A/N: Yes, I know nothing really wasn't accomplished last chapter. It was a transitional chapter and it gave a little more background to Ardeas, though important, was not a major plot turn. But at 1:30 AM, my body was beginning to shut down and I didn't have any creative juices.
Chapter IV
It was dark outside, but a light showed from the window of a small cottage on the plains of Rohan, set quite a distance away from a small village that was spotted with yellow lights. A woman's wail pierced the night air, echoing in the night. It was abruptly stifled by a convulsion.
Two women were in the one room cottage. One black haired woman lay on the bed while a brunette held her hand, kneeling next to her.
"Push, Adinel! Push! It's almost out!"
Adinel squeezed her eyes shut, and used her free hand to wipe away the the sweat droplets that had been forming on her forehead for the past six hours.
"It's out, Adinel! You did it!"
Adinel let out a sigh as she felt the baby leave her body. She was only too willing to have her body back to herself.
The other woman swooped down and picked up the baby with both hands. It was a relief to move her other arm as it had been supporting the head since it had first appeared. Taking a clean cloth, she wiped off all the blood and fluids that had decided to make an appearance along with the new life. It had been an easy birth, rather rare for women, especially for a woman's first birth. After a quick check, she came to the conclusion that the baby was a girl.
"May I hold it, Thera?"
"Her, Adinel. It's a she," Thera said smiling as she handed the baby back to her friend, "And she's almost a spitting image of you, albeit much smaller and drooling." She laughed, making light of the extreme pain her friend Adinel had just experienced.
Adinel took the baby and wrapped it in a blanket. She smiled at it. But when she spoke, her voice faltered, "Thera. She's not crying."
"She's not?" Thera asked, worried.
Adinel put her finger under the infants nose, "She's not breathing," her voice turned frantic, "Thera! My baby girl isn't breathing!"
Thera's mind searched for an answer. Her entire year of training as a midwife was important now. And she only had seconds to spare! What had her mother done? Her answer came like a thundershock five seconds later.
"Adinel, slap it!"
"My baby!"
"She'll cry!"
Adinel hesitated. How could she slap her baby? What if a nail caught on the cheek and cut her baby? The what ifs pounded in her brain. She trusted Thera, but slapping her newborn baby? Thera, knowing that not breathing for a short time was almost certain death for newborn infants made a hurried gesture. Adinel didn't move. Thera snatched the baby from her arms and slapped its cheek, leaving a red mark. The baby began to wail in pain, forcing itself to take breaths to wail. Thera sighed in relief. Adinel was a little shocked but relieved. The last thing she wanted was her baby to die.
Adinel softly kissed her baby's forehead.
"What will you name her?" Thera asked a little expectantly.
"I'm not sure. Maybe something after the stars. What was the name of the she-Elf who came to Théoden's court?"
"Mîranna." jeweled gift
"That sounds nice."
"But wouldn't you rather have a more, well, a more real name?"
"Like what?"
"Well, what about Renéa. That's a nice name."
"I don't know. I'll think about it."
-
Adinel was born in 2982 the daughter of Lord Éodain, a member of Théoden King's court, her great-great-grandfather having been King Folcwine. She was his firstborn daughter, the jewel of the court with beauty that matched Théodwyn, sister of the King. But the pregnancy had been difficult and it left her mother weak for the rest of her life. The healers had said that if she had another child she would die. Thirteen months later, she was pregnant again. When the baby was born, Adinel's mother died fairly quickly, while the baby itself had been stillborn. Adinel was raised by her father growing into a strong, beautiful, but carefree woman. It had originally thought she would have been a smart match for Théodred, the King's son. But Adinel, though at first had taken his fancy, soon proved otherwise. He said later that he thought she was no good for him.
-
She stood trembling against the wall. She didn't like what was happening. She didn't want this to happen.
He reached out and caressed her face with his hand.
"You are so beautiful, my love."
Adinel felt like screaming for help, but who in Rohan would help her fight off the crown prince anyway? Maybe some sarcastic reminders of his behavior would make him go away... Or not. Empty threats were always good.
"Théodred, if you don't let me go, I'm going seriously affect your ability to father children." He pressed his body closer to hers, not allowing her knees to hurt him. :"Stop it, Théodred! I will not tolerate this."
"You will have to, Adinel," giving her a cheeky smile.
He was right, and they both knew it. For instance, he was a good four inches taller than her. Secondly, he had more muscle she could sneeze at, and thirdly, well, if she hurt the prince, (and then taking into mind that he hadn't killer her for doing so) she would have to answer to the King. Very unpleasant.
Adinel brought her hands to his chest with the intent of pushing him away. He used on hand and seized both of hers.
"Get a grip, Théodred!" She forgot for a moment whom she was addressing. "You are such an idiot!"
"That was before this," he grinned. His other hand reached up to cup her face.
Adinel was Less than Impressed. "You are very funny, Highness," she said sarcastically. "Now get off of me, you... you...you idiot!" Who on Arda did he think he was, doing this to her?
"I am consumed by fire. I must have you!" He inched closer, his face a mere two inches away from hers.
"You are very poetic. I told you: please go away!"
He silenced her was a passionate kiss. She wouldn't deny it and say that he wasn't a devilishly good kisser, but after two hundred plus opportunities of practicing, of course it would feel good by now. She kept her mouth tightly closed and felt sick when his tongue tried to force its way into her mouth. The bile began to rise in her mouth, but she effectively swallowed it, leaving her throat burning, and very uncomfortable. That stupid prince! she thought.
He pulled back from the kiss, "Playing hard-to-get?"
"I am not playing anything. This certainly is not a game. It is real."
"Oh?" he arched a slick eyebrow.
"Because I think you are a sick person who has slept with more women than I could sneeze at! And I do not want anything to do with you, especially not that way. Now go away, or I will scream!"
Théodred was unfazed. "Nothing like a scream to liven things up. I'm afraid you are too good to lose so quickly." He pushed her against the wall for another sensuous kiss. Adinel also noticed her knees were free again. Foolish prince. He did not know with whom he was dealing. Adinel seriously considered bashing what he would consider the most important part of his physique, but decided not to since that if there was any permanent damage, King Théoden would never forgive her (no grandchildren, and the king would depend on Théodwyn's children).
Adinel pushed him away, "Just what do you think you're doing!"
He gave one of his charming and boyish smiles, "Seducing you." The bile threatened to make its way back Adinel's throat.
"You are certainly not doing a good job."
"Maybe I should try harder," he said almost purring. Adinel would have laughed her head off at this performance if she had not been the one to whom these "affections" were directed. But now that she was the object of these attentions, she felt like retching all over his embroidered clothes.
His arm seperated her from escaping on both sides. She realized that the only way she was going to get out of this was to play along to some limit.
She leaned forward into his arms and kissed him. Exactly as she had expected he wrapped his arms around her, one hand going down further than her back. Not what she expected or wanted. She pulled back suddenly, taking one of his arms.
"I want to show you something," Adinel said suggestively.
He smiled, allowing her to lead as they walked down the hall to the door that stood at the end. She was walking toward her bedroom, which sat at the other side of the Golden Hall, letting him think that she was leading him toward it. She opened the doors to the main hall, stepping aside to allow him to go first. He smiled insinuatively and went first.
As soon as he was across the threshold into the main hall, Adinel swiftly slammed the doors and locked them. Théodred pounded on the doors.
"Adinel! What are you doing?"
"I let you through the door so you could leave. I really do not want anything to do with you. Now, Highness, please leave me alone, and I am sure you will find some very pretty village girl willing to be a wench, because it will not be me."
"Adinel! I love you!"
"Tell that to someone who cares, because that obviously is not me. Is there anyone else you find passively attractive because I will certainly find them for you, my prince," she finished harshly, "I am not, nor will be for a very long while, interested in this kind of relationship! Especially with you!"
"Adinel! Open this door, or I will hurt you!"
"Do not resort to empty threats. You would not even dare. Besides, I can get my father's sword and chop pieces off of you that you would much rather keep."
"I really do love you though! I will do anything!"
"Really? Anything, your Majesty?" Adinel said with feigned excitement, seeing if he would see the sarcasm behind her voice.
"Yes!"
So much for that.
"Leave me ALONE for a year. Do not try to befriend me, as well. I would like no communications between you and I. At the end of the year, I will consider a friendship and only a friendship with you, depending upon your behavior. If you talk with me at all, I will be forced to think of some consequences."
She could not punish him, not even if he raped her. He could beat the life out of her. But even though he would figure this out in time, she did not want to deal with it now.
"Fine."
"You answered too soon. Are you sure?"
"Yes. Now will you let me in?"
"I said 'no talking.' If you are not finished, you have my esteemed permission to find some to whine to."
"No verbal abuse."
"I am so sorry, your Highness. Now go away."
"You are not fair."
"They're my terms. Take them or leave them. And if you leave them, the last thing I will want to do is to get to know you."
He grumled a little bit. There was a pause until Adinel heard him stepping away from the door across the hall.
"Honestly! What on Arda was his problem! To think that I would fall for that whole love thing! He is so annoying sometimes!"
- two weeks later -
Adinel returned from the welcome feast weary and depressed.
The group of Gondorians that had arrived did not look very promising. In fact, they mostly looked like unrespectable gentlemen one would see in a tavern, not running about the halls of the Steward, worried about new attacks on the border.
Adinel relaxed in her room. As she stepped on the threshold, she heard a crackling sound, as one hears when paper is stepped upon.
She looked down and noticed a folded piece of parchment, sealed with a blank mark. She cut through the black wax and read the parchment.
Dearest Adinel,
I cannot wait to see you again. I am ever astounded at your beauty.
Cordially yours,
The signature was unreadable. It looked an awful lot like Théodred's handwriting. Adinel was not pleased. She had suspected as much.
She just wanted to pound him!
She hurriedly scribbled a few lines of poetry, using many words about disappointment, and asked a servant to deliver it the the prince.
Highness,
Disappointment and failure,
My thoughts of you, for sure,
Frustration and mistakes,
The only things to soothe the aches,
Sincerely,
Adinel
- the next day -
Adinel sat quietly in the library reading an old tome about the history of Meduseld. The sun shone bright into the dusty old room, littered with rugs, carpets, and tapestries that decorated the walls. Book shelves stood to one side of the room while wooden tables and chairs stood on the other side. Adinel began to doze, a combination of the warm sun and the cushions on which she was resting.
She was startled out sleep when a shadow crossed the pane of sunlight next to her. She was fully awoken when somebody put their hands in front of her eyes.
"Guess who?" the voice of Théodred whispered with a chuckle.
"Hell⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪77777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777777te with me! First that blasted note, and now this!"
"What note?" he asked, confused.
"The special little note last night about 'O How beautiful I am' and 'O How I Cannot Wait To See You Again.'"
"I certainly did not write that. I only got your note last night. And seeing how in the note, you were all about disappointment, I decided I could talk to you, because you obviously believed that I had communicated with you. I thought it would be acceptable to talk with you this morning."
"You certainly did write that note! You broke your promise."
"I did nothing of the sort. You broke the no communication barrier first with your lines of poetry. It seems you could not wait for the year to end with your note."
"I only wrote the note because you broke the agreement first!" She felt agitated and exasperated at the same time.
"But, my lady, I did not write the note."
"I am not your lady. I have the note right here. The handwriting is very similar indeed." Adinel removed the note from her side pocket in the dress. "See for yourself, liar."
He glared at her at her parting comment, and snatched the note form her hands. He opened it and glanced down it. And to Adinel's consternation, smiled.
"I'm afraid you have caught the wrong man."
"What do you mean?"
"This, obviously, is not my handwriting. It is of Paerin, one of the men from the Gondorian envoy. I would not know the writing myself if he had not written some correspondence between my father and the Steward."
"You lie!"
His eyes flashed, "Believe me, Adinel, the last thing you would want to do is enrage me, and you are reaching my limits. I told you that I did not write the letter."
"Be angry," she spat, "I don't care about you."
His eyes darkened dangerously. "You do not want to see me angry, lady."
Adinel held his gaze. "Now if you will excuse me, Highness, I have better things to do."
And with that, she left the room, so completely furious that she was going to cry.
From that point on, she was going to do her very best to avoid that confounded prince. She did not want associate herself with liars and oathbreakers.
-
When Adinel turned sixteen, she fell in love with a young man visiting from Gondor, and as it turned out, he felt the same way. Their relationship, while he remained in Edoras, resulted in her fecundation. He refused to take responsibility, and he forced Adinel to never expose him. Her father was enraged as he noticed her abdomen begin to increase in size.
-
"How could you do this to me? How could you bring this shame onto your family?"
Adinel remained silent, looking at the floor.
"Answer me!"
Adinel continued to find something interesting in the carpets of the floor of his study. She should not have fallen in love with him. She had been so utterly naïve to think that he was the one for her. She should have waited for those actions until he had given her a wedding band. But the mistake had been made and there was nothing she could do now to change it. It was here and it must be dealt with immediately. Adinel mentally smacked herself upside the head. How could she be so stupid to actually believe he was the one for her? How could she let him delude her that easily? Was she possibly that naïve?
"Who did this to you?"
Adinel remembered his threat, and decided to keep quiet. She knew he was capable of making the threat become reality, and that was not what she wanted. She remembered his harsh words. "So much for that tenderness," she thought. She should have known he was a sham from the start.
"Since you refuse to speak. you leave me little choice, Adinel."
Here comes the punishment, she thought, I wonder what it will be. It will be severe.
"I wash my hands of you. You are no longer my daughter."
Adinel nearly reeled in surprise. She looked at her father, wondering if he was playing some sort of joke, because it certainly wasn't funny.
Her eyes peered into her father's downcast ones. No, he is being entirely serious.
Adinel did not remember how she kept her voice calm. Of course she had made a mistake! But to cut her off from everyone?
"I suppose I will pack, then. Farewell, my lord."
Adinel calmly turned on her heel and left the room.
-
Adinel left Edoras that night. She could not bear seeing the disapproving glances of the household, as well as being shunned permanently. She decided to go to the furthest village to avoid any recognitions. To spare herself more shame, she decided to concoct a story about her husband who had died, leaving her penniless, and forced to leave. It was in this village that she had met Aralen, an elderly old woman, who had taken her in, understanding the importance of staying healthy while pregnant. She never told Aralen about her past, and neither did Aralen seem interested. The villagers seemed suspicious of Adinel at first, but after a few months, she fit right in. Aralen died a month later, leaving the house to Adinel. One month after that, Thera, Adinel's good friend, left Edoras in search of her friend, finding her just prior to the birth of Ardeas.
-
I was feeling rather pleased with myself, mostly to do with my full stomach. It was a pleasing feeling, as most people would find a full stomach is. But my feeling to do something in payment for this hospitality overruled myself from a contented sigh leaving my body.
I opened my mouth to say something to Éowyn, when I noticed Prince Théodred was still staring at me.
I shut my mouth for second. I opened my mouth again, hesitantly, "Éowyn?"
"Yes?"
"Is that Prince Théodred looking at me?"
"Yes."
"Do you know why?"
"I do not know."
Great.
I was about to abruptly leave to let Théodred know that he was making me very uncomfortable when he unexpectedly looked away, laughing at whatever joke was being presented, though not laughing quite as freely as the others, I noticed.
Éowyn's voice interrupted my thoughts, "Would you like to see the library?"
The who?
I opened my mouth uncertainly, "Oh, that would be fine."
The only thing going through my head as we stood up was What the heck is a library?.
Éowyn led me back inside, though through a different door. We were back in another dark hall. Éowyn opened a door and passed through it; I followed, nearly tripping down the stairs, and holding the wall for support.
"Watch out for the steps."
A little too late, I would say.
After going down the stairs, she opened another door, and came to yet another hallway. However this hallway was full of sunlight, making me blink several times. She started down to the left. The first out of two doors on the left side of the hall was the one she opened. I stopped in shock as I stepped through the doorway.
I could only think of one word to describe it.
Beautiful.
There more books than I had ever thought existed. Rourn himself kept four books and I assumed, rather foolish I thought now, that those were the only books people kept. There must have been a few hundred volumes arranged tastefully along all of the walls (that I could see at least).
I had never learned to read or write, as Rourn wouldn't waste time on me, and Findulwyn could not. I opened Rourn's books once or twice when they were out, but I saw no point because I couldn't understand any of it. I had imitated some of the symbols used, but that was about it.
The room itself was shaped like two rectangles put together with one vertical over the other one, around the staircase. By taking twenty or so steps forward, one came upon the rectangle in the opposite direction. At the end of this section in the room was a window, high up from the floor I supposed so that light could come in.
I was rather startled to see a man sitting in the pane of light reading. The fool that I was, I expected the room to be empty. I mentally smacked myself with my hand. Of course other people would be here. This room was probably open to everyone in the Golden Hall.
The man was around forty or so. He had muscle, but the muscles were only developed to the point of being between fit and average. He seemed to be enjoying immensely what he was reading and I assumed he must read a lot, possibly explaining why he wasn't overly well-built. He looked about Éowyn's height, possibly six inches taller than me. He had a shock of red hair as well, something I thought unusual, but a nice change all the same from the dirty blonde, brown, and very occaisional black hair I had seen all day.
"Hello, Krane. Still reading?"
Krane looked up from his book, and seeing us smiled, but curiousity was plainly seen in his eyes when he saw me.
He carefully closed his book and set it on the table beside him before standing up and making his way toward us.
"Lady Éowyn," he said, giving a nod in her direction, "Is this a friend of yours?"
"Yes, Krane. This is Ardeas; she'll be staying with us for a while."
"Getting tired a male conversation?" he winked at her.
Éowyn gave an exaggerated long-suffering sigh, "Yes!" she said, using a lot of air.
He smiled at me, "How are you, Lady Ardeas?"
I liked him. I smiled back, "Just Ardeas, and I'm feeling fine."
"Shall I kiss your hand?"
Think cordiality. Think manners. Don't shout out 'no.' "If you like, though I would prefer not."
He chuckled, "Excellent, because I hate kissing hands."
I grinned back at him.
"So," he said trying to strike up a conversation, "What brings you to the library?"
"Oh, Éowyn was just giving me a tour."
"Do you like to read?"
Uh... Awkward situation. I cannot read. Not good. Quick! Think of something! "Not really."
"That is too bad. Women should read more. Rather than swing swords against their uncle's will..." he trailed off insinuatively at Éowyn.
Éowyn flushed scarlet before giving a retort.
"Do not remind him or..." she said threateningly, though there was a playful flash in her eyes.
"Yes, yes, yes, I know. You have used this threat on me before. You will make sure I never have children."
I didn't know what they were talking about. What did he mean 'so that he couldn't have children'? I had a big feeling it was something I should know, but I did not. I could tell he meant it to be funny, so in order to let them believe I knew exactly what they were talking about, I giggled.
Both of them joined me in light laughter, which meant I had done the right thing. Thank whoever controlled these things.
Éowyn and Krane chatted for a few minutes, and I noticed she gave subtle hints of how my whereabouts came to be here.
I pretended to be interested in a volume to the right and made a beeline toward it, flipping through it, hoping for some pictures. None. I replaced it, taking out the one next to it.
Éowyn and Krane chatted for a few moments while I continued to browse the library, glancing at books. Nothing really interesting. Mostly handwriting. Mostly very old.
When I took one book out, all of the pages fell out of the binding. I hastily gathered them up before Éowyn or Krane noticed. I stuffed the book back onto the shelf and was demurely picking out another when they glanced at me from the commotion. I felt there stares and looked back at them, eyebrows raised asking them what they were doing. No answer. They turned back into their conversation.
I replaced the book and seated myself in the chair that Krane had recently vacated. When was dinner? Not that I was hungry. Just bored. I closed my eyes and dozed.
Éowyn was shaking me gently when my eyes opened again.
"You have had plenty of free time. You should be introduced to the courtiers, who will be less than pleased at your appearance."
I grumbled a bit. Who would really want to meet somebody stuck-up? I had been having a good dream too. The same one I had been dreaming when Findulwyn woke me up this morning.
I was at the creek, watching my reflection, drying my hair on the heather sweet grass. I saw something in the reflection of the water. It was a young man, maybe twenty or so. He wasn't particularly handsome or well-built, but he was smiling kindly. And he had offered me food and drink and I had never felt so full in my life. I sighed in contentment.
Krane picked up his book and waved goodbye as he retreated to the chair again. Éowyn led me back into the hall, up the dark stairs, and into the corridor which wasn't incredibly bright. We walked down the corridor a ways before coming back to the two double doors I had come through from the hall before my (ever so glorious) bath.
We opened the doors, and there was Théoden King, sitting on a throne surrounded by a bunch of nobles. I noticed his cloak that he had let me borrow was next to him, apparently returned by Éowyn.
He looked up from their hushed tones, and when he saw me cleaned up and fresh, he smiled brightly. But even at this distance, I saw something flicker across his eyes. What could it be? But as soon as it came, it was gone1. I dismissed it. It probably wasn't important if it didn't last. With the wave of his hand, he dismissed his advisors or whoever they were.
Éowyn sighed, apparently annoyed at not being able to get the introductions over with.
"Ardeas! How are you, my dear? You are beautiful indeed looking like that."
I beamed.
"I am very happy to be clean, my lord."
"I would imagine so. But I have been worse off than you. You would not believe what skirmishes can do to your outward appearances."
I laughed as Éowyn and I approached. I nearly tripped over the hearth in the middle of the room before neatly sidestepping it.
I liked Théoden a lot. He was already becoming like a father to me. I decided to let all my cute little girl emotions come to the surface so I ran to him and threw my arms around his neck in a hug, throwing propriety into the breeze.
Éowyn, I could tell rather than see, nearly fainted, mostly from the gasp I heard. But I knew he didn't mind, because Théoden had his arms around me, and he was laughing. I pulled back, smiling. He stood and gently kissed my forehead before smiling paternally down at me.
He grinned at me, "You will have fun trying to fight them all off of you at dinner." He winked at me.
Off of me? What?
"Uncle! You should not scare her," Éowyn burst in.
I laughed, trying to hide the confusion, "He is not scaring me." I embraced him again, taking the time to remember his scent. He smelt of old leather and pipesmoke. It was a comforting kind of smell. I wished I would have known him a long time ago. He was like the father and/or grandfather I never had. He embraced me back.
"You must be careful little one, or you will break me in half from embracing me too much."
"Impossible," I teased.
He gave that paternal smile that he was so good at again, before carefully extricating myself from me.
"You make me feel young," he whispered.
I looked up, all the cute little girl feelings still strong, "I do?"
He nodded, still smiling. I could see what else he had to see in his eyes. Like the daughter I never had. I thought that was pretty awesome considering I had only known him less than a day. But this morning seemed light ages ago. That was the old life. Raugwen had died this morning, and Ardeas had been born. The girl that never was. I was a new person. And that felt good. If everyday as Ardeas felt like this, I was going to be perfectly wonderfully fine.
I liked Théoden a lot.
Wait. Edit that. I love Théoden a lot. Just like any daughter loves her father.
"What do you plan on doing between now and dinner?"
"I don't know... I-" but Éowyn cut me off.
"I was taking her around to introduce to people. We were heading toward the advisors and the courtiers and probably all those confounded boys who have nothing better to do than increase the size of their muscles."
For no reason in particular, I stepped down from his chair, closer to Éowyn.
"Yes, I suppose that must be done. We do not want any of them whispering gossip to each other when Ardeas comes to dinner. The men are about just as bad as the women are about rumors." He chuckled ruefully, "Even those courtesans that hang around this place." He grrinned at me, "They will be angry at the competion."
"Competition for what?" I asked innocently, and the innocence was not faked a bit.
Théoden simply raised a bushy eyebrow. "You will see, child."
He gave me another fatherly smile, "But I guess you should go with my niece and meet those blasted courtiers and my advisors and all of those, in Éowyn's words, confounded men down there practicing." He yawned. "I am in much need of a nap, Éowyn. Have someone wake me for dinner." He walked away toward the side of the hall, into the shadows.
"Yes, Uncle. I will."
Éowyn led me to another corridor off the main hallway, down some more stairs (again, I found out it was a staircase before she told me, nearly breaking my neck doing so), and down into another corridor on the other side of the building. She pointed out a door (behind a tapestry) that led down a narrow passage to a bookcase in the library. By means of pushing the bookcase open, you could get into the library from this hall. Very ingenious I thought. Most of the rooms were bedrooms. There were a heck of a lot of bedrooms.
At the far end of the hall on the left was a large space with only one door.
"That's the room where the courtiers sit around on their lazy backsides all day. They have nothing better to do than argue and titter."
She strode quickly to the door, thrusting it open and shoving me inside, quickly following me after.
The talking in this room stopped abruptly at my entrance that was quickly followed by Éowyn. There were at least a good sixty people ranging from early twenties to late sixties. The younger ones were mingling and whispering while the older ones, mainly the men, clung to the walls, and the air aroun⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪ women, especially for a woman's first birth. After a quick check, she came to the conclusion that the baby was a girl.
"May I⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪⨪ "Thera. She's not crying."
"She's not?" Thera asked, worried.
Adinel put her finger under the infants nose, "She's not breatnd looked at me. One in particular, a gray-haired man in his fifties, had eyes that widened and a mouth that opened slightly at the sight of me. When he saw me turn and look at him, he gave a start and his eyes widened more. But he quickly closed his mouth and stared at his pipe, examining it. I wondered what was going on. Éowyn stood protectively behind me, and I was glad she was, because one of the Théodred-girls was approaching me. She was three inches taller than me and she was wearing a richly embroidered red gown, matching rings, and a smile that would make a child scream hysterically in fear.
"Why hello, Lady Éowyn. How are you? And who is this new friend you have brought?"
I felt bile rising in my throat. I wondered how many people upon which she had this effect.
"Perfectly well, Mortelia" was Éowyn's terse reply. She didn't sound happy about talking to this woman, "This is Ardeas. She lost both of her parents and will be staying her for quite some time."
"A spectator?" was Mortelia's slightly nasty reply.
"A guest. Probably permanently."
"Since when has Théoden King started adopting orphans?" She said the word orphans like on might describe a particularly nasty cockroach.
"Today, and only Ardeas."
"That is a good thing indeed. We wouldn't want too many unnoble bloods running around these halls. Especially orphans." She turned to me and gave that smile that she was so good at doing, "Tell me, child. What do you think of me?"
I felt like wringing that pretty little neck. Her eyes said to say she was pretty or had nice hair. I say if she asked for what I had to say about her, then honesty was the way to go. How stupid did you have to be to insult somebody and then ask them about their feelings for you?
"You make me want to vomit. We have not been talking for five minutes, and I already want to pound that high-bred head of yours down to your stomach. With an attitude like yours, you deserve to be working as a servant."
That made her blow up. I smiled at her reaction of pure anger. She probably was not frequently treated like this. I made a private decision to let her have it more often. I could teach her a lesson. She would learn to not make fun of me. This was going to be fun.
"How dare garbage like you have the benefit of breath?" she screeched.
"Because others like yourself do not deserve it," I said, warming up.
"You harlot! I bet your mother was a whore!"
That stung me. That was the straw that broke my horse's back; that was the plague. I was going to kill her if she continued on this path. You can insult me, but you don't insult my family, even if I don't know them. To call anyone's mother a whore is about the worst you can do insulting them, and even if their mother really was a harlot, does not mean you should degrade them for a problem in their life that was not their fault. Findulwyn had called me and my mother a whore quite frequently. I did not really know what it was, but I knew it was bad.
"I hope you die slowly. I bet the only reason you're calling my mother a whore was because you and/or your mother are whores! Are you even a woman? Because I have only known a man with a temper like yours."
The men in the room abrupted in applause. I didn't even know they were listening in.
"How dare you insult me, you pathetic piece of filth? How dare you touch me? I would never touch a piece of human waste such as yourself!"
"Good! Because then I can twist your arm until it breaks and the most you'll do is scream at me."
"You miserable wretch. We are leaving."
And with that, Mortelia and her group of Théodred lovers left the group, followed in seconds by the group of girls hanging around the portrait of Éomer. I had a nasty feeling I would be knee-deep in problems by the time they were finished with me.
-
Author's Note:
This chapter has been majorly revised so if a few reviews don't make sense, you can guess that I changed that part of the chapter. I had originally had Théodred be somewhat of a skirt-chaser, but it wasn't very canon (Tolkien, who was a devout Catholic, would not have had sex before marriage, or slash for that matter in his writing), especially for a crown prince so I revised it out that it was unlikely Théodred and Adinel would marry because she was too headstrong. So, Tolkien characters will not be doing anything unTolkien in this chapter.
(1No, no, no, and NO! It is not attraction. It is recognition. As in, Ardeas reminds him of someone. And it doesn't take Einstein to figure out who.)