to keep the lovers apart as long as possible on their wedding night. They finally managed to elude us somehow, but by then the men were so drunk that most of them passed out anyway.
The next morning, I pretended to be cross that the couple had escaped, but when I saw the smug look on Thiri's face I began to realize how it had happened. "You did this, didn't you?" I exclaimed. I should have guessed – the queen of deviousness!
She gave me a wide-eyed look, pretending to be innocent. "Me? Whatever do you mean? Are you accusing me of being sneaky and underhanded?" Before I could reply, she added, "Are you calling me a scoundrel?"
I burst out laughing. "I knew it! It was you – they would never have escaped unless you had your hand in it!"
She shrugged noncommittally. "I only did for them what I would wish done for myself." She gave me a meaningful look and I glared at her in exasperation.
"Oh, very well! If you are going to put it like that, I suppose I should thank you for interfering." Then under my breath I muttered, "Spoil sport!" But considering the circumstances, I remained torn between not wanting our fun spoiled, and hoping someone would extend us the same favor when the time came!
Lothiriel chuckled, but pretended not to have heard my comment. She pushed away her half-eaten meal and asked, "What shall we do today?"
I glanced at her plate, surprised by her lack of appetite. "Is that all you are going to eat?"
She nodded. "I am not very hungry. My stomach is a little queasy – perhaps from the celebrating last night." Changing the subject back to her original question, she asked, "Shall we go for a ride? I know some lovely spots nearby that we could visit, and if I plan it right, we might be able to avoid taking Amrothos along."
I accepted her excuse for lack of hunger, and grinned my approval. "Sounds good to me. After breakfast – say, in about an hour?"
She nodded and rose from the table, looking a little flushed. "I will meet you at the stables." She gave me a quick kiss on the cheek as she left to go change clothes.
I finished my meal as well, a short time later, and returned to my room for my sword and partial armor. After our last experience on such an outing, I thought it best that I go a bit more prepared. Not sure if it had been quite an hour, I made my way to the stables anyway, figuring I could groom Firefoot while I waited. And I was reasonably certain Lothiriel would turn up sooner if it was possible.
I was talking to a groom by the stable door, when his gaze flicked off to my left. As I turned to look at what had caught his attention, I saw Lothiriel approaching. Suddenly her legs seemed to become unsteady, and a moment later she had collapsed on the ground.
